FLORA FAUNA - AFRICA DAILY

Mar 28, 2013 (SPX)

Research carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and collaborators reveals that the last region on earth to be colonised by humans was home to mor...

DNA helps unravel relationship between plants and insects

Mar 27, 2013 (SPX)

Studying the relationship between plants and the insects that feed on them is an arduous task, as it must be done through direct observation. It can take years ...

Wet 2012 'catastrophic' for Britain's butterflies

Mar 26, 2013 (AFP)

Britain's butterflies suffered a "catastrophic" year in 2012 with almost all species declining as a result of torrential rains, according to a study published o...

Invasive Species: Understanding the Threat Before It's Too Late

Mar 26, 2013 (SPX)

Catching rides on cargo ships and fishing boats, many invasive species are now covering our shorelines and compromising the existence of our native marine life....

Rare find: two new species join primate club

Mar 26, 2013 (AFP)

Scientists Tuesday made a rare live addition to the order of primates, unveiling two new species of mouse lemur -- tiny, big-eyed animals that inhabit the fores...

Kenya fines ivory smuggler less than a dollar a piece

Mar 26, 2013 (AFP)

A Chinese smuggler caught in Kenya with a haul of ivory was fined less than a dollar (euro) a piece, wildlife officials said Tuesday. Kenya Wildlife Service spo...

Coral atoll where giant tortoises outnumber man 10,000:1

Mar 25, 2013 (AFP)

It is perhaps not surprising that there are only a handful of humans on one of the most remote islands on Earth, coral atolls far out in the turquoise seas of t...

Poachers kill rare rhinos in India's remote northeast

Mar 24, 2013 (AFP)

A gang of poachers killed a rare one-horned rhino at a wildlife park in northeast India, taking to 15 the number of such beasts slaughtered this year, an offici...

Risk management in fish: how cichlids prevent their young from being eaten

Mar 21, 2013 (SPX)

For a variety of reasons, many humans choose to adopt children. More surprisingly, adoption is fairly widespread in the animal kingdom, even though it would see...

Hovering is a bother for bees: Fast flight is more stable

Mar 20, 2013 (SPX)

Bumblebees are much more unstable when they hover than when they fly fast, according to new research published this month in the Journal of Theoretical Biology....

The natural ecosystems in the Colombian Orinoco Basin are in danger

Mar 20, 2013 (SPX)

The Orinoco River flows from the Andes in Colombia to the Atlantic in Venezuela. The area of the basin includes landscapes of the Andes, plains of the Llanos an...

Seven rare Komodo dragons hatch in Indonesia

Mar 20, 2013 (AFP)

Seven Komodo dragons have hatched under a breeding programme at an Indonesian zoo, an official said Wednesday, a success story that raises hope for the endanger...

Energy from the interior of the Earth supports life in a global ecosystem

Mar 19, 2013 (SPX)

The core drill slides through a drill pipe, extending from the drill ship at the sea surface, through a water depth of 2.5 km and hundreds of metres of sediment...

Poachers massacre 89 elephants in Chad: WWF

Mar 19, 2013 (AFP)

A group of poachers last week massacred 89 elephants in one night near the town of Ganba in southern Chad, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a statement Tue...

Are cars driving evolution of birds?

Mar 18, 2013 (UPI)

Cars are driving the evolution of birds in Nebraska, leading to birds with shorter wings to take off more quickly and avoid onrushing vehicles, scientists say. ...

'Bonobo heaven': life at a DR Congo ape sanctuary

Mar 17, 2013 (AFP)

Claudine Andre, a 67-year-old Belgian living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has spent the last twenty years dedicated to the protection of the bonobo, an ...

Genetic study of house dust mites demonstrates reversible evolution

Mar 14, 2013 (SPX)

In evolutionary biology, there is a deeply rooted supposition that you can't go home again: Once an organism has evolved specialized traits, it can't return to ...

Ivory trade 'Gang of Eight' escape sanctions

Mar 14, 2013 (AFP)

Eight nations accused of failing to do enough to tackle the illegal trade in elephant ivory escaped sanctions at a major wildlife meeting on Thursday. The pligh...

Governments boost support for elephants and sharks

Mar 14, 2013 (AFP)

A major meeting on the plight of endangered species wrapped up Thursday with a victory for shark conservationists and increased pressure on countries to curb ra...

Dutch police hunt exotic monkey thieves

Mar 14, 2013 (AFP)

Dutch police launched an investigation on Thursday into the overnight theft of 12 rare monkeys from an animal park in central Netherlands which has left zoo wor...