predators

There may be a totally non-violent reason that an orca near Iceland was spotted caring for a pilot whale calf. But given what we know of orcas—a species infamous for breaking the spines of dolphins and eating the livers of unlucky great white sharks—you’ll forgive us for being a little suspicious.Researchers studying orcas off the western coast of Iceland spotted one apparently raising a pilot whale calf as its own offspring. That’s a little weird. Pilot whales are ordinarily prey for the larger cetaceans, which are…

Photo: Ramon Carretero (Shutterstock)A Chinese food blogger has been fined $18,500 for cooking and eating a great white shark in a video posted online. The blogger, who goes by the name Tizi was identified by officials as Jin, who said she had bought the shark on an Alibaba-owned shopping site Taobao for 7,700 yuan ($1,141). Authorities said in a statement that Jin had bought the shark in April 2022 and posted the video on the social media platform Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) and Kuaishou. The videos quickly…

About 20 to 40 million years ago, entelodonts—immense, snaggletoothed, pig-like beasts—trotted throughout Eurasia and North America. But despite their 3-foot jaws studded with an alarming number of triangular teeth, these barnyard nightmares apparently had a typically porcine diet.New findings, published recently in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, shed a light on feeding habits of these strange, extinct mammals and some of their closest relatives, revealing clues about the changing world…

Best Ways to Protect Children from Online Predators and Staying Safe on The Web The Internet has become part of our everyday lives, but it also presents a unique set of challenges for parents looking to protect their children from online predators and staying safe on the web. If you’re worried about your child’s safety on the Web, there are plenty of ways to keep them safe—no matter what age they are! Here are nine tips from me (the mom who never knew how much trouble I was in until my kids told me), along with some…

There is no sea creature whose name inspires terror – rightly or wrongly – as much as the great white shark.With its sleek body optimized for hunting, its sharp teeth, and its (somewhat undeserved) reputation for enjoying human flesh, the great white (Carcharodon carcharias) is widely regarded as one of the ocean's top predators.And that's true, it is – but there's something even the great white fears.Since 2017, scientists have documented that the sharks have made themselves extremely scarce off the coast of South…

The concentric circles or eyespots on butterfly and moth wings—like those seen on this Suraka silk moth—not only look like real eyes but may also appear to glare directly at predators from many directions, scientists have found. This optical illusion, called the “Mona Lisa effect,” could scare would-be attackers and buy the insects enough time to escape. Scientists suspect that eyespots, with dark “pupils” in the center surrounded by lighter “irises,” look like real eyes to predators. Hannah Rowland, an ecologist at the…

Carole Baskin at an event in 2021.Photo: Tasos Katopodis (Getty Images)Remember March 2020, when we were all stuck inside watching a kooky gay big cat owner do battle with another kooky tiger-print-wearing big cat sanctuary owner? One of those catty characters just scored a big win in Washington.On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 263, known as the “Big Cat Public Safety Act,” which puts a slew of new amendments on an older law that regulates wildlife trafficking. The legislation bans private citizens…

A species of wasp that lives in Japan seems to have developed a rather unconventional method for warding off attacks.Researchers observed the male of the mason wasp species Anterhynchium gibbifrons using spikes that flank the penis as a weapon – with varying effectiveness – against hungry frogs that think the insect might make a tasty snack."This study," write ecologists Shinji Sugiura and Misaki Tsujii of Kobe University in Japan, "highlights the importance of male genitalia as an anti-predator defense and provides a…

An orca leaps out of the water near a whale-watching boat in the Salish Sea in the San Juan Islands, Washington in 2015. Photo: Elaine Thompson (AP)A mayor and city council in the Pacific Northwest are hoping to help a group of endangered orcas by formally declaring that these marine mammals should have legal rights. The city of Port Townsend, Washington​​ has proclaimed that Southern Resident Orcas, a sub-group of orcas that are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, should have certain legal rights. The…

Photo: Minqiang Lu/Wildlife Photographer of the YearDo you prefer a happy shot of polar cub frolicking among flowers, or a frightening close-up of a wasp’s attack on a spider? The National History Museum in London is asking for the public to vote on its top nature photos of 2022. On Wednesday, it opened up the People’s Choice portion of its annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.The contest is now in its 58th year, with the Museum having hosted and produced it since the 1980s. This year, it garnered nearly…