Zambia to kill 2,000 hippos because they might spread anthrax
Over the next five years 2,000 hippos are to be culled in Zambia, supposedly to stop them giving people anthrax, but the cull may inadvertently fuel the trade in hippo ivory
In big cities even the fish are always rushing around the place
Two common US fish have evolved different body shapes to help them survive in the fast-moving streams in built-up areas
In big cities even the fish are always rushing around the place
Two common US fish have evolved different body shapes to help them survive in the fast-moving streams in built-up areas
Chimp evolution was shaped by sex with their bonobo relatives
Some chimpanzee populations gained useful DNA from interbreeding with bonobos, and one may even have become more gentle and “bonobo-like” in its brain structure and behaviour
Half of life on Earth has vanished since we arrived on the scene
The biomass of living organisms on the planet has halved since human civilisation began, and humans now outweigh all wild mammals tenfold
Chinese giant salamanders may already be virtually extinct
Researchers spent four years looking for Chinese giant salamanders and only found 24 – and that’s not even the worst bit of news
A third of ‘protected’ nature zones are quietly being ruined
The world’s nations have set up 200,000 protected areas in which nature is supposed to flourish, but in many cases the protection is pretty much theoretical
Drones plus AI help to spot sick trees and plants in time
Drones fitted with multispectral cameras are scanning forests for beetle attack, and orchards and vineyards for signs of disease before it’s too late
Rich nations restore their own forests but trash those elsewhere
As countries get richer, they start replanting their forests – but this is not a big environmental gain because they “export” the deforestation to poor countries
A plague from South Korea is killing frogs and toads worldwide
The world’s amphibians are dying in swathes because of the lethal chytrid fungus, and it seems the epidemic had its origins on the Korean peninsula