NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is teaming up with British TV adventurer Bear Grylls to venture into India’s wilderness to raise awareness about protecting nature, the show’s host said. India is struggling to protect its environment a... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam said it has seized more than 125 kg (275 lb) of rhino horns hidden in plaster blocks and shipped from United Arab Emirates, the latest large-scale wildlife trafficking case in Southeast Asia. The rhino horns were discovered earlier th... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The thigh bone of a giant dinosaur was found this week by French paleontologists at an excavation site in southwestern France where remains of some of the largest animals that ever lived on land have been dug up since 2010. The two-meter long... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – An elusive alligator residing in a Chicago lagoon was caught early on Tuesday after the reptile, thought to be an abandoned pet, captivated locals for nearly a week. The alligator, called “Chance the Snapper” after Chicago-born hip-hop arti... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – An alligator has taken up residence in a Chicago lagoon, surprising locals after a winter of polar temperatures in the third-largest U.S. city. Police confirmed the reptile had been spotted on Tuesday in Humboldt Park Lagoon, on Chicago’s w... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Activists welcomed a goal set by the Group of 20 major economies’ to reduce additional plastic trash leaking into the ocean to zero by 2050, but said it avoided getting at the heart of the problem – slashing the output of wasteful, single-use... More »
PUNTA PERDIZ, Cuba (Reuters) – Some artists like to go on a countryside retreat to foster their creative process. For Cuba’s Sandor Gonzalez, there is no better place to sketch than several meters below the surface of the sea, surrounded by iridescent Caribbea... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Marijuana chemical residue has been found in incense burners apparently used during funerary rites at a mountainous site in western China in about 500 BC, providing what may be the oldest evidence of smoking cannabis for its mind-alterin... More »
LA SERENA, Chile (Reuters) – The total solar eclipse expected in northern Chile early next month is already drawing flocks of visitors eager to glimpse a rare view of the phenomenon through the region’s clear skies. In Coquimbo, a region spanning the Pacific c... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A swarm of many millions of ladybugs taking to the sky in Southern California this week to hunt for aphids has been captured on a radar screen as a massive blob, officials said on Thursday. The insect swarm spanned 80 miles by 80 miles ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Dwelling in the dark ocean depths, the dragonfish is a frightful marvel that would fit nicely into any horror movie, boasting exotic adaptations such as virtually transparent fangs that help it thrive in this extreme environment. The nat... More »
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – U.S. government biologists have launched a special investigation into the deaths of at least 70 gray whales washed ashore in recent months along the U.S. West Coast, from California to Alaska, many of them emaciated, officials sai... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Microfossils of a globular spore connected to a T-shaped filament excavated in an Arctic region of northwestern Canada represent the oldest-known fungus, a discovery that sheds light on the origins of an important branch in Earth’s tree ... More »
CHYNOVSKA JESKYNE, Czech Republic (Reuters) – Czech speleologists have come up with a way to explore flooded cave systems without strapping on scuba gear, wet suits, helmets and water-proof lamps: 3D mapping. The new tool was developed by Geo-CZ, a company tha... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – While people and other vertebrates are color blind in dim light, some deep-sea fish may possess keen color vision to thrive in the near total darkness of their extreme environment thanks to a unique genetic adaptation, scientists said on... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte seemed unfazed when a finger-sized cockroach scrambled onto his shoulder as he spoke at a campaign rally on Wednesday night. Duterte, 74, was endorsing Senate candidates at the event in central Bohol prov... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fossil unearthed in northeastern China of a feathered dinosaur a bit bigger than a blue jay that possessed bat-like wings represents a remarkable but short-lived detour in the evolution of flight and the advent of birds, scientists sai... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A jawbone found in a cave on the Tibetan Plateau in China is providing surprising insights into Denisovans, the enigmatic extinct cousins to Neanderthals and our own species, including that they were pioneers at enduring high-altitude en... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Mountaineers from the Indian army on a expedition in Nepal have found mysterious large footprints in the snow that they think belong to the Yeti, or the abominable snowman, the military said on Tuesday. Largely regarded by the scientific ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Ohio University integrative biologist Nancy Stevens peered into a drawer in the wooden cabinets on the top floor of a Nairobi museum in 2010, she saw a chunk of rock containing massive teeth and knew she had come across something im... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sun bears, the smallest of the world’s eight bear species, are generally solitary animals, content to spend most of their time alone outside mating season, foraging for fruit, rodents, birds and insects in Southeast Asian tropical forest... More »
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – A young lion captured after being on the run for almost a month spent the night in a South African police cell before being moved back to its national park home. The juvenile male apparently escaped from the Karoo National Park through a ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – No one would ever look at the huge and ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex as an underdog. But its newly discovered evolutionary great uncle certainly was. Scientists on Thursday said they have unearthed in central Utah fossils of a relatively s... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists are providing new evidence to answer the longstanding question about why zebras have stripes. It appears stripes make terrible landing strips, bamboozling the fierce blood-sucking flies that try to feast on zebras and carry de... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A small tropical reef fish was able to recognize itself in a mirror, scientists said on Thursday in a finding that raises provocative questions about assessing self-awareness and cognitive abilities in animals. The study involved experim... More »
(Reuters) – Scientists in New Zealand say they have found a USB memory stick containing holiday photos inside a frozen slab of seal poo. The scat, valuable for studying the health of leopard seals, had been stored in a freezer for a year before it was thawed o... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – “Thar she blows!” The old cry of sailors sighting a whale’s waterspout is taking on new meaning as scientists turn to drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, to gather samples of the fluids exhaled by the huge mammals and track their health. Ma... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists using sophisticated techniques to determine the age of bone fragments, teeth and artifacts unearthed in a Siberian cave have provided new insight into a mysterious extinct human species that may have been more advanced than pr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration’s senior air pollution official said on Friday that he and his agency were still exploring the science of climate change and fell short of calling it a crisis. Bill Wehrum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (E... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In shallow warm seas about 247 million years ago in what is now China, an oddball marine reptile flourished in the aftermath of Earth’s worst mass extinction, possessing a duckbilled snout and unusually small eyes that made it resemble a... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A lemur made of damaged car bumpers and bin lids. An owl made from plastic junk. Colorful animals have popped up in Paris as part of a new exhibition by Portuguese street artist Bordalo II, who aims to highlight the effect of waste on the env... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists conducting a recent painstaking examination of the two tons of rock left over after the fossilized bones of the celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue were extricated in the 1990s came across a surprise: shark teeth. The huge ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Joshua Tree National Park in California will be closed at least temporarily so that staffers can grapple with sanitation and maintenance issues that have mushroomed during the partial government shutdown, officials said on Tuesday. The ... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian man triggered an emergency police response after a noisy exchange with a spider startled a passerby into reporting what sounded like a violent disturbance to the authorities, media reported. A neighbour was walking past a house... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French tech company Sigfox has developed a bite-size tracker that can be inserted into the horns of rhinos to help conservationists monitor and protect the endangered species. With the dramatic decline of animal species in the past century mo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have unearthed fossils of a large meat-eating dinosaur that stalked northern Italy 198 million years ago that was remarkable both in life and in death. The researchers said on Wednesday Saltriovenator zanellai was about 25 fee... More »
(Reuters) – Sue, the largest, most complete and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex ever unearthed, gets to show off its new lair this week at the Field Museum in Chicago. The museum on Friday will unveil the 40-1/2-foot-long (12.3-meter) Sue, one of the world’s ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A microscopic examination of fossils from China has revealed that the fur-like body covering of pterosaurs, the remarkable flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, was actually made up of rudimentary feathers. The surprising disco... More »
HAVANA (Reuters) – Once a month for the last decade, Pepe Casanas, a 78-year-old Cuban farmer, has hunted down a scorpion to sting himself with, vowing that the venom wards off his rheumatism pains. His natural remedy is no longer seen as very unusual here. Re... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A man was caught at New York’s JFK airport last weekend trying to smuggle dozens of South American finches into the country, a bird that Guyanese immigrants covet for chirping but officials fear could spread disease, officials said on Thur... More »
JINAN, China (Reuters) – In the near pitch-dark, you can hear them before you see them – millions of cockroaches scuttling and fluttering across stacks of wooden boards as they devour food scraps by the tonne in a novel form of urban waste disposal. The air is... More »
BRISTOL, England (Reuters) – Gorillas at a zoo in England have demonstrated a distinctly human trait while attempting to solve a new puzzle game – cheating. The gorillas were presented with a wall-mounted device where the aim is to guide a peanut through a ser... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prehistoric 15-foot-long (4.5 meters) whale that sucked prey into its mouth represents a key missing puzzle piece concerning the evolution of today’s huge filter-feeding whales, scientists said on Thursday. The researchers described fo... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese government on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to research activities for people involved in the editing of human genes, after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies. Scientist He Jiankui said this wee... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Using a radar instrument on an orbiting spacecraft, scientists have spotted what they said on Wednesday appears to be a sizable salt-laden lake under ice on the southern polar plain of Mars, a body of water they called a possible habitat... More »
CONGHAM, England (Reuters) – The race starter stood up and shouted: “Ready, steady, slow!” The crowd cheered, but the competitors remained stuck at the start line. Welcome to the world snail racing championship. More than 150 snails took part in the annual eve... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fossils unearthed on a hillside in northwestern China are forcing scientists to rethink the history of a dinosaur lineage that produced the largest animals ever to walk the planet. Scientists on Tuesday announced the discovery of Lingwul... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek archaeologists have discovered a virtually intact grave of an ancient noblewoman buried with her golden jewelry at a Roman burial monument in the island of Sikinos. Her name, according to a burial inscription, was Neko – or Νεικώ using... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Deep coral reefs in a “twilight zone” in the oceans differ sharply from those near the surface, dimming hopes that they can be a refuge for marine life fleeing threats such as climate change and pollution, scientists said on Thursday. Worldwid... More »
SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (Reuters) – Scientists in Crimea are poring over a mass of preserved animal bones dating back half a million years after workmen discovered a sprawling underground cave during the construction of a motorway. Work on the road has been tempora... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With its head and snout covered in bony armor shaped like cones and pyramids, a spiky tank-like dinosaur unearthed in southern Utah was not just another pretty face. Scientists on Thursday announced the discovery of fossils of a dinosaur... More »
CHERTSEY, England (Reuters) – An 800-year-old tradition of counting the swans owned by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth started on Monday, an annual ceremony of “swan upping” that in modern times has become a means of wildlife conservation. The upping sees three team... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Charred remains of a flatbread baked about 14,500 years ago in a stone fireplace at a site in northeastern Jordan have given researchers a delectable surprise: people began making bread, a vital staple food, millennia before they develop... More »
KRASNOYARSK, Russia (Reuters) – Buyan, a brown bear kept in a Siberian zoo, has predicted that Croatia will defeat France in Sunday’s World Cup final. Two halves of water melon were laid on in Buyan’s enclosure in the Royev Ruchey zoo in the Siberian city of K... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Authorities in Australia have caught a saltwater crocodile measuring almost 5 meters (16.4 ft), one of the biggest on record, to stop it from reaching a populated area, the Department of Tourism said on Tuesday. Weighing up to 600 kg (1,322 ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists have created hybrid embryos from the sperm of near-extinct northern white rhinoceroses in the laboratory, hoping they can ultimately help save the species. The northern white rhino is the world’s most endangered mammal, and its on... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Scientists who have mapped the genome of Australia’s symbolic animal, the koala, say it could help them develop better vaccines to treat the animals, who are battling an epidemic of the bacterial disease chlamydia. The development will also ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Dogs took center stage at the premiere of British family comedy “Patrick” on Wednesday with the film’s star pug leading the pack at the canine-friendly screening of the movie. Dressed in a blue bow tie around his collar, pug Harley, who port... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A drawing of an Australasian cockatoo by a Roman Emperor has revealed trade routes between Southeast Asia and Europe were flourishing around 250 years earlier than previously thought, according to a paper published by the University of Melbo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fossils of two amphibians that lived within the Antarctic circle 360 million years ago are forcing scientists to rethink the origins of land vertebrates, including where these pioneers first appeared and the climatic conditions that spaw... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Plastic waste and toxic chemicals found in remote parts of the Antarctic this year add to evidence that pollution is spreading to the ends of the Earth, environmental group Greenpeace said on Thursday. Microplastics – tiny bits of plastic from... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s Africa Museum, once a triumphant celebration of the country’s colonial past, is to reopen after years of renovations, with a more critical view on a dark piece of history. The museum, full of historic artefacts and stuffed wildli... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have pinpointed three genes that may have played a pivotal role in an important milestone in human evolution: the striking increase in brain size that facilitated cognitive advances that helped define what it means to be human... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – In the Guadalix mountains outside Madrid, Argentine horse whisperer Fernando Noailles uses his animals to help people suffering from stress and anxiety. The 57-year-old, who spent many years in the Patagonian wilderness living with horses, u... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fossilized skull of a small critter found in Utah underneath a dinosaur foot bone is providing insight into one of the most primitive mammalian groups and has scientists rethinking the timing of the break-up of Earth’s bygone supercont... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A global team of scientists plans to scour the icy depths of Loch Ness next month using environmental DNA (eDNA) in an experiment that may discover whether Scotland’s fabled monster really does, or did, exist. The use of eDNA sampling is alr... More »
PERTH, Australia (Reuters) – Annoyed at seagulls that pester its patrons, a restaurant in the Australian city of Perth has armed customers with water pistols to stop the birds from ruining the waterfront dining experience. Toby Evans, the owner of 3Sheets rest... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of lizards inhabiting the island of New Guinea boasts one of the most exotic traits of any animal: green blood. And scientists have been trying hard to figure out what benefit this characteristic — caused by high levels of an ord... More »
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – With big blues eyes and stubby tails, two kittens taken in by a San Antonio family looked adorable until the fiery seven-week-old felines ripped apart formula bottles and repeatedly bit the hands that were trying to feed them. The famil... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Kangaroos are one of Australia’s biggest tourist draws, but visitors to one park are getting more than they bargained for. Tourists in Lake Macquarie, a two-hour train ride from Sydney, are ignoring warnings and feeding carrots to kangaro... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A primitive seabird that prospered about 85 million years ago along the warm, shallow inland sea that once split North America boasted what scientists are calling a surprising blend of traits from its dinosaur ancestors and modern avian ... More »
MAPULA LODGE, Botswana (Reuters) – In an exclusive Botswana safari camp where Prince Harry took Meghan Markle on a romantic getaway last year, guests wake to the sound of doves cooing in the trees and hippos splashing in the serene waters of the Okavango Delta... More »
(Reuters) – Justin Rose ignored the local alligator population and stripped down to his underwear to hit out of a water hazard at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Thursday. When the Olympic champion’s tee shot at the par-three third hole finished partly su... More »
BOURNEMOUTH, England (Reuters) – Scientists have uncovered evidence of ancient humans engaged in a deadly face-off with a giant sloth, showing for the first time how our ancestors might have tackled such a formidable prey. Standing over 2 meters tall, with for... More »
(Reuters) – A first edition of John James Audubon’s “The Birds of America,” one of the most celebrated books of natural history, is going up for auction in New York in June and could fetch up to $12 million, Christie’s said on Wednesday. The richly illustrated... More »
BOURNEMOUTH, England (Reuters) – Among Ron Grantham’s happiest memories are the days he spent fly-fishing with his beloved dog, Spot. Now those memories are being revived by visits from his new best friend, Biscuit – a robotic dog. Grantham is 99 years old and... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A jawbone fossil found on a rocky English beach belongs to one of the biggest marine animals on record, a type of seagoing reptile called an ichthyosaur that scientists estimated at up to 85 feet (26 meters) long – approaching the size o... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fossil finger bone dating back about 90,000 years that was unearthed in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert is pointing to what scientists are calling a new understanding of how our species came out of Africa en route to colonizing the world. ... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Bollywood star Salman Khan, jailed on Thursday for five years for poaching, was granted bail by an Indian court on Saturday in a case being followed by tens of millions of fans and a movie industry that banks heavily on his popularity. The a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bowhead whales, the black filter-feeding giants of the Arctic that can live for 200 years devouring tons of tiny marine creatures, boast another remarkable quality. Their unique underwater songs make them wonderful “jazz” artists. Resear... More »
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – A world away from Iraq’s battlegrounds, Basra’s cat-lovers have found a haven for their favorite pets. Veterinary student Ahmed Taher Maki has turned his home in the southern city into what he believes is Iraq’s first cat hotel. For as ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On a semiarid Patagonian landscape 85 million years ago, a formidable meat-eater called Tratayenia rosalesi reigned as the apex predator, part of an enigmatic dinosaur group that menaced South America and Australia for tens of millions o... More »
FILE PHOTO: Dallas Seavey, winner of the 2012 Iditarod, charges down the trail during the re-start of the Iditarod dog sled race in Willow, Alaska March 3, 2013. Seavey, 25, is the youngest musher to have won the Iditarod. REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder/File Photo A... More »
FILE PHOTO: An elephant walks in Amboseli National Park in front of Kilimanjaro Mountain, Kenya, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The most comprehensive elephant genome study ever conducted, covering seven living and ex... More »
A common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) flies during its nocturnal hunt in Belize in this handout photo released on February 20, 2018. Brock Fenton/Handout via REUTERS. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If you want to know how vampire bats can survive on a diet that — a... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Archaeologists exploring the word’s biggest flooded cave in Mexico have discovered ancient human remains at least 9,000 years old and the bones of animals who roamed the earth during the last Ice Age. A group of divers recently connecte... More »
FILE PHOTO: An orangutan hold its baby at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island on January 11, 2004. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hunting by people and habitation destruction b... More »
A hydrobiologist from the Hydrobiological Institute of Ohrid visually checks a trout during a method of artificial spawning, in Ohrid, Macedonia February 9, 2018. Picture taken February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski OHRID, Macedonia (Reuters) – Macedonian... More »
Angus, a a 3-year-old wire-haired Vizsla dog owned by Terran Woolley is pictured in Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S. in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters February 13, 2018. Terran Woolley/Handout via REUTERS (Reuters) – In the dog-eat-dog world of U.S. po... More »
The Amazon molly, an all-female species that engages in asexual reproduction, appears in a handout photo taken in a laboratory at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, provided February 12, 2018. Manfred Schartl/University of Wurzburg/Handout via REUTERS WASH... More »
The greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) is shown in this undated handout photo taken in Brittany, France, released on February 7, 2018. Courtesy Olivier Farcy/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bats are the longest-lived mammals relative to body si... More »
A Cretaceous arachnid Chimerarachne yingi, found trapped in a 100 million year old amber from Myanmar, appears in a handout illustration provided on February 5, 2018. Illustration by Dinghua Yang/University of Kansas/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) – ... More »
An adult female polar bear lays on the sea ice wearing a GPS satellite video-camera collar in this handout photo provided February 1, 2018. Anthony Pagano/USGS/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A study of polar bear metabolism conducted near Alaska’s ... More »
FILE PHOTO: Locusts are seen in a meadow near a wheat field near the town of Neftekumsk, Russia, May 24, 2012. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko/File Photo MOSCOW (Reuters) – Swarms of locusts pose a threat to Russia’s soccer World Cup as they could attack stadium pit... More »
Artist’s life reconstruction of the titanosaurian dinosaur Mansourasaurus shahinae on a coastline in what is now the Western Desert of Egypt approximately 80 million years ago is pictured in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on January 29, 2018. A... More »
FILE PHOTO: Baboons preen each other at the Paris Zoological Park in the Bois de Vincennes in the east of Paris, France, October 23, 1995. REUTERS/Mal Langsdon/File Photo PARIS (Reuters) – Several baboons escaped from their enclosure at a zoo in Paris on Frida... More »
A close-up view of the teeth accompanying the left maxilla of human remains from Misliya Cave in Israel, the oldest remains of our species Homo sapiens found outside Africa, is provided in this photo released on January 25, 2018. Courtesy Israel Hershkovitz/Te... More »
Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, two cloned long tailed macaque monkeys are seen at the Non-Primate facility at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, China January 10, 2018. Picture taken January 10, 2018. Qiang Sun and Mu-ming Poo, Chinese Academy of Sciences ... More »
Brain shape evolution in Homo sapiens are shown in this combination image, the earliest known members of our species, the 300,000 year-old cranium Jebel Irhoud 1 (L) and present day humans (R) in this undated handout image released on January 24, 2018. Courtes... More »
Artist’s impression of two Diluvicursor pickeringi foraging on the bank of a high-energy river within the Australian-Antarctic rift valley are seen in this image provided January 11, 2018. Peter Trusler/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There’s not a ... More »
