Category Archives: Animals

Quarter of known bee species have not been recorded since 1990

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Global study finds that species numbers reported in the wild fell sharply between 1990 and 2015

The number of wild bee species recorded by an international database of life on Earth has declined by a quarter since 1990, according to a global analysis of bee declines.

Researchers analysed bee records from museums, universities and citizen scientists collated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, (GBIF) a global, government-funded network providing open-access data on biodiversity.

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How Boncuk the dog waited days outside Turkish hospital – video

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Boncuk, a devoted pet, spent days waiting outside a hospital in Trabzon, Turkey, where her sick owner Cemal Senturk was being treated. Boncuk followed the ambulance that transported Senturk to hospital before making multiple visits to front door. According to Senturk's daughter, Aynur Egeli, she would take Boncuk home but the dog kept going back. After six days apart Boncuk and Senturk were reunited when he was discharged

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Giant worm’s undersea lair discovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan

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Scientists believe 2-metre-long burrow once housed predator that ambushed passing sea creatures

The undersea lair of a giant worm that ambushed passing marine creatures 20m years ago has been uncovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan.

Researchers believe the 2-metre-long burrow found in ancient marine sediment once housed a prehistoric predator that burst out of the seabed and dragged unsuspecting animals down into its lair.

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Sweden to build reindeer bridges over roads and railways

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‘Renoducts’ will help animals who have to roam further for food due to global heating

Sweden is to build up to a dozen bridges so reindeer can safely cross railway lines and major roads in the north of the country as global heating forces them to roam further afield in search of food.

State broadcaster SVT said the transport authority aimed to start work on the first of the new bridges, named “renoducts”, a portmanteau from ren (reindeer) and viaduct, later this year near the eastern city of Umea.

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And then there were two: can northern white rhinos be saved from extinction?

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There are only two remaining rhinos of this species, a mother and daughter, but scientists see new hope in stem cell breakthroughs

“I watch these beautiful animals walk the path toward extinction every day,” keeper James Mwenda tells me. He’s out in the Kenyan bush, swatting flies. The anti-poaching K-9 dogs bark in the background. “I’ve watched their numbers fall from seven to two ... Working with them and watching what’s happening – it’s an emotional freefall.” He smiles, clearly resigned to the pain of bearing witness. “But I’ve dedicated my life to it.”

The window to keep the northern white rhino from going functionally extinct to fully extinct is closing fast. Were things left only to nature, the two remaining rhinos – elderly, calm Najin and her feisty 20-year-old daughter Fatu – would be the last of their kind to graze the African grasslands. After civil war, habitat loss, and aggressive poaching, scientists declared the species extinct in the wild in 2008.

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Nice phone: Bali’s thieving monkeys can spot high-value items to ransom

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Study finds macaques go for tourists’ electronics and wallets over empty bags and then maximise their profit

At the Uluwatu temple in Bali, monkeys mean business. The long-tailed macaques who roam the ancient site are infamous for brazenly robbing unsuspecting tourists and clinging on to their possessions until food is offered as ransom payment.

Researchers have found they are also skilled at judging which items their victims value the most and using this information to maximise their profit.

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Baby sharks emerge from egg cases earlier and weaker in oceans warmed by climate crisis

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Weaker sharks are less effective hunters, which can upset the balance of the ecosystem, say authors of study into impacts of hotter oceans

Baby sharks will emerge from their egg cases earlier and weaker as water temperatures rise, according to a new study that examined the impact of warming oceans on embryos.

About 40% of all shark species lay eggs, and the researchers found that one species unique to the Great Barrier Reef spent up to 25 days less in their egg cases under temperatures expected by the end of the century.

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Gorillas at San Diego zoo test positive for Covid-19 – video

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Several gorillas at the San Diego zoo have tested positive for Covid-19, with the cases believed to be the first outbreak among primates in captivity. 

After showing mild symptoms of the virus including coughing, the presence of Covid-19 was confirmed through faecal testing. 

The animals will remain in their habitat in the park and have been quarantined together, with the zoo hopeful of a full recovery

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Gorillas at San Diego Zoo test positive for Covid in apparent first

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Gorillas are thought to have been infected by wildlife worker in what is believed to be first outbreak among captive primates

Several gorillas at the San Diego zoo safari park have tested positive for coronavirus, with some experiencing symptoms, in what is believed to be the first outbreak among such primates in captivity.

The park’s executive director, Lisa Peterson, told the Associated Press on Monday that eight gorillas who live together at the park are believed to have the virus and several have been coughing. Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, confirmed at his Monday news briefing that at least two gorillas had tested positive while three were symptomatic.

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‘Where are the cats?’ Melbourne police seek armed man who stormed animal shelter

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Man dressed in military-style clothes ties up worker at Lost Dogs Home in Cranbourne West and demands to know where cats are

A man armed with a gun is on the run after he stormed an animal shelter in Melbourne’s south-east and threatened a worker.

The worker was in the car park of the Lost Dogs Home in Cranbourne West about 11.30pm on Monday when the gunman approached, Victoria police said.

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Case of manatee with ‘Trump’ etched into back under investigation

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  • Mutilated aquatic mammal spotted at spring in Florida
  • US Fish and Wildlife Service appeals for public’s help

Federal wildlife officials in Florida are reportedly seeking information on the perpetrators of an attack on a manatee, which apparently had the word “Trump” scraped into its back.

Related: Florida manatee deaths up 20% as Covid-19 threatens recovery

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Six gorilla rangers killed in ambush at DR Congo’s Virunga national park

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Previous attacks against rangers blamed on militias fighting to control land and natural resources

Armed men have killed at least six rangers and wounded several others in an ambush in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga national park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas, the park said.

The identity of the assailants was not immediately clear, said Olivier Mukisya, a Virunga spokesman. Previous attacks against the rangers have been blamed on various militias who fight to control land and natural resources in eastern Congo.

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Why the world’s biggest mammal migration is crucial for Africa – photo essay

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Up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on Zambia’s Kasanka national park every year, dispersing millions of seeds as they go

  • Words and photographs by Georgina Smith

David Mubiana will always remember the day he was shot. It happened in 2002, when his unit was ambushed by poachers with AK-47 rifles and a shotgun. He was wounded in the arm and stomach; one bullet rupturing his spleen. As a wildlife police officer in Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, his job is inherently risky.

“Even if you fall down, you have to stand up and continue fighting. If we finish our wildlife, [our children] are not going to see what we are seeing today,” he says.

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Fat felines: we all love a ‘chonky’ cat – but the online trend has to end

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Over the last few years, the internet has thrilled to pictures of chubby pets. But now experts are calling for a new era of cat shaming and determined dieting

Name: Fat cats.

Age: Probably no older than 10, given their propensity to die young.

Appearance: Fat.

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South African game reserves forced to cull animals as Covid halts tourism

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Tourist lodges run out of cash to feed and care for the animals on their land and thousands of villagers lose their jobs

Impala run through the thorn bush, ibis fly above the lake and lightning forks over the horizon as a storm rolls in from the Drakensberg mountains.

The visitors driven across the 10,000 or more hectares of the Nambiti game reserve in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province see what they think is an unchanged, and unchanging natural landscape.

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Hopes for most endangered turtle after discovery of female in Vietnam lake

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Find is chance for species’ survival say scientists as DNA results confirm turtle found in Hanoi district is a Swinhoe’s softshell

The last known male giant Swinhoe’s softshell turtle is no longer alone on the planet after the discovery of a female of his species in Vietnam.

The female 86kg (13 stone) turtle was found in Dong Mo lake, in Hanoi’s Son Tay district, and captured for genetic testing in October.

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Swan song: German firefighters remove ‘mourning’ bird blocking railway line

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At least 20 trains cancelled after swan stopped at site of another’s death near Fuldatal

Police and firefighters in Germany were forced to intervene to move an apparently “mourning” swan that was blocking a high-speed railway line, according to a statement released by the rescuers on Monday.

The swan was pictured blocking the line near Fuldatal, causing at least 20 trains to be cancelled, after a second swan was killed when it flew into the overhead line above the tracks.

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Discovery of ‘cryptic species’ shows Earth is even more biologically diverse

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Excitement as DNA barcoding technique leads to unmasking of new species tempered with fear that some are already at risk of extinction

A growing number of “cryptic species” hiding in plain sight have been unmasked in the past year, driven in part by the rise of DNA barcoding, a technique that can identify and differentiate between animal and plant species using their genetic divergence.

The discovery of new species of aloe, African leaf-nosed bats and chameleons that appear similar to the human eye but are in fact many and separate have thrilled and worried conservationists. Scientists say our planet might be more biologically diverse than previously thought, and estimates for the total number of species could be far higher than the current best guess of 8.7 million. But cryptic discoveries often mean that species once considered common and widespread are actually several, some of which may be endangered and require immediate protection.

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Florida braced for unusually cold Christmas – and falling iguanas

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Reptiles often become immobile in chilly weather and can plummet from trees though they are still alive

With unexpectedly cold weather forecast and pandemic-related curfews in some places, Florida is about to have a Christmas unlike any other – and it may involve falling iguanas.

Related: 'I took a trip to the North Pole': Anthony Fauci tells children he vaccinated Santa

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