I’d woken up at the crack of dawn in Puerto Nariño; a glorious Colombian jungle town nestled on a bend of the Amazon River, says Vicky Maskell. It was another hot day, and the deep earthy smell of the jungle lingered all around me. I was there to celebrate my birthday – a rather hasty […]
Tag: capybara
It might look like a rabbit and act like a rabbit, but this is no rabbit – OR even a hare, instead it’s something far more peculiar…
With dainty forelimbs tucked against their fluffy belly and a wonderfully solemn expression on their whiskered face, the sight of a sunbathing mountain viscacha is sure to raise a smile. This Andean rodent is perplexing and endearing in equal measure, looking as if someone has assembled it from spare parts, with rabbit ears, a squirrel […]
Powerful swimmers with massive heads, thick necks, and paws like sledgehammers, these diving big cats hunt below and above the water. Watch them in action
It was said that it couldn’t be done: the terrain was too dangerous; the floods would wipe out the cameras; the system was too unpredictable. But the truth is, no-one had really tried Andi Cross tells Melissa Hobson. We were headed to Porto Jofre, known for its wild jaguars, to help the Jaguar Identification Project (JIP) complete a […]
Ecological crisis in Brazil’s Pantanal fuels human-jaguar conflict
Roberto Carlos Conceição Arruda recalls the moment in 2002 when an ordinary morning routine took a harrowing turn. It was around 8 a.m., in the remote mountainous region of Serra do Amolar in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state, and Arruda, better known as Beto, then 29 years old, had left his house to fetch […]
Zoo Closes Amid Longstanding Animal Welfare Concerns
A British zoo with a troubled history of animal welfare issues has announced its closure after years of criticism and recent allegations of cruelty. Safari Zoo, located in Cumbria, faced years of scrutiny due to the deaths of hundreds of animals and disturbing incidents involving its wildlife. The zoo, previously known as South Lakes Safari […]
That Cuban rodent species you never knew about? Turns out it’s two species
Hutias are a strange group of rodents living on various islands of the Caribbean. Although big, and sometimes looking a little plump, they’re active climbers and spend a considerable amount of their lives in trees. They look almost like a cross between a squirrel and a beaver, but are only distantly related to either. Instead, […]
Petition: Help Shut Down Zoo in England That Has a Long History of Animal Abuse and Neglect
More than 500 animals have died in just three years at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria, England. The harrowing images and stories from this facility reveal a horrifying pattern of neglect, abuse, and outright disregard for the lives of the animals entrusted to its care. This isn’t just a zoo – it’s a death […]
Jaguars Bid for Survival in Brazil’s Wetlands
As fires rage across the Pantanal in central-western Brazil, the world’s largest tropical wetland, jaguars are showcasing a remarkable ability to adapt to the intensifying threats of their environment. While countless species suffer from the impacts of these fires, jaguars survive by using riverside refuges and sustaining themselves on prey like caimans and capybaras, which […]