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Wildlife

A young male bongo photographed in Maasai Mau, Kenya

Trail Camera Photos Capture Rare Antelopes in a Kenya Forest Where Conservationists Once Feared They Had Vanished

Fewer than 100 mountain bongos are thought to live in the wild, and the new discovery reveals a crucial habitat for the critically endangered creatures

The blue-fronted lorikeet was first described based on seven specimens collected in the 1920s.

Cool Finds

This Colorful Parrot Had Been Seen Only Once Over the Past Century. Birders Just Rediscovered It in an Unexplored Indonesian Forest

First described in the 1920s from seven specimens, the blue-fronted lorikeet hadn’t been spotted since 2014. Bird-watchers on a recent trek snapped photos of the rare bird and captured the first known audio recordings of its calls

A swan swims on the Scharmützelsee at sunrise on July 2, 2025, when temperatures in the nearby German cities of Berlin and Brandenberg were expected to hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

‘Stupid Hot’: Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperature

Wide-ranging research suggests that as temperatures increase, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The findings hint at consequences that may ripple through ecosystems

New World screwworm is the name given to the larval, or maggot, stage of the Cochliomyia hominivorax blowfly

Flesh-Eating Screwworms Have Been Detected in the United States 60 Years After They Were Eradicated From the Country

The parasites were identified in a bovine in southern Texas. This marks the third time the cattle-threatening pests have been found in the U.S. and the first in Texas since they were eradicated in 1966

Fire salamanders are among the most-studied amphibians in Europe, yet until now, no one realized they are biofluorescent.

Scientists Have Been Studying Fire Salamanders for More Than 250 Years. They Just Discovered That the Creatures Glow Under UV Light

Fire salamanders—one of Europe’s most well-researched amphibians—are biofluorescent, which means they can absorb light from an external source at one wavelength, then re-emit it at another

By combining ecological data-gathering with philosophical contemplation, Leopold bridged the art and science of conservation.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

In the Early 1900s, a Young Ecologist Shot a Wolf and Watched the Life Leave Its Eyes. That Changed His Position on Conservation

Aldo Leopold’s writing reconsidered the place of humans in the natural world and challenged people to be less conquerors of the land and more citizens of it

Pigeons that had been injected with a drug to deplete their special liver cells did not find their way home until the sun came out.

How Do Pigeons Find Their Way Home? New Research Suggests That the Birds’ Remarkable Navigational Skills Come From Their Livers

The birds might use the organs’ iron-rich immune cells as internal compasses on overcast days, when they must rely on Earth’s magnetic field, instead of the sun’s light cues, for navigation

After being declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s, Przewalski's horses are slowly making a comeback.

‘Playful Youngster’: See the Rare, Endangered Przewalski’s Horse Born at the Bronx Zoo

The foal was born on April 21 and is now romping around with the rest of the herd in the zoo’s seasonal Wild Asia Monorail exhibit. It belongs to a species whose members are often considered the last truly wild horses

A limestone pigeon sculpture from Cyprus, dated between 600 and 480 B.C.E.

Pigeon Bones Found at an Ancient Cyprus Settlement Reveal That Our Relationship With These Birds Began Earlier Than We Thought

Before common pigeons were considered urban pests, people domesticated them and relied on them for meat, fertilizer, messages and more. A new study suggests humans have lived alongside the winged creatures for at least 3,400 years

Two giraffes cross in elegant symmetry beneath a radiant sunset.

You’re Guaranteed to Spot at Least One Gorgeous Giraffe in Each of These 15 Stunning and Awe-Inspiring Images

With their singular coats, naturally craning collars and elegant gait, these skyscraping mammals can’t help but attract sightseers to their neck of the woods

A female blue crab with an acoustic telemetry tag on its shell. Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center use telemetry tags to track the migration of blue crabs throughout the Chesapeake.

Young Blue Crabs Have Been Mysteriously Dwindling in the Chesapeake Bay for Years. This Winter, They Saw a Boost in Numbers. What’s Driving These Trends?

A recent report detailed a 50 percent drop in juvenile Chesapeake blue crabs since 2010. Then, a survey found a surprising surge in the young crustaceans this year

In February 2020, naturalist guides Lizardo Proaño and Juan Carlos Narváez photographed a harvestman eating a live frog during a night hike at Mashpi Lodge in Ecuador.

Daddy Longlegs Seem to Hunt Frogs in South America, Revealing the Gangly Arachnids as Overlooked Predators

A new study suggests that harvestmen actively attack the slippery amphibians, rather than just scavenging them. The findings hint that the spineless creatures have a more complex relationship with vertebrates than previously thought

Human development—such as roads—affects wildlife. But so does the presence of people.

The Mere Presence of Humans—Not Just Our Changes to the Land—Can Alter Wild Animals’ Behaviors, a New Study Suggests

Researchers examined GPS tracking data from thousands of animals representing 37 species and anonymized cellphone location data from 2020, a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, and the previous year

The researchers studied four captive belugas housed at the New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Belugas Can Recognize Themselves in Mirrors, Joining a Short List of Nonhuman Species That Show Signs of Self-Awareness

The researchers hope that this new understanding of cognition in the toothed whales will increase human empathy and concern for the animals, leading to more efforts to protect them

Researchers found evidence of degenerative joint disease, trauma and other health problems.

Whalers Didn’t Just Sing Sea Shanties and Seek Adventure. Proof of Laborers’ Grueling Work Is in Their Skeletons, Buried in the Arctic

Remains buried on Svalbard show the brutal toll whaling took on men in the 17th and 18th centuries. Climate change threatens these kinds of archaeological sites across the Arctic

Mediterranean monk seals are among the rarest pinnipeds in the world.

Mediterranean Monk Seals Hide in Underwater ‘Bubble Caves’ to Avoid Tourists During the Busy Summer Season, a Study Suggests

Researchers caught the rare pinnipeds resting and sleeping in a secluded chamber on the Greek islet of Formicula. The findings suggest that these small caves should be included in efforts to protect the animals’ habitat

Gentoo penguins have been considered a rare beneficiary of climate change due to their population growth on the Antarctic Peninsula. Splitting the birds into four species brings to light regional threats and declines.

Gentoo Penguins Are Actually Four Different Species, Scientists Say, Revealing They’re Not Quite ‘Winners’ of Climate Change After All

A new study indicates that the adaptable birds evolved into distinct lineages as isolated populations shifted to match their environmental conditions over time. The work has implications for how conservationists assess threats to gentoos

Tuerkayana hirtipes, a true crab species examined in the study

When Did Crabs Evolve Their Iconic Sideways Scuttle? Scientists Traced It to a Common Ancestor That Lived 200 Million Years Ago

The findings suggest that their famous lateral movement evolved just once. It may have helped the animals rapidly spread and diversify because moving in two directions meant they could easily escape predators

The skeleton first emerged from an eroded road cut in 2000 or 2001.

Likely Kicked by a Kangaroo, This Dingo Healed a Millennium Ago Thanks to Help From an Aboriginal Community That Continued to Honor It for 500 Years

New research shows that the ancestors of the Barkindji people in Australia ritually added river mussel shells to a burial site for centuries after the dingo died, suggesting they cared for it deeply

A chick hatches around 18 days after embryo transfer to the artificial egg, according to the company.

‘De-Extinction’ Company Says It Hatched Chicks From Artificial Eggs, Paving the Way for Resurrecting Dodos and Other Bygone Birds

Colossal Biosciences announced that 26 live baby chickens have emerged from 3D-printed honeycomb structures. But the company does not plan to detail the system in a paper, and its mission has faced criticism

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