Nature & Wildlife
The website of Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University includes a section entitled South Central China and Tibet: Hotspot of Diversity. This appellation applies to a region of extraordinary richness in endemic plant and animal species, and one whose ecosystem is threatened by the pressure of human activities.
Nature & Wildlife
Only 30-35 Amur leopards remain in the wild. Through establishment of a new national park in the Russian Far East, The Land of the Leopard, the World Wildlife Fund and its partners have joined local and national governments and community groups in an urgent effort to save this magnificent species.
Conservation
A panda may be the poster child for endangered Chinese animal species and the increasing number of Chinese conservation programs, but the Asiatic black bear shares its imperiled fate.
Conservation
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is currently on its 39th consecutive day of temperatures in the triple digits. The region might soon break its record of 42 consecutive days at 100 or above, set in 1980. And according to the Weather Channel, drought now affects over a million square miles of the Lower 48 states, or 32 percent.
Nature & Wildlife
If you dread overseas flights because you always land intolerably tired and exceedingly hungry, I have some facts that might help you put such ordeals into perspective. It was recently discovered that a female bar-tailed godwit flew 7,145 miles from Alaska to New Zealand—without taking a single break for food or drink.
News & More
If you’re a fan of forensic TV programs—such as Bones, Dexter, Fringe or one of the several CSI series—you can’t help but be familiar with the many ways DNA testing may be put to use: to gather evidence at crime scenes, determine family relationships or prove the recent whereabouts of a missing person, among others.
Nature & Wildlife
As the winter passes on my thoughts turn away from the polar bears and grizzlies of 2010 and to the coming adventures of 2011. The first on the calendar for me will be guiding the Natural Habitat Wild and Ancient China trips this May and June. Am I excited?
News & More
Smiling sightseers in Uganda, Africa. Big grins on the faces of tourists to Costa Rica. An enthusiastically clapping audience for the whales off the Mexican Baja Peninsula. Come to think of it, have you ever seen a solemn or even remotely grumpy person in a travel photo?
Conservation
You may have caught the news recently about a very special FedEx delivery to China’s Sichuan province: aboard the company’s custom-appointed 777 jet were two distinguished passengers, headed from the U.S. to the Chengdu Panda Base. They traveled in plexiglass crates accompanied by an entourage of caretakers, a vet, and a FedEx staffer.
Conservation
A recent article on CNN.com cites a report that China’s Sichuan earthquake of last May destroyed a quarter of wild giant pandas’ habitat, and some 60% of giant pandas overall were affected by the quake.
