by Hazel Ward Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Female brown bears have learned to protect themselves from being shot by spending more time caring for their young as they adapt to legislation banning the hunting of mothers with cubs. The finding, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, was made by a team of international researchers who spent 22 years studying data on the reproductive strategy and survival of Scandinavian brown bears. “Man […]
Tag: animals
More than 130 pilot whales die in mass Australia beaching
PERTH, Australia (AFP) — At least 135 short-finned pilot whales died Friday after a mass beaching in Australia as rescuers worked to herd those still alive back out to sea. The stranding of 150 whales at Hamelin Bay, some 315 kilometres (195 miles) south of Perth, was spotted by a commercial fisherman at daybreak, with fears the carcasses will attract sharks. Western Australia state’s Parks and Wildlife Service said its staff were on site and […]
China plans panda park that will dwarf Yellowstone
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China will create a bastion of giant pandas three times the size of Yellowstone National Park to link up and encourage breeding among existing wild populations of the notoriously slow-reproducing animal, state media reported Thursday. At least 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) has been secured over the next five years for construction of the Giant Panda National Park in mountainous southwestern China for the nation’s favorite creature, the China Daily reported. […]
Rumble in the jungle: mother bear fights off Indian tiger
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Tourists on a wildlife safari in central India were treated to a rare and vicious fight for survival between a sloth bear defending its young and a huge Bengal tiger. The ferocious battle between the jungle giants was captured on film by a tour guide in Maharashtra who had a ringside seat to the 15-minute brawl as the mother fought off the predator. Her instincts kicked into gear as the […]
All the wild horses are extinct: study
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — All the world’s wild horses have gone extinct, according to a study Thursday that unexpectedly rewrites the horse family tree based on a new DNA analysis of their ancestry. What most people thought were the last remaining wild horses on Earth — known as Przewalski’s horses — were actually domesticated horses that escaped their owners, said the report in the journal Science. “This was a […]
Ants nurse wounded warriors back to health: study
by Mariette le Roux and Laurence Coustal Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — African Matabele ants dress the wounds of comrades injured during hunting raids and nurse them back to health, according to an “astonishing” discovery reported Wednesday. After collecting their wounded from the battlefield and carrying them back home, nestmates become medics, massing around patients for “intense licking” of open wounds, according to a study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society […]
Another whale population suddenly dying in Atlantic
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — US marine investigators are probing an unusual die-off of minke whales along the US east coast, marking the third such population of large whales in the past two years, officials said Wednesday. A total of 28 minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) have died since January 2017 in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to South Carolina, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The deaths, most of which were in the […]
In the Galapagos, an idyllic hammerhead shark nursery
by Jordi MIRO Agence France-Presse SANTA CRUZ, Ecuador (AFP) — For millions of years, new-born hammerhead sharks have grown up in nurseries sheltered by the mangrove swamps and reefs of the Galapagos Islands, safe from all human threat. But until November, biologists had no idea the sharks had their own hideaway that could hold some of the final secrets of this remote archipelago 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off South America’s Pacific coast. “It was quite […]
First monkeys cloned by process that made Dolly the sheep
by Etienne Lamy-Smith with Kerry Sheridan in Miami Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Scientists in China have created the first monkeys cloned by the same process that produced Dolly the sheep more than 20 years ago, a breakthrough that could boost medical research into human diseases. The two long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) named Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong were born at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai, and are […]
WATCH: Wild wallaby leads Aussie cops on hop-speed chase
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A wallaby startled motorists Tuesday when it hopped across Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, closely tailed by police. Drivers spotted the marsupial, which resembles a smaller version of a kangaroo, bouncing along at the northern end of the eight-lane bridge just before 5:00 am (1600 GMT). “Never seen anything like it. That’s Australia for you,” a caller to Sydney radio station 2GB, Dean, said. Another caller, Michelle, said she was worried a car […]
Outrage after koala found screwed to a pole in Australia
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A dead koala has been found screwed to a pole in Australia in a “sickening” act that sparked outrage Thursday on social media. Koala Rescue Queensland (KRQ) responded to a report of one of the furry animals climbing a picnic shelter at Brooloo Park Lookout near Gympie, 175 kilometers (around 100 miles) north of Brisbane, on Wednesday. But on closer inspection, it was found to be dead and screwed in place. […]
Look: Nepal’s last known dancing bears rescued
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepali authorities have rescued the country’s last known “dancing bears”, officials said Sunday, ending the medieval tradition of abuse of the beasts for entertainment. The Himalayan nation banned performing bears back in 1973 but the illegal practice — a traditional occupation for some street performer communities — lingered on in parts of its southern region. Police and animal charities said they spent more than a year hunting the captors of the […]





