A large rat scampers across a shady forest floor in search of its latest meal of Kiwi chicks, one of New Zealand’s endangered native birds. But the rodent is in the sights of another predator – a mammoth drone carrying hundreds of kilograms of deadly poison. This scene could soon be playing out across New […]
The birds that helped Charles Darwin refine his theory of evolution are in danger of going extinct, according to a new study. Finches in the Galapagos Islands are being threatened by a parasitic fly that attacks their young. A new mathematical model suggests that the birds may succumb to this pest in 50 years. But […]
The iconic blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) of the Galapagos Islands has suffered a population decline of 50 percent in less than 20 years, according to research conducted by biologists from Wake Forest University. The study, which appeared in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology, suggests the unexplained disappearance of sardines from the birds’ diet is […]
Want to save the world’s biodiversity from mass extinction? Then make certain to safeguard the 74 sites identified today in a new study in Science. Evaluating 173,000 terrestrial protected areas, scientists pulled out the most important ones for global biodiversity based on the number of threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians found in the parks. In […]
Fighting siskins, zebra-snouted seahorses and the world’s oldest wombat feature in last week’s pick of images from the natural world. This article was written and published by the Guardian UK.
A lumbering giant Galapagos tortoise known as Lonesome George lifts his head up during a walk in his protected home in the island chain in Puerto Ayora this February. Lonesome George was the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon Photo: (c) Stringer/Files Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind […]