A California Indian nation celebrated the return of 17,000 acres of ancestral lands by releasing several of the region’s native Tule elk to roam the hills again for the first time in decades. The Tule River Indian Tribe elders and community members gathered around the large steel transport containers and watched the animals scurry off […]
Wait there’s wild hamsters? Oh yes – and they’re fuzzy, feisty, and just as cute and podgy as your childhood pet, just 4 times the size
When I was a child in the 1930’s,” recalls 86-year-old farmer Marcel Riegel, “hamsters were incredibly easy to catch. There were so many that they ate bare patches into our alfalfa and wheat field.” Now he never sees them. “Before the land consolidations of the 197oS,” Riegel continues, “we had hamsters, hares, partridges, orchards and […]
Wild turkeys off the menu in Maine after ‘forever chemicals’ found in birds
Hunters in Maine have been warned not to eat wild turkeys in parts of the state, after the birds were found to contain “forever chemicals” that can cause an increased risk of cancer. Maine officials warned that high levels of Pfas – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – have been detected in wild turkey and deer […]
Woman wanted by Interpol over trafficking of tiger parts arrested in India
A woman accused of being one of the world’s most wanted traffickers of tiger body parts has been arrested in India, officials have said. Yangchen Lachungpa, who was detained earlier this week, is accused of playing a critical role in building trafficking corridors leading out of the country to smuggle tiger parts out of the […]
Global tiger trafficking crisis worsens with nine big cats seized monthly
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysa (AP) — Authorities have seized an average of nine tigers each month over the past five years, highlighting a worsening trafficking crisis. A report by TRAFFIC warns that criminal networks are evolving faster than conservation efforts can respond. The global wild tiger population has plummeted to an estimated 3,700-5,500. Despite international protection, […]
“Their eerie howling from a wintery mountainside will still bring a shiver to the spine” – 10 biggest wild dogs on the planet
We all know some of the more sizeable domestic dogs – Great Danes, Newfoundlands and St Bernards, for example – mostly seen on a lead with their loving owners. Less familiar, perhaps, are their equally sizeable canine relatives, at large in the wild, which are a quite different and more dangerous proposition. Let’s take a […]
Why A Varied Diet Matters For Tortoise Wellbeing
Tortoises might look easygoing, but their wellbeing depends on far more than a bowl of lettuce and the occasional fruit treat. According to a recent letter in The Guardian, many tortoise owners are still unintentionally feeding their companions diets that can lead to long term problems. The concern is real because what these gentle animals […]
Colorado has wolves again for the first time in 80 years. Why are they dying?
On a sunny morning two years ago, a group of state officials stood in the mountains of northwestern Colorado in front of a handful of large metal crates. With a small crowd watching them, the officials began to unlatch the crate doors one by one. Out of each came a gray wolf — arguably the […]