Wildlife

Capturing a breathtaking moment in wildlife is probably as hard as snapping a goofy looking picture of a Tokay gecko minding its own business in the Florida Everglades.Just think about it—conditions have to be perfect, you gotta stumble on something you don’t often see and in the end the camera still sees things differently than you do, so you gotta compensate for it. It’s hard.So, it’s only appropriate to celebrate both the good and the bad (and the so bad, it’s good), which the Crappy Wildlife Photography group…

A sprawling international study of humpback whales in the northern Pacific has found their population has shrunk significantly since 2012 — despite the once-endangered species' remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction. The new research, published in Royal Society Open Science journal on Wednesday, estimated a roughly 20 per cent drop in the cetacean species' numbers over a decade.But despite that, one of the study's nearly 75 listed authors said the findings are not yet cause for alarm.Thomas Doniol-Valcroze is…

As It Happens6:08This rare loon brought the Bellagio Hotel's famous Vegas fountain show to a haltWhile it's common to see crowds of people gathered outside the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, they're not usually there for birdwatching. But recently, a rare juvenile yellow-billed loon took up residence in the hotel's artificial lake, putting the Bellagio's famous fountain show on temporary hiatus. "He's been big news for the last week," Kurt Buzard, senior recreation assistant at the Henderson Bird Viewing…

Federal authorities have closed Canada's only known live coral reef in the Pacific Ocean to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fishing.Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the indefinite closure came into effect on Feb. 14 for the Lophelia Reef, located in the Finlayson Channel of British Columbia's Central Coast, about 500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver and 200 kilometres directly east of Haida Gwaii.The department says the reef was first discovered in 2021 and is the "first and only" known live coral reef in…

Illustration: Panayiota, Age 14 / Republic of CyprusWorld Wildlife Day was March 3, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare celebrated the event with its annual International Youth Art Contest. Now, the winning artworks have been selected from a group of 15 semi-finalists. These selections were made from over 3,000 entries submitted from 141 countries and sovereign areas. The theme of this year’s competition was “Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation,” and subjects of…

It's mating season for coyotes, which means they're more likely to be out and about during the day.With that in mind, the City of Burlington, Ont., is reminding residents what to do if they encounter one, and how to coyote-proof their properties. Last week, the city also updated its bylaws to let wildlife management professionals use firearms but the city's head of bylaw says that's not to make it easier to kill coyotes but makes the response require less staffing."Coyotes have always been here. People just didn't notice…

Australian wildlife AI project receives $750,000 boost for wildlife identification; Abridge raises $150 mn in series C for AI clinical documentation tools; Tyler Perry halts $800 mn studio expansion amid AI job loss concerns; AI generated car free city images boost support for sustainable policies in the US- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look. 1. Australian wildlife AI project receives $750,000 boost for wildlife identificationThe Australian Wildlife Conservancy's AI wildlife identification project…

Research from North Carolina State University reveals that precipitation levels during wild turkey nesting season don’t significantly impact reproductive success, challenging traditional beliefs and complicating predictions about the effects of climate change on these populations.A recent research study has discovered that rainfall during the nesting season does not impact the breeding success of wild turkeys, challenging the commonly held belief about the importance of precipitation for wild turkey nesting success. This…

During its nesting season, the marbled murrelet, known affectionately among bird watchers as a "strange, mysterious little seabird," lays a single egg in the thick mosses that grow on the branches of British Columbia's old-growth forest canopy.With some of those forests under threat from logging, the small black-and-brown mottled seabird is considered threatened, too.The marbled murrelet is among a growing number of migratory species animals facing a perilous future, a new UN report found.  "The solution for the marbled …

For nine years, Alaska health officials have been aware of an unusual virus causing rare, relatively mild illnesses in the Fairbanks area.But a recent case in another part of the state — this one resulting in a man's death — has brought new attention to the  Alaskapox virus.Here's some background on the virus.What is Alaskapox?Alaskapox belongs to a family of brick-shaped viruses that can infect animals and humans. These bugs, known as orthopoxviruses, tend to cause lesions, or pox, on the skin. Each has its own…