I wrote this from the Overlander, a 9-hour train journey from Palmerston North to Auckland. My third visit to New Zealand is nearing its end. By the time I disembark…
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In Part I of this series, we touched upon the overall threat of extinction being faced by numerous species, primarily driven by sale and trade of their body parts. In this installment, we talk about 5 additional species that are teetering on the brink of extinction and have outlined what you can do to help.

More than a third of all raw materials and fossil fuels consumed in the United States are used in animal production (“Ecological Cooking” by Joanne Stepaniak and Kathy Hecker)

If you haven’t seen the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary, The Cove by now, you should. Animal Planet recently premiered a new mini-series called “Blood Dolphins”, which follows Ric O’Barry’s efforts to protect dolphins around the world. This new mini-series, (much like the original documentary) is leading to worldwide pressure, outrage and protests around the killing of dolphins

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, comprising of over half of the earth’s remaining rainforests and covering 1.4 billion acres of the Amazon Basin. The forest covers a…
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This week’s online issue of National Park Traveler featured a story by Kurt Repanshek entitled “Republicans On House Natural Resources Committee Planning Big Changes For Public Lands”, which discusses how the GOP plans to continue efforts to dismantle environmental legislation protecting, among other precious resources, our national parks.

Carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning are projected to double in the next 50 years and if this trend continues, it can lead to significant global warming by the end of the century, frequent extreme weather events, decreased food security and increased health risks to all species. If we focus on ensuring that emissions are kept flat until year 2050

Charlie Horse died on Sunday, October 23rd on the mean streets of New York. He was a NYC carriage horse on his way to work in the park. He lay there on the street, unidentified at the time – his mouth open, hooves tied together and mane flared.

“Bush meat” is often considered a foreign concept and a foreign problem, though it is in fact a hidden trade in North America. While we are familiar with other problems here regarding animals used for food, the idea that Great Apes are hunted and used for their flesh and body parts perhaps seems of less concern because it is happening “over there”.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures. One of the rewards of being a passionate animal observer in this day and age is the proliferation of video clips that circulate on YouTube and Facebook. They provide precious glimpses of their emotions, and they often belie common prejudices about animals and nature.

In the previous installment of this series, we wrote about UNESCO‘s New World Heritage Sites in Danger. Part of UNESCO’s charter is to preserve natural, cultural and historic sites around the world in order for citizens of all countries to be able to visit, enjoy, and learn from them. Individually, many of these sites combine several elements of cultural heritage criteria, ranging from majestic natural beauty to important architectural and artistic history. These irreplaceable sites represent multi-dimensional and direct links to our past and should be preserved at all costs.

Every year, the UNESCO committee determines which new nominations will be inscribed on the official World Heritage Site list, thereby receiving international funding, awareness and support. At the conclusion of the 2010 34th session, from the current list of 1494 nominations submitted by member states, 21 were selected to be added to the official list (15 cultural sites, 5 natural sites, 1 mixed), bringing the count to 911.

Dr. Thomas Seeley, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University recently published a book called “Honeybee Democracy”. Dr Seeley carefully observed the decision making process that honeybees use when searching for a new nesting cavity for the swarm. According to his research, the swarm makes mass decisions based on a democratic dance-off!