Animals

The new rule also bans breeds like the Tibetan Mastiff, pictured here.

Chinese City Institutes One-Dog Policy

Officials in Qingdao say they are trying to limit the amount of disturbance caused by an ever-growing pooch population

Screenshots from the iNaturalist app, which uses "deep learning" to automatically identify what bug—or fish, bird, or mammal—you might be looking at.

AI Plant and Animal Identification Helps Us All Be Citizen Scientists

Apps that use artificial intelligence to allow users to ID unknown specimens are making science more accessible to everyone.

Abused Animals in Connecticut Get Their Own Legal Advocates

Last week, for the first time, a lawyer testified in court on behalf of abused pit bulls

Puntung wallowing in mud as a calf.

One of Malaysia's Last Sumatran Rhinos Has Died

After performing emergency surgery on Puntung, experts realized that the abscess was caused by cancer

“These males were still alive and living around the females, they just apparently weren’t getting any of the matings, or the matings weren’t working,” says Robert C. Fleischer.

Safer Digs for Tortoises Put a Damper on Their Love Lives

A new genetic study surprised scientists who learned the males were not breeding

Meet the Ozark hellbender, an elusive creature that has become only more so as of late.

What the Heck Is a Hellbender—And How Can We Make More of Them?

Why the Saint Louis Zoo decided to invest in this slimy, surprisingly adorable amphibian

Recent research found that fully one third of humanity can't see the Milky Way because of light pollution

Is Light Pollution Really Pollution?

As countries grow richer, light pollution gets worse–but some are fighting to change that

This celestial chart from 1687 is one of many illustrations from books, charts, and maps showing artists’ imaginings of polar bears.

How Polar Bears Became the Dragons of the North

Renaissance maps depicting the “white bears” say more about our own fears and fantasies than about the predators themselves

The new sea turtle tanks have one-way glass to minimize visitor impact on the animals.

A State-of-the-Art Sea Turtle Hospital Welcomes Patients and Visitors in South Carolina

The South Carolina Aquarium invites tourists to visit their reptilian patients, watch surgeries and even conduct mock operations using VR

The Hidden Dangers of Road Salt

It clears our roads, but also spells danger for fish, moose—and sometimes humans

You'll have a tail to tell after visiting this North Carolina museum.

North Carolina Has a House Cat Museum

You’ll want to paws for this roadside attraction

According to Mary Sawyer's account, the lamb was a female. Sarah Hale's poem says it was a male. Sawyer is probably the source with reason to know.

'Mary Had a Little Lamb' Is Based on a True Story

As a child, Mary Sawyer rescued a lamb. Then it followed her to school one day

How Mastiffs Became the World’s Top Dogs

The large, furry dogs of Tibet took an evolutionary shortcut millenia ago

Space mice snuggle with their Earth-bound mother.

Why Scientists Sent Mouse Sperm to the International Space Station

Back on Earth, a pile of new pups proves that mouse DNA can survive space

A giraffe skin disease was first described in the mid-1990s in Uganda and evidence of the disease has been spotted in numerous other countries, including Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

How a Tiny Worm is Irritating the Most Majestic of Giraffes

They sound horrifying and look worse. A Smithsonian researcher is investigating the cause of these grotesque skin lesions

New Zealand’s Yellow-Eyed Penguins May Be in Trouble

A new study estimates that the beloved birds could disappear locally within 25 years

Orangutans may not wean for years, a new study shows.

Wild Orangutans Can Breastfeed for Over Eight Years

The primates take a while to wean their young

A little protection over here, please?

How America Can Help Save a Non-American Species: The Mighty Giraffe

Giraffes aren't native to the U.S. But listing them as an endangered species could offer them much-needed protection

Today the desert tortoise faces a variety of new human-associated threats: off-road vehicle use, the illegal pet trade, and now, an influx of deadly ravens.

To Save Desert Tortoises, Make Conservation a Real-Life Video Game

Traditional techniques weren't working for the raven-ravaged reptile. So researchers got creative

Roosevelt became known for meeting with conservation figures like John Muir, something that detractors thought was "unpresidential."

With This One Quotable Speech, Teddy Roosevelt Changed the Way America Thinks About Nature

In a speech at the start of the 1908 Conference of Governors, Roosevelt changed the national conversation about resource use

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