Conservationists are celebrating another win for wildlife with an announcement that another county in California has suspended its contract with Wildlife Services, a program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that has come under increasing fire for its cruel and wasteful war on wildlife. Although it sounds like a program that should be […]
Tag: predator
Urban-Dwelling Leopards May Be Protecting Humans From Rabies
City-dwelling leopards may sound like a major threat to human safety, but these predators could actually be protecting urban residents from rabies. Big cat sightings have been on the rise in Asian cities,as urban sprawl forces animals like leopards to either roam further afield or to travel into cities to find prey. The influx of […]
POLL: Would you support the reintroduction of the wolf in the UK?
For anyone raised on Grimms’ fairytales – or wary of cows, hostile-looking geese – there have always been certain obvious difficulties with ambitious rewilding campaigns. Reintroducing beavers is one thing. Boars: maybe. But among the more appealing aspects of life in Britain, for the nervous, is the relative certainty of never encountering a wolf pack. […]
11 Wondrous Facts About Praying Mantises
From extreme camouflage to sexual cannibalism, these pious-looking carnivores are as exquisite as they are fearsome. Named for their prominent front legs that fold together in a supine gesture suggesting an act of devotion, the praying mantis comes off as supine and soulful. You might think of them as docile things, moving about slowly, nibbling […]
14 Incredible photos of African predators in action
Africa’s iconic predators—lions, leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs—are most known for being cunning, stealthy, and vicious. But these meat-eaters are often misunderstood. The fiercely loyal African wild dog lives in close-knit packs, caring for the babies of the matriarch and patriarch, communicating by touch, and nurturing those who are sick or injured. Vultures rarely attack […]
POLL: Should Norway’s plan to cull its wolves be abandoned?
Norway is planning to cull more than two-thirds of its remaining wolves in a step that environmental groups say will be disastrous for the dwindling members of the species in the wild. There are estimated to be about 68 wolves remaining in the wilderness areas of Norway, concentrated in the south-east of the country, but […]
POLL: Should the coyote continue to be exterminated?
The howl of the coyote is America’s “original national anthem,” says Dan Flores, author of Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History. A totemic animal in Native American mythology, the coyote has lived in North America for more than a million years. But since the early 19th-century, when Lewis and Clark first encountered them, coyotes […]
POLL: Should invasive animal predators be wiped out?
For the first time in history, New Zealand has announced an ambitious initiative to eliminate rats, stoats, and possums from the country by 2050, in an effort to rid the country of an ecological scourge ravaging its native wildlife. “New Zealand’s unique native creatures and plants are central to our national identity,” said New Zealand […]