Meeting Mary Harris after I retired and moved to Colorado changed my life. She's the chair of Roaring Fork Audubon and became my mentor for all things bird. Although I was a birdwatcher back in Maryland, I was not a birder. I enjoyed sitting on...
For many of us, wildlife-vehicle collisions are a fact of life. In some areas where roads bisect wildlife habitat, collisions or near misses with large mammals like deer are all too familiar, and countless smaller creatures like turtles and squirrels fall victim to automobiles every...
New Yorkers have never been shy about their city’s achievements. Witness a recent article by Lisa M. Collins (Eagles, Beavers, Sea Turtles: Why N.Y.C. Is Humming with Wildlife - Oct. 28 NYTimes) that celebrates the city as “humming with wildlife” and enjoying a “surprising” renaissance...
Every year since 2014, the Katmai National Park in Alaska has run a competition over the internet to identify a Fat Bear winner based on votes cast by members of the public who watch the Brown bears in the park via webcams as they fatten...
There are many threats to the survival of elephants in the world today, with poaching and habitat loss being among the most obvious. Disease is also an important factor, especially for elephants under human care where a recently discovered herpes virus – elephant endotheliotropic herpes...
There are many examples of animal evolution in which wild creatures adapt to take advantage of urban or industrial environments. A recent paper describes some details of urban fox evolution. As with many such findings, the story began with a researcher, Kevin Parsons, asking some...
South Africa occupies an ecologically strategic position in the world. Like China, it has rich biodiversity and has been building its reputation as a favorite wildlife tourist destination. But it has also attracted its share of wildlife traders, poachers, and trophy hunters[1]. South Africa’s own...
On May 2 this year, the South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, released a High Level Panel (HLP) report on the sustainable use of wildlife involving the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling of elephant, lion, leopard and rhino. In...
“Dancing” bears were a common and popular form of street entertainment in Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages. Although there were still dancing bears in Western Europe in the 20th century (the 1911 UK animal protection law forbid the practice) but the dancing bear...
Last year, WBI ran a story about the South African documentary, My Octopus Teacher and recommended it to our readers. Many then watched the documentary (on Netflix) and sang its praises to their friends and contacts. This year, My Octopus Teacher, was nominated for numerous...
