San Miguel Island, part of California’s Channel Islands National Park, lies 50km off the coast of Santa Barbara. The waters surrounding this windswept island teem with marine life, particularly seals and sealions – in fact, Point Bennett, on the island’s western tip, hosts the largest congregation of these animals anywhere in the world. On any […]
Category: Videos
Scientists confirm rare instance of polar bear mother adopting a cub – video
Only 13 examples of polar bear adoptions have been recorded among Canada’s western Hudson Bay population since studies began more than 45 years ago. The mother, known as bear X33991, was spotted with two cubs in November near Bird Cove. In the Churchill wildlife management area she had only one in the spring. Alysa McCall, […]
Lemurs are being eaten as an urban delicacy in Madagascar
In Madagascar’s cities, a quiet but lucrative market is reshaping the future of one of the world’s most imperiled groups of animals. Lemurs—already the most threatened mammals on the planet—are being sold as a kind of urban delicacy, traded through discreet channels that rarely resemble the conventional wildlife markets familiar across Africa or Asia. A […]
Good Samaritans Stripped Down to Briefs to Rescue 3 Stranded Whales on Canadian Beach (WATCH)
Time was running out when Mark Rankin and Grant Cameron arrived on a Nova Scotia Beach earlier this week. After apparently swimming too close to shore, three pilot whales were found stranded at 9 a.m., with low tide quickly approaching. If the two friends didn’t intervene soon, the whales might never have a chance. One […]
Bird flu hits migrating cranes hard in Germany as the virus flares up – VIDEO
LINUM, Germany (AP) — In a spot outside Berlin that’s usually a paradise for birdwatchers, volunteers have recovered nearly 2,000 dead cranes in recent days as bird flu has hit the migrating birds hard. Linum, a small village about an hour’s travel from the German capital, is known in summer for its many nesting storks. […]
Saltwater crocodile found with mouth zip-tied shut in Adelaide River, sparking calls for stronger penalties
Alexander “Wookie” Williams is a tour guide at one of the Top End’s most iconic waterways, showcasing both the region’s natural environment and the creatures that call it home. But on a recent tour, Wookie spotted something unusual on the Adelaide River, near Darwin — a 2-metre juvenile saltwater crocodile, dubbed Jiminy by guides, with […]
Ecological crisis in Brazil’s Pantanal fuels human-jaguar conflict
Roberto Carlos Conceição Arruda recalls the moment in 2002 when an ordinary morning routine took a harrowing turn. It was around 8 a.m., in the remote mountainous region of Serra do Amolar in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state, and Arruda, better known as Beto, then 29 years old, had left his house to fetch […]
Drier Winter Habitat Impacts Songbirds’ Ability To Survive Migration
A new study from researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) shows environmental conditions in migratory birds‘ winter homes carry over to affect their ability to survive spring migration and the breeding season. While scientists have long known that the quality of winter, or non-breeding, habitat influences migratory birds’ migration timing […]