Miami-Dade County has accused the operators of the Seaquarium of improperly caring for the grounds and animals. In August, the tourist attraction was under fire after the death of Lolita the orca.
The world is waiting for a stingray to give birth in the small town of Hendersonville, N.C. That's because it's not clear how she got pregrant, as there's no other stingray in the aquarium.
A once in a lifetime ecological event is happening this spring ... and you likely won't be able to miss it even if you try. Scientists say billions of cicadas will emerge in the U.S. starting in April. It's a rare double brood emergence event that hasn't happened since 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president.
After being hunted for decades, humpback whales returned to the Pacific Ocean in big numbers. Now, new technology is revealing that underwater heat waves are taking a toll on that recovery.
In the green tree canopies of forested areas in Myanmar, you might wake up to the sounds of gibbons singing love songs. Gibbons start their day with passionate duets and, though these love songs may sound a little different than the ones in your playlists, they just helped researchers figure out that Myanmar has the largest population of an endangered gibbon species on Earth. They're called skywalker gibbons, and until recently, scientists thought there were fewer than 200 of them – all living in southwestern China.
Want to hear us cover more animal news? Email the show at shortwave@npr.org to let us know!
Bobi's owner said the dog had lived a record-breaking 31 years and 165 days old when he died in October 2023. But a review by Guinness World Records found that evidence of his age was inconclusive.
In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping raised hopes his country would start sending pandas to the U.S. again after he and President Joe Biden convened in Northern California.
Christopher Ward was taken to a hospital shortly after being bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters on Feb. 12. He was soon placed on life support and died Friday, Lakewood police said Tuesday.
Cougars are solitary animals rarely seen in the wild, but on Saturday, five people were attacked by one on a trail in Washington. No one died, but at least one of the cyclists was hospitalized.
Lately, paleoecologist Audrey Rowe has been a bit preoccupied with a girl named Elma. That's because Elma is ... a woolly mammoth. And 14,000 years ago, when Elma was alive, her habitat in interior Alaska was rapidly changing. The Ice Age was coming to a close and human hunters were starting early settlements. Which leads to an intriguing question: Who, or what, killed her? In the search for answers, Audrey traces Elma's life and journey through — get this — a single tusk. Today, she shares her insights on what the mammoth extinction from thousands of years ago can teach us about megafauna extinctions today with guest host Nate Rott.
Thoughts on other ancient animal stories we should tell? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might make a future episode about it!
Every year, billions of animals across the globe embark on journeys. They fly, crawl, walk or slither – often across thousands of miles of land or water – to find better food, more agreeable weather or a place to breed. Think monarch butterflies, penguins, wild Pacific salmon. These species are crucial to the world as we know it. But until this week, there has never been an official assessment of the world's migratory animals.
So today on the show, correspondent Nate Rott shares the first-ever report on state of the world's migratory animals – the threats facing them and what can be done to help.
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In a Valentine's Day exclusive report, NPR has learned there is currently a gay anteater couple at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington D.C.But this couple is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to queerness in the animal world – it's been documented in hundreds of species. We spoke with wildlife ecologist Christine Wilkinson of the "Queer is Natural" TikTok series to uncover the wildest, queerest animals of the bunch.
Questions, comments or thoughts on queer animal love? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might feature it on a future episode!
Recreational fishermen and conservation groups worry overfishing for menhaden threatens the Chesapeake Bay. Industry says current data doesn't support shutting down the more than century-old fishery.
