Pine martens have returned to a wild lands area of south-west England after an absence of more than a century. Fifteen of the tree-climbing mammals – eight adult females and seven adult males – have been released at secret locations in Dartmoor this fall. It’s the first phase in a conservation initiative that aims to […]
Study tracks traveling population wave in Canada lynx
A new study by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s Institute of Arctic Biology provides compelling evidence that Canada lynx populations in Interior Alaska experience a “traveling population wave” affecting their reproduction, movement and survival. The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This discovery could help wildlife […]
Rescue Beaver May Stay with Her Caretakers After Legal Victory
Nibi, a rescue beaver, may get to stay with the people who have cared for her after a Massachusetts judge granted an emergency injunction on Tuesday, temporarily preventing her removal from Newhouse Wildlife Rescue. MassWildlife officials had planned to take Nibi from the Chelmsford-based rescue at 9:30 AM, but a restraining order issued by Associate […]
Man kills “aggressive” mountain lion with shovel at campground, wildlife officials say it doesn’t qualify as an attack
An investigation is underway in Colorado after a man killed a mountain lion with a shovel at a campground. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the incident took place on September 26, when they responded to a report of a man killing an “aggressive” mountain lion in a campground near Cañon City, southwest of Colorado […]
New Species of Hammerhead Shark Discovered
Named for the unusual and distinctive form of their heads, hammerhead sharks belong to the family Sphyrnidae. They are found worldwide, preferring life in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves. “Hammerhead sharks are a monophyletic lineage of carcharhiniform sharks first appearing in the Miocene epoch,” said Florida International University researcher Cindy Gonzalez and her […]
Rare smelly penguin wins New Zealand bird of the year contest
One of the world’s rarest penguins has been crowned New Zealand’s bird of the year, in an unusually sedate year for the competition, free from the foreign interference and voting scandals of previous events. The endangered yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho, is the largest of New Zealand’s mainland penguin species and is distinctive for the pale […]
Female elephants rumble to say ‘let’s go!’ New study in Namibia shows males do too, a sign of unexpected social bonds
In elephant family groups made up of related females and their young, it is clear that the animals produce vocal sounds to coordinate action. This happens when it’s time to leave a waterhole, for example. The matriarch or dominant female steps away from the waterhole and turns to the direction she intends to move in. […]
Are white patches on whale shark skin cause for concern?
Marine scientists have been taking samples from whale shark skin to try and determine the effect of pollutants on whale health. Researchers from The University of Western Australia and Flinders University examined the condition and health of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. Lead researcher Dr. Mark Meekan, from UWA’s Ocean Institute, said […]