Nature & Wildlife
The continental United States and many global regions experienced their hottest summer on record in 2026, driven by human-caused climate change and an intensifying El Nino, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climate Report published on September 9, 2026. Average temperatures were roughly 3 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century baseline.
African Safaris
With its bulbous shape and canopy resembling an upside-down root system, the baobab tree symbolizes the African continent. Its origins are also the stuff of legend…literally.
African Safaris
Often referred to as the “eighth continent,” the island nation of Madagascar has developed its own distinct ecosystems and extraordinary wildlife since it split from the African continent an estimated 160 million years ago. Approximately 95% of Madagascar’s reptiles, 89% of its plant life and 92% of its mammals exist nowhere else on Earth.
Nature & Wildlife
Some tiny birds on remote Scottish islands are undergoing a dramatic evolutionary transformation. Four isolated populations of British wrens have grown astonishingly large. At the other end of the scale, however, leopards in South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region have become much smaller than most African leopards.
African Safaris
By Jordy Oleson Madagascar is the most unique place I’ve ever been. Geographically, biologically, culturally—it is so isolated and truly seems to operate in a vacuum. This African island was once blanketed almost entirely by forest, and it’s home to countless endemic species.
African Safaris
Once upon a time, in a small village in eastern Madagascar, a man entered a forest to collect honey with his son, Koto. Koto was very young and was not able to climb trees on his own, so his father carried him high into a rosewood tree, where they found a beehive.
African Safaris
Follow in the footsteps of five trailblazing women who transformed primatology and became powerful forces in the fight to protect great apes. Jane Goodall Dr. Jane Goodall’s long-term study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania led her to worldwide acclaim.
Nature & Wildlife
Captivating remnants of ancient times, fossils offer a window into Earth’s history and the evolution of life. They document the past, providing clues about extinct species, vanished environments and the processes that shaped our planet.
African Safaris
A trip to the rainforest is filled with interesting possibilities for adventure, whether through cultural exchange, photography, fishing, hiking, birding or wildlife spotting. But not all rainforests are the same! Some are hot and humid and filled with colorful orchids, while others are cool and misty and packed with prehistoric ferns.
Conservation
Exactly one month after Earth Day, on May 22, global communities join in solidarity to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity.
African Safaris
I sat in the middle of the woods, waterproof notebook in hand, the pitter-patter of raindrops falling around me. Out of the corner of my eye, a red ruffed lemur popped its long snout from behind a large pine, fixing its curious yellow eyes upon another red-haired target—me.
Conservation
Ever since the HMS Beagle arrived in the Galapagos Islands with a young Charles Darwin aboard—who was soon to meet a fateful family of finches—ecologists have struggled to understand a particularly perplexing question: Why is there such a ridiculous abundance of species in some places on Earth and a scarcity in others?
