Wildcats could be released in England for the first time in hundreds of years as the Wildlife Trusts recruit an expert to help introduce them back into the wild. After being hunted to extinction, the European wildcat is now the UK’s rarest native mammal. They are larger than the domestic cat, which are bred from […]
Tag: Genet
What Cat Breeds Can Survive in the Wild?
Cats are fascinating creatures, and many people love them for their independent nature. While most cats today are kept as indoor pets, some breeds are more suited for life in the wild. Here are a few of the hardiest cat breeds that can survive in the wilderness: Siberian Cat The Siberian cat is a large, […]
Cheetah And Dog Meet As Babies And Become BFFs For Life
When Ruuxa the cub was just a few months old, staff at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park realized there was something different about him. After running some tests, they discovered he suffered from a rare genetic condition that impacted the way he could walk and run. While that could’ve been the end for him […]
Researcher examines how two volcanic eruptions forever changed flightless brown kiwi
When two massive volcanic eruptions blanketed New Zealand in ash, they forever changed the genetics of the brown kiwi bird, a new study from the University of Toronto Scarborough has found. The brown kiwi are split into four distinct lineages that inhabit different parts of New Zealand’s North Island. It’s unknown why these four groupings […]
Life at 30: the EU project that has saved species from lynx to flying squirrels
“It has been a miracle,” whispers biologist Gabriel Llorens Folgado as he studies a tumble of granite boulders for any signs of movement. The miracle is that Spain’s lynx population has been saved. Today, in the wildflower-coated hills of the Sierra de Andújar in southern Spain, Folgado is looking for Magarza and her four cubs. […]
A biologist in South Africa has a unique job: he introduces big cats to each other so that they can pair up and mate
When you live in the country, the dating scene can be thin on the ground. And for cheetahs, this is a dilemma that could jeopardize the species’ survival. Take a step forward. Vincent van der Merwe, a South African biologist, has a one-of-a-kind job. The 39-year-old exposes the large cats to one another in order […]
The genome of the numbat, a critically endangered Australian insectivorous marsupial, has been sequenced by two teams of genetic experts
The genome of the numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), a critically endangered Australian insectivorous marsupial and the last living member of the Myrmecobiidae family, has been sequenced by two teams of genetic experts. Scientists and conservationists will be able to make more informed decisions about how to protect the species in the future thanks to the genomic […]
Some hummingbird females display male coloring to avoid being harassed
Female hummingbirds sometimes look like the brightly colored males of their species. Researchers have long pondered the reason for this. Now, a study of hummingbirds in Panama suggests that sporting male-like feathers helps some females avoid intense bullying, researchers recently reported in Current Biology. To find out why this surprising pattern arises, researchers studied the […]