Worldcrunch
A new study found that even tiny amounts of ingested plastic can be fatal to marine animals, with lethal doses far lower than previously believed. More than ever, this highlights the urgent need to reduce plastic pollution to protect vulnerable ocean species.
Ecuador’s exceptional Galapagos archipelago has been at the heart of an ambitious decades-long preservation policy to protect its unique fauna from too many visitors. Could it serve as a model for others for how to resist overtourism?
The blowing up of the Nova Kakhovka dam has unleashed massive flooding in southern Ukraine. The damage is sure to be staggering, which will add to the huge toll the government estimated in March that takes into account land, air, and water pollution, burned-down forests, and destroyed natural resources.
Thanks to advances in science, the reintroduction of extinct animal species is now feasible — even inevitable. But beyond possible benefits for biodiversity, these projects raise numerous environmental and ethical dilemmas.
Le petit oiseau va sortir…! “Here flies the little bird!” is what we say in France when we want our subjects to pay attention and look at the camera. That time in Manaus, one of the gateways to the lush Brazilian rainforest, these vibrant orange birds didn’t fly away just long enough to get this […]
In the Bharatpur bird sanctuary, these long-billed vultures had built their nests in the trees. These vultures are more widely found around the cities of Mumbai and Karachi, where the Parsi community’s rituals include leaving its dead outside to be eaten by the scavenger bird species.
No wonder this alligator looked so thirsty: The lush swamps of Avery Island are next to Louisiana“s Tabasco hot sauce factory.
Traditional local populations are facing the brunt of the environmental fallout in the massive lake between Bolivia and Peru.
A 15 minute-drive from downtown Québec City, the Île d’Orléans on the Saint Lawrence River is simply stunning, with its hills, valleys and waterfalls — not to mention a couple of mighty bison.
Vast urban areas are home to much more animal and plant life than you might think, making their natural spaces crucial in the fight against global warming.
No, this Nile crocodile didn’t get lost all the way down in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. This scary predator can be found throughout much of the African continent, and is best photographed with a telephoto lens.
On the Saintes archipelago in the Lesser Antilles live the green iguana (which appears on the coat of arms of the Terre-de-Haut municipality) and the local Iguana delicatissima. Everything was going just fine until the two started to mingle, giving birth to a hybrid iguana threatening both species.
KAAFU ATOLL — The Maldives are slowly sinking, as coral reefs off the coasts of the islands have been destroyed and washed ashore because of warming water temperatures, all of which means sand isn’t propagating as it should. That’s why Thomas Le Berre is dragging an iron frame along the beach of Kuda Huraa. With […]
TEHRAN — What was described as the “last remaining” member of a flock of cranes that has flown to Iran from Siberia every winter was recently spotted on Iran’s northern Caspian shore, confirming environmental officials’ fears that the pack is virutally extinct. This was said to be the seventh year it had flown 4,000 kilometers […]
The owners of SeaWorld San Diego bought Los Angeles’ Marineland of the Pacific in early 1987 before suddenly closing it. That meant all the animals had to be transferred to San Diego. A year later, when we went to see them, Corky the killer whale had been renamed “Shamu.”
When you think of a wild cat (i.e. a lion, tiger or panther) you often assume they live on rolling plains, or wild jungles. A few hundred meters outside of Bogotá is not the first place that comes to mind. The woolly margay — an Ocelot-like creature described as the American continent’s smallest feline — […]
Some “two million fish” were found dead and floating in a water reserve outside Tehran, possibly poisoned by untreated sewage that had been seeping in for months, the semi-official ISNA agency reported Wednesday. Mohsen Showkati, head of the environmental office of the district of Reyy where the Fashafuyeh dam was located, blamed waste waters from […]
Fishing often makes for nice pictures, no matter where in the world you may be. Here in Southern China we learned about the ancestral and peculiar art of cormorant fishing, where the “rod” stays in place and birds are cast off to do the work.
On the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, this kid was helping his street-vendor dad to sell fruit bats — to be eaten as a supposed cure for asthma. The bats are now on the endangered species list, and the government has recently taken steps to put an end to their sale.
DALOA — The Ivory Coast was on the verge of losing its last forest elephants. It is a risk with some bitter irony, as elephants are the emblem of the nation. So a rescue operation like those already carried out in Zambia and Malawi, but unprecedented in West Africa, was launched at the end of […]
These unfriendly marine iguanas, found only on Ecuador’s uninhabited Galapagos Islands, are actually quite harmless: They are vegetarian and dive into the water to feed on seaweed. But they don’t like to be disturbed, and should you go too close, you expose yourself to powerful bouts of spitting …