Category Archives: Wildlife

Loss of koala habitat shows ‘total failure’ of nature laws, conservationists say

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More habitat has been given up legally in 2025 so far than any other year since the animals were listed as threatened, analysis shows

More clearing of koala habitat has been approved under Australia’s nature laws in 2025 so far than in any other year since the marsupial was listed as a threatened species, according to an analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The destruction of 3,958 ha of bush approved across eight projects, including a coalmine in Queensland, equates to about four Sydney airports’ worth of clearing.

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Two women killed while trying to help injured kangaroo on Melbourne freeway

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Police say one 30-year-old died at the scene on the Hume Highway and the other, also 30, was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards

Two women have died after being hit by a car while trying to help an injured kangaroo on a busy freeway in Melbourne’s north.

The deaths have prompted warnings about the dangers of stopping to help wildlife.

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‘We’re winning a battle’: Mexico’s jaguar numbers up 30% in conservation drive

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Conservationists hope that in 15 years species will no longer be at risk of extinction in Mexico – but challenges remain

In 2010, Gerardo Ceballos and a group of other researchers set out to answer a burning question: how many jaguars were there in Mexico? They knew there weren’t many. Hunting, loss of habitat, conflict with cattle ranchers and other issues had pushed the population to the brink of extinction.

Ceballos and his team from the National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation (ANCJ) thought there were maybe 1,000 jaguars across the country. They decided to carry out the country’s first census of the animal to find out exactly how many there were. They found 4,100.

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Labor greenlights contentious Robbins Island windfarm despite fears for endangered orange-bellied parrot

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Environment advocates have called for important migratory shorebird habitat off Tasmania to be declared ‘no-go site’

The Albanese government has greenlit a contentious windfarm proposed for Robbins Island off north-western Tasmania, promising to impose conditions to protect threatened bird species, including the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.

The environment minister, Murray Watt, announced on Friday that he had approved an application by the renewable energy company Acen Australia to build up to 100 turbines, a 1.2km bridge between the nearly 10,000-hectare island and the Tasmanian mainland, a 500-metre wharf and four quarries.

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India’s supreme court orders inquiry into giant zoo run by son of Asia’s richest person

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Activists claim Anant Ambani’s Vantara facility has no plan to return its endangered species to the wild

India’s supreme court has ordered an investigation into a vast private zoo founded by the son of Asia’s richest person over allegations of illegal wildlife imports and financial misconduct.

Home to a reported 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, Vantara in western Gujarat state describes itself as the “world’s biggest wild animal rescue centre”. It is run by Anant Ambani, a son of Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire head of the conglomerate Reliance Industries, and was one of the venues for his extravagant wedding celebrations last year, where celebrities were encouraged to wear “jungle fever” outfits.

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Public warned to keep away from injured dolphin filmed with Dorset swimmers

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Conservationists flag dangers of human interaction after ‘Reggie’ filmed playing with family

The public has been warned to keep away from an injured dolphin that was filmed dancing and playing with swimmers off the coast of Dorset earlier this month.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), a government-backed agency responsible for England’s seas, said it was “increasingly concerned about a lone dolphin spotted in Lyme Bay, Dorset, following multiple potential marine wildlife disturbance offences observed online and shared on social media”.

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Plan to extend Queensland coalmine would bulldoze ‘critical’ koala habitat

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Glencore says it is working with state and federal governments to minimise the impact of flora and fauna in the 680ha area west of Mackay

Habitat for threatened koalas that are part of a population described by one expert as nationally significant would be bulldozed under plans to extend a Queensland coalmine.

The campaign group Lock the Gate used drones with thermal imaging cameras to find 13 koalas in one night in trees earmarked for clearing by mining company Glencore.

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‘Death spiral’: Mekong River megafish have shrunk by half, study reveals

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Fish once as large as grizzly bears have become far smaller in recent years due to overfishing, dams and climate crisis

The size of megafish in the Mekong River has shrunk alarmingly in recent years owing to overfishing, a study has found. The length of the largest and most endangered freshwater giants, some as big as grizzly bears, decreased by 40% in seven years.

Some fish, like the Mekong giant catfish, have been studied for over a longer period and show a decline in weight of 55% in the past 25 years, dropping from an average of 180kg (397lb) to 80kg.

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Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds

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Prof Miles Richardson says people risk ‘extinction of experience’ in the natural world without new policies

People’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800, almost exactly mirroring the disappearance of nature words such as river, moss and blossom from books, according to a study.

Computer modelling predicts that levels of nature connectedness will continue to decline unless there are far-reaching policy and societal changes – with introducing children to nature at a young age and radically greening urban environments the most effective interventions.

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Lynx could thrive in Northumberland with most in area supporting return, study finds

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Release of 20 lynx over several years into Kielder Forest area would create population of about 50 animals

Releasing just 20 lynx in Northumberland would be enough to create a healthy wild population, research has found, and most people in the area would support the practice.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust has been working to see if the wild cats, which became extinct in Britain about 1,300 years ago as a result of hunting and habitat loss, could be returned to the area.

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Four rare Barbary lion cubs born at Czech zoo

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Lion that once roamed northern Africa has been extinct in the wild since 1960s

Four Barbary lion cubs were born recently in a Czech zoo, a vital contribution for the small surviving population of a rare lion that is extinct in the wild.

The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvůr Králové safari park on Wednesday under the watchful eye of their parents, Khalila and Bart.

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US hunter reportedly killed by buffalo during expedition in South Africa

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Asher Watkins, 52, of Texas died while tracking 1.3-ton Cape buffalo on a hunting trip in the country’s Limpopo province

An American game hunter was killed by a buffalo he was stalking during a hunting expedition in South Africa over the weekend, according to multiple reports.

Asher Watkins, 52, of Texas, died on 3 August while tracking a 1.3-ton Cape buffalo in South Africa’s Limpopo province, according to a statement from Coenraad Vermaak Safaris (CV Safaris), the company that organized the hunting trip.

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Experts baffled as rarely seen beaked whales involved in series of strandings

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Incidents across northern Europe on 26 and 27 July have left scientists trying to understand why so many of the deep-diving whales have appeared

A series of strandings of one of the world’s deepest dwelling and most rarely seen types of whale in the last few days has left experts baffled over why they might have appeared in such numbers.

Beaked whales are used to deep ocean waters and are so rarely seen that some species have only ever been identified through dead specimens. But on 26 and 27 July there were reports from western Ireland, Orkney in Scotland and the Netherlands of these whales being stranded, raising concerns that human actions could be implicated in the animals’ deaths.

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Thousands of tons of invasive seaweed ‘overwhelming’ Spanish beaches

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Alga from south-east Asia is major threat to biodiversity, say experts as they warn of environmental catastrophe

Thousands of tonnes of an aggressive invasive seaweed from south-east Asia are piling up on the beaches of the strait of Gibraltar and Spain’s southern coast in what local environmentalists say is a major threat to the region’s biodiversity.

Since May, the local authority in Cádiz has removed 1,200 tonnes of the alga Rugulopteryx okamurae from La Caleta, the city’s most popular beach, including 78 tonnes in a single day.

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‘Hero’ father pulls four-year-old child out of mountain lion’s jaws in Washington state

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Family was hiking when big cat attacked child, who was later airlifted to hospital and is in satisfactory condition

A mountain lion bit a four-year-old child on Sunday while the child hiked with family on Hurricane Ridge in Washington state’s Olympic national park, authorities said.

The child’s father reportedly saved the minor’s life by pulling the child from the creature’s jaws.

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China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam

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1.2tn yuan project has broken ground in Tibet, premier says, despite fears of downstream nations India and Bangladesh

Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”.

The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory.

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Green mission aims to raise £1bn to bring nature into UK towns and cities

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Initial £15.5m will go to schemes such as launch of large regional park to improving green spaces along canals

A coalition of environmental and heritage bodies has launched a billion-pound mission to bring nature into the heart of urban areas in the UK.

The first phase of the Nature Towns and Cities initiative will involve £15.5m being invested in 40 towns and cities across the four nations.

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Restaurant in China criticised for putting baby lion cuddles on menu

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Diners jump at chance to snuggle with cubs but wildlife experts accuse firm of ‘exploiting wild animals for selfies’

A restaurant in northern China has been criticised by animal welfare groups for offering an unusual item on the menu: lion cub cuddles.

According to a screenshot of a menu circulating on social media, Wanhui – a restaurant in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province – has a four-course set afternoon menu costing 1,192 yuan ($166/£124) that includes playtime with the in-house animals.

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Bear that bit man in Norway roams free after hunt in which wrong animal shot

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Search for female and her cubs on hold to campaigners’ relief after court had quashed injunction against cull

The hunt for a brown bear that bit a man on the elbow has been put on hold, the Norwegian environment agency has announced, in a case that angered animal rights campaigners after officials shot the wrong bear.

The agency said on Wednesday it did not now plan to act on a bear-culling order it issued in late June in Jarfjord, near the border with Russia, after a female bear bit a man’s arm, leaving him needing stitches.

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‘Inquisitive, relaxed’ humpback whale swimming in Sydney Harbour delays ferries and boats

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Whale is having a ‘full harbour experience’, says an expert aboard a maritime boat shadowing the supersized mammal

An “inquisitive” humpback whale that wandered from its usual migratory route and into the centre of Sydney Harbour is causing “navigational challenges” for ferries and vessels as its tour of the world-famous harbour continues.

The sub-adult whale was spotted by commuters on a harbour ferry service near Fort Denison about 8am on Wednesday. It swam to Circular Quay – Sydney’s central ferry terminal – before moving east towards the defence base of Garden Island then to Watsons Bay and north to Balmoral Bay.

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