African Safaris
Nature is powerful. It exists by the rules that it alone sets, and it progresses on its own trajectory. Its force is far stronger than we are. The coronavirus pandemic has certainly shown us and taught us that. And one of the places where nature makes its power most manifest is in a waterfall.
African Safaris
You probably already know the perilous position that the world’s elephants are currently negotiating. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has officially listed the Asian elephant as endangered and the African elephant as vulnerable.
Conservation
For almost 24 million years, say scientists, coral reefs have functioned relatively unchanged. That is, until the 1980s. Starting in that decade, tropical coral reef coverage around the world has declined by about 30 to 50 percent.
African Safaris
Imagine that you are lactose intolerant, and then you discover that all of the grocery stores in your vicinity sell only dairy products. That’s how a Duke University, North Carolina, ecologist describes the predicament of sifakas, a genus of lemur.
African Safaris
Hartebeests—the narrow-faced, savanna-adapted and unusual-looking African antelope that are native to more than 25 African countries—are on a downhill population slide. The African Wildlife Foundation estimates that there are about 360,000 of them left in eight to 10 recognized subspecies, one of which is entirely extinct. In Kenya, particularly, hartebeest numbers are decreasing, threatening extinction.
Conservation
Spreading around the world at the speed of light, COVID-19 has now infected more than 2.5 million people and killed almost 177,000. Although the virus’s origins are still a little murky, it’s highly likely that it jumped from species to species, until it hit ours. Trading diseases with wildlife isn’t new.
Nature & Wildlife
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to experience the exhilaration of a wildlife drive on an African safari, now is your chance! Wildlife education organization WildEarth is streaming live safaris from South Africa straight to households around the world through their safariLIVE program.
African Safaris
The term Africa’s Big Five means something quite different today than it did when it was coined in the late 1800s during the continent’s colonial period. Then, it referenced the animals—Cape buffalo (or African buffalo), elephants, leopards, lions and rhinoceroses—that trophy hunters considered to be the most challenging and dangerous to hunt on foot.
Nature & Wildlife
Every Friday, we choose our favorite photo of the week from our Wildlife Photo of the Day website. This week we chose a rare polka-dotted zebra in Africa! Photographer Ratish Nair captured this moment in the Masai Mara, Kenya Have you taken some amazing wildlife photos during your travels?
African Safaris
More than 350 types of frogs live in Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo. The nation stretches across 226,917 square miles (approximately the size of France or Texas) off the coast of East Africa. This gives Madagascar possibly the highest frog diversity per square mile of any country in the world.
Conservation
Around the world, nearly 3 billion people cook their meals using open fires or simple stoves fueled by biomass (animal dung, crop waste or wood), coal or kerosene, according to the World Health Organization.
News & More
Every year, the New York Times names 52 places as top destinations to visit. This year, nine Nat Hab destinations made the list. Some destinations are making strides in conservation and others are dramatically changing as a result of climate change. Travel can bring about inspiration and perspective to those trapped in their everyday bubble.
