breeding

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Blue Whales Carry Surprising Levels of Another Species' DNA

North Atlantic blue whales receiving fin whale DNA through mating with hybrid offspring

(Newser) - The blue whale population has started to recover from the devastation brought by commercial whaling in the early 20th century. But the world's largest ever animal isn't quite the same. In analyzing the genomes of Balaenoptera musculus musculus—the "most endangered" of four subspecies of blue whale,...

Octopuses Are Typically Solitary, Yet Thousands Gather Here
Octopus Researchers Crack
Mystery of Meeting Place
NEW STUDY
Aug 24, 2023 11:52 AM CDT

Octopus Researchers Crack Mystery of Meeting Place

Spot off the California coast is a mating and nesting ground

(Newser) - Two miles below the surface of the ocean some 80 miles off central California sits the world's largest known assembly of octopuses. This "octopus garden," featuring thousands of the typically solitary mollusks, stunned researchers who discovered it on the foothills of an inactive underwater volcano in 2018....

Supreme Court Delivers a Defeat to Pork Industry

Justices reject challenge to animal cruelty law in California that has effects beyond the state

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has handed the pork industry a defeat, rejecting a challenge brought against an animal cruelty law in California. Justices decided that lower courts were correct in dismissing the challenge to the law, which requires more space for breeding pigs, reports the AP . The 2018 law stipulates that...

On Endangered Koalas, Scientists Hit on 'Way to Bring Them Back'

Freezing koala sperm would require fewer koalas in captivity, improve genetic diversity: report

(Newser) - Two months after Australia declared koalas as endangered across much of the country's east coast, researchers are hoping to stock up on frozen koala sperm. Scientists at the University of Newcastle in the southeastern state of New South Wales have proposed the creation of a lab to store that...

'Momentous Occasion' for One of the Rarest Animals on Earth

Indonesia's captive breeding program spawns new Sumatran rhino

(Newser) - Indonesia has just welcomed a bundle of joy in the form of one of the rarest mammals on Earth. A Sumatran rhino was born March 24 in a sanctuary to a mother that had suffered eight miscarriages since she was captured in the wild in 2005 as part of a...

Living Animals in White Rhino Breeding Program: One

Najin, one of 2 remaining northern white rhinos, has been retired

(Newser) - Hopes of saving the northern white rhinoceros now rest on a sole female, some frozen sperm, and a dozen embryos. There are just two northern white rhinos alive—females Najin and Fatu of Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy—whose eggs were extracted, then inseminated with frozen sperm from dead males...

They Saved Their Species. Their Reward: Homecoming

Sex-crazed Diego among 15 giant tortoises returned to native island

(Newser) - Mission accomplished for a group of 15 male giant tortoises credited with saving their species from extinction. The tortoises—part of a breeding program that began in the 1960s when there were just two males and 12 females left in the wild, per CNN —were returned to their home...

Native Parrots Were Long Gone From US. Now, a New Influx
US' New Slew
of Feral Parrots
'Here to Stay'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 19, 2019 12:10 PM CDT

US' New Slew of Feral Parrots 'Here to Stay'

The birds are imported pets that escaped, as well as their descendants

(Newser) - Just two native species of parrots have existed in the US, and one of those species is now extinct, while the other can now be found only in Mexico. So how is it that there are now nearly 60 parrot species scattered in the wild across almost every state? They'...

America Used to Have Lots of Llamas. And Now?

The llama market nearly vanished in recent years

(Newser) - Notice fewer llamas around? You're onto something. The federal government says America's llama population has declined drastically from roughly 145,000 in 2002 to fewer than 40,000 in 2017, NBC News reports. Seems a market that once included wealthy athletes and high-flying celebs quietly slid off a...

Farmers Worried as Death Rates Surge for Female Pigs

Agriculture industry trying to get a handle on problem with sows

(Newser) - Operators of farms with a large number of female pigs are seeing a worrying trend—death rates are surging among the sows. One industry group, Swine Management Services, says the death rate increased from 5.8% to 10.2% from 2013 to 2016, per National Hog Farmer . "This makes...

Scientists: We Know Why Sheep Get Sexed Up in Winter

Scientist figure out how melatonin levels affect breeding

(Newser) - "Why do sheep get frisky in winter?" isn't the beginning of a bad joke, but rather the question that jump-started a joint study by researchers at the University of Nottingham and the University of Bristol. The Guardian reports that scientists may now have an answer, one that could...

Cows Once as Big as Elephants May Soon Roam Europe

Welcome back the aurochs, or something like it

(Newser) - Standing nearly as tall as an elephant, the aurochs grazed for 250,000 years until its extinction in 1627. But its story may not end there: Scientists say they are close to resurrecting the "supercow," once the largest land mammal in Europe, reports CNN . In search of herbivores...

Study Shows Why Giant Pandas Need Tinder

Mutual attraction drastically increases the likelihood of panda babies

(Newser) - The scientist who invents a Tinder for giant pandas may just single-handedly save the endangered species. A study published Tuesday in Nature Communications found that pandas are much more likely to successfully mate when they're attracted to each other. It seems like an obvious conclusion, and that's why...

Jaguar Gets Sent Home for Being 'Too Fat' to Mate

Salman has zero interest in lady friend at Delhi Zoo—but lots of interest in food

(Newser) - A jaguar is being sent home to Kerala, India, from a New Delhi breeding program after being accused of having a dad bod without the "dad" part. Salman had been borrowed by the Delhi Zoo to mate with Kalpana, its female jaguar, but there were problems: Salman turned out...

Inside the Insanely Tricky Process of Breeding Pandas

Cross your fingers: a panda cub could be on the way

(Newser) - Congratulations are in order for the National Zoo's female giant panda—or so veterinarians hope based on an ultrasound yesterday: Mei Xiang is presumably pregnant. Experts are cautious as the 1.5-inch-long fetus could still be reabsorbed or the panda could miscarry. Research vet Pierre Comizzoli says the ultrasound...

Jawbone Lifts Lid on Human-Neanderthal Sex

Shows interbreeding occurred in Europe 37K to 42K years ago

(Newser) - A jawbone found in Romania more than a decade ago provides the first genetic evidence that humans and Neanderthals knocked boots in Europe before the latter disappeared between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago. Scientists who came across the bone of one of the earliest modern humans in Europe...

Why Pigs Don't Have Sex Anymore

Artificial insemination is better and faster for farmers

(Newser) - Pity the modern boar: He roams the pen for a sow that's ready to breed and when he's about to, er, take action, a farmer appears with a catheter in his hands. The poor guy has been replaced by artificial insemination. That's because nearly 90% of today'...

Drug Lord's Hippos Breeding Out of Control

 Drug Lord's Hippos 
 Breeding Out of Control 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 29, 2014 11:01 AM CDT

Drug Lord's Hippos Breeding Out of Control

Pablo Escobar's foreign beasts terrifying fisherman, eating crops

(Newser) - Colombia is facing an overpopulation issue: a famed drug lord's herd of hippos keeps expanding. Pablo Escobar built himself a zoo in the 1980s, smuggling in a host of exotic animals, including one male and three female hippos. Now, 20 years after the drug boss's death, the hippos...

'Pardoned' Turkeys Swiftly Die
 'Pardoned' Turkeys Swiftly Die 
Nov 27, 2013 10:37 AM CST

'Pardoned' Turkeys Swiftly Die

They're simply not bred to live long

(Newser) - President Obama will "pardon" a pair of turkeys today and send them to live at Mount Vernon, and if that gives you a case of the warm fuzzies, you should know that both "Caramel" and "Popcorn" will probably be dead within the year. Every turkey the president...

This Exists: DNA Tests for Cats

Now you can verify your cat's lineage

(Newser) - Do you have a burning desire to know your cat's ancestry? Are you dying to know if she's really a pure Abyssinian or if the guy at the pet store ripped you off? Well, now you can. Lyons Feline Genetics Laboratory at the University of California now offers...

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