Terrible news for wild birds in France: President Emmanuel Macron has just re-authorised horrific bird trapping practices which only have their place in history books. BirdLife’s French Partner, LPO, reports. Unbelievable but true: French President Emmanuel Macron is endorsing bird poaching! The day after the World Conservation Union’s World Congress in Marseille, where he declared […]
Tag: climate change
Pepé Le New: Meet the acrobatic spotted skunks of North America
The familiar striped skunk of North America (think of the cartoon Pepé Le Pew) has a lesser-known cousin: the spotted skunk. These polka-dotted relatives are smaller, about the size of a fat squirrel, and do impressive handstands to warn predators before they launch their stinky spray. And now, this skunk group has a few more […]
Saving sea turtles in the ‘Anthropause’: Successes and challenges on the beach
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Beaches across the planet emptied as COVID-19 spread in 2020, with the first full lockdowns in many places coinciding with sea turtle nesting season. With less noise, less tourist boat traffic, less fishing, less beach furniture clutter and less light pollution, the hazards and challenges for sea turtles nesting appeared to decline. […]
Ice Loss Forces Polar Bears to Inbreed
A recent study found that 10% of polar bear diversity has been lost between 1995 to 2016. Scientists analyzed two generations of bears around the time of the rapid ice loss in the Barents sea. They observed that the leading cause of the decline in genetic diversity was primarily climate change, as it had detrimental […]
Loss of forests turns up the heat, literally, on giant anteaters
Giant anteaters are native to the savannas of Central and South America. They forage in the open spaces of the mosaic of forests, grasslands and wetlands, and rest in the more sheltered and covered habitats. That latter part is important: A recently published study shows that giant anteaters are relatively poor regulators of their own […]
The huge threat of climate change: Iceland’s puffins and MANY other species pay high price
Flying in on whirring wings from a fishing trip or resting beside their nesting burrows near the southern tip of Iceland, these beautiful puffins look to be at one with the environment. At Dyrholaey in southern Iceland, we watched them skilfully dodge attacks by the pirates of the sea, Arctic and great skuas as they […]
Stranded Killer Whale Saved After Long Rescue Effort
On July 29, a stranded killer whale was found washed up on the rocky shore in Alaska. It was stuck in the crevice of the rocks that were several feet above the tide line. It took rescuers hours before they were able to successfully release the stranded killer whale. The largest amount of time was […]
‘Olympian’ bat killed by cat after record flight from UK to Russia
Nathusius’ pipistrelle weighing just 8g flew 1,254 miles across Europe A tiny record-breaking “Olympian” bat flew more than 1,200 miles from London to Russia but ended up being killed by a cat. The female Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat, weighing only 8g, was found on the ground after her 1,254-mile journey, after being attacked by the cat. […]