Animals

Residents of the Galápagos Islands demonstrate outside the court where the crew of the Chinese-flagged ship had a hearing last week. The Ecuadorean navy earlier this month seized the ship, which had been carrying some 300 tons of fish, including several

Fishermen Caught With 6,600 Sharks In Galápagos, Now Headed To Prison

6:22pm August 29, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

The dead sharks, mostly endangered hammerheads, were part of a 300-ton haul of fish found on a Chinese boat off the Galápagos Islands. An Ecuadorean judge fined and jailed the crew up to four years.

The ship Steve Irwin, from the fleet of environmental activist group Sea Shepherd, sits at anchor near Perth, Australia, in 2011.

Sea Shepherd Says This Year It Won't Send Ships To Disrupt Japanese Whalers

3:11pm August 29, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The U.S.-based environmental activist group says it will not send ships because Japan has improved technology to avoid the vessels and has toughened its anti-terrorism laws.

One of the stray dogs that turned blue hangs out on a street in the Taloja industrial zone in Mumbai.

What's Making These Dogs In Mumbai Turn Blue?

7:00am August 26, 2017

by Chhavi Sachdev

Five dogs with this unusual hue were found in an industrial area of Mumbai. The hunt for its cause revealed a much bigger problem.

Specs For Border Wall Show It Would Divide Texas Wildlife Refuge

9:45am August 25, 2017

by John Burnett

Texans are upset that the first plans for Trump's border wall show that it will rip through two nature preserves. The border patrol insists public access will be guaranteed.

Queue Listen Now

How Did The Chicken Safely Cross The Road?

6:27am August 22, 2017

The answer: high-visibility vest. A bed and breakfast owner in Scotland fitted some of her hens with bright pink vests. When they wander off her property, there's a better chance they'll be seen.

Queue Listen Now

Not Yet This Swan's Swan Song

5:10am August 18, 2017

A black swan in Germany lost her partner last year, and Bavarian officials posted an ad looking for a mate. A nearby breeder saw it and offered up a companion.

During the day on Aug. 21, large swaths of farmland will be plunged into darkness, and temperatures will drop about 10 degrees. Scientists are waiting to see how crops and animals react.

Will The Eclipse Make Crops And Animals Flip Out? Scientists Ask (Really)

6:01pm August 17, 2017

by Kristofor Husted

During the day on Aug. 21, large swaths of farmland will be plunged into darkness, and temperatures will drop about 10 degrees. And scientists are waiting to see what happens on the ground.

Bears in roadside zoos can suffer in the summer if they don't have the proper conditions, says Barbara J. King.

Bears Can Face Summer Challenges In Roadside Zoos

12:10pm August 17, 2017

by Barbara J. King

Even when the Animal Welfare Act is followed, bears may not live in conditions that many would find reasonable for such large, intelligent animals to flourish, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.

Last year, China banned the sale of commercial elephant ivory to stop poaching. That's when interest in ancient, buried woolly mammoth tusks boomed.

Woolly Mammoths Are Long Gone, But The Hunt For Their Ivory Tusks Lives On

7:18am August 16, 2017

by Daniella Cheslow

Last year China banned the sale of commercial elephant ivory. But that's led to another illicit trade — in woolly mammoth tusks — that is having a severe impact on Siberia's permafrost.

Grizzly bear cubs follow their mother in British Columbia, Canada, in 2014. The province has banned trophy hunting of grizzlies beginning at the end of November.

World News

British Columbia Will Ban Grizzly Bear Trophy Hunting

6:17pm August 15, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The policy still allows people to hunt the bears for food but blocks all hunting of grizzlies in the Great Bear Rainforest. Environmental groups are celebrating but concerned about possible loopholes.