Carnivores

It may not be pretty, but meat eating has been a critical factor in creating the fossil record.

Why Paleontologists Should Love Meat-Eaters

… Particularly the ones that feasted on human flesh. Thanks, guys!

The Carnivorous Plant That Feasts on Mice

While the carnivorous cravings of most flesh-eating plants are limited to small insects, one exception is the pitcher plant

A black and white ruffed lemur in Madagascar's Vakona Forest Reserve. Worldwide, primates are particularly prone to overhunting, according to the first global assessment of bush meat hunting trends.

A New Report Says We're Hunting the World's Mammals to Death. What Can Be Done?

Solutions are multifaceted and region-specific, but conservation researchers have some ideas

Marián Cueto, author of a new study on fossilized cave lion claws, working in La Garma.

Humans May Have Hunted Cave Lions to Extinction—For Throw Rugs

Dear cave lions: We're so, so sorry.

Expanding human populations in India have pushed tigers into small, isolated habitats—and resulted in some unusual behaviors.

Sorry, Tiger Dudes: Your Ladies Are Faking It

India’s tigresses may be feigning interest in sex as the result of shrinking habitat and overlapping territories

The spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum), the world’s largest carnivorous bat, feeds on small birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals—including other bats.

The World’s Carnivorous Bats Are Emerging From the Dark

Meat-eating evolved multiple times among these mysterious species, yet all of the winged carnivores share similar physiological fixes

Eurasian lynx playing in the snow in Germany.

Europe Is a Great Place to Be a Large Meat-Eater

In a rare success story for wildlife, bears, lynx, wolverine and wolves are increasing in numbers across the continent

A Single Smelly Compound Sparks Carnivores' Lust for Blood

When given scented wooden blocks soaked in this single chemical, captive carnivores go wild

Cougars Survived the Pleistocene Extinction Because They’ll Eat Just About Anything Meaty

Eating everything that's in front of you is key to eking by when times are tough

A dingo walks along a road in southern Australia.

Maybe Dingoes Don’t Deserve Their Bad Rap

Studies show that Australia's "favorite scapegoat" most likely didn't kill the Tasmanian tiger

A grey wolf in Yellowstone National Park.

Top Carnivores Help Shape Nearly Every Aspect of Their Environment

From controlling other animals' numbers to affecting carbon storage, the predators' vital roles in ecosystems justify their conservation, scientists say

Considered a mere scavenger that robbed traps and ransacked cabins, the wolverine has recently earned respect and scientific attention.

The Way of the Wolverine

After all but disappearing, the mammals are again being sighted in Washington's Cascade Range

Given a safe passage, jaguars will wander hundreds of miles to breed, even swimming across the Panama Canal.

The Jaguar Freeway

A bold plan for wildlife corridors that connect populations from Mexico to Argentina could mean the big cat's salvation

Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens splendens) calling.

Wild Things: Mongooses, Bladderworts and More...

Fairy-wrens, wasps, and a nearly 3,000 year old big toe

Ferrets raised in captivity are getting a taste of what it takes to go wild.

Survival Training, Ferret Style

Before the captive animals can go free, they have to hone their killer instinct at a conservation center in Colorado

Seldom-seen rulers of their wintry domain, lynx may face new threats.

Tracking the Elusive Lynx

Rare and maddeningly elusive, the "ghost cat" tries to give scientists the slip high in the mountains of Montana

Brian Boutin, a Nature Conservancy biologist, stands protectively over a newly planted bald cypress sapling. Park managers hope to slow the submersion of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Rising Seas Endanger Wetland Wildlife

For scientists in a remote corner of coastal North Carolina, ignoring global warming is not an option

In 1898, two lions attacked dozens of people before Lt. Col. Patterson killed the cats.

Man-Eaters of Tsavo

They are perhaps the world’s most notorious wild lions. Their ancestors were vilified more than 100 years ago as the man-eaters of Tsavo

Biologists long believed that lions band together to hunt prey. But Craig Packer and colleagues have found that's not the main reason the animals team up.

The Truth About Lions

The world's foremost lion expert reveals the brutal, secret world of the king of beasts

Many man-eaters are wounded or old; some have been deprived of natural prey sources; others may simply have developed a fondness for human flesh.

The Most Ferocious Man-Eating Lions

Africa's lions may usually prey on zebras or giraffes, but they also attack humans, with some lions responsible for over 50 deaths

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