1183 stories
The Illegal Wildlife Trade Charismatic megafauna such as rhino, elephant and tiger as well as lesser-known mammals like the pangolin, are among the growing list of endangered species imperiled by the illegal wildlife trade. This industrial-scale, transnational crime network has an estimated annual value of $20 billion.
For me, spring and Rachel Carson are inextricably linked. In her visionary, 1962 book, Silent Spring, Carson—a marine biologist and environmental trailblazer—wrote: “Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty…
They slide on their bellies across the snow, congregate on icebergs and seem to fly through freezing water in search of fish. That’s how most people picture penguins: playing among the icebergs in Antarctica.
A Subarctic Summer Churchill rests at the ecological crossroads of three regions: the tree-lined Northern Canadian Shield taiga, the Southern Hudson Bay taiga (which contains some of the most extensive wetland complexes in North America) and the shrub-covered Low Arctic tundra.
Pardon the pun, but a polar bear is quite the cool creature.
Polar bears rely heavily on their highly developed sense of smell to hunt ringed seals. This marine mammal locates its prey from as far away as 20 miles, using its olfactory system as a guide before swooping down and scooping up unsuspecting seals.
The first time I heard a lion’s roar, it shook me to the bones. I’d been snoozing soundly in my hut in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve (a Nat Hab favorite), when the full-throated and low-pitched bellow reverberated through my body, launching me upright. Afterward, I was too excited to go back to sleep.
At the beginning of the 19th century, explorers Lewis and Clark prompted a discussion that continues to this day when they chronicled their discovery of the pronghorn. William Clark described the distinctly American pronghorn as “like the antelope or gazella of Africa.” The comparison stuck, and the question took hold.
Despite the fact that we are currently experiencing the Earth’s sixth mass extinction crisis, I take great solace in knowing that life here is still amazingly diverse. And, somewhat surprisingly, the hot spots for that extraordinary and baffling biological richness occur in our planet’s mountainous regions—especially those found in the tropics.
As an Expedition Leader for Nat Hab’s India Tiger Safari: A Photo Pro Expedition, Conan Dumenil wears a lot of hats. This eleven-day trip is part of the Photo Pro series, and Conan’s hands-on tips, knowledge and expertise bring a fresh perspective to the proceedings.
The Panda is a Panda! “The panda is a panda,” boldly declared German biologist, George B. Schaller, in his 1994 book, The Last Panda.
One of the most powerful marine predators, the orca, grows up to 32 feet in length—about the size of a school bus—and can weigh up to 6 tons.
