A little-known group of amphibians — the Southeast Asian newts — are in high demand as pets, a new study has found. Large numbers of these semi-aquatic salamanders are being collected from the wild and sold in the United States and the European Union, researchers say. To understand the scale of trade in these animals, […]
Category: Wildlife
Virginia Rails!
I consider myself a bird watcher, but even with some high-frequency hearing loss, many more of the birds I count in a given day are heard rather than seen. I get a lot of pleasure and joy when I get a good look and hear some songs or calls, but for the most part, just […]
Little Estero Lagoon Spring Nesting
An early May visit to Little Estero Lagoon south of Fort Myers Beach was very rewarding with a walk of the beach beginning at the Wyndham Garden Hotel. The north lagoon was active with wading birds like I had never seen before at this location. There was a feeding frenzy underway the likes of which […]
POLL: Should wild bird markets in Indonesia be closed down?
Thirteen species of Indonesian birds, including the country’s symbolic Javan hawk-eagle, are at serious risk of extinction mainly due to the pet trade, a wildlife watchdog warned Wednesday. The vast Indonesian archipelago is home to a dizzying array of birds and keeping them as pets has long been part of the national culture, with birdcages […]
Delight at the Dog Den
Last year, my wife and I had an incredible privilege. We witnessed the moment a massive litter of 17 highly endangered African Wild Dog (Painted Dog) puppies came out of their den for the very first time. We were in the Lowveld on a family holiday, and got the chance to head out with Grant […]
Arctic foxes ‘grow’ their own gardens
The underground homes, often a century old, are topped with gardens exploding with lush dune grass, diamond leaf willows, and yellow wildflowers – a flash of color in an otherwise gray landscape. “They’re bright green and everything around them is just brown,” says Brian Person, a wildlife biologist for the North Slope Borough in Barrow, Alaska. “It pops.” He’s talking about arctic fox dens. Person has […]
Tree Swallows
Tree swallows spend most of their day flying in pursuit of small aerial insects, gliding swiftly through the air and twisting and turning artistically as their blue feathers flash in the sunlight. This haiku written in 1818 by Issa, one of Japan’s foremost poets, recognizes the aerial exploits of swallow-kind: Gliding through the cloudburst so […]
POLL: Should the rhino horn trade in South Africa be banned?
South Africa’s supreme court has dismissed a government bid to uphold a seven-year ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn, an industry group said this week. The decision has no bearing on a ban on international trade in rhino horn. Potential domestic buyers could include those who see rhino horn as a store of […]