Category Archives: Wildlife

New Zealand has been a life-raft for unique species – now they must adapt or die | Erica Wilkinson

Posted on by

Our nation has been in a biodiversity crisis for more than 100 years, but the climate crisis could push our at-risk animals to the brink

As world leaders debate how to curb emissions to shape a better tomorrow, for New Zealand’s iconic wildlife the reality is clear – the environment they once thrived in has rapidly changed and species must adapt to survive.

New Zealand is home to species found nowhere else in the world – a flightless parrot, a reptile as old as the dinosaurs, a bat that uses folded wings as “limbs” to scramble around on the forest floor. The unique wildlife thrived on a landmass that was essentially a life-raft separated from predators such as rats and stoats for 80m years.

Continue reading...

Frozen iguanas forecast to shower south Florida as temperatures drop

Posted on by

National Weather Service warned of reptiles falling from trees as iguanas are susceptible to freezing once temperatures fall to 40F

The National Weather Service (NWS) took the unusual step on Tuesday of warning that frozen iguanas are expected to shower south Florida as temperatures drop to unusually low levels for the region overnight.

Iguanas, as it turns out, are susceptible to freezing once temperatures drop to around 40F (4.44C). When frozen, these cold-blooded creatures lose their grip on the cozy trees they call home and slip. But the experts informed the public to be aware that the chilled reptiles may be stiff and appear lifeless – but they are not dead.

Continue reading...

Will Australia’s wildlife recover from this bushfire season?

Posted on by

Images of burned koalas and native animals fleeing the fire front have been beamed around the world. There are estimates that 1 billion animals have been impacted and experts fear that some plants and animals have been pushed to extinction. So how bad is the damage? And will Australia’s wildlife bounce back?

You can read Graham Readfearn’s articles on the impact of the fires on Kangaroo island wildlife, plus the mass fish kills in the wake of the fires.

Environment editor Adam Morton has written about the latest figures from the government on threatened species, and environment reporter Lisa Cox has written about the world heritage areas burned, plus a guide to the animals most at risk.

Continue reading...

Tanzania to relocate 36 Serengeti lions after attacks on humans and cattle

Posted on by

The lions, which live on the edge of the national park, will be moved to avoid conflicts with people and livestock

Tanzania will find a new home for 36 lions following a slew of attacks by the big cats on people and cattle.

The lions, an increasingly endangered species, live on the edge of the safari mecca of the Serengeti national park, but have been affected by encroaching human activity.

Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands of fish dead in NSW as bushfire ash washed into river

Posted on by

Ecologist fears the Macleay River may take decades to recover, with heavy rains likely to affect other waterways

Hundreds of thousands of native fish are estimated to have died in northern New South Wales after rains washed ash and sludge from bushfires into the Macleay River.

Parts of the Macleay River – favoured by recreational fishers – have been turned into what locals described as “runny cake mix” that stank of rotting vegetation and dead fish.

Continue reading...

Huge ‘hot blob’ in Pacific Ocean killed nearly a million seabirds

Posted on by
  • Thousands of bodies washed up on North America’s Pacific coast
  • Study finds common murres probably died of starvation

A million seabirds died in less than a year as a result of a giant “blob” of hot ocean, according to new research.

A study released by the University of Washington found the birds, called common murres, probably died of starvation between the summer of 2015 and the spring of 2016.

Continue reading...

A billion animals: the Australian species most at risk from the bushfire crisis

Posted on by

Fires take an enormous toll on wildlife, with huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects killed

Australia’s continuing bushfire crisis has taken an enormous toll on wildlife, with huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and other species killed.

The ecologist Chris Dickman has estimated more than a billion animals have died around the country – a figure that excludes fish, frogs, bats and insects.

Continue reading...

Sex machine: prolific Galápagos tortoise saves his species

Posted on by

Only 15 giant Española tortoises were left in the wild before one male sired 800 offspring in a wildly successful breeding program

The Galápagos National Park has announced it is ending a captive breeding program for giant Española tortoises, after one tortoise produced more than 800 offspring, helping save the species.

Related: Giant tortoise believed extinct for 100 years found in Galápagos

Continue reading...

‘Like sending bees to war’: the deadly truth behind your almond-milk obsession

Posted on by

Bees are essential to the functioning of America’s titanic almond industry – and billions are dying in the process

Dennis Arp was feeling optimistic last summer, which is unusual for a beekeeper these days.

Thanks to a record wet spring, his hundreds of hives, scattered across the central Arizona desert, produced a bounty of honey. Arp would have plenty to sell in stores, but more importantly, the bumper harvest would strengthen his bees for their biggest task of the coming year.

Continue reading...

Australia fires live: NSW and Victoria bushfires insurance bill tops $700m – latest updates

Posted on by

Rain falls on some NSW, Victorian and South Australian bushfire-affected areas, but worse fire conditions are forecast to return. Follow all today’s latest news and live updates

Andrew Crisp:

Speaking with the incident controller here at Bairnsdale a short time ago, some of our concern is the fires up in the alpine area, around Omeo, and the potential for them to travel south with the northerly and join the fires down in this part of the world.

We saw, only a few days ago, where there were more than 300 people on the oval at Omeo where some helicopters were there to take people out.

The Victorian emergency commissioner, Andrew Crisp, has an update:

There are three communities we haven’t been able to drive in. When I say ‘drive’ even with those other communities it is basically bushtracks and emergency vehicles to get in, it is where there is no real road access.

We’ve been able to get helicopters and sat phones in to make sure people have supplies.

Continue reading...

Kangaroo Island bushfires: grave fears for unique wildlife after estimated 25,000 koalas killed

Posted on by

Greatest concerns for endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart and glossy black-cockatoo after third of island burned

Ecologists have grave concerns for the future of unique and endangered wildlife on Kangaroo Island where bushfires have killed thousands of koalas.

Fires on the island, in South Australia, have so far burned through 155,000 hectares – about one third of the island’s entire area – with blazes concentrated in the biodiversity-rich western areas.

Continue reading...

Urgent new ‘roadmap to recovery’ could reverse insect apocalypse

Posted on by

Phasing out synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and aggressive emission reductions among series of solutions outlined by scientists

The world must eradicate pesticide use, prioritise nature-based farming methods and urgently reduce water, light and noise pollution to save plummeting insect populations, according to a new “roadmap to insect recovery” compiled by experts.

The call to action by more than 70 scientists from across the planet advocates immediate action on human stress factors to insects which include habitat loss and fragmentation, the climate crisis, pollution, over-harvesting and invasive species.

Continue reading...

Walrus shortage may have caused collapse of Norse Greenland

Posted on by

Communities vanished in 15th century after walrus hunted to near extinction, study finds

The mysterious disappearance of Greenland’s medieval Norse society in the 15th century came after walruses were hunted almost to extinction, researchers have said.

Norse communities thrived for more than 400 years in the Arctic, hunting walruses for their tusks, a valuable medieval commodity.

Continue reading...

Post office turned into animal rescue centre in charred Australian village

Posted on by

People in Cobargo, New South Wales, left numb by devastation wrought on their homes by fires

The joey rescued from his mother’s pouch after the bushfires that tore through the village of Cobargo on the south coast of New South Wales last week has no name yet, but Kyle Moser is leaning towards “Ali”. “Like the fighter,” he explained.

In a room at the back of the Cobargo post office, Moser and his partner, David Wilson, are caring for the kangaroo soon to be known as Ali and two wallaby joeys. Next door is the remains of a burnt-out cafe. Across the road are the charred ruins of what used to be a leather shop, a yoga studio and an incense shop.

Continue reading...

Brittany oyster farms hit by gastroenteritis epidemic

Posted on by

Farmers blame ‘ecological emergency’ on inadequate treatment of sewage

A gastroenteritis epidemic sweeping France has hit oyster farmers in Brittany after the virus was found in shellfish.

Health authorities have banned the fishing and selling of oysters in the bay around Mont-Saint-Michel and other shellfish farming areas on France’s north-western coast until further notice.

Continue reading...

Three women go to police over fire at German zoo – video

Posted on by

Three women have handed themselves in to police in Germany over a blaze at a zoo on New Year's Eve that killed dozens of animals. 

The women are being investigated for setting off flying lanterns, which are banned, and which may have been the cause of the fire at Krefeld zoo in North Rhine-Westphalia, which killed over 30 primates. 

Continue reading...

Australia’s environment minister says up to 30% of koalas killed in NSW mid-north coast fires

Posted on by

Sussan Ley’s estimate suggests up to 8,400 koalas may have perished in the bushfires

Australia’s environment minister has said up to 30% of koalas on the New South Wales mid-north coast may have been killed in the country’s ongoing bushfire crisis.

Nationally, more than 5m hectares have been burned in an unprecedented bushfire season that has also killed nine people. Some 3.4m hectares have been burnt in NSW alone.

Continue reading...

Dead rats, putrid flesh and sweaty socks: rare orchid gives UK botanists their first whiff

Posted on by
The plant has flowered for the first time in Britain, but the climate crisis is making such events rarer than ever

It is famous for smelling like “a thousand dead elephants rotting in the sun”, its petals resemble decaying flesh, and it is so rare that outside its natural habitat in Papua New Guinea, few botanists in the world have ever seen it in flower.

Now this highly pungent orchid – Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis – is in bloom for the first time in a glasshouse at Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

Continue reading...

The jaguars fishing in the sea to survive

Posted on by

The big cats’ resourceful new behaviour was recorded by a WWF study on a remote island off the coast of Brazil

A thriving population of jaguars living on a small, unspoilt island off the coast of the Brazilian Amazon has learned to catch fish in the sea to survive, conservationists have found.

The Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station island reserve, three miles off the northern state of Amapá, acts as a nursery for jaguars, according to WWF researchers who have collared three cats and set up 70 camera traps on the remote jungle island.

Continue reading...

Canadian skater rescues family of deer from frozen lake

Posted on by
  • Mother and two fawns were found splayed on ice
  • Video shows deer being towed to safety at Ontario lake

There are days in a Canadian winter – when the temperature drops well below freezing and the snow hasn’t yet fallen – that transform any body of freshwater into a glass-like sheet of ice.

But what can bring joy to an adventurous human can prove a nightmare for some wild animals.

Continue reading...