March 13
Africa: It's a Myth That Male Animals Are Usually Larger Than Females - New Study
Males are bigger than females, right? Generally, this is true of humans - imagine the extremes of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and singer Kylie Minogue. It is also true of other… Read more »
March 17
Africa: Snakebites - We Thought We'd Created a Winning New Antivenom but Then It Flopped. Why That Turned Out to Be a Good Thing
Snakebites kill over 100,000 people each year, and hundreds of thousands of survivors are left with long-term disabilities such as amputations. Read more »
March 11
Africa: The Next Pandemic? It's Already Here for Earth's Wildlife
I am a conservation biologist who studies emerging infectious diseases. When people ask me what I think the next pandemic will be I often say that we are in the midst of one - it's… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria Risks Losing All Its Forest Elephants - What We Found When We Went Looking for Them
Nigeria is one of 37 African countries where elephants are found in the wild. Savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) can be found in the north and forest elephants (Loxodonta… Read more »
March 01
Africa: Wild Solitary Bees Offer a Vital Pollination Service - but Their Nutritional Needs Aren't Understood
As I walk around the supermarket, I pick up vegetables for tomorrow's dinner, eggs and bread for tonight and some sweet treats for the week. By choosing a range of different food… Read more »
February 15
Southern Africa: Rhinos Can't Sweat, Making Them Vulnerable to Overheating - Global Warming Could Wipe Them Out in Southern Africa
Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world's 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they're facing grave threats because of a warming planet. Now, the first study of how… Read more »
February 13
Africa: The World's Coral Reefs Are Bigger Than We Thought - but It Took Satellites, Snorkels and Machine Learning to See Them
The world's coral reefs are close to 25% larger than we thought. By using satellite images, machine learning and on-ground knowledge from a global network of people living and… Read more »
February 12
Africa: Migrating Animals Face Collapsing Numbers - Major New UN Report
The world's travelling animals - marine turtles, whales, sharks, elephants, reptiles, wild cats, birds, and even insects - have entered a period of sharp decline, new research has… Read more »
February 05
Africa: How Bats 'Leapfrog' Their Way Home At Night - New Research
A silent ballet takes place above our heads at night as Britain's bat populations leave their roosts to forage for food. Although their initial movement away from roosts is fairly… Read more »
February 04
Madagascar: Giant Tortoises Have Returned 600 Years After Being Wiped Out
A six-year-old project to return giant tortoises to the wild in Madagascar could result in thousands of the 350kg megaherbivores re-populating the island for the first time in 600… Read more »
January 25
Africa: Africa's Savannah Elephants - Small 'Fortress' Parks Aren't the Answer - They Need Room to Roam
Africa is home to about 410,000 savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana), most of them living in southern Africa. Over 290,000 elephants (70%) are spread across 103 protected areas… Read more »
January 15
Africa: First Polar Bear to Die of Bird Flu - What Are the Implications?
Climate change is a threat to polar bear's survival. Now they have a new deadly challenge facing them: bird flu. It was recently confirmed that a polar bear from northern Alaska… Read more »
January 18
Africa: Cash-Strapped Conservationists in South Africa Are Struggling to Collect Biodiversity Data - How to Change That
South Africa's government conservation organisations have experienced substantial budget cuts. Even after steps to cut costs, South African National Parks reported a big shortfall… Read more »
January 17
Mozambique: Mozambique's Cyclone Flooding Was Devastating to Animals - We Studied How Body Size Affected Survival
Anyone who watches the news will have seen the devastation that tropical cyclones can cause when they reach land, with very strong winds, high rainfall and flooding. A cyclone like… Read more »
November 27, 2023
Africa: Stones Inside Fish Ears Mark Time Like Tree Rings - And Now They're Helping Us Learn About Climate Change
As a marine biologist, I've always found it fascinating to learn about how animals adapt to their habitat. But climate change has made it more important than ever - wild animals'… Read more »
November 08, 2023
South Africa: Do You Like Snakes, Lizards and Frogs? Why Herpetology Might Be the Career for You
We are so fortunate to share the world with a huge diversity of creatures. For me, some of the most fascinating are reptiles and amphibians. Collectively called herpetofauna,… Read more »
November 06, 2023
Africa: Wildcats and Domestic Cats Coexisted for 2,000 Years Before Interbreeding - Study
You are unlikely to have seen one, but wildcats are still clinging on by a claw in Scotland. Most of the cats living in the wild in Scotland are hybrid cats with a mix of wildcat… Read more »
November 05, 2023
East Africa: Birds of East Africa - New Book Reveals Their Extraordinary Diversity and Changing Behaviour
101 Curious Tales of East African Birds is a new book that uses academic research to tell fascinating stories about the tropical birds of east Africa, from well-known species to… Read more »
November 01, 2023
Africa: Giraffes Could Go Extinct - the 5 Biggest Threats They Face
Giraffes are the world's tallest mammals and an African icon, but they are also vulnerable to extinction. Read more »
October 16, 2023
Egypt: Ancient Egypt Had Far More Venomous Snakes Than the Country Today
How much can the written records of ancient civilisations tell us about the animals they lived alongside? Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient… Read more »
October 17, 2023
Africa: How Animal Traits Have Shaped the Journey of Species Across the Globe
The devastating tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 set off a series of events which have long fascinated scientists like me. It was so powerful that it caused 5 million tonnes of… Read more »
October 15, 2023
Africa: Elephant Teeth - How They Evolved to Cope With Climate Change-Driven Dietary Shifts
Seeing elephants in the wild is a timelessly awe-inspiring experience. There are only three living species today: the African savannah elephant, African forest elephant, and Asian… Read more »
October 05, 2023
South Africa: Fossil Snake Traces - Another World-First Find On South Africa's Cape South Coast
Snakes are familiar, distinctive - and often feared - reptiles. And they've been around for a long time: body fossils found in the UK, Portugal and the US stretch all the way back… Read more »
October 04, 2023
South Africa: Lion Protection Fee Paid By Tourists Could Help Stop Trophy Hunting - South African Study
Trophy hunting is contentious. It typically involves paying for and pursuing a specific wild animal, often a large or iconic species, with the goal of killing it to obtain a… Read more »
October 02, 2023
Zimbabwe: New Species of Cobra-Like Snake Discovered - but It May Already Be Extinct
Around the world, natural history museums hold a treasure trove of knowledge about Earth's animals. But much of the precious information is sealed off to genetic scientists because… Read more »