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 […]
Tag: predator
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 […]
Piping Plovers Here and There
In June 2013 during my Conservation Big Year, when I still needed to see an endangered Roseate Tern, I learned that I had a good chance of seeing one or more feeding at Popham Beach State Park in Maine. Sure enough, I saw one there—the only Roseate Tern I saw all year—but that listing conquest […]
Whisky protects lorikeets in French Polynesia
Invasive alien predators, especially rats, are the biggest threat to the birds of the Pacific region. Their spread across the Pacific has followed the movements of people, particularly Europeans, over the last two centuries. These invaders, as they “stepped off the boat”, heralded the beginning of the decline of many bird species. Today, the Pacific […]
Top scientists back federal plan to protect Alaska predators
A group of scientists has backed a federal plan to restrict the trapping and gunning down of bears and wolves in Alaska’s wildlife refuges, in the face of bitter opposition from the state government. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed an overhaul of hunting regulations for Alaska’s 16 national wildlife refuges, which […]
Why the Arctic’s Big Mosquito Problem Is Getting a Lot Worse
When the wind drops and the endless summer sun bakes the ponds that dot the frozen tundra, some of the Arctic’s most ferocious predators emerge and form menacing blizzards that darken the horizon – and everyone’s mood. “It is the talk of the town when the Arctic mosquitoes are out,” says Lauren Culler, a postdoctoral […]