Civilisation is in a death spiral but you can’t get the lid off the goddamn jar of salsa!
Number of products in UK containing MSC-certified sustainable seafood has grown by 57% in last five years
Eco-friendly pet food is on the rise as dog and cat owners become more aware of the impact of their beloved pet’s diet.
New figures released exclusively to the Guardian show that the number of pet food products containing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified sustainable seafood has grown by 57% in the UK during the last five years, from 49 to 77. In the last year alone consumers bought more than 7m tins, pouches and packs of MSC-certified pet food.
Continue reading...They are running rampant through the US and Europe: stealing a nudist’s laptop, rifling through rubbish and upsetting Shakira. Just how worried should we be?
Name: The swine bomb.
Status: Ongoing and escalating.
Continue reading...Researchers say warmer waters mean birds are travelling further for food and becoming more stressed, triggering relationship breakdowns
Albatrosses, some of the world’s most loyally monogamous creatures, are “divorcing” more often – and researchers say global heating may be to blame.
In a new Royal Society study, researchers say climate change and warming waters are pushing black-browed albatross break-up rates higher. Typically after choosing a partner, only 1-3% would separate in search of greener romantic pastures.
Continue reading...Campaigners say if copper mine gets go-ahead in cloud forest, the longnose harlequin, once thought to be extinct, will be threatened again
Reports of the longnose harlequin frog’s death appear to have been greatly exaggerated – or, at least, premature. The Mark Twain of the frog world is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as extinct, which may come as a surprise to those alive and well in the cloud forests of Ecuador’s tropical Andes.
Known for its pointed snout, the longnose harlequin frog (Atelopus longirostris) is about to play a central role in a legal battle to stop a mining project in the Intag valley in Imbabura province, which campaigners say would be a disaster for the highly biodiverse cloud forests.
Continue reading...When dog moves ball containing device it sends a signal to a laptop and launches a video call
Whether it is a silent stare or simply a rousing bark, dogs have found myriad ways to communicate with humans. Now researchers have created a hi-tech option for canines left home alone: a ball that allows them to call their owners on the old dog and bone.
The device – nicknamed the DogPhone – is a soft ball that, when moved, sends a signal to a laptop that launches a video call, and the sound of a ringing telephone.
Continue reading...Thanks to climate change, armadillos, native to southern America, are making their way up north. And there’s no sign of them stopping their relentless march
In the pitch dark, Jason Bullard adroitly shoulders his rifle and levels it at the object. “That looks like one!” he mutters. It turns out to be a fuse box. Another candidate, again aimed at with the gun, reveals itself as a rock.
In this town besieged by armadillos, anything with a passing similarity to the armored nemesis is under suspicion.
Continue reading...Authorities say health worker has been dismissed from role, amid accusations they are overreacting as China pursues zero-Covid strategy
The killing of a pet dog whose owners were in quarantine has sparked outrage on Chinese social media and raised questions about extreme measures health authorities are taking to battle a continuing Delta outbreak.
On Friday a resident of Shangrao, in Jianxi province, posted allegations on Weibo that her pet dog was beaten to death by health workers inside her apartment while she was quarantining in a hotel that didn’t allow animals. In video purportedly from her apartment’s security camera posted online, one of two PPE-wearing individuals is shown hitting the dog with what looks like a crowbar.
Continue reading...Police say the animal, thought to be either an escaped pet or a juvenile, kept charging at the woman when she left her house
A possum has been released without charge after it held a woman “hostage” at her home, New Zealand police say.
Officers received a call late on Sunday night from a distressed woman who said “a possum was holding her hostage” at her home in the South Island city of Dunedin.
Continue reading...Lincoln Children’s Zoo says deaths of Ranney, Everest and Makalu are ‘truly heartbreaking’, as two tigers recover
Three snow leopards have died at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska of complications from Covid-19.
The zoo made the announcement in a Facebook post on Friday, describing the deaths of the three leopards – named Ranney, Everest, and Makalu – as “truly heartbreaking”.
Continue reading...At a time when international travel has been mostly out of reach, BirdLife Australia is turning the spotlight on some of the country’s mightiest and most threatened migratory birds in its 2022 calendar
Humans have encroached on the animals’ habitat – now villagers face daily raids as the elephants break into their homes in search of food
It was around midnight when Kittichai Boodchan heard two loud crashes coming from in front of his home. He knew immediately what was happening. An elephant was outside, and it wanted the family’s stash of bananas.
Boonchuay, a local bull from the nearby Kaeng Krachan national park notorious for his habit of raiding the village in search of snacks, had come to call. Kittichai had earlier bought 200kg of bananas to sell and, although stored inside, the sweet scent had undoubtedly piqued Boonchuay’s interest.
Continue reading...Birds Chile and Greater, painstakingly restored by taxidermists, will be on display at SA Museum as part of Feast festival
Australia’s last flamingos will go on display this weekend after taxidermists restored the magnificent pink birds.
The last flamingo in Australia (named Chile) died in 2018, the second last (Greater) in 2014 – but they have been resurrected as gay emblems for South Australia’s Feast festival.
Continue reading...New study shows that deer can catch the virus from people and give it to other deer in overwhelming numbers
As America’s pandemic – for now – seems to be moving into a new phase with national rates in decline from the September peak and vaccines rolling out to children, a new worry has appeared on the horizon: wildlife passing on the virus.
A new study shows that deer can catch the coronavirus from people and give it to other deer in overwhelming numbers, the first evidence of animals transmitting the virus in the wild. Similar spillover and transmission could be occurring in certain animal populations around the world, with troubling implications for eradicating the virus and potentially even for the emergence of new variants.
Continue reading...Naturalist Chris Packham calls for legal action over ‘appalling abuse’ at Hertfordshire event
The RSPCA is investigating after a woman was filmed by a hunt saboteur group apparently punching and kicking a horse.
The woman was condemned by the anti-hunting campaigners, as well as the naturalist Chris Packham and the organisation that oversees hunting with hounds in the UK.
Continue reading...Eight camels and a llama took to streets of Madrid overnight after escaping from a nearby circus
Eight camels and a llama were loose on the streets of Madrid overnight after escaping from a nearby circus, Spanish police have said.
The animals were spotted at about 5am wandering around the southern district of Carabranchel close to the circus’s current location. Quiros Circus, which owns them, blamed sabotage by animal rights activists.
Continue reading...Unclear if ‘Freya’ is conducting protest lie-in or just waylaid, though Dutch navy note her choice of ‘Walrus-class submarine’
The disruption from the climate emergency being experienced by marine wildlife reached a new high in the first week of Cop26, when a female walrus was discovered sleeping on a submarine in a naval base in North Holland.
Walruses normally live in the polar regions – several hundred miles north. This particular animal is one of at least two of the species that have been seen far from their Arctic habitat. Another wandering walrus, seen off the Scilly Islands, France, Spain and West Cork, Ireland, has since been sighted back in Icelandic waters.
Continue reading...‘Mega-MPA’ in Pacific will link waters of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica to protect migratory turtles, whales and sharks from fishing fleets
Four Pacific-facing Latin American nations have committed to joining their marine reserves to form one interconnected area, creating one of the world’s richest pockets of ocean biodiversity.
Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica announced on Tuesday the creation of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) initiative, which would both join and increase the size of their protected territorial waters to create a fishing-free corridor covering more than 500,000 sq km (200,000 sq miles) in one of the world’s most important migratory routes for sea turtles, whales, sharks and rays.
Continue reading...No stunt, say organisers, who wanted to raise awareness of the pekapeka-tou-roa, which faces the same threats as native birds
In a huge upset to New Zealand birds, but a win for one of the country’s only native land mammals, a bat has swooped in “by a long way” to take out the annual bird of the year competition.
Forest and Bird, which runs the election, thew the bat among the pigeons as a surprise entry this year. The pekapeka-tou-roa, or long tailed bat, is one of two bats in the country and one of the rarest mammals in the world. It is as small as a thumb, and the size of a bumblebee when it is born.
Continue reading...Death of 55-year-old attacked in Onda is first such fatality since events resumed following Covid hiatus
A man bled to death from his injuries after he was gored at a bull-running festival in eastern Spain, authorities said.
It was the first related fatality in the country since such events resumed after Covid-19 curbs were relaxed during the summer.
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