Conservation
Those of us who have been lucky enough to share our lives with myriad pets over the years need no further proof that nonhuman animals have a high degree of intelligence. Scientists, however, do not have the luxury of going on gut feelings.
Nature & Wildlife
On December 28, 1973, President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) into law. And, as with most of us who approach a 40th-birthday milestone, it’s time for reflection: have the act’s past four decades of life been well spent?
Conservation
Despite antipoaching patrols, increased arrests, relocation and unmanned security drones, it seems we’re losing the battle against wildlife poachers. Already in the first six months of 2013, for example, in South Africa alone, 428 rhinos have died at the hands of poachers.
Videos
Giant pandas are among the world’s most uncommon and elusive animals. China’s State Forestry Administration estimates that there are only about 1,600 of them remaining in the wild, down from 2,500 in the 1970s. They inhabit the mountainous regions of China’s Sichuan (1,200 pandas), Shaanxi (300 pandas) and Gansu (100 pandas) Provinces.
Conservation
When images of a wild giant panda gnawing on a takin carcass in China’s Sichuan Province were recently captured on motion-sensor cameras, researchers were caught by surprise. Although pandas are technically carnivores, their diets today consist almost entirely (99 percent) of bamboo leaves, stems and shoots.
Videos
As with the film footage of the last known imperial woodpecker or the remains of the last passenger pigeon, seeing video of the final member of any animal’s kind is sad and eerie, and a good reminder of how fragile our planet and its life-forms are.
Videos
Perhaps there are times when the land needs us to give it not only a practical respect, but a little spiritual appreciation, as well.
Nature & Wildlife
I used to think that some of the world’s best nature and travel books could be found in the children’s section of my local bookstore.
Conservation
As someone who loves wild, natural places, you’ve heard plenty of dire environmental alerts and communications. There are more tigers in people’s backyards than there are tigers in the wild. Rhinos are being poached to the point of extinction. The last Galapagos giant tortoise from Pinta Island has passed away.
Nature & Wildlife
Dubbed “Iceberg” by researchers, an unusual full-grown all-white male orca has been sighted by scientists in the Commander Islands off Kamchatka in the Russian Far East.
Travel Tips
It’s less than a week before Christmas, and I’ll bet by now you’re beginning to feel “gadgeted out,” tired of being bombarded with all of the e-mail, internet and TV ads for nifty electronics, smartphones, e-readers and apps. I think nature lovers, in particular, feel the commercialization of the holidays even more than others.
Videos
When we read about a rhinoceros species that just went extinct in Vietnam, or the plight of polar bears and how we could lose them in 40 years, or the countless other news items about continuing habitat degradation and the loss of biodiversity on Earth, well, it tends to get a little depressing.
