“They bore the marks of an attack, including rib fractures, internal haemorrhages and specific teeth marks.” 5 animals that kill excessively – seemingly just for fun

“They bore the marks of an attack, including rib fractures, internal haemorrhages and specific teeth marks.” 5 animals that kill excessively – seemingly just for fun

At 10am on 27 June 2018, researchers studying dolphins in a Belize mangrove, witnessed a gruesome spectacle. First, a group of four bottlenose dolphins separated a baby manatee from his mother. Then, one of them attacked the calf, biting it over and over again, and ramming it out of the water. The youngster later died […]

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“Staring menacingly, the buffaloes encircled our vehicle.” My close encounter with a mega-stampede

“Staring menacingly, the buffaloes encircled our vehicle.” My close encounter with a mega-stampede

We’re parked up in our Land Cruiser on the golden grasslands of Botswana’s Mababe Depression, surrounded by Cape buffaloes caked in mud. “There must be 3,000 of them here,” our guide Jonah Seboko says quietly, scanning the scene with his binoculars. “Beautiful, just beautiful.” That’s not a word I’d ever really associated with the notoriously […]

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An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping

An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping

Madagascar is renowned for its lemurs, which are threatened due to hunting and deforestation. Restoring native forests to ensure their survival is critical, but once damaged, forests in Madagascar are vulnerable to takeover by invasive guava trees — whose seeds the lemurs themselves are helping to spread. When the delicious strawberry guavas (Psidium cattleyanum) are […]

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“Their real super-power is their ability to shoot blood from their eyes.” The 23 weirdest, strangest animals on the planet – including the striped pyjama squid

“Their real super-power is their ability to shoot blood from their eyes.” The 23 weirdest, strangest animals on the planet – including the striped pyjama squid

With over 8.7 million species of animals in the world, it’s perhaps no surprise that evolution has produced some particularly peculiar-looking ones. Ugly as some of them may be, these so-called weird animals often become some of the most loved and well know (especially in the age of the internet meme – looking at you blobfish!). There will […]

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“It has huge back legs armed with dagger-like claws that can reach 12cm long.” 10 bonkers birds that break the rules of nature

“It has huge back legs armed with dagger-like claws that can reach 12cm long.” 10 bonkers birds that break the rules of nature

While there are plenty of weird birds to be found in the natural world, this avian selection is particularly extraordinary. From the only bird that hibernates, to the bird that can kick a human to death, here are 10 birds that defy the norms of nature. Birds that break nature’s rules Livingstone’s turaco The bird with metal […]

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