From Wyoming and Oregon comes a story most bizarre: Scarlett Johansson’s voice being used to frighten away wolves. Famed for their emotional intelligence, the gray wolf population around Greater Yellowstone are obviously not adept enough to detect acting when they hear it, as it was a scene from Johansson’s film Marriage Story that has them […]
The elephant whisperer: one Thai woman’s lifelong quest to protect a rescued herd
Saengduean Lek Chailert was five years old when she saw an elephant for the first time. It was in chains, lumbering past her home in rural Thailand on its way to help loggers pull trees from the forest. Back then, she saw the giant mammals like everyone else – as animals that served humans. But […]
Alligator clamps down on woman’s arm and drags her underwater, Florida cops say
A woman in waist-deep water was trapped in an alligator‘s jaws and pulled underwater in the South Fork of the St. Lucie River in Florida, according to investigators. She suffered injuries to her hand and wrist, but survived, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The attack happened just before 8 p.m. […]
World Nature Conservation Day: How a large, flightless parrot rebounded from the verge of extinction
In the mid-1990s, the kākāpō seemed destined for extinction. Only 51 individuals of the flightless, nocturnal parrot remained, all of them descended from a shrinking gene pool and spread across remote corners of New Zealand. A victim of its own evolutionary success, the kākāpō had once flourished in a predator-free island ecosystem. But its defenses—freezing […]
International Tiger Day: 3 stories of hope
The tiger, once wide-ranging across Asia, has disappeared from much of its historic range. But thanks to concerted conservation efforts and communities willing to coexist with them, the majestic predator is making a comeback in some parts of the continent despite threats including habitat loss and poaching. South Asia continues to be a stronghold for […]
Big game hunter, 52, gored to death by buffalo he was trying to kill
An American big game hunter was gored to death by a buffalo he was stalking in South Africa. Millionaire ranch trader Asher Watkins, 52, was on safari last Sunday with a tracker when he was killed. The 1.3 tonne animal charged out of the brush and hit Mr Watkins, killing him almost instantly. Watkins was […]
More than 10,000 species on brink of extinction need urgent action: Study
Extinction is an overwhelming concept, difficult to grasp in its enormity and finality. Thousands of species are barreling toward that grim fate, unless we help. A comprehensive new study provides the clearest picture yet of Earth’s most imperiled species, and offers evidence that conservation can work. The study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity found that […]
Minns government’s environmental integrity condemned as ‘nonexistent’ amid 40% surge in land clearing
The Minns government has lost its way on environmental policy, according to the New South Wales opposition, the Greens and a member of the crossbench, after government data revealed a 40% surge in land clearing across the state. The report is the latest headache for a state government under pressure over conservation concerns, including continued […]