The bird above is not your typical charismatic species. It’s no bald eagle, no peregrine falcon. It’s a groundbird known as the lesser prairie-chicken that lives in the southern Great Plains. It’s not even the greater prairie-chicken, another, related avian species, that’s a bit larger. Today, however, this bird is very much worth paying attention […]
Weatherwatch: How ecologists are helping birds adapt to climate crisis
How do you help a migratory bird adapt to the climate crisis? One radical solution, as a team of Dutch ecologists discovered, is to move them further north. Pied flycatchers are handsome black-and-white songbirds, which breed in deciduous woodlands across much of temperate Europe. Each autumn, they head south across the Sahara desert to overwinter […]
Woman Rescues Shark Entangled in Fishing Line With Her Bare Hands as Friend Shoots Incredible Video
Without hesitation, a woman rescued a shark tangled up in fishing rope, using her bare hands. Charity Clark was paddle-boarding with her friends near Big Pine Key off the coast of Florida, on March 26, when they noticed a crab trap buoy behaving unusually before spotting the white outline of a shark. The shark was […]
A woman’s grisly death inflames debate over how California manages problem black bears
DOWNIEVILLE, Calif. — Patrice Miller, 71, lived by herself in a small yellow house beneath towering mountain peaks on the edge of a burbling river in this Sierra County village. She doted on her cats and her exotic orchids, and was known to neighbors for her delicious homemade bread. One fall afternoon in 2023, after […]
Petition: Florida Man Kills Protected Heron for Being in His Backyard
Native migratory birds like the great blue heron are federally protected in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. That means that it’s illegal to kill or otherwise harm them. But that didn’t stop a man in Florida from having “fun” by shooting and killing both a great blue heron and a mallard […]
Phoenix Zoo Plans to Kill Lonely Elephant Indu Amid Outcry
The Phoenix Zoo is facing widespread backlash following reports that it plans to euthanize Indu, a 59-year-old Asian elephant who has lived alone for years, and then dismember her body to remove it from the zoo grounds. According to In Defense of Animals, an anonymous tip revealed the disturbing plan, sparking immediate outrage among animal […]
First Ever Fatal Bear Attack In Florida Leads To The Deaths Of 3 Black Bears
An 89-year-old man has been killed in a fatal bear attack in Florida, USA. Authorities have announced the death of Robert Markel, who was killed along with his dog in the first fatal bear attack in Florida’s history. The attack occurred at Markel’s home near Jerome, a community near the larger city of Naples in […]
North American Bird Populations Are Collapsing in Places They Once Thrived: Study
North American bird populations are plummeting, especially in drylands, grasslands and the Arctic where they have historically been most abundant, new research has found. The analysis of almost 500 species of North American birds indicates that three out of four species are suffering declines across their ranges, with two in three shrinking significantly. “We’re not […]