• Animals

One cool thing: Natural History Museum announces wildlife photography winners

• Lions
• photography

As Eco Watch reported, the Natural History Museum in London announced on Wednesday the winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: LUMIX People’s Choice Award. After counting 16,000 votes from nature fans, wildlife photographer David Lloyd’s shot of a pair of nuzzling Serengeti lions, called Bond of Brothers, was crowned the top image. The two […]

• Animals

What does consciousness mean in the animal kingdom?

• animal consciousness
• animals
• Jainism

The Atlantic’s Ross Andersen wrote a fascinating piece for the March 2019 issue of the magazine about animal cognition and the scientific community’s rethinking of how animals are aware of themselves and their surroundings. In the piece, he spends time with devotees of Jainism, an ancient religion whose highest commandment forbids violence not only against humans, […]

• Animals

Plummeting insect populations threaten our way of life

A new analysis, published in the journal Biological Conservation has revealed that more than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. As the Guardian reported, the rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds, and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the data, suggesting they could vanish within a century.

• Animals

One unusual thing: PA man has emotional support gator for depression

• alligator
• emotional support

  As AP reported, A Pennsylvania man says his emotional support alligator helps him deal with his depression. Joie Henney, 65, said his registered emotional support animal named Wally likes to snuggle and give hugs, despite being a 5-foot-long alligator. The York Haven man said he received approval from his doctor to use Wally as his […]

• Animals

Major Wildlife Trafficking Busts In Hong Kong and Uganda

• China
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• elephant
• endangered species
• ivory
• pangolin
• Sudan
• wildlife trafficking

CNN reported last Friday that Hong Kong customs agents had taken into custody $8 million dollars worth of smuggled endangered species parts, including the largest single cache of pangolin scales.  This was one of the largest wildlife trafficking busts ever in Hong Kong, a gateway for smugglers to bring illegal good into China.  In a raid, authorities seized 8,300 kilograms (18,300 pounds) of suspected pangolin scales and 2,100 kilograms (4,600 pounds) of suspected ivory tusks from a 40-foot container ship that was supposed to be transporting frozen beef from Nigeria.

• Animals

One Cool Thing: baby Humpback whale spotted minutes after birth 

• Hawaii
• humpback whale
• whale

This rare video captures the precious first moments just after a humpback whale gave birth off the coast of Maui. Lars Bejder, the director of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa’s Marine Mammal Research Program, said that this is the closest researcher has been to a live birth of a humpback whale in 25 years. You can […]