A tiny Australian bird, the brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), mimics the hawk warning calls of neighboring bird species to protect its nest from predators such as the pied currawong. “It’s not superbly accurate mimicry, but it’s enough to fool the predator,” said Dr Branislav Igic of the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, lead author […]
Category: News
Will Japanese Ban on Taiji Dolphins Stop Notorious Hunts?
Several Japanese zoos and aquariums voted last week to stop buying and selling dolphins taken during the notorious Taiji roundup, made infamous in the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove. Yet animal advocates are dubious that it will stop the slaughter. The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums has banned the buying and selling of dolphins from […]
Pictures: Black Rhinos Back in Tribal Africa After 25-Year Absence
Black rhinos were killed off from Samburu country by poachers, but now the community is bringing them back. Black rhinos are once again roaming the vast rangelands of the Samburu people in northern Kenya, thanks to relocation efforts by the community and conservationists. The animals had once been a common sight in the semi-arid region, […]
Zambia lifts hunting ban on big cats
Nine months after Zambia lifted its general trophy hunting ban—including on elephants—the country has now lifted its ban on hunting African lions (Panthera leo) and leopards (Panthera pardus). The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) lifted the ban after surveying its big cat populations and setting new regulations. During the announcement the country’s Minister of Tourism and […]
Can Sage-Grouse Be Saved Without Shutting Down the West?
It struts around, it puffs its chest, but its numbers are plummeting. Governments are struggling to preserve enough habitat to save the bird. When scientist Michael Schroeder was looking for a place to live in eastern Washington State, he chose to be within an hour and a half drive of seven species of grouse, the […]
Elephants rejoice: China to end ivory trade
The Chinese government announced today that it will “eventually” shut down its legal domestic ivory market. The move, which surprised conservationists, could provide a major boost in efforts to stop the mass killing of elephants for their ivory. The announcement came during a public event where 662 kilograms of contraband ivory was destroyed. Zhao Shucong, […]
120,000 dead: half of the world’s saiga die in less than a month
No one knows what’s killing them, but scientists estimate that almost half of the world’s saiga (Saiga tatarica) have perished since May 10th. To date, researchers on-the-ground unofficially estimate that 120,000 saiga have died in Kazakhstan from what appears to be a wildly virulent disease, although no cause has been ruled out. Saiga are bizarre-looking, […]
‘No wilder place on Earth’: explorers tackle the full Okavango Delta
Recently, wildlife news from Africa has been almost universally bleak and frustrating to the point of despair: rhinos with their faces cut off, elephants slaughtered en masse via helicopter, and chimps and gorillas gunned down or snared for bushmeat. A massive onslaught of people, poaching and habitat destruction has led to declines in everything from […]