Last summer, a wildlife photographer saw, or believed he saw, a mountain lion in South Burlington, Vermont. While it’s possible, it is also remarkable: the apex predator was rendered extinct in northern New England in 1881 and the nearest confirmed breeding population is in North Dakota, 2,000 miles (3,200km) away. But there could be in […]
Tag: Wolves
Mystery of the missing bait: clever coastal wolf raids crab traps
It’s the sort of mystery that leaves ecologists hungry for answers: A submerged crab trap inexplicably hauled out of the depths, ripped open and the bait trap emptied – a few teeth marks the only clue that some sort of predator may be to blame. It took almost a year and a set of remote […]
“Each family display loyalty, courage and generosity” – These wild dogs might be branded villains, but what I found in the savannah completely changed my mind
The gritty 1973 thriller about an assassin plotting to murder the French president has much to answer for. Almost 40 years on, The Day of the Jackal continues to cast a long shadow over the lives of the wonderful animals that gave the film’s villain his codename. The word ‘jackal’ still invokes images of scavengers […]
A lawsuit challenges an Alaska program that allows killing bears as a way to rebuild a caribou herd
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Conservation groups sued Monday over a state program in Alaska that authorizes killing brown bears and black bears as a way to increase the size of a once-significant caribou herd in the southwest part of the state. The groups allege the program lacks a scientific basis and is unconstitutional. The lawsuit […]
Yellowstone Visitor “Lucky to Be Alive” After Approaching A Pack of Wolves While Bystanders Watched In Horror
This year, there has been a noticeable increase in visitors making dangerous decisions in America’s national parks. Some incidents are harmless enough, while others—including a case where two park visitors narrowly avoided being gored by an angry bison—cross a line into genuinely dangerous territory that could cost someone their life. That’s exactly what happened in […]
Alaska sued over hunting of bears from the air to protect caribou
Juneau, Alaska — Conservation groups sued Monday over a state program in Alaska that authorizes killing brown and black bears as a way to increase the size of a once-significant caribou herd in the southwest part of the state. The groups allege the program lacks a scientific basis and is unconstitutional. The lawsuit filed in […]
Durrell Trust finally ends blood sports tourism on its Scottish estate
The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT) has finally bowed to pressure from its supporters and ended pay-to-shoot deer stalking on the Dalnacardoch Estate in Scotland’s Cairngorms where the Trust runs a rewilding project. DWCT is a well-known Jersey-based conservation charity, founded by the popular late British author and naturalist Gerald Durrell. It has been involved […]
7 weirdest lizards on the planet: These reptiles are so strange they could be from a sci-fi movie – except every one of them is 100% real
Think lizards are boring sunbathers with scales? Think again. From colour-changing chameleons with swivelling eyes to a real-life ‘flying dragon‘ that glides through the air, these bizarre reptiles rewrite the rulebook on weird. One can even squirt toxic blood from its eyeballs with sniper-like precision. Dive into the world of lizards so strange they could […]