Zoo welcomes 11 Humboldt chicks, its highest number in a decade, including Thistle and Daffodil
In previous years Chester zooβs new penguin chicks have been named after crisps β Frazzle, Wotsit β and local football club owners β Ryan, Rob β but the names p β¦ p β¦ p β¦ picked this year are notably less frivolous.
βWeβve decided to go with plants,β said Zoe Sweetman, the penguins and parrots team manager at the zoo. Two of the spikier new arrivals have been named Nettle and Thistle while two others with βcolourful personalitiesβ have been named Daffodil and Tulip.
AI expected to help researchers unlock two-way communication, say team that includes Tel Aviv University
In the Dr Dolittle books and films, the ability to βtalk to the animalsβ captured the imagination. Now scientists are being offered a $10m prize to create real conversations.
The Coller Dolittle Challenge for Interspecies Two-Way Communication has been launched by the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University. While the use of AI is not obligatory, the team say the technology can boost almost all proposals.
Female pair are third litter born at Blair Drummond under endangered species breeding programme
A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar.
Nova and Evie, who are living at Blair Drummond safari and adventure park, near Stirling, were born on 14 April, and the park has now publicly announced their birth.
Six people who ate a meal in South Dakota in 2022 with black bear meat diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease
Six people who shared a meal involving black bear meat kebabs have been diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease.
In a new report released this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that in July 2022, a 29-year old hospitalized patient with suspected trichinellosis was reported to the Minnesota health department. His symptoms included fever, severe muscle aches, periorbital edema or eye swelling, and eosinophilia or the condition of elevated levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell.
Residents of Snettisham, Norfolk, say birds are destroying their gardens, while food left out for them is attracting rats
The clucking nuisance of about 100 feral chickens has left residents of a Norfolk village spitting feathers, with locals claiming the birds destroy their gardens and keep them awake.
Dwellers in Snettisham, Norfolk, have said their life is being made βhellβ as the chickens swarm in from a nearby wood. It is unclear who owns the land the chickens live on, but villagers believe numbers have soared recently.
She looked as if she had survived a famine. I could count every one of her ribs. But on my ranch, she thrived, and never left my side
I had not intended to get another dog. I already had three collies: Raleigh, Randolph and Byron. Ridiculous names for dogs of Scottish heritage. For generations, our family had embraced only this one breed. I have a picture of my grandmother, taken in 1930, with a collie in the front seat of her Studebaker roadster.
But in the 80s I lived on a ranch outside Tucson, Arizona, and had plenty of room for more dogs. When my dearest friend, Artie, asked me to foster a stray she had picked up on the Nogales highway, I didnβt see why I shouldnβt.
But as Swiftβs planet-conquering Eras tour prepares to land in the UK next month, animal welfare experts have urged her fans not to copy Swiftβs cats, saying the same characteristics that make the breed cute also condemn them to a life of constant pain.
Atsuko Sato announces death of her shiba inu Kabosu, whose 2010 photo led her to be described as βMona Lisa of the internetβ
The Japanese dog whose photo inspired a generation of oddball online jokes and the Β£18bn Dogecoin cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk has died, her owner said.
βShe quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her,β Atsuko Sato wrote on her blog on Friday, thanking the fans of her shiba inu called Kabosu β the face of the βDogeβ meme.
Romeo, who stands at 6ft 4.5in, unseated Tommy of Cheshire, Massachusetts, to claim the title
The American steer Romeo was just 10 days old when the owners of an animal sanctuary in Oregon saved him from being slaughtered.
And during the six years since married couple Misty and Robert Moore afforded him mercy, Romeo has grown into the tallest living animal of his kind. The once tiny Romeo now ingests 100lbs of hay, 15lbs of grain and an entire bathtub full of water daily to remain adequately fed and hydrated at a height of 6ft 4.5in (1.94 meters), the steerβs owners said in an interview published on the Guinness World Records site.
The National Institutes of Health, which owns the chimps at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico, has no plans to move the animals to sanctuary, despite a ruling from a federal judge.
Carlee, a chimpanzee living in Chimp Haven, a 200-acre sanctuary in Louisiana that serves as the designated retirement home for federally owned chimps.
Conservationists say Barbara Creecy has failed to implement vital changes to stop fishing around colonies amid fears African penguins could be extinct by 2035
Itβs 3.40pm on a Thursday and Penguin 999.000000007425712 has just returned to the Stony Point penguin colony in Bettyβs Bay, South Africa, after a day of foraging. She glides elegantly through the turquoise waters before clambering comically up the rocks towards the nest where her partner is incubating two beige eggs. She doesnβt realise it, but a rudimentary knee-high fence has funnelled her towards a state-of-the-art weighbridge. When she left the colony at 6.45am this morning she weighed 2.7kg. Now, after a full day of hunting, she has gained only 285g.
Eleanor Weideman, a coastal seabird project manager for BirdLife South Africa, is concerned. βIn a good year they come back with their stomachs bulging,β she says. Penguins can put on up to one-third of their body weight in a single day of foraging. βBut thereβs just no fish out there any more.β
Ever since this βkillerβ species arrived in the UK in 2016, there have been horror stories about it β and they have picked up pace in recent months. So are these hornets nasty predators or just misunderstood?
Can a single insect reshape history? A queen hornet from the Vespa velutinaspecies,which is believed to have stowed away in Chinese pottery, could make that claim. She was shipped to the port of Bordeaux in 2004. Having already mated with multiple males, she flew off into the sunshine of south-west France and built a nest. From that single nest, up to 500 new queens could have emerged. For a few years, her offspring quietly prospered. By the time the authorities paid attention to this predatory yellow-legged carnivore, known as the Asian hornet, it was too late. Twenty years on, France is home to an estimated 500,000 nests, while the hornet has cruised into Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands βΒ and the UK.
Ever since the first Asian hornet turned up in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in 2016, there have been horror stories about this βkillerβ, a βnastyβ predator that decimates much-loved honeybees and may threaten human livelihoods and health. The stories have reached fever pitch recently: βUK Asian hornet hotspots mapped as killer species invades Britainβ warned the Express on Tuesday. We love a good villain, especially a βforeignβ one. But is this media scaremongering? How destructive is this recent European arrival? And will it become a permanent British resident this summer?
Centers for Disease Control notes high levels of virus in raw milk amid outbreak among cows, after Michigan dairy worker infected
A Michigan dairy worker has been diagnosed with bird flu β the second human case associated with an outbreak in US dairy cows, after a case emerged in Texas earlier this spring.
The new patient had mild eye symptoms and has recovered, US and Michigan health officials said in announcing the case on Wednesday afternoon. The worker had been in contact with cows presumed to be infected, and the risk to the public remains low, officials said.
The new case, in a Michigan farmworker, did not suggest that bird flu was widespread in people, health officials said, adding that the risk to the general public remained low.
High temperatures in Mexico have been linked to dozens and perhaps hundreds of deaths of howler monkeys
Itβs so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Others were rescued by residents, including five that were rushed to a local veterinarian who battled to save them.
Figures come as neighbour of London woman killed by her animals say they warned the dogs were dangerous
Figures show 400 XL bully dogs have been euthanised since the breed type was banned, as a neighbour of the woman killed by her dogs on Monday said they had warned their child the animals were dangerous.
The woman, in her 50s, named locally as Angel Mahal, was mauled to death by her two XL bully dogs at her home in Hornchurch, east London, on Monday afternoon.
The well-preserved huia bird feather was expected to fetch up to NZD$3,000 but ended up selling for more than NZD$46,000
A rare and highly prized feather from the extinct New Zealand huia bird has sold for NZD$46,521 (US$28,365), making it by far the worldβs most expensive feather ever sold at auction.
The hammer price far exceeded initial estimates of between $2,000-$3,000, and blew the previous record-holderβs price out of the water. Until Mondayβs sale, the previous record sale was another huia feather that sold in 2010 for $8,400.
βCatastrophicβ global decline due to dams, mining, diverting water and pollution threatens humans and ecosystems, study warns
Migratory fish populations have crashed by more than 80% since 1970, new findings show.
Populations are declining in all regions of the world, but it is happening fastest in South America and the Caribbean, where abundance of these species has dropped by 91% over the past 50 years.
Right now, across much of the midwestern and eastern US, trillions of cicadas are crawling out from the soil. And this year is extra special, because two broods are erupting from the ground at once. The first brood hasnβt been seen for 13 years, the other for 17 years and the last time they emerged together Thomas Jefferson was president. Ian Sample speaks to entomologist Dr Gene Kritsky to find out whatβs going on, why periodical cicadas emerge in cycles of prime numbers and how they keep time underground
Victim, who was in her 50s, pronounced dead at scene in Hornchurch and the animals seized
A woman has been fatally attacked by her two XL bully dogs at her home in east London.
The woman, who was in her 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene in Cornwall Close, Hornchurch, and the two registered dogs were safely seized having been contained inside a room, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan police said.
Vulnerable birds deviating from migratory routes by up to 155 miles, which could affect breeding
Eagles that have migratory routes through Ukraine have shifted their flight paths to avoid areas affected by the conflict, researchers have found.
GPS data has revealed that greater spotted eagles not only made large detours after the invasion began, but also curtailed pitstops to rest and refuel, or avoided making them altogether.
When my husband and I found this tiny creature, we felt we had to rescue him. The next few weeks marked us for ever
One day in 2008, my husband, Hiraki, was making a film for which he decided he needed some vintage birdcages. We headed to the antiques market as the sky was lightening. Get there too late and we might not find anything to buy.
After going around the market a few times and paying for several cages, we were standing under a tree, deciding whether to call it a day, when, suddenly there was a baby bird on the ground at our feet.
Five years after her last companion died and the aquariumβs owner pledged to free her, Bella still languishes in a tiny tank amid shops
In the heart of Seoul, amid the luxury shops at the foot of the worldβs sixth-tallest skyscraper, a lone beluga whale named Bella swims aimlessly in a tiny, lifeless tank, where she has been trapped for a decade.
Her plight is urgent, with campaigners racing to rescue her from the bare tank in a glitzy shopping centre in South Koreaβs capital before it is too late.
The exact number of chickens, cows and pigs being transported on trucks, ships, planes and trains within the United States is difficult to pinpoint because there is no national system for tracking the movement of livestock.
Pigeons are friendly, acrobatic and affordable, and these days they are winning the hearts of more and more youthful pigeoneers
When Boris the fantail arrived in Callum Percyβs life in 2020, the 29-year-old trainee teacher was immediately smitten. Boris had been discovered by a family friend in a dishevelled state after what looked like a run-in with a sparrow hawk, its blond-white tail as fluffy as a cumulus cloud. βWe called him Boris after the prime minister as his feathers were all over the place when we found him,β Callum laughs as his 13-strong flock of fantails, frillbacks and capuchines coo in the aviary behind him. He and his girlfriend, Serena Mihaila, 24, also a trainee teacher, installed the 6ft by 4ft wooden and mesh aviary and nesting area in the garden of their Derby home earlier this year.
For now, Callum and Serena are fancy birders β they keep their frilled, coloured and crested feathered friends for the sheer pleasure of appreciating their looks. But next year, when the couple buy their own home, they would like to start exhibiting at shows. That means upstaging Boris and co with some purer-breed pigeons, such as frillbacks with more erect frills or capuchines with elaborate, super-fluffy head crests. At show, these headturners will be assessed for their appearance, good breeding and how they sit in their handlersβ hands.
A new exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London includes βtragicβ tales of species wiped out from their natural habitats
Douglas Russell, a senior curator at Londonβs Natural History Museum, was examining a collection of nests gathered on the island of Guam when he made an unsettling discovery.
βThe nests had been picked up more than 100 years ago, and I was curating them with the aim of adding them to the museumβs main collection. They turned out to be one of the most tragic, saddest accumulations of objects Iβve ever had to deal with,β Russell told the Observer last week.
Vermont State University confers doctorate in βlitter-atureβ upon tabby for being keen hunter of mice and beloved figure on campus
Men named Max have won the Nobel prize (Planck), the Oscar for best actor (Schell), and multiple Formula One world championships (Verstappen).
A cat in the US named Max now joins those lofty ranks, having earned a doctorate in βlitter-atureβ when Vermont State University bestowed an honorary degree on the campus-dwelling tabby in recognition of his friendliness, a gesture which quickly achieved virality in corners of the internet dedicated to spotlighting light-hearted news.
Enlarge/ A kitty named Clover prepares to play with a robot arm in the Cat Royale "multi-species" science/art installation. (credit: Blast Theory - Stephen Daly)
Cats and robots are a winning combination, as evidenced by all those videos of kitties riding on Roombas. And now we have Cat Royale, a "multispecies" live installation in which three cats regularly "played" with a robot over 12 days, carefully monitored by human operators. Created by computer scientists from the University of Nottingham in collaboration with artists from a group called Blast Theory, the installation debuted at the World Science Festival in Brisbane, Australia, last year and is now a touring exhibit. The accompanying YouTube video series recently won a Webby Award, and a paper outlining the insights gleaned from the experience was similarly voted best paper at the recent Computer-Human Conference (CHIβ24).
"At first glance, the project is about designing a robot to enrich the lives of a family of cats by playing with them," said co-author Steve Benford of the University of Nottingham, who led the research. "Under the surface, however, it explores the question of what it takes to trust a robot to look after our loved ones and potentially ourselves." While cats might love Roombas, not all animal encounters with robots are positive: Guide dogs for the visually impaired can get confused by delivery robots, for example, while the rise of lawn mowing robots can have a negative impact on hedgehogs, per Benford et al.
Blast Theory and the scientists first held a series of exploratory workshops to ensure the installation and robotic design would take into account the welfare of the cats. "Creating a multispecies systemβwhere cats, robots, and humans are all accounted forβtakes more than just designing the robot," said co-author Eike Schneiders of Nottingham's Mixed Reality Lab about the primary takeaway from the project. "We had to ensure animal well-being at all times, while simultaneously ensuring that the interactive installation engaged the (human) audiences around the world. This involved consideration of many elements, including the design of the enclosure, the robot, and its underlying systems, the various roles of the humans-in-the-loop, and, of course, the selection of the cats.β
Scientist discovers a cast of recurring characters using burrows in the aftermath of bushfire, after sifting through more than 700,000 images
First came a picture of an inquisitive red-necked wallaby, then an image of a bare-nosed wombat, followed by a couple of shots of the wombatβs burrow with nothing else in the frame.
By the time research scientist Grant Linley had looked through a further 746,670 images, he had seen 48 different species visiting the 28 wombat burrows that he had trained his cameras on.
Biodiversity loss, global warming, pollution and the spread of invasive species are making infectious diseases more dangerous to organisms around the world.
White-footed mice, the primary reservoir for Lyme disease, have become more dominant in the U.S. as other rarer mammals have disappeared, one potential explanation for rising disease rates.
It may sound like a mosh pit out there. But to the participants, mating is a delicate, sonorous affair, fraught with potential missteps β and fungal zombies.
Gov. Kristi Noem suggested that President Biden should have euthanized the family dog, as she did. Animal experts said that such an option should be a last resort.
Indigenous rangers in Australiaβs Western Desert got a rare close-up with the northern marsupial mole, which is tiny, light-colored and blind, and almost never comes to the surface.
Northern spotted owl populations have declined by up to 80 percent over the last two decades. As few as 3,000 remain on federal lands, compared with 12,000 in the 1990s.
So far, bird flu in cattle seems to affect only lactating cows, and only temporarily. There have been no diagnoses in calves, pregnant heifers or beef cows, and no deaths.
Login
