For the 4th year in a row, Indian grey hornbills have successfully bred in Gujarat state where they’d been absent for more than 50 years. Despite being listed as a species of “Least Concern” by the IUCN, the animal has habitat requirements that can see it quickly succumb to displacement. Indeed even Gir National Park, an […]
Category: Wildlife
She’s equipped with deadly hooked claws that’s used to pin down her prey, which only dies once all its vital organs have been eaten, left until last…
Neither an arachnid nor a bird, this large wasp (there are over 130 known species) gets its confusing name from a fearsome habit of preying on tarantulas and other large spiders. What are tarantula hawk wasps? Tarantula hawks are part of the spider wasp family, and measuring from around 5cm to 11cm long, it’s found all over the […]
California solar project threatens Mojave wildlife corridor, scientists say
The Mojave Desert may look like a flat, brown stretch of nothing between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. But threading through its rocky mountain ranges is an intricate network of wildlife movement that has sustained desert species for thousands of years. Now, scientists and advocates say a solar project approved by the state of California […]
Drone pilot spots humpback whale acting strangely. What happens next is breathtaking
Whale experts in Australia have shared extraordinary footage of the moment a baby humpback whale being born. Drone pilot Alexander Forrest had been watching humpback whale in New South Wales when he noticed one female acting very strangely. “I’d been observing this humpback whale drifting slowly northbound close to shore,” he says in a statement. “At first, I thought she was […]
America’s retreat from wildlife protection will be felt far beyond its borders
For more than half a century, the United States treated the protection of habitat as part of protecting endangered wildlife. The Endangered Species Act prohibited killing protected wildlife, and the government interpreted that protection to include severe damage to the habitat needed for feeding, breeding, and shelter. A developer could violate the act by removing […]
“With a single bite, prey can be incapacitated or sliced in half, by fearsome, razor-sharp teeth the same size as a great white’s…”
In the vast wetland systems that make up the Congo Basin in Africa, there swims a fish that could have finned its way from the set of a horror movie. The goliath tigerfish might be unremarkable in form, with a sleek, muscular body that is perfectly weighted for powerful river currents, but its mouth is […]
AI-altered images on birdwatching forums putting research at risk
For many birdwatchers, recording a species outside its normal range is the holy grail. In the UK, the discoveries often make national headlines. The western reef heron, for example, usually found in Africa and southern Europe, was spotted in a seaside town in north Wales in June, and widely celebrated on birding forums. But a new scourge […]
It looks like a friendly garden bird, sings like one too – but it’s one of the most toxic creatures alive
What do a poison dart frog from South America and a perching bird from New Guinea have in common? Well, both exude neurotoxins that are, gram for gram, some of the most powerful poisons in nature. That Phyllobates poison dart frogs are highly poisonous is well known – it’s in their name, after all, and a single frog can […]