Category Archives: Animals

‘He really packed on the pounds’: Fat Bear Week crowns 747 the winner

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747, one of more than 2,200 brown bears roaming Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, won after a week of online voting

In Alaska’s annual battle of furry heavyweights, a salmon-chomping bruin nicknamed 747 – like the jumbo jet - has emerged as the people’s choice as the most fabulously fat.

The bear, one of more than 2,200 brown bears roaming Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, was victorious late Tuesday after a week of frenzied online voting (by humans) in what has become an international sensation: Fat Bear Week.

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Dogs’ brains ‘not hardwired’ to respond to human faces

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Study of brain activity shows no difference when dogs see back or front of a head

Dog owners might love their pet’s endearing puppy dog eyes and cute furry features, but it turns out the doggy brain is just as excited by the back of our heads as the front.

For despite having evolved facial expressions that tug on the heartstrings of owners, researchers have found that unlike humans, dogs do not have brain regions that respond specifically to faces.

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Decoy turtle eggs put in nests to track illegal trade in Costa Rica

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Quarter of fakes were stolen with some eggs tracked from thief to trafficker to consumer

Decoy eggs made by a 3D-printer and fitted with satellite tags have been placed in sea turtle nests on beaches in Costa Rica to track the illegal trade of their eggs.

A quarter of the fake eggs put among 101 turtle nests on four beaches in Costa Rica were stolen, with some eggs successfully tracked as they moved from thief to trafficker to consumer.

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Near-blind Ansell’s mole-rats detect magnetic cues with eyes, study shows

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Research shows Zambian species with surgically removed eyes change nest-building habits but other behaviours remain intact

Near-blind, underground-burrowing, African Ansell’s mole-rats can sense magnetic fields with their eyes, a study has found.

Native to Zambia, the animals have eyes that span just 1.5mm in diameter, live in elaborate underground tunnel systems of up to 1.7 miles (2.8km) long and feed on plant tubers and roots.

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Swearing parrots separated after telling folk where to go

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Five African grey parrots at a Lincolnshire zoo believed to be a bad influence on each other

Five foul-mouthed parrots have been separated after learning to swear at a Lincolnshire zoo.

The parrots – named Billy, Elsie, Eric, Jade and Tyson – joined Lincolnshire Wildlife Park’s colony of 200 grey parrots in August. But soon after, they started encouraging each other to swear.

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How Tunisia’s shrinking economy and fish stocks put shark on the menu

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A lack of awareness and ever-increasing competition among fishing boats threaten one of the sea’s most vital species

The temperature is cooling down in the fish market in Monastir, Tunisia. Still, the suffocating smell of the fish guts that have sat through the full force of the day’s heat hangs heavy in the air. The stallholders have left now, but on the floor amid the detritus is the unmistakable shape of a severed shark’s head.

Nearby, in a skip, the bodies of two guitarfish rays lie discarded, stripped of meat to the cartilage.

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Sniffer dogs used to detect coronavirus in Helsinki airport as part of trial – video

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Sniffer dogs have started to be deployed at Helsinki airport to detect Covid-19 among travellers, in a state-funded trial that it is hoped will provide a cheap, fast and effective alternative method of testing people for the virus.

A dog is capable of detecting the presence of the coronavirus within 10 seconds and the entire process takes less than a minute to complete, according to Anna Hielm-Björkman, of the University of Helsinki, who is overseeing the trial

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Orcas ram boat off the coast of Spain – video

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Three orcas rammed a boat off the coast of Spain.

The incident lasted 45 minutes, during which the animals bit off part of the the sailing boat's rudder as the crew had to travel to a port in Galicia to check for further damage.

A number of incidents involving orcas and sailing boats have been reported near Spanish and Portuguese coasts, but the reasons behind the behaviour are still not clear

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Botswana says it has solved mystery of mass elephant die-off

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Elephants may have ingested toxins produced by bacteria found in waterholes

Hundreds of elephants died in Botswana earlier this year from ingesting toxins produced by cyanobacteria, according to government officials who say they will be testing waterholes for algal blooms next rainy season to reduce the risk of another mass die-off.

The mysterious death of 350 elephants in the Okavango delta between May and June baffled conservationists, with leading theories suggesting they were killed by a rodent virus known as EMC (encephalomyocarditis) or toxins from algal blooms.

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More than 100 cats – and owner – evicted from Spanish flat

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Huge clan is believed to have originated from a pair of cats taken in three years ago

Animal charities in southern Spain were urgently seeking homes for 110 cats on Saturday after they and their owner were evicted from a flat in the Valencia region.

Spama Safor, an animal shelter in the south-eastern seaside town of Gandia, had initially thought there were only 96 cats in the flat. But by Saturday evening, the charity said it had removed a total of 110 cats and urgently needed help to shelter them “at least until they are vaccinated or sterilised”.

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Brazilian wetlands fires started by humans and worsened by drought

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Cloud of soot from fire heads towards São Paulo as nearly fifth of Pantanal wetland destroyed by blaze

Fires that have devastated a Brazilian tropical wetlands region famed for its wildlife were started by humans and exacerbated by its worst drought in nearly 50 years, according to Brazilian authorities, firefighters and environmentalist groups.

Images of cremated snakes, tapirs cooked to death, and jaguars with bandaged, burnt paws in the Pantanal region in Brazil’s centre-west have horrified Brazilians at a time when fires are also razing forests in the Amazon. A dark cloud of soot from fires is heading towards São Paulo.

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Groundhogs to blame for scattered bones in Canada’s biggest cemetery

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  • Pieces of casket and human bones discovered amid grass
  • Groundhogs thriving at Notre Dame des Neiges in Montreal

The sprawling grounds of Canada’s largest cemetery have long offered visitors a respite from the bustle of downtown Montreal.

But in recent weeks, those in search of a peaceful walk have instead made a series of grisly discoveries among the graves of Notre Dame des Neiges: splintered pieces of caskets and human bones scattered throughout the grass.

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Hunting in England exempt from ‘rule of six’ Covid-19 restrictions

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List of exempt physical activities includes football, rugby, cricket and hockey among others

Grouse shooting and hunting with guns in England are among outdoor activities exempted from the government’s “rule of six” coronavirus regulations.

Confirmation that the latest health protection regulations permit groups of up to 30 to take part in any “sports gathering” was published only minutes before coming into force.

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‘Lost decade for nature’ as UK fails on 17 of 20 UN biodiversity targets

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UK government said it failed on two-thirds of targets, but RSPB analysis is bleaker – and suggests UK is moving backwards in some areas

The UK has failed to reach 17 out of 20 UN biodiversity targets agreed on 10 years ago, according to an analysis from conservation charity RSPB that says the gap between rhetoric and reality has resulted in a “lost decade for nature”.

The UK government’s self-assessment said it failed on two-thirds of targets (14 out of 20) agreed at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010, but the RSPB analysis suggests the reality is worse. On six of the 20 targets the UK has actually gone backwards. The government’s assessment published last year said it was not regressing on any target.

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More than 25 apes trafficked from Congo recovered in Zimbabwe

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Large seizure of pangolin scales also carried out, government says, as four suspects are arrested

At least 26 great apes illegally removed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been seized in Zimbabwe, where four suspected traffickers have been arrested.

Congo’s environment minister, Claude Nyamugabo Bazibuhe, also announced a large seizure of pangolin scales from the country’s north-east.

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A new squeeze? Snake mystery after lone, elderly python lays clutch of eggs

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The oldest snake in captivity – known only as 361003 – hasn’t been near a male python for two decades

Experts at a US zoo are trying to figure out how a 62-year-old ball python laid seven eggs despite not being near a male python for at least two decades.

Three of the eggs from the snake in St Louis zoo remain in an incubator, two were used for genetic sampling and snakes in the other two eggs did not survive, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The eggs were laid on 23 July and should hatch in about a month.

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Up to 48 species saved from extinction by conservation efforts, study finds

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Extinction rates for birds and mammals since 1993 would have been ‘three to four times higher’ without action

Up to 48 bird and mammal extinctions have been prevented by conservation efforts since a global agreement to protect biodiversity, according to a new study.

The Iberian lynx, California condor and pygmy hog are among animals that would have disappeared without reintroduction programmes, zoo-based conservation and formal legal protections since 1993, research led by scientists at Newcastle University and BirdLife International found.

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‘World’s loneliest elephant’ allowed to leave zoo for better life

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Kaavan, who lives in a Pakistani zoo, lost his partner in 2012 and is now medically clear to travel

An elephant who has become a cause célèbre for animal rights activists around the world will be allowed to leave his Pakistani zoo and be transferred to better conditions, the animal welfare group helping with the case has said.

Dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant” by his supporters, Kaavan has languished at a zoo in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for more than 35 years.

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Chinese mining firms in Zimbabwe pose threat to endangered species, say experts

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Two companies granted permission to clear land at Hwange national park, home to cheetahs, elephants and rhinos

Rhinos, giraffes, cheetahs and other endangered species face a new threat in Zimbabwe’s Hwange national park: Chinese mining companies.

Zhongxin Coal Mining Group and Afrochine Smelting have received permission from the government to begin environmental impact assessments for drilling, land clearance, road building and geological surveys at two proposed sites inside the park, which is home to almost 10% of Africa’s remaining wild elephants.

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