How China’s booming panda business works Pandas are a big business — both for China and the zoos lucky enough to score a visitor. They can also be extremely expensive. At last count in 2004, there were about 1,600 pandas alive in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Around 350 pandas live under […]
Everything you want to know about Katmai National Park’s Fat Bears Every fall, Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska hosts Fat Bear Week. Fat Bear Week is an auspicious celebration where the park invites its online community to compare photos of bears from when they first visit Brooks Falls in the spring to photos
Kauaʻi ʻōʻō The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō or ʻōʻōʻāʻā (Moho braccatus) was a member of the extinct genus of the ʻōʻōs (Moho) within the extinct family Mohoidae from the islands of Hawai’i. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae). This bird was endemic to the island of Kauaʻi. It was common in
The Strange Symbiosis Between Sloths and Moths Once a week, three-toed sloths slowly descend from the leafy forest canopy to poop on the ground. Why do these sluggish mammals go on such a long and potentially dangerous journey instead of just letting it fly from the treetops? Scientists now believe the answer has to do
Two thousand mice dropped on Guam by parachute — to kill snakes They floated down from the sky Sunday — 2,000 mice, wafting on tiny cardboard parachutes over Andersen Air Force Base in the U.S. territory of Guam. But the rodent commandos didn’t know they were on a mission: to help eradicate the brown tree
California grizzly bear For the University of California, Berkeley mascot, see California Golden Bears. The California grizzly bear (Ursus arctos californicus) is an extinct population or subspecies of the brown bear, generally known (together with other North American brown bear populations) as the grizzly bear. “Grizzly” could have meant “grizzled” – that is, with golden
Wolf Totem (film) Mongolian wolves (Canis lupus chanco) used in the film In the novel and the film, Chen Zen is sent to work on the steppes of Inner Mongolia (a region of China) during the Cultural Revolution, and a government official orders all wolves in the region to be killed. The filmmakers used real
Ruby-throated hummingbird The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is a species of hummingbird that generally spends the winter in Central America, Mexico, and Florida, and migrates to Canada and other parts of Eastern North America for the summer to breed. It is by far the most common hummingbird seen east of the Mississippi River in North
Gabi (dog) Gabi (Serbian: Габи) was a female German shepherd who worked as a guard dog in the Belgrade Zoo, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia. She became famous when she was attacked by a jaguar that escaped from its cage on 22 June 1987. History In the 1980s an eight-year-old German Shepherd, Gabi, was adopted by
Elephant cognition Scientists often debate the extent to which elephants feel emotion. Elephants have been one of few species of mammals other than Homo sapiens sapiens and Neanderthals known to have or have had any recognizable ritual around death. Elephants show a keen interest in the bones of their own kind (even unrelated elephants that
