My mum fist-pumped when I told her I had seen a barn owl using a nest box on our farm. She has been trying to coax them in since she moved here 35 years ago. There were signs the owls might be thinking of settling down – we found a pellet (regurgitated fur and bones […]
Tag: hunting
Petition: Shut Down Illegal Online Wildlife Trade!
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, China and other countries temporarily banned the wildlife trade. However, wildlife trade hasn’t actually stopped, It unfortunately just moved online. This is terrible for many reasons — it affects animals who are already endangered, still poses a risk to public health, and it’s difficult to regulate the wildlife trade online. […]
Red-billed Oxpeckers Protect Black Rhinos From Poachers (but Also Drink Their Blood)
There’s long been a debate over whether Red-billed Oxpeckers earn their keep. As their name suggests, these common birds of Africa’s open lands like to hang around with domestic cattle and many large, wild mammal species. They eat ticks and other pesky parasites clinging to their hosts. Less helpfully, they also sometimes peck at wounds […]
Rafiki, Uganda’s rare silverback mountain gorilla, killed by hunters
One of Uganda’s best known mountain gorillas, Rafiki, has been killed. Four men have been arrested, and they face a life sentence or a fine of $5.4m (£4.3m) if found guilty of killing an endangered species. Investigations showed that Rafiki was killed by a sharp object that penetrated his internal organs. There are just over […]
Less than a thousand remain: New list of animals on the brink of extinction
The giant panda, tiny tamaraw buffalo, riverine rabbit and Iberian lynx all have something in common: they join a growing list of animals on the brink of extinction. A newly published studyin the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences lists 515 animal species with fewer than a thousand individuals remaining. Overall, the report is […]
Trump administration ends ban on killing Alaska bear cubs, wolf pups
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday overturned an Obama-era rule that barred hunters in Alaska national preserves from baiting bear traps or killing denning bear cubs and wolf pups or other practices that have been condemned by environmental and wildlife protection groups. Under the new National Park Service rule, effective July 9, […]
‘She still lives!’ Famed Yellowstone grizzly bear emerges from winter – with cubs
A few weeks ago, a nature photographer who lives near Yellowstone national park sent a four-word text message to Dr Jane Goodall, the British primatologist. “Miraculously, she still lives!” The photographer, Thomas Mangelsen, was referring to a grizzly bear known as “399”, probably the most famous wild bruin in the world. At 24, not only […]
Great Indian Bustard gets new level of protection
At first sight, the Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps (Critically Endangered) certainly doesn’t look as if it needs protecting. Towering at a metre tall, this imposing, robust bird struts slowly through the grassland of the Indian subcontinent as if it owned the place. And once upon a time, it did. Formerly widespread and abundant, this […]