When the first bongo was reported dead by the Sangha River in the Republic of Congo in 1997, it was believed to have drowned. Several more turned up in the following weeks. Some were spotted tottering along open roads, unusual for a mostly nocturnal animal. Others appeared uncharacteristically fearless. All were emaciated. At least 17 […]
Category: News
Scientists Just Discovered a Seabird Hotspot. It’s Already at Climate Risk.
As winter approaches, many seabirds that nest along Atlantic coastlines in summer head out to sea to live and hunt in cold, northern waters. Dovekies, one of the most numerous North Atlantic seabirds, dive deep below the waves to feed on tiny crustaceans. Atlantic Puffins forage for fish and mollusks. Black-legged Kittiwakes eat just about […]
An encounter with a wedge-tailed eagle filled me with awe and a sense of danger
Over the past few years, my amateur bird watching has escalated into more of an obsession, one that occasionally pulls me out to more remote areas of Australia. Several months ago on one such trip, I had cause to think about what drew me to birds. On that particular day, I was walking in the […]
How did America end up with the world’s largest tiger population?
The first red flag was the shiny Chevy Camaro with no license plate. “Anything to declare?” asked the US Customs and Border Protection officer. “Nothing,” replied the 18-year-old driver, Luis Eudoro Valencia, a native of the tiny desert town of Perris, California. It was 1.30am on 23 August 2017, at the Otay Mesa port of […]
The cat is back: Wild Amur tigers rebound in China, thanks to govt policies
There was a time when tiger expert Dale Miquelle wasn’t sure if there’d ever be a substantial population of Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in China again. In the 1990s, Miquelle and his colleagues estimated there to only be about eight of these big cats, also commonly referred to as Siberian tigers, left in northeastern […]
Motherless grizzly cubs in danger on North Fork Highway
At least two bears were killed in vehicle collisions on the North Fork Highway over the weekend as visitors continue to flood into Yellowstone National Park. And the lives of two young cubs, now alone in the Shoshone National Forest, hang in the balance. A grizzly bear sow was struck and killed Friday and a […]
Insects are vanishing from our planet at an alarming rate. But there are ways to help them
Insects have been around for more than 400m years, their ancestors crawling from the oceans to colonise the land long before dinosaurs appeared. They have been enormously successful, evolving into a staggering diversity of more than 1m known species, with perhaps as many as another 4m yet to be described by science. There are more […]
Scientists investigate hundreds of guillemot deaths on UK coastline
Several hundred seabirds have been found dead along the coasts of north-east England and Scotland, while many have been discovered emaciated. The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), which is investigating the cause of the deaths, said the majority of the birds were guillemots. Bird carcasses have been found along the Scottish coastline and […]