Biologists have observed a Sumatran male orangutan using the sap and chewed leaves of a medicinal plant to treat an open wound on his face. While there has been previous evidence of self-medication behaviors in animals, it is the first known incident of an animal in the wild treating a wound with a “biologically active […]
April 17 is International Bat Appreciation Day! In celebration of these sometimes unsung nocturnal pollinators, a new study has demonstrated how bats can be allies of agriculture, as they feed on important crop “pests.” The researchers found that encouraging bats can be beneficial for conservation efforts, as well as local farmers, a press release from […]
The planet is currently experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event on record, affecting most of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). It is the second mass bleaching in the past decade, NOAA scientists said in a press release. Across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean basins, heat stress at levels high enough to cause bleaching […]
A new study led by scientists from the University of Exeter has found that the risk of seabed creatures being exposed to plastics depends on how they feed and interact with their environment, rather than simply reflecting pollution levels in their local area. All ocean plastic ends up sinking to the seafloor, a richly biodiverse […]
In one of the most detailed surveys ever undertaken, hundreds of animal species — from birds to primates to web-footed wildcats — have been discovered in a Cambodian mangrove forest. Team leader Stefanie Rog — a conservation biologist and senior program manager with Fauna & Flora International, which funded the study — recorded an astounding […]
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has released video footage showing that the southern portion of the Great Barrier Reef is suffering from deep-sea coral bleaching, reported The Guardian. The footage shows that the bleaching extends at least as far down as 59.1 feet — the deepest reported during this mass bleaching event, a press […]
The impacts of climate change on marine life, from rising sea surface temperatures to ocean acidification, have long been studied, but new research is shedding light on the extent of these effects both currently and in the future. Scientists developed a method that fully considers the consequences of warming oceans and acidification on fish and […]
Humans have an enormous impact on planet Earth, but from both an animal welfare and an environmental perspective, perhaps nothing is more important than our diets. In 2022, more than 82 billion livestock animals were slaughtered for meat, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, with the majority of those animals […]
African great apes are some of the most iconic creatures on Earth. Humans’ closest living relative, these majestic primates are becoming increasingly impacted by climate change. In the next three decades, African apes will experience more extreme events such as heat waves, wildfires and flooding, according to a new study led by Razak Kiribou, a […]