Category Archives: Animals

‘Extraordinary event’ for mountain gorillas as new twins born in DRC

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Conservationists celebrate second twin birth just two months after another found in Virunga national park

A second set of mountain gorilla twins has been born in Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in what conservationists are celebrating as an “extraordinary” event for the endangered primates.

Just two months after tiny twin mountain gorillas were discovered by rangers in the Virunga massif, in eastern DRC, another rare twin birth has been found by park wardens. This time, an infant male and female have been spotted in the Baraka family, a troop of 19 mountain gorillas that roam the region’s high-altitude rainforests.

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Eight arrested for ‘brutal’ attack on capybara in Brazil

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In incident filmed by security cameras in Rio de Janeiro, group of attackers beat animal with sticks and iron bars

Police in Rio de Janeiro have arrested eight people for brutally beating a capybara – the world’s largest rodent.

Resembling a giant guinea pig, the light brown capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is often seen roaming the Brazilian city, particularly near streams and lagoons.

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Owners from Great Britain travelling to EU warned over pet passport ‘dodge’

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Bypassing animal health certificate system by using cheaper pet passport issued abroad could backfire, experts say

British pet owners who want to take their furry friends elsewhere in Europe have been warned not to try to dodge expensive health certificates by using a pet passport issued abroad.

Before Brexit, taking a cat, dog or ferret to the EU was relatively simple: the Pet Travel Scheme meant an animal needed a microchip, vaccination against rabies, a pet passport and, for dogs, there were also requirements concerning tapeworm treatment.

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Charity challenges ‘chilling’ law change restricting protest at animal testing sites

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Animal Aid says reclassification of research facilities as key infrastructure could catch even most peaceful action

A charity has filed a legal challenge over a “chilling” change in the law that restricts protest outside animal testing facilities in England and Wales by reclassifying them as “key national infrastructure”.

Animal Aid says last month’s amendment to the Public Order Act could capture even the most peaceful, non‑disruptive advocacy. It claims the change is unlawful because it goes beyond parliament’s intention at the time the act was passed.

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Crossbreed dogs show more behavioural problems than pure breeds, study suggests

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Research finds cockapoo, cavapoo and labradoodle dogs display more undesirable behaviours than breeds they derive from

The UK has oodles of doodles but a study might offer paws for thought: researchers have found some of these designer crossbreed dogs show more behavioural problems than the pure breeds from which they derive.

Crosses between poodles and other dog breeds have become increasingly popular in the UK, with research suggesting the trend is – at least in part – driven by the expectation such dogs will be hypoallergenic, healthy and good with children.

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Thousands of pets being abandoned in Dubai as owners flee over Iran war

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RSPCA say animals could become ‘hidden victims’ of conflict as charities in Gulf city report being overwhelmed

Thousands of pets are being abandoned in Dubai as their owners flee the Middle East because of the Iran war, animal charities have said.

The RSPCA said pets of fleeing UK nationals could become “hidden victims” of the conflict as people who had relocated to the Gulf city scramble for an exit and struggle to bring their animals.

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Ultrasound repellers could keep hedgehogs off roads, scientists hope

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Study shows animals hear very high frequencies, making it possible to design a deterrent to cut deaths

Hedgehogs have been discovered to hear high-frequency ultrasound, raising hopes that they could be deterred from dangerous roads with ultrasound repellers.

Vehicles are estimated to kill up to one in three hedgehogs, a big factor in the much-loved mammal’s drastic decline across Europe over recent decades.

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‘My lovely distraction’: live stream of kākāpō – world’s fattest parrot – and her chicks captivates New Zealand

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More than 100,000 people have tuned in to watch ‘kākāpō cam’, which captures a rare flightless bird sleeping, tidying her nest and fighting off intruders

On an island in New Zealand’s remote southern fjords, one of the world’s strangest and rarest parrots – the kākāpō – is caring for her tiny chick as fans from across the globe watch on.

Through the black and white lens of a hidden camera, a fluffy orb with a kazoo-like squeak jostles for food from its mother’s beak. The mother, Rakiura, is attentive – scooping her chick under her large green wings, fending off an intruding bird, and periodically tidying her nest.

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Germany moves to legalise wolf hunting in response to livestock ‘bloodlust’

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Lower house votes in favour of polarising law after rapid increase in population and attack on grazing farm animals

Wolf hunting will be allowed in Germany under legislation passed by the lower house of parliament in response to a rapidly growing population and a sharp rise in attacks on livestock.

The return and growth of the wolf population in the last three decades has emerged as a wedge issue in Germany, the land of the Brothers Grimm who popularised the spectre of the Big Bad Wolf.

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Wild-born birds recruited to teach critically endangered regent honeyeaters their lost songs

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Researchers hope restoring the original song will improve breeding prospects for birds released into the wild

Scientists have rescued the lost song of the critically endangered regent honeyeater – one of Australia’s rarest birds.

Regent honeyeaters were once seen in vast flocks across south-eastern Australia, with a distribution that ranged from Queensland to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

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Shark culls brought in after fatal attack causes division and anger in New Caledonia

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Authorities say capture of bull and tiger sharks necessary to protect lives as environmentalists launch urgent legal challenge

Some beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation.

The culling operation began on 23 February, after a man from New Caledonia riding a wing foil in a recreational area was attacked and killed. Preliminary investigations indicate the victim was attacked by a tiger shark that measured at least three metres.

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The tragedy of Punch the monkey: why do mother animals abandon their offspring?

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Footage of Punch, a seven-month-old Japanese macaque, has gone viral around the world after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy

A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week.

Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born last July at Ichikawa zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother.

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Officials race to contain virus outbreak after 72 captive tigers die in Thailand

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Dozens of the animals in Chiang Mai region first began to show signs of illness earlier this month

A highly contagious virus is believed to have caused the deaths of 72 captive tigers in northern Thailand this month, with officials racing to contain the outbreak.

Teams are urgently disinfecting enclosures and preparing to vaccinate surviving animals.

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Man in Sicily trained his dog to illegally dump rubbish, say police

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City of Catania calls ruse to avoid CCTV cameras installed to stop fly-tipping ‘as cunning as it is doubly wrong’

A man in Catania, Sicily, trained his dog to dump bags of rubbish by the roadside in an attempt to evade surveillance cameras installed to combat fly-tipping, municipal police have said.

The episode was detailed in a post on the city of Catania’s official Facebook page. Accompanying a video of the dog was a remark from the police that “inventiveness can never become an alibi for incivility”.

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New Zealand bug of the year: moth named Avatar after mining threat crowned winner

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Arctesthes avatar moth, which won nearly half of the votes, was discovered in 2012 and is critically endangered

A tiny critically endangered moth, named after the Avatar films because of the proposed mining activity threatening its primary habitat, has been crowned New Zealand’s bug of the year.

The Avatar moth won by a wide margin, earning 5,192 of the more than 11,000 total votes cast. It won 2,269 more votes than the runner-up, the mahoenui giant wētā, one of the world’s largest insects. Other contenders included the wonderfully spiky hellraiser mite, the country’s heaviest spider – the black tunnelweb – and a giant earthworm that glows in the dark.

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‘Queen of the Zoo’: Gramma, tortoise who lived through two world wars, dies aged 141

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Gramma came to San Diego Zoo from Bronx Zoo in 1928 or 1931 and lived through 20 US presidents

After more than a century of munching on her favorite foods of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit, beloved Galapagos tortoise Gramma, the oldest resident of the San Diego Zoo, has died.

Gramma was born in her native habitat and was estimated to be about 141 years old, zoo officials said. She died on 20 November.

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Grizzly bear that attacked children and teachers in Canada still eludes searchers

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Eleven people were injured as three teachers fought the bear during attack on walking trail in British Columbia

Conservation officers in British Columbia are still searching for a female grizzly bear and her two cubs, four days after the sow attacked a group of schoolchildren and their teachers in an “exceedingly rare” encounter that has shaken the remote Canadian community.

Eleven people, some as young as nine years old, were injured on Thursday when the bear emerged from the forest near 4 Mile, a Nuxalk community near the town Bella Coola and attacked a school group on a lunch break alongside a walking trail.

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Eleven injured after grizzly bear attacks schoolchildren and teachers in Canada

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Two critically hurt after attack on walking trail in British Columbia as police and conservation officers search for bear

Eleven people were injured, two of them critically, when a grizzly bear attacked a group of schoolchildren and teachers on a walking trail in British Columbia, Canada.

The attack happened on Thursday in Bella Coola, 435 miles (700km) north-west of Vancouver. The Nuxalk Nation said the “aggressive bear” remained on the loose and police and conservation officers were on the scene.

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Owl described as ‘fighter’ set to fly free after falling into cement mixer in Utah

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Staff at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab spent days cleaning the concrete-covered great horned owl

An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in south-western Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter”.

The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort in the south-western part of the state and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers.

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With neonicotinoid pesticide ban, France’s birds make a tentative recovery – study

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Analysis shows small hike in populations of insect-eating species after 2018 ruling, but full recovery may take decades

Insect-eating bird populations in France appear to be making a tentative recovery after a ban on bee-harming pesticides, according to the first study to examine how wildlife is returning in Europe.

Neonicotinoids are the world’s most common class of insecticides, widely used in agriculture and for flea control in pets. By 2022, four years after the European Union banned neonicotinoid use in fields, researchers observed that France’s population of insect-eating birds had increased by 2%-3%. These included blackbirds, blackcaps and chaffinches, which feed on insects as adults and as chicks.

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