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5,060 articles

Key leopard population 'crashing', study warns
Apr 19, 2017 (AFP)
Illegal killing of leopards in the Soutpansberg Mountains has reduced their numbers by two-thirds in the last decade, the researchers reported in the Royal Soci...
Computer game helps scientists understand animal camouflage
Apr 18, 2017 (SPX)
Game players were shown photographs and had to find camouflaged nightjar birds or nests containing eggs - either in normal colour or in a version imitating the ...
Endangered species poached in protected areas: WWF
Apr 18, 2017 (AFP)
Natural world heritage sites such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Galapagos Islands support...
Hunting behind steep drop in animal numbers in tropics: report
Apr 13, 2017 (AFP)
An international team of researchers found that mammal and bird populations dropped on average by 83 percent and 57 percent, respectively, in zones situated sev...
Invading 'rat of the sky' irks Algerians
Apr 13, 2017 (AFP)
The 60-year-old is not alone in despising this versatile scavenger, whose Mediterranean population has boomed in recent decades. The "rat of the sky" has taken ...
US scientists track fish migration using DNA in water samples
Apr 12, 2017 (AFP)
The inexpensive technique, which can have broad applications in monitoring and protecting aquatic life, was conducted in the East River, which is actually an in...
The cost of bee-ing too smart
Apr 10, 2017 (SPX)
It doesn't pay to be smart, at least for bumblebees, according to a new U of G study. Prof. Nigel Raine has discovered that fast-learning bumblebees died sooner...
Making spines from sea water
Apr 10, 2017 (SPX)
Some sea creatures cover themselves with hard shells and spines, while vertebrates build skeletons out of the same minerals. How do these animals get the calciu...
Nepal's rhinos on road to recovery with cross-country move
Apr 10, 2017 (AFP)
All hell broke loose as the one-horned rhino stepped out of the crate, the powerful male charging elephant-mounted mahouts relocating him to a new home in Nepal...
Discovered: Novel group of giant viruses
Apr 10, 2017 (SPX)
Viruses have a ubiquitous presence in the world. Their population is estimated to be 1031, 10 times greater than the nonillion (1030) of microbes on the planet ...
Bees can see much better than thought: scientists
Apr 07, 2017 (AFP)
Bees have much better eyesight than previously thought, scientists said Friday, allowing them to buzz away from approaching predators and navigate safely. Resea...
Puffins who migrate together have more chicks together
Apr 07, 2017 (UPI)
Puffin pairs who follow similar migration patterns tend to birth more chicks than those who follow disparate flight plans, according to new research. A number o...
Research shows global photosynthesis on the rise
Apr 06, 2017 (SPX)
Plant photosynthesis was stable for hundreds of years before the industrial revolution, but grew rapidly in the 20th century, according to new research publishe...
Gene sleuths open line of attack on coral-killing starfish
Apr 05, 2017 (AFP)
The beast goes by the Latin monicker of Acanthaster planci, but it is known to us as the crown-of-thorns -- a venomous starfish that is ravaging our precious co...
S.Africa's top court opens up domestic trade in rhino horn
Apr 05, 2017 (AFP)
South Africa's highest court Wednesday rejected a bid by the government to keep a ban on domestic trade in rhino horn, a court document showed. The ruling by th...
Tiny plankton wields biological 'Gatling gun' in microbial Wild West
Apr 04, 2017 (SPX)
Researchers have obtained an unprecedented view of the 'ballistic' weaponry of planktonic microbes, including one that can fire projectiles as if wielding a Gat...
New species evolve faster as mountains form
Apr 04, 2017 (SPX)
Mountains, like rainforests, are hotbeds of biodiversity. But scientists aren't sure why. For years, they've thought that it might be related to the new environ...
Biochar provides high-definition electron pathways in soil
Apr 04, 2017 (SPX)
All plants need electrons to aid biological and chemical tasks. Cornell University scientists have discovered a new high-definition system that allows electrons...
Indonesia's 'selfie monkey' threatened by hunger for its meat
Apr 03, 2017 (AFP)
The crested black macaque shot to fame when one of the monkeys snapped grinning selfies and became embroiled in a US court battle -- but the tussle over copyrig...
Nepal to relocate five rare one-horned rhinos
Apr 03, 2017 (AFP)
Conservationists on Monday captured a rare one-horned rhinoceros in Nepal as part of an attempt to increase the number of the vulnerable animals, which are priz...
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