145 stories
Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies land in Mexico’s Central Highlands after a long journey to find respite from the cooling winter temperatures in the northeastern U.S. and Canada. For many folks in the U.S. and Canada, the ancestral hibernation grounds of the monarchs were a mystery until 1977.
In the 1980s, Colombian cocaine kingpin and drug trafficker Pablo Escobar purchased four hippopotamuses for his private zoo. After he died in 1993, the Colombian government left the hippos in a pond on his ranch because it was unable to transport them to a suitable environment.
Each winter, millions of monarch butterflies migrate from southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States to the fir forests of Mexico’s Central Highlands. This migration is considered as one of the most incredible phenomena in the animal kingdom.
The longest recorded migration by a mammal was made by a gray whale. In 2015, a female made a journey of nearly 14,000 miles from Russia to Mexico and back. (Zebras hold the longest linear—endpoint to endpoint—land mammal migration at 300 miles round trip.)
For the past year, now, your travels have probably been small ones, perhaps no farther than your own backyard or local park. So, if you’re like me—until it feels more comfortable getting out and about again—you’re reliving big, past journeys in your mind.
In 1914, the Panama Canal joined the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, changing international trade forever. The 50-mile-long pathway through the Isthmus of Panama created a significant shortcut for ships that previously had to make the perilous journey around the southern tip of South America.
By Nat Hab Adventure Specialist Joey Sudmeier. As we navigate through a since-COVID-world these days, I’m constantly reminded of the merits and necessity of travel.
With temperatures predicted to top 90 degrees Fahrenheit all week in Wisconsin where I live, I, of course, have been thinking about ice. For the past two decades, in fact, my thoughts have often turned to the world’s glacial fields and how climate change is changing them.
By Karl Egloff, WWF The Pantanal has fascinated me since I first learned about it in a documentary ten years ago. It is a world of contrasts with dramatically different wet and dry seasons, and a land of many uses spanning three countries. Home to the elusive jaguar, other varieties of wildlife, spectacular landscapes, and Brazil’s rich cowboy or “pantaneiro” heritage, the Pantanal is quickly becoming part of every wildlife traveler’s bucket list.
Stories of animals venturing into and enjoying new places have been one bright spot during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic of 2020.
Earlier this summer, Lauren Spurrier, WWF’s Vice President of Ocean Conservation joined Natural Habitat Adventures’ Daily Dose webinar series to talk about the Galapagos. Watch the recording here! WWF has worked in the Galapagos for over 50 years.
After 20 years at Natural Habitat Adventures, I had the opportunity to do something new…share the experience of a Nat Hab trip with one of my children!
