Image: Wikimedia Commons A 51-year-old big-game hunter from South Africa died in Zimbabwe after he was crushed by a dying elephant that had been shot by a fellow hunter. Theunis Botha, who led hunting expeditions through his company Big Game Safaris, was with a group when they came upon a breeding herd of elephants at […] More
Poachers are no longer just targeting rhinos and elephants in the wild. Now, some have turned on their sights on sanctuaries, zoos and even museum collections. Several brutal attacks that took place in South Africa and Europe in recent months could be signaling a trend toward a more violent brand of extreme poaching, sparking fear […] More
Stretching more than 1,400 miles, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure in the world. Visible even from outer space, the epic reef system is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. But recent aerial surveys show that more than half of it may have died as a result of back-to-back […] More
Image: Inside Edition via YouTube Conservation workers recently rescued an extremely rare albino orangutan from a village on the island of Borneo, where it was being held captive by locals. Now, officials are asking the public to help name the animal to raise awareness about the species. The animal was rescued by the Borneo Orangutan […] More
Illegal sea turtle trafficking appears to be increasing in Bali and religious ceremonies may be part of the problem, according to a report by Mongabay. Despite laws prohibiting the capturing and trade of wild sea turtles in Indonesia, turtle meat is considered a delicacy, and demand remains strong among many local groups in Bali, where […] More
Image: Wikimedia Commons China recently launched a controversial orca breeding program, sparking criticism from activists who say keeping the animals in captivity is dangerous to their health. Chimelong Group, a leading amusement park operator in China, opened a new center earlier this year at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, located in the city of Zhuhai. Currently, there […] More
Massive, slow-moving and ancient. Meet the incredibly rare Chinese giant salamander, which can outgrow the average human. Capable of reaching up to 6 feet from head to tail and weighing more than 110 pounds, Chinese giant salamanders are the largest living amphibians in the world. However, the average individual measures just under 4 feet and […] More
Are animal lives more important than human ones? One park in India seems to think so. Officials at the Kaziranga National Park in India have been accused of torturing and killing poachers and local villagers in an effort to protect the country’s vulnerable rhinoceros population, according to a report by the BBC. The report, which […] More
The rusty-patched bumblebee was recently the first bee in the Continental United States to be listed as an endangered species, and scientists might have found one reason why: a parasitic fungus is literally making the males too fat to mate. Once ingested, the fungus (Nosema bombi) swells in the bumblebee’s tissues until the bee gets so […] More
Image: Mike Pennington One of Alaska’s most abundant species of fish is modifying its breeding patterns as a result of climate change, according to a recent study from the University of Washington. The three-spined stickleback fish — which makes up more than half the fish population in many Northern lakes — are breeding earlier and more often […] More
An elephant calf lost half her leg after getting snared in a hunter’s game trap — and amazingly learned to walk again. A six-month-old elephant named Fah Jam, meaning “Clear Sky”, got her leg caught in a hunting trap out laid outside of a small village in Thailand. Locals found her starving and in critical […] More
These creatures may be living on borrowed time: they’re some of the rarest animals on earth. It may not be long before these species are just a memory. How many have you ever heard of? Sumatran Rhinoceros The smallest living rhino has more in common with extinct wooly rhinoceroses than our modern rhino species. Poached […] More
