Sea lions killed to protect endangered salmon
Dozens of sea lions could be killed off the United States’ north Pacific coastline to stop them feasting on endangered wild salmon, wildlife officials say. Read More »
Australian Yellow-Spotted Bell frog hops back to life
Presumed extinct for nearly 30 years, a colony of nearly 100 yellow-spotted bell frogs have been found in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.
Thames eels prove slippery customers
Eels, once a slippery mainstay of Cockney cuisine, appear to be abandoning the River Thames. Scientists from the Zoological Society of London have recorded a 98 percent drop in the number of European eels in the river in the past five years and say that triggers alarm bells for the future health of other Thames-dwelling species too. Read More »
Species ‘becoming extinct at 1,000 times natural rate’
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns Monday that human expansion is wiping out species at around 1,000 times the “natural” rate as the UN launches the International Year of Biodiversity in Berlin. Read More »
‘Ratty’ makes welcome return to British riverbanks
The water vole – a much-loved British water mammal and the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame’s gentlemanly Ratty in “The Wind in the Willows” – may be staging a remarkable recovery, easing conservationists’ fears about the creatures’ future. Read More »
Amorous amphibians feel urge to mate by moonlight
It’s not just werewolves who are driven wild by the luminescent glow of a full moon. Researchers have discovered that the lunar phenomenon also brings out the beast in amphibians with frogs, toads and newts all over the world apparently sharing a common predilection for mating by moonlight. Read More »
Mekong dolphins on brink of extinction
Pollution in the Mekong River has pushed a local population of Irrawaddy dolphins to the brink of extinction, the World Wildlife Fund warns in a new report. Read More »
Thousands of rare river dolphins found in Bangladesh
An astonishing discovery of thousands of Irrawaddy river dolphins in the waterlogged jungles of Bangladesh has raised hopes for the future of the vulnerable species. Read More »
Chinese meat trade threatens American turtles
Wild American turtles are being harvested from ponds and streams to feed an insatiable appetite for fresh turtle meat in Asia, conservationists have warned. Read More »
Experts baffled by mystery of Thames walking fish
An unusual “walking fish” found washed up in the Thames estuary thousands of miles from home has left wildlife experts baffled and sparked fears of an invasion of British waterways. Read More »
