FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

National parks a boost to mental health worth trillions: study
Nov 12, 2019 (AFP)
But these public spaces might also benefit the global economy, new research suggests. Visits to national parks around the world may result in improved mental he...
Rogue 'Bin Laden' elephant caught in India after killing 5 people
Nov 11, 2019 (AFP)
Wildlife officers tracked the pachyderm -- dubbed "Laden" by the locals it menaced in northeastern Assam state -- through a forest for several days using drones...
Scientists find seven new leech species that live inside freshwater mussels
Nov 11, 2019 (UPI)
Between 2002 and 2018, Arthur Bogan, research curator of mollusks at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, recruited collaborators from all over the gl...
In bear country Romania, cohabitation grows strenuous
Nov 07, 2019 (AFP)
After losing a horse too a few days later, Lacatus now agrees with many of her neighbours in the northern Romanian village of Cusma that hunting the protected s...
To save biodiversity, scientists suggest 'mega-conservation'
Nov 07, 2019 (SPX)
That's the conclusion of the researchers behind the first-ever compendium of world aspen communities. In their new publication, the researchers advance the idea...
Lost pup turns out to be a rare purebred dingo
Nov 06, 2019 (AFP)
The pup was discovered whimpering and alone in a country town in Victoria in August with talon marks on his back, leading to speculation it could have been drop...
EU police seize nearly 6 tonnes of endangered eels headed for Asia
Nov 06, 2019 (AFP)
More than 150 suspected smugglers were also arrested during the coordinated, months-long sting that involved police in 10 European countries including France an...
Aussie researchers mount rescue bid for endangered pygmy possum
Nov 04, 2019 (AFP)
The tiny mammal lives in alpine regions but less than 2,500 remain in the wild, according to estimates, with winter snowfall declines and warmer weather threate...
Honey badger-like animal prowled South Africa 5 million years ago
Nov 02, 2019 (UPI)
The modern honey badger, Mellivora capensis, is a feisty character, seemingly unafraid of bigger, stronger animals. "Even large carnivores, such as leopards, hy...
Massive wildfires hit southern Brazil's Pantanal
Oct 31, 2019 (AFP)
The governor's office in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul said the fires were "bigger than anything seen before" in the region. So far, more than 50,000 hectares...
Insect biodiversity has declined by a third on some landscapes
Oct 30, 2019 (UPI)
The new study isn't the first to look at the plight of insects. Several studies have shown insects to be negatively affected by land-use changes and climate cha...
Kremlin-backed falcon project sparks smuggling fears
Oct 30, 2019 (AFP)
Russia's Vladimir Putin this month engaged in some falcon diplomacy on a Middle East tour, gifting prized gyrfalcons to Saudi King Salman and Emirati Crown Prin...
Much of the Earth is still wild, but threatened by fragmentation
Oct 23, 2019 (SPX)
Those are among the findings of a massive inventory undertaken in 2017 and 2018 by the National Geographic Society and released in early October. The study conc...
Insects on the move are trying to escape the heat
Oct 21, 2019 (UPI)
As temperatures rise, insects are also on the move. According to a new study, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, many of these insects are h...
Mysterious new virus found spreading among bald eagles
Oct 18, 2019 (UPI)
While searching for the origins of the Wisconsin River Eagle Syndrome, scientists discovered a new type of virus that could partially explain the strange diseas...
An evolution in the understanding of evolution
Oct 18, 2019 (SPX)
It's not uncommon for living things to be reclassified into another genus as science gets better at identifying protein and gene changes; for example, there hav...
Spanish falcons feed Arab passion for raptor hunting
Oct 17, 2019 (AFP)
In upper-class Gulf society, these swift-flighted hunters are worth a fortune, with buyers sometimes shelling out tens of thousands of euros per bird. "The feat...
Four-metre king cobra wrestled from sewer in Thailand
Oct 15, 2019 (AFP)
Footage of the daring capture showed a man chasing the cobra -- the world's longest venomous snake -- into a dark and cramped drainage pipe. The cobra splashed ...
Wild molds help scientists probe the histories of cheese fungi
Oct 15, 2019 (UPI)
In the lab, researchers watched as wild blue fungal strains evolved, in just a matter of weeks, into tamer, more appetizing strains resembling their domesticate...
Bees get better at math when they're punished for mistakes
Oct 11, 2019 (UPI)
Previously, scientists thought bees could only count to four, but new research suggests bees can understand quantities as great as five, provided they're traine...
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