In a dank, disused railway tunnel in West Sussex hangs a brown, furry parcel, the sole known representative of Britain’s rarest mammal. Scientists don’t like to apply emotive adjectives to animals, but if ever there were a lonesome creature, it would be this greater mouse-eared bat. The bat’s reappearance in December for its 20th winter […]
Tag: natural history museum
Extremely Rare Shelley’s Eagle Owl Photographed in Wild for First Time
The Shelley’s eagle owl (Bubo shelleyi) was photographed by Imperial College London researcher Joseph Tobias and freelance ecologist Robert Williams on October 16, 2021 in Ghana. The Shelley’s eagle owl is a large species of owl found in the rainforests of Central and Western Africa. This nocturnal bird is among the largest owls and the […]
Are Zoos Vital for Education or Conservation?
As discussions about treating animals ethically progress, it’s difficult to graze over zoos and just how ethical or unethical they are. To start, we have to acknowledge there are people who work in and run zoos that genuinely care about animals. This is not an attempt to belittle or doubt their intentions. Nor is discussing […]
Ice Age bowhead whales’ survival surprises scientists
Ancient DNA shows that bowhead whales bucked the trend to survive the last Ice Age, say scientists. The demise of cold-adapted land mammals such as mammoths has been linked to rising temperatures around 11,000 years ago. But researchers were surprised to find a contrasting population boom for whales living off the coast of Britain. Their […]