Category Archives: Animals

Rainbow lorikeet is our most commonly spotted bird, Australia’s largest citizen science event finds

Posted on by

About 57,000 people participated in the Aussie Bird Count, with the lorikeet joining the noisy miner and magpie in the top three spots

The rainbow lorikeet and its colourful plumage has topped Australia’s largest citizen science event as the most numerous bird recorded across the country.

More than 4.1m birds were counted as part of BirdLife Australia’s annual Aussie Bird Count, a week-long event which involved 57,000 participants across the country last October.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Rainbow lorikeet

Noisy miner

Australian magpie

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Welcome swallow

Galah

Silver gull

Australian white ibis

House sparrow

Little corella

Continue reading...

Rainbow lorikeet is our most commonly spotted bird, Australia’s largest citizen science event finds

Posted on by

About 57,000 people participated in the Aussie Bird Count, with the lorikeet joining the noisy miner and magpie in the top three spots

The rainbow lorikeet and its colourful plumage has topped Australia’s largest citizen science event as the most numerous bird recorded across the country.

More than 4.1m birds were counted as part of BirdLife Australia’s annual Aussie Bird Count, a week-long event which involved 57,000 participants across the country last October.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Rainbow lorikeet

Noisy miner

Australian magpie

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Welcome swallow

Galah

Silver gull

Australian white ibis

House sparrow

Little corella

Continue reading...

‘They’re everywhere’: workers warn of rat infestation at Somerset nuclear plant

Posted on by

Unions urge energy giant EDF to take action as concerns mount over health of construction staff

Workers building the troubled Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor in Somerset have raised concerns that the construction site is overrun by rats.

The Unite and GMB trade unions are understood to have warned the developer, the French energy giant EDF, that urgent action is needed because the rodents are “everywhere”.

Continue reading...

Beloved Alaska pet reindeer euthanized after cage tampering and possible poison

Posted on by

Star, 8, began to lose weight after someone got inside pen, cut gate locks and sprayed substance over two-month span

A pet reindeer beloved by many in Alaska’s largest city has been euthanized, just weeks after someone tampered with his cage and possibly poisoned him, his caretaker said on Wednesday.

“I don’t have an answer as to why he had to be put down other than it relates back to what happened,” said Albert Whitehead, who cared not only for the eight-year-old reindeer named Star but also the decades-long tradition of having a reindeer in downtown Anchorage.

Continue reading...

Chester zoo unveils £28m ‘Africa’ facility – complete with chilly giraffes

Posted on by

Nine-hectare site home to 57 species including rhino, zebras and ostriches in UK’s biggest such development

“Although we are trying to replicate Uganda and Kenya we are actually in Cheshire so the weather is slightly different,” admits Chester zoo boss, Jamie Christon, on a fresh and very grey Monday morning.

But ignore the chilliness and screw your eyes and you could well be transported to a sweeping African savannah where, one day, there will be giraffes, zebras, antelopes and ostriches roaming majestically side by side.

Continue reading...

Charity faces legal action after relocated elephants in Malawi allegedly kill 10 people

Posted on by

People living near Kasungu national park say they are living in fear after translocation of 263 elephants by International Fund for Animal Welfare

People living on the edge of a protected area in Malawi are taking legal action against an NGO that moved more than 250 elephants into the area, which they say have killed at least 10 people.

Villagers near Kasungu national park, which is Malawi’s second largest and crosses the Zambian border, say they are living in fear for their livelihoods and safety after 263 elephants were introduced in July 2022, causing a sharp spike in human-wildlife conflict. Ten people claiming to be affected by the translocation from Liwonde national park have begun legal action against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), demanding that the conservation NGO construct adequate fencing to protect the 167 villages around the park and compensate local people for the damage caused by the elephants.

Continue reading...

Bald eagle who went viral for incubating rock dies after fierce storms in Missouri

Posted on by

Murphy, who lived to 33, took in a rock in 2023 and tried to hatch it, captivating hearts and later fostering two eaglets

Missouri lost an ambassador, role model and community pillar in the violent storms that swept the country on 15 March: a 33-year-old bald eagle named Murphy.

Murphy captivated hearts far beyond the midwest and gained national attention in 2023 when he incubated a rock, attempting to hatch it, in a stunt the internet loved. The World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri, where he lived, rewarded his instincts, allowing him to foster an eaglet that he nurtured back to health. Another eaglet was placed into his care, and is expected to be released midway through the summer.

Continue reading...

Falconer ‘extremely close’ to catching hawk attacking Hertfordshire villagers

Posted on by

Bird of prey’s violent reign in Flamstead could soon come to an end, according to parish council

It stole two woolly hats from the head of a 91-year-old pensioner. It clawed a jogger’s scalp and left him reeling. It is said to swoop in from behind without making a sound, has a penchant for tall men’s heads and – so far – has evaded capture.

But the violent reign of the Flamstead hawk, which has made men in the Hertfordshire village of Flamstead afraid to go out without covering their heads, may soon be at an end.

Continue reading...

Spanish parliament vote on cutting food waste will end ban on wolf hunting

Posted on by

Amendment brought by coalition of parties says wolves add to food waste due to remains of livestock they kill

The Spanish parliament has voted through a measure that will in effect lift the hunting ban on wolves that was imposed in 2021.

A coalition led by the conservative People’s party, with the support of the far-right Vox party and Basque and Catalan nationalists, added an amendment to a law aimed at reducing Spain’s estimated 1.2bn kilograms of food waste.

Continue reading...

Mexico City introduces ‘bloodless bullfighting’ in win for animal rights activists

Posted on by

Activists celebrate move, but note that ‘a bull event without violence does not mean one without suffering’

Mexico City’s congress has voted to ban traditional bullfights and replace them with a new form of bloodless spectacle, marking the latest episode in a years-long legal battle to outlaw the practice in the capital.

Animal rights activists celebrated the move on Tuesday – even if it wasn’t the total ban on bullfighting they had been pushing for.

Continue reading...

Hope for endangered penguins as no-fishing zones agreed off South Africa

Posted on by

Deal will restrict fishing near colonies on Robben Island and Bird Island for 10 years, after long debate between industry and conservationists

Efforts to stop the critically endangered African penguin from going extinct took a step forward on Tuesday after South African conservationists and fishing industry groups reached a legal settlement on no-fishing zones around six of the penguins’ major breeding colonies.

Sardine and anchovy fishing will not be allowed for 12 miles (20km) around the penguin colony off Cape Town on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and Bird Island, across the bay from Gqeberha, also known as Port Elizabeth. There will be more limited closures around four other colonies, according to a court order formalising the agreement.

Continue reading...

Once named world’s ugliest animal, blobfish wins New Zealand’s fish of the year

Posted on by

Made up of blobby tissue and living deep in the ocean, the distinctive species beat the longfin eel and pygmy pipehorse in the annual contest

It was once crowned the “world’s ugliest animal” and now the disgruntled-looking gelatinous blobfish has a new gong to its name: New Zealand’s fish of the year.

The winning species of blobfish, Psychrolutes marcidus, lives in the highly pressurised depths off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia and has developed a unique anatomy to exist. Blobfish do not have a swim bladder, a full skeleton, muscles or scales. Instead, their bodies are made up of blobby tissue with a lower density than water that allows them to float above the seafloor.

Continue reading...

Storrington in West Sussex named UK’s first European stork village

Posted on by

Village joins continental network alongside nearby Knepp estate, as birds previously extinct in Britain flourish

The Saxons knew the West Sussex village of Storrington as Estorchestone, the “abode of the storks”.

But the graceful white birds disappeared from its skies more than 600 years ago, when they became extinct in Britain.

Continue reading...

Baby wombat-snatching US influencer apologises and says she was ‘concerned’ for Australian animal

Posted on by

Sam Jones, who left Australia on Friday, posted a 900-word statement questioning outrage in country where ‘slaughter of wombats’ is permitted

A US hunting influencer who caused outrage in Australia after grabbing a baby wombat from its mother says she is sorry for the incident but was only trying to ensure its safety by removing it from a road.

Sam Jones left the country on Friday morning after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said immigration authorities were checking if she had breached the conditions of her visa.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘All the birds returned’: How a Chinese project led the way in water and soil conservation

Posted on by

The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farming

It was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.

The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.

Continue reading...

Baby wombat-snatching US influencer at risk of losing Australian visa

Posted on by

Video footage, described as ‘callous’ and ‘pretty dreadful’, showed Sam Jones grabbing the joey from its mother at night

A US hunting influencer who shared video of herself snatching a baby wombat away from its mother is being investigated for a potential breach of her Australian visa.

The footage, with scenes described as “callous” by the RSPCA and “pretty dreadful” by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, showed the Montana-based influencer Sam Jones grabbing the wombat joey at night as it was walking with its mother.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘Don’t underestimate cats’: Los Angeles feline uses up one of nine lives surviving wildfire

Posted on by

Katherine Kiefer lost her home to the Palisades wildfire, but her crafty kitty, Aggie, somehow lived through the disaster

It appears the tall tale that all cats have nine lives may be true for a California Maine coon named Aggie.

The beloved feline was feared dead for two months after the Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles left her family’s home in ashes. But her owner, 82-year-old Katherine Kiefer, held out some hope.

Continue reading...

‘A ribbon dancer’: captive baby sea lion performs acrobatics with artificial kelp

Posted on by

‘It look so artistic under the water,’ staff at Washington state aquarium says of Pepper

A baby sea lion toting an artificial kelp strip was filmed performing intricate rhythmic gymnastics-style circles through the waters of an aquarium in Washington state.

Although only nine months old and still reliant on her mother’s milk, Pepper has become the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s most acrobatic sea lion, said Noelle Tremonti, a staff biologist for the aquarium.

Continue reading...

TSA finds live turtle concealed in man’s pants at New Jersey airport

Posted on by

Turtle was detected after a body scanner alarm went off at Newark Liberty airport

A Pennsylvania man who was going through security at a New Jersey airport was found to have a live turtle concealed in his pants, according to the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The turtle was detected on Friday after a body scanner alarm went off at Newark Liberty international airport. A TSA officer then conducted a pat-down on the East Stroudsburg man and determined there was something concealed in the groin area of his pants.

Continue reading...

Eastern monarch butterfly population doubles in a year

Posted on by

Migratory insects covered 4.2 acres in Mexican forests this winter but number remains far below long-term average

The population of eastern monarch butterflies – which migrate from Canada and the US to Mexico during the winter – has nearly doubled over the last year, according to a recent report commissioned in Mexico, generating optimism among nature preservationists.

The modest growth in numbers for the orange-and-black butterflies follows years of ongoing conservation efforts – and perhaps provides a sliver of optimism after otherwise discouraging long-term trends for the species.

Continue reading...