I was crouched on the ground, 50 feet from an aurochs. At least it looked like one. Eight generations of back-breeding had resurrected an animal reminiscent of the giant bovine that crashed from Earth’s biota in 1627. The coal-black beast had the forward-facing horns of the long-extinct aurochs. It had the same muscular shoulders and […]
Tag: elephants
Shrinking trees and tuskless elephants: the strange ways species are adapting to humans
From the highest mountains to the depths of the ocean, humanity’s influence has touched every part of planet Earth. Many plants and animals are evolving in response, adapting to a human-dominated world. One notable example came during the Industrial Revolution, when the peppered moth turned from black and white to entirely black after soot darkened […]
Young Boy Found Alive After Spending 5 Days Surrounded by Lions and Elephants in Game Park
A missing boy has been found alive after spending nearly a week alone in a northern Zimbabwe game park filled with lions, elephants and other wild animals, local officials said. On Wednesday, Jan. 1, Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of Zimbabwe’s parliament, shared news of the “true miracle” on social media. “A boy missing & found […]
Plants Are Becoming Less Nutritious Because of Climate Change, Impacting Herbivores From Insects to Giant Pandas
More than a third of animals on Earth are herbivores, but since plants don’t have a lot of calories it can be hard for grazers to eat enough to meet their energy needs. To add to the problem, climate change is lowering the nutritional value of certain foods that these plant eaters rely on. Fossil […]
Clouded leopard sighting raises questions about conservation and research in Bangladesh
Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, Ganges river dolphins, langurs and hoolock gibbons, along with a few other endangered and vulnerable animal species, have been prominent in Bangladesh’s wildlife conservation scenario for the last few decades. Now, new animals have grasped the attention of some wildlife researchers and conservationists, as camera traps and wildlife census reveal the […]
EU votes to weaken protection for European wolves
Wolves across Europe are set to lose their “strictly protected” status. The move is seen as a win for farmers concerned about loss of livestock, but conservationists warn that removing protections will jeopardize stable wolf populations. At a recent meeting of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, EU countries […]
Saving ‘old and wise’ animals vital for species’ survival, say scientists
It’s not just humans who get wiser as they age – animals do too, according to a growing body of research. The bigmouth buffalo fish can reach 127 years old, the Greenland shark 392, and some sponges can live for 10,000 years or more. And age is not just a number: as animals get older […]
‘Old’ animals offer wisdom and stability, need protection: Study
In many animal societies, elderly individuals are critical contributors to their species’ survival, a new study has found. That’s why wildlife conservation must account for older animals, researchers say. Keller Kopf, lead author and ecologist at Charles Darwin University, Australia, told Mongabay he wanted to counter the idea that “getting old is always a bad […]