“Blow at 2 o’clock!”, shouts a member of the research team onboard the motorsailer Pelagos. For five endless minutes everyone has been scanning the sea in a state of alert silence, looking for a white puff to indicate the blow of a male sperm whale coming to the surface to breathe and rest. The researchers
The government of Indonesia has declared a new moratorium on the expansion of the palm oil and mining industries in the Leuser ecosystem. This area, located on the island of Sumatra, is the last place on Earth where Sumatran orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants coexist in the wild. As well as being a biodiversity hotspot,
Over 730 days have passed since the last rhino was killed in Nepal. Let’s discover the secrets of the country that set an example for the whole world.
New research contradicts the widely held belief that world leopard populations remain high compared to other big cats. The species (Panthera pardus) has lost as much as 75 percent of its habitat range, according to the study published in the scientific journal PeerJ. The findings are the result of a three-year effort and provide the
After a life spent in captivity, they have finally gone back home. This is the success story of 33 lions rescued from South American circuses (24 from Peru and 9 from Colombia) and brought to South Africa. They probably longed for their homeland while performing – in chains – in unnatural, humiliating shows. The lions landed in Johannesburg in
Saving elephants from poaching and extinction means safeguarding the African ecosystem, the tourism industry and a crucial part of the continent’s common heritage. This is why the Giants Club has met in Nanyuki, Kenya. It is an exclusive group that brings together African heads of state, environmental NGOs, global business leaders and zoologists. Ivory means
Many of us grew up with the legend of Atlantis, an island described in one of Plato’s works, said to have sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after having fallen out of favour with the gods. A similar narrative has persisted in Peru in the form of a boiling river, Paititi. It is said that the
Trees are some of the world’s most ancient living beings and make our existence possible. In fact, about 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods and trees – thanks to photosynthesis – are our best allies in reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. All green areas are inestimable hubs of biodiversity: they are home
Deforestation in Kenya – which reached its peak between 1970 and 1990 – represents a serious threat to five highland forests, dubbed “the Water Towers” beacuse of their importance as they’re crossed by the country’s main rivers. Between 2001 and 2014, Kenya lost 8 per cent of its forest cover, an area the size of the US state
Finding someone who doesn’t like penguins is quite impossible. These birds – with their funny gait and impossibility of flying – inevitably trigger fondness. British scientists are relying on such liking to find volunteers to look at thousands of pictures of penguins. Researchers are trying to figure out the effective impact climate change has on penguin populations
