Marine iguanas can reach an impressive age of 60 years, but their average lifespan is 12 years or less – which is not surprising, considering what they have to face straight out of the egg. Galapagos racer snakes are on high alert, knowing that this will be their best feeding opportunity all year. A baby iguana is more […]
More than 13,000 seal pups die on remote Australian island amid bird flu outbreak
More than 13,000 seal pups have died on an Australian territory, as testing confirmed the spread of deadly H5N1 bird flu among penguins, seals and petrels on subantarctic islands. The mass mortality of southern elephant seal pups on Heard Island, about 4,000km south-west of Perth and 1,700km north of Antarctica, was observed by government scientists […]
It might look like a rabbit and act like a rabbit, but this is no rabbit – OR even a hare, instead it’s something far more peculiar…
With dainty forelimbs tucked against their fluffy belly and a wonderfully solemn expression on their whiskered face, the sight of a sunbathing mountain viscacha is sure to raise a smile. This Andean rodent is perplexing and endearing in equal measure, looking as if someone has assembled it from spare parts, with rabbit ears, a squirrel […]
Why You May Be Seeing More Black Bears This Summer
If you have noticed a large dark shape lumbering through your backyard lately, you are not alone. Black bear sightings across the United States surge every summer, and understanding why can help you feel less startled and more prepared. For anyone who cares about coexisting with wildlife, this seasonal phenomenon is both a Conservation success […]
These endangered whales have lived in a small sea for 70,000 years. One of them just broke the pattern
Scientists documented the first long-distance travel of an Arabian Sea humpback whale (ASHW): a small population of only around 82 individuals that live off Oman’s coast. Unlike other humpbacks around the world, these endangered whales usually stay close to home. The population is genetically distinct from other humpbacks, having diverged around 70,000 years ago, and individuals usually stay within […]
South African men sentenced in ‘world’s largest’ rhino horn trafficking case
Two traffickers of rhino horns have been sentenced by a South African court in what police said was the world’s largest such case, partly bringing to an end an almost two-decade legal saga. Dawie Groenewald and Tielman Erasmus had faced more than 1,700 charges ranging from illegally hunting and dehorning rhinos to racketeering and money […]
This tiny, brave carnivore battles rival groups. Now researchers have discovered something astonishing about their defences
When you’re a little creature in the animal kingdom, you need to be constantly on the lookout for danger. But researchers have discovered that one animal significantly changes its behaviour when it thinks battles might come about in the future – and how costly those battles might be. New research from the University of Bristol demonstrates how dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula) […]