Bats are generally viewed as harmless, if spooky, creatures of the night. But scientists have revealed a more savage side, after witnessing a greater noctule bat – Europe’s largest bat species – hunting, killing and devouring a robin mid-flight. The grisly recording reveals the bat as a formidable predator, climbing to 1.2km (4,000ft) before embarking […]
Category: Wildlife
Bats Are Recovering in a Big Way After Decimation by White-Nose Syndrome: Numbers Grow for the 3rd Year
In a positive development for a maligned animal, cave-roosting bat populations in Wisconsin are recovering from a fungal epidemic. Wildlife authorities are reporting that for the third year in a row, the state’s bat populations seem to be rising. Numbers of little brown bats, big brown bats, tricolored bats, and northern long-eared bats are estimated […]
Marineland Threatens to Euthanize 30 Belugas After Export Ban
A shocking ultimatum has emerged from Marineland, the shuttered Niagara Falls amusement park, which says it will be forced to euthanize 30 beluga whales unless the Canadian government steps in with funding or reverses its export ban. According to CBC News, the company claims it is broke and cannot afford the $2 million per month […]
Cyprus is responsible for the slaughter of up to 500,000 songbirds each year
Before dawn in Cyprus, the air rings with birdsong – but it is not real. Hidden in the undergrowth of bushes across the mediterranean island are electronic lures which broadcast a manufactured chorus. The pieces of technology mimic the calls of migrating songbirds and draw the unsuspecting creatures down into carefully placed death contraptions each […]
‘Baudin’s or bauxite?’ Stark warning black cockatoo won’t survive mining expansion
The destruction of Western Australia’s northern jarrah forests for bauxite mining will push a threatened black cockatoo “to and beyond the brink of extinction” if governments allowed it to continue, conservationists have warned. Mark Henryon, a volunteer with Birdlife Western Australia, said there was a clear choice that would decide whether the endangered Baudin’s black […]
Meet The Seabirds That Fly Into Hurricanes for Survival
When most creatures flee from hurricanes, some seabirds fly directly into the chaos. According to a BBC report, the Desertas petrel, a rare seabird native to the North Atlantic, actively seeks out tropical cyclones to feed on the rich bounty of squid, fish, and other creatures churned up from the ocean’s depths. With only about […]
Man Found Dead in Arkansas Campground Was Likely Killed by a Bear. This Would Be the Second Fatal Attack There in a Month
A 60-year-old man who was found dead at an Arkansas campground Thursday was likely killed by a black bear, according to officials in Newton County. In a statement issued Wednesday, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office said it was still awaiting autopsy results to determine the man’s cause of death, but that a preliminary investigation led […]
Going extinct ‘right under our noses’: the quiet plight of Australia’s rarest bird of prey
Setting up a base in the tallest tree, usually around a creek somewhere, the red goshawk will hunt beneath the canopy – chasing down speed demons such as the rainbow lorikeet and plucking them out of the air. The soft thrum of their deep, powerful, metre-wide wings can be heard from the ground as they […]