All articles tagged with #animals
Tasmanian officials urged fans to respect Neil, a 2,200-pound male elephant seal, as his beach–to–town tour draws a huge online following and causes disruption. They warned that celebrity-style attention could be dangerous for both humans and the seal, stressing they must coexist and avoid approaching or identifying where he’s located, while noting his behavior is typical juvenile-seal experimentation rather to be feared.
Two-and-a-half years of GPS tracking across Yellowstone show ravens rarely follow wolves long distances; instead, they use a strong memory to repeatedly visit areas where wolf kills are likely, effectively building a mental map that guides scavenging across the landscape.
Gracie, a giraffe who wandered off a Texas ranch into rocky, unfenced ground, has been found. The rancher said she tends to keep moving when approached and plans to erect a fence around a giraffe enclosure to prevent future escapes; Gracie is not believed to pose a danger to people.
Two baby giraffes missing from Virginia's Natural Bridge Zoo were found safe and are now in the care of a professional giraffe facility, months after investigators seized nearly 100 animals from the zoo in an abuse probe; four zoo co-owners face misdemeanor charges, and authorities say 95 animals were seized with 28 dead, though no details were released about how or where the giraffes were located.
A BuzzFeed post curates 32 lighthearted photos designed to brighten your day, including cute animal moments, funny misadventures, and relatable captions, all compiled to deliver instant mood-boosting smiles.
A 25-year camera-trap study in Bolivia and Peru suggests the rare short-eared dog, nicknamed the ghost dog, may be more abundant than previously thought, though it is still not considered common. Over 594 sightings from 2001–2024 reveal densities around 15 dogs per 38.61 miles, with higher detections in protected areas where forest canopy is preserved. Scientists emphasize that the species is elusive and poorly studied, and stress protecting protected areas and Indigenous territories as key to its conservation.
A Canadian farm owner, Gina Moore, intervenes to save her Nigerian dwarf goat from a cougar attack on her British Columbia farm, delivering a swift kick that deterred the predator. She says adrenaline drove her actions as the security-camera video captured the dramatic moment, and notes that habitat changes are bringing bears and cougars closer to her property.
Researchers in Ithaca’s East Lawn Cemetery estimate a 100-year-old colony of about 5.5 million Andrena regularis bees nesting underground across 1.5 acres, potentially one of the world’s largest bee aggregations. Using emergence traps, they documented 3,251 insects across 16 species, with the population likely ranging 3–8 million. The colony’s longevity and size are tied to the cemetery’s undisturbed sandy soil and limited pesticide use, highlighting cemeteries as biodiversity refuges and the bees’ role in pollinating crops like apples.
A tourist who allegedly threw a rock at a Hawaiian monk seal to protect sea turtles says he acted to defend the animals; his attorney says he was doing something good and is devastated by the backlash after video of the incident circulated.
A new review compiles years of work showing mosquitoes locate humans via chemical cues: CO2 in breath guides them from afar, then skin-emitted compounds like carboxylic acids (and related molecules such as 1-octen-3-ol) attract them up close; the skin microbiome and certain pathogens can tilt the balance toward more bites, informing potential repellents and skin-microbiome approaches to reduce transmission risk.
A red-haired fox in Blairmore, Alberta, was spotted carrying five or six hot dogs by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police constable; police posted a photo on social media jokingly calling it a ‘criminal,’ and the fox was released without charges.
A 166-million-year-old, dog-sized, plant-eating dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic was unearthed on Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Although the skeleton was long spotted, difficult access and protected coastline kept it from extraction until now. The fragmentary remains suggest an early ornithischian (possibly an early ornithopod or ceratodan) and show it was at least eight years old when it died, based on growth rings. This could push back the appearance of iguanodontians and shed light on small herbivores in Jurassic ecosystems; researchers aim to find more fossils in the Kilmaluag Formation to better understand dinosaur evolution in this period.
Rare footage from Shark Bay shows bottlenose dolphins using sea sponges as protective tools on their snouts to hunt along the seafloor. The behavior alters echolocation and is transmitted from mothers to offspring; only about 5% of the population uses it, and calves typically learn it over 3–4 years. Sponge shape changes the acoustic beam, affecting hunting efficiency, with cone-shaped sponges guiding clicks more narrowly than basket-like sponges. The study, led by Ellen Rose Jacobs of Aarhus University and the Shark Bay Dolphin Research Project, highlights cultural transmission and the costs of tool use in a changing ocean, and was published in Royal Society Open Science.
Spneb, a 38-year-old Humboldt penguin at Paradise Park in Cornwall, is believed to be the world’s oldest, celebrated with an ice cake topped with sardines and sprats as visitors watched, while her 21-year-old mate Prince looked on.
At a veterinary visit, Tequila, a senior Golden Retriever, turns the waiting room into a self-guided stroll—carrying her leash, sniffing shelves, and confidently wandering past staff—winning smiles from thousands online.