Twenty metres up, the canopy looks like a highway. Different shades of green, yellow and grey leaves fuse, creating the illusion of an endless rainforest. I spent most of 2013 in the canopy of a cloudforest in Colombia, collecting insects and arachnids from inside bromeliads and mosses. I was studying how their availability influences the […]
Florida sets record for sea turtle nests but Trump move could stall recovery
Wildlife groups in Florida are celebrating record numbers of sea turtle nests this season, but experts warn Donald Trump’s recent gutting of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) could reverse decades of their recovery from the edge of extinction. With more than two months of the summer nesting season still to run, loggerhead turtles have already made 13,770 nests, hundreds more […]
“I realised that I was in a very vulnerable position and retreated as fast as I could. It took a few sweat-pouring minutes of bounding over boulders…”
The chacma baboons had started moving away from the waterhole, which was nestled in a steep- sided gorge. Troop ‘elders’ led in a purposeful manner, while youngsters and some who had been resting in shady spots slowly followed suit. My colleague Charmaine and I followed, as many of the baboons settled around a rocky outcrop […]
Uzbekistan’s houbara releases serve hunting, not conservation, expert says
There’s no conservation motive or benefit behind the Uzbekistan government’s recent releases of more than 2,000 captive-bred Asian houbara bustards across its desert regions, according to an expert on the threatened species. The government has touted the releases over the past three months as a wildlife restoration effort, but Nigel Collar, a conservation biologist at […]
It sings like a whale, climbs like a cat and was once thought extinct… meet one of the world’s strangest dogs
The New Guinea singing dog is one of the world’s most enigmatic and elusive canids, roaming the cloud forests of this tropical island at altitudes approaching 5,000m. Long thought to have vanished from the wild, it was rediscovered in 2016, but is mainly known from captive populations. Is New Guinea singing dog a domestic, feral or […]
Jackie, a beloved bald eagle and livestream star, dies of mysterious illness
Jackie – the beloved bald eagle at California’s Big Bear Lake whose livestream was followed by millions of viewers as she birthed and raised chicks – died on Monday due to a mysterious illness. She was 14. Jackie had been receiving treatment at the Ojai Raptor Center since mid-July when she was found weak and […]
It has relatively huge hinged fangs and can strike with astonishing speed, delivering a potentially dangerous dose of venom…
Rather than fleeing when danger approaches, this heavyweight and highly venomous viper often stays perfectly still, relying on its patterned skin to blend into its surroundings. Slow and normally sluggish until it has been disturbed, then its demeanour changes dramatically. Puff adders inflate their bodies and unleashes a loud warning hiss and, if necessary, can strike with astonishing […]
Brazil’s wildcats face multiple diseases due to habitat fragmentation
Every day, millions of Brazilians recall how rich the country’s feline biodiversity is when they reach into their wallets: Since entering circulation in 2010, the ‘50 real’ notes have carried a printed drawing of a jaguar (Panthera onca), the largest feline in the Americas. In Brazil, one can even trace the animal that inspired the design of […]