The orangutan is one of our planet’s most distinctive and intelligent creatures. It has been observed using primitive tools, such as the branch of a tree, to hunt food, and is capable of complex social behaviour. Orangutans also played a special role in humanity’s own intellectual history when, in the 19th century, Charles Darwin and […]
Tag: birdlife international
Uncovered: the secret sex life of birds
For years, people assumed most birds were monogamous. This idyllic image was blown apart when research revealed lifestyles of polygamy, polyandry, marathon mating sessions and sperm competition. Welcome to the secret reproductive life of birds. Shocked? Blame it on natural selection. In the late 1960s, it was generally assumed that the vast majority of birds […]
Coming home: the kulan of Central Kazakhstan
The Turkmenian kulan Equus hemionus kulan is a subspecies of onager, or Asiatic wild ass, native to Central Asia. And though it may not look it – with a diminutive frame 200-250 cm long and 100-140 cm tall – it is actually one of the largest onagers in the world. There was a time when […]
New study: India may have even fewer vultures than we thought
Talk about no good deed going unpunished. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, South Asia’s vulture populations underwent catastrophic declines, the vultures dying while performing their most essential and valued ecosystem service to humans: disposing of cattle carcasses. These remains would otherwise be left to feed and boost the populations of problem scavengers like feral dogs, […]
Snowy Owl faces frosty future: classed as Vulnerable for the first time
Striking, widespread and widely recognised, thanks in part to the Harry Potter books, the Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus was previously listed as Least Concern, the lowest threat category of the IUCN Red List. However, this assessment was based on earlier figures that estimated the global population to number around 200,000 individuals, and the absence of […]
Two males for every female: Antipodean Albatross in breeding crisis
Antipodean Albatrosses court for years, mate for life and work together to raise their young – but human activity is causing a sex ratio imbalance that is destroying their lifelong romance. This year, they have been uplisted to Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to worrying population declines. The “live slow, die old” strategy […]
Is this Guam bird coming back from extinction in the wild?
It suffered deadly declines due to an environmental blunder by the military, then was rescued from the jaws of extinction by conservationists. This year it endured the threat of a missile strike, but what does the future hold for the Guam Rail? Earlier this year, the world held its breath as North Korea’s crosshairs were […]
Important new breeding sites of mythical ibis discovered
It has had a dramatic history and was almost lost to extinction. Now this Critically Endangered bird is bouncing back with record breeding success in Morocco in 2017. As the day drew to a close, the orange light reflecting from the Atlantic seemed to soften the texture of the sun-baked Moroccan cliffs so much so […]