By 10am on the midsummer Day of the Ox, the city of Narita smells of charcoal and sugar. The cobbled road is thronged with visitors lining up to buy grilled eel, a traditional delicacy believed to cool the body and keep spirits up in the humid weather. “We’ll be so sad if it becomes extinct […]
Virus That Kills More Elephants Than Any Other Cause Is Finally Defeated
Veterinary immunologists have developed a vaccine for a virus that’s one of the the leading killers of elephants in captivity and in the wild. With no cure, and with a penchant for claiming the lives of elephants calves, elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) has been responsible in recent years for the deaths of five elephants at […]
New study reveals how illegal wildlife trade intersects with organized crime in Canada
When most people hear terms like poaching, wildlife trafficking or illegal wildlife trade, they probably think of threatened species such as elephants, rhinos, tigers or sharks. Geographically, wildlife crime may feel like a problem confined to southern Africa or southeast and East Asia. Of course, these species have long been heavily trafficked, and those regions […]
Taylor Swift Fans Raise Millions for Otter Conservation After Viral T-Shirt Moment
When Taylor Swift wore a vintage Monterey Bay Aquarium T-shirt featuring two sea otters during The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, no one expected it would spark a wave of donations — but that’s exactly what happened. According to People, the California aquarium reissued the shirt for a limited fundraiser after Swift’s outfit went […]
Country diary: A lesson in rest from the Canada geese
Right now, my terrace house sits directly under a flight path, belonging not to planes but to skeins and skeins of honking Canada geese. As reliable as the first misty mornings and the slow shedding of the trees, I hear that familiar harsh call as the geese pass overhead. My view of the V shapes […]
It looks like a spider and moves like a spider, but this is no spider – it’s an evolutionary nightmare. Watch the deadly killer in action
In the mountains of Iran, a flycatcher scans the area for something to eat – and spots a spider in a crevice. But unfortunately for the bird, it isn’t actually a spider: it’s something far more dangerous (and venomous). This bizarre attack is actually an evolutionary adaptation of the spider-tailed horned viper (which we named […]
West Africa’s leopards now officially endangered after 50% population crash
There are only about 350 mature leopards left in West Africa, according to the latest regional assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Leopards (Panthera pardus) in West Africa are thought to be genetically isolated from those in Central Africa, with little or no interbreeding between populations. They’re found in 11 countries: Benin, […]
Orange-bellied parrots have swelled back from imminent extinction – but now they face a new threat
One of Australia’s most critically endangered bird species has started arriving at Melaleuca, in Tasmania’s south-western world heritage area. By late this week, six orange-bellied parrots had turned up at the remote outpost to breed, having made the weeks-long flight from the mainland, across Bass Strait and down the state’s wild west coast. Relatively little […]