Hedgehogs are now listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list after a decline in numbers of at least 30% over the past decade across much of their range. While hedgehogs were once common across Europe, and were until now listed as of “least concern” on the red list, […]
At the turn of this century, seeing a wild jaguar was exceptionally difficult. People driving through the Jaguar Ecological Reserve in the Pantanal in Brazil would very occasionally get a glimpse of one crossing the road, but photographing them in the wild was considered almost impossible. The same was true for other large iconic cat […]
A small boy calls out the sights as the train speeds through the Suffolk countryside from London Liverpool Street. “Tractor. Church. Pigs. Polar bear! Dad! A polar bear!” The dad doesn’t glance up. “We don’t have polar bears in this country.” But the boy isn’t dreaming. There they are: four polar bears lumbering across a […]
In the grasslands of Yagul, in the central valleys of southern Mexico’s Oaxaca state, a jaguar makes its way through the bushes. It stops suddenly, lowering its head and sharpening its gaze, stalking. With its eyes on its target, it stealthily pounces on it. Just a short run and a jump before the jaguar’s prey […]
The dramatic sea cliffs, crags and stacks of Rathlin Island, county Antrim, rise more than 200 metres above the Atlantic Ocean and host one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies, including hundreds of endangered puffins, attracting up to 20,000 birders and tourists a year. On a spectacularly sunny day in September, the cliff faces are […]
A recent study revealed a troubling trend among the wild monkey population in Bangladesh’s northeastern forests. The study, conducted by the German Primate Centre, unveiled a concerning tendency of hybridization between Phayre’s langurs (Trachypithecus phayrei) and capped langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus), listed as critically endangered and endangered, respectively, within Bangladesh by IUCN. This hybridization of the […]
The newly-discovered species belongs to Trichothraupis, a genus that was established in 1851 and, until now, included only one species: the black-goggled tanager (Trichothraupis melanops). These forest-dwelling birds live in pairs or in small groups, and feed on fruit and arthropods, regularly feeding on army ant swarms. They are common in the Atlantic Forest, where […]
Their brazen chip-snatching, swooping and aggressive squawking has earned seagulls a reputation as the scourge of seaside towns, terrorising unsuspecting tourists and enraging residents alike. And as the marauding birds have ventured inland and established urban colonies, towns have deployed spikes, netting and even birds of prey as deterrents. Now Worcester city councillors appear to […]