Welcome to the “Best Photo of the Month” competition showcasing and celebrating the biodiversity of Planet Earth. Voting is easy and lots of fun. By popular request the number of images to be selected has been increased to six. First click an image and the slideshow will start automatically. Select the SIX images you like best […]
Wildlife traffickers moving ‘dirty money’ within web of organized crime, researcher finds
The illegal wildlife trade is deeply connected to other forms of organized crime, including arms dealing, drug trafficking and human smuggling, a new study has found. Michelle Anagnostou led the research as part of her PhD at the University of Waterloo (UW). She said she was struck to discover, while doing the research, the big […]
A jester in the jungle: my quest to see a baby harpy eagle
Seeing a special bird can take enormous effort, as I discovered recently on a quest in the jungles of Guyana. As we headed along a narrow river towards our destination, we had to cope with heat and humidity and navigate huge rocks and fallen logs. All this just to see a baby bird. I say […]
The world’s lemurs are going extinct. This is the only way to save them.
On a cloudless morning in September, sunlight poured through the canopy of a banyan tree near the banks of the Onilahy River, which runs from southwest Madagascar to the Indian Ocean. The tree grew on the edge of a small karst cliff. Its roots spilled over the side like melting candle wax. I scrambled up […]
Researchers find evidence of elephant poaching in remote Bangladesh forest
Communities living around a remote, mountainous forest in southeastern Bangladesh, close to Myanmar, have reported cross-border incidents of elephant poaching for years but there was no confirmed evidence. A new study has now documented the first known physical signs of elephant poaching in the forest. The Sangu-Matamuhuri Reserve Forest in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering Myanmar’s Rakhine […]
Haunting new study reveals why hundreds of dolphins were found dead in Amazon lake
Scientists have finally discovered why hundreds of dolphins mysteriously washed up dead on the shores of an Amazon lake. Dangerously high temperatures in Brazil’s Lake Tefé led the sea mammals to practically boil to death. Scientist Ayan Fleischmann and his colleagues discovered that an extreme heat wave and severe drought in 2023 skyrocketed the lake’s […]
Amid Japan’s surge in bear attacks, a torrent of AI-generated videos is adding to anxiety
If a record number of fatal bear attacks wasn’t terrifying enough, experts say a torrent of AI-generated videos in Japan purporting to show people in close encounters with the animals is only adding to public anxiety – and could put people at greater risk. While headlines about real attacks and disruption appear on a regular […]
The barred owl’s westward migration threatens other species and a whole ecosystem
A new study of nearly 800 barred owls on the West Coast shows the invasive predator feeds on 29 species given special conservation status by federal and state governments. The list includes mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles, according to an analysis led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who describe the wide-ranging pressure […]