wildlife

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Bird Flu Continues to Wreak Havoc, Killing Seals Worldwide

Tens of thousands of seals, sea lions have died, and scientists aren't sure how to slow the spread

(Newser) - Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don't see a clear way to slow the devastating virus . The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths of...

'Hundreds' of Dead Seals Block Antarctic Explorer's Grave

Virus has taken a heavy toll on South Georgia's wildlife

(Newser) - Passengers who'd hoped to walk with penguins on a cruise around the Antarctic Peninsula and the island of South Georgia weren't allowed to go ashore, but they witnessed distressing scenes of animals that had been killed by a bird flu outbreak in the region. Passenger Astrid Saunders tells...

Wildlife Center Gets Creative in Caring for Newborn Fox

Staffers in Richmond, Virginia, dress up in fox costume to keep baby from habituating to humans

(Newser) - Animals often forge a strong bond with the first creature to care for them (typically their mother), a phenomenon called imprinting. So when an abandoned baby fox showed up at Virginia's Richmond Wildlife Center shortly after it was born, staffers wanted to make sure it made the right imprint—...

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does
Got Milk? This
Amphibian Does
NEW STUDY

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does

Scientists say wormlike caecilians offer this surprising sustenance to their young, like mammals

(Newser) - Researchers already knew that baby ringed caecilians, a wormlike amphibian that lives burrowed underneath the earth, gain some of their nutrition by feeding on the skin of their own mother once or twice a week. But when a team out of Brazil studying the creature (also known as Siphonops annulatus)...

Smuggling of Rare Butterflies Doesn't End Well for NY Man

Long Island man who labeled rare insects as 'wall decorations' pleads guilty

(Newser) - A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking bird-wing butterflies and other rare insects, according to a plea deal filed in Brooklyn federal court. Charles Limmer, 75, of Commack, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to smuggle wildlife into the country and agreed to pay a $30,...

Man on Confiscated Possum: 'Feels Like They Kidnapped My Kid'

William Voiles of New Orleans says his pet marsupial was taken by officials during Mardi Gras

(Newser) - William Voiles isn't feeling very celebratory this Mardi Gras season, even though he lives in the epicenter of the festivities: the Big Easy. That's because the artist's pet possum, Saffron, was confiscated from him in the French Quarter by Louisiana wildlife officials, and now he's vying...

Sign of a US-China Thaw: a New Panda Promise

China plans to send 2 new pandas to the San Diego Zoo

(Newser) - China plans to send a new pair of giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo, renewing its long-standing gesture of friendship toward the United States after nearly all the iconic bears on loan to US zoos were returned as relations began to sour between the two nations. San Diego Zoo...

Half of Migratory Species Are in Trouble: UN

New report has bad news for critters who roam the planet to feed, breed

(Newser) - Nearly half of the world's migratory species are in decline, according to a new United Nations report released Monday. Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks, and other migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons and are imperiled by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution, and climate...

For This Nearly Extinct Rhino, a Chance to Bounce Back

Successful embryo transfer into southern white rhino could bode well for northern white rhinos

(Newser) - A rhinoceros was impregnated through embryo transfer in the first successful use of a method that conservationists said might later make it possible to save the nearly extinct northern white rhino. In testing with another subspecies, the researchers created a southern white rhino embryo in a lab from an egg...

Hundreds of Animal Species Hit by 'Catastrophic' Flu Strain

Elephant seals, seabirds, and now a polar bear—could humans be hit hard next with H5N1?

(Newser) - "It is catastrophic ... the largest die-off for the species, period." That's how Martin Mendez, a marine biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, describes to the Washington Post the fate of hundreds of elephant seals last fall in Argentina, found dead along the shore of the Valdes Peninsula....

Don't Let Moose Lick Your Car, Canada Warns

Moose learned they can satiate their winter cravings from road salt residue

(Newser) - There are plenty of reasons to exercise caution while driving in winter—and car-licking moose is apparently one of them. In the most Canadian of warnings, Parks Canada issued a recent missive on Facebook that cautions motorists not to stop and allow moose wandering the roadways to taste their cars....

'Hercules' Is Bigger Than a Baseball, Will Try to Kill You

Biggest male specimen of world's most venomous spider found in Australia

(Newser) - Wildlife experts Down Under are likely thrilled at their latest acquisition from a scientific standpoint, but mostly everyone else is keeping a healthy distance. The Australian Reptile Park in Somersby now has among its ranks the largest male specimen of the world's most venomous arachnid , a Sydney funnel-web spider...

Drought Kills at Least 100 Elephants
Drought Kills
at Least 100
Elephants

Drought Kills at Least 100 Elephants

El Nino blamed for lack of water killing pachyderms in recent weeks in Zimbabwe's largest national park

(Newser) - At least 100 elephants have died in Zimbabwe's largest national park in recent weeks because of drought, their carcasses a grisly sign of what wildlife authorities and conservation groups say is the impact of climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon. Authorities warn that more could die as...

US Wildlife Experts Play Dating Game With Rare Wolf

Wildlife officials pick up wandering female gray wolf, will try to mate her with one of two brothers

(Newser) - A match made in the wilds of New Mexico? An endangered Mexican wolf captured last weekend after wandering hundreds of miles from Arizona to New Mexico is now being readied for a dating game of sorts as part of federal reintroduction efforts. But as the AP reports, only time will...

Interpol's Animal Trafficking Crackdown Sees Big Results

Operation Thunder sees primates, big cats, ivory, rhino horns, and more confiscated in 133 countries

(Newser) - Interpol and the World Customs Organization said Tuesday they seized 53 primates, four big cats, and more than 1,300 birds, as well as some 660 pounds of ivory, thousands of turtle eggs, and rhino horns, leopard skins, and lion teeth and paws in their sweeping annual crackdown on wildlife...

An Errant Moose Is Transfixing the Internet

Minnesota's Rutt the moose is being tracked by a herd of fans

(Newser) - A herd of followers are tracking a moose on the loose in southern Minnesota, hoping the majestic animal's journey ends safely after it was spotted Tuesday 140 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The AP report that fans have been tracking the young male moose since late September and posting updates,...

Risk for Tipsy Bears: Getting Hit by Trains

Spilled grain ferments near tracks, making bears vulnerable, reports 'Cowboy State Daily'

(Newser) - There are no PSAs warning grizzly bears not to linger on train tracks, and in one corner of Montana, grain spilling from passing railcars has increased the danger. Attracted to the rare treat, bears are getting tipsy on the grain as it ferments from rain and moisture, Cowboy State Daily ...

Feeding Elk May Have Been Her Final Act

Woman trampled in what's now considered the first fatal elk attack in Arizona history

(Newser) - An Arizona woman has died eight days after she was apparently trampled by elk she may have been feeding outside her home. It's thought to be the first fatal elk attack in state history, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, which describes five known attacks in as...

8 Miles of Parkway Closed Due to People Bothering a Bear

Blue Ridge Parkway section in North Carolina shut down after visitors' interactions with young bear

(Newser) - An 8-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina has been shuttered for the indefinite future, after visitors were spotted giving food to and trying to hold a juvenile bear. In a release cited by WXII , the National Park Service says that officials have closed down the part...

Kayaker Stumbles on Stranded Sheep, 'Britain's Loneliest'

Woman first spotted creature at bottom of Scottish cliff in 2021, then again recently

(Newser) - A kayaker has made what she calls a "heart-rending" discovery: a sheep she believes has been stuck at the bottom of a Scottish cliff, by itself, for quite some time. Now, Jillian Turner is pleading for help for the woolly creature. The Brora resident tells the Northern Times that...

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