Polar bears are rather unique among bears. Not only do they inhabit the hostile, frigid ice floes in the North Pole, but they are also adept swimmers. In the cold, arctic seas, they can swim 6 mph (10 km/hr), and in one case, a female polar bear swam continuously for 9 days in the Bering Sea, […] More
Wolves have been a longstanding villain in mythology and folklore. They’ve blow down pigs’ houses; they’ve eaten helpless senior citizens; and they’ve even been sons of the nefarious Norse god, Loki. Hell, they’ve even taken on Liam Neeson. When you see a wolf, you’re expected to run. So what happens when you don’t run? What happens […] More
Most of us know that hippos are not the cuddly creatures they’re made out to be in movies and TV shows. Credited as the deadliest large land animal, they’re known to be extremely aggressive and unpredictable. Weighing in at more than 6000 pounds, at least 500 deaths are attributed to hippos each year in Africa […] More
Illegal wire snares contribute to wild animal extinctions on a large scale and serve as one of Africa’s most persistent conservation problems. Kariba, Zimbabwe is a small town situated on the edge of the Zambian border nearby the Kariba Dam. Its local community is fed by tourism provided by surrounding wildlife and animal preserves. Bushmeat poaching […] More
We shouldn’t have to tell you not to mock a gorilla. This video shows why… More
An amazing video reveals the showdown between a mother fox protecting her den and cubs from a hungry badger in Yellowstone National Park. More
Imagine a giant column of ice that freezes everything it comes in contact with. Well, this isn’t the stuff of nightmares or doomsday films; this strange phenomenon is very real. Brinicles — also known as “ice stalactites,” or fittingly, “icy fingers of death” — are hollow tubes of ice that surround a plume of salt […] More
This cute little bird has a dark and deadly secret. Commonly referred to as “butcher birds,” shrikes are passerine (perching) birds found throughout portions of Eurasia and Africa. While hunting insects and small vertebrates, they often impale their prey on thorns, barbed-wire fences, and any other available sharp objects — hence, the name. While this […] More
Among modern-day carnivores, dogs, wolves, and their relatives (known as canids) are unique. Their snouts are long and narrow—in contrast to the short, compact faces of cats and weasels—and many of them are pack-hunting, high-endurance “pursuit predators” that run their prey to exhaustion. But millions of years ago, the world was full of other groups […] More
Research reveals mature parasites effectively alter their hosts’ behavior to ensure their own survival. More
Their scrappy nature makes them able to live in virtually every habitat in Africa, including savannas, grasslands, woodlands, deserts and even 13,000 ft high in mountains… More
A face off between a mongoose and cobra is an age old battle. In this video from the Smithsonian Channel, we get a glimpse into what it takes to be the victor. More
