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Zoology

Grizzlies are starting to emerge in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. They're looking for the carcasses of animals that died over the winter.

Grizzly Bears Are Emerging From Their Dens in Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Parks

Adult males are waking up from their winter hibernation—and they’re on the hunt for food

In 2023, Murphy was incubating a rock when an orphaned eaglet arrived at the sanctuary in need of some fatherly love and care.

Murphy, the Beloved Bald Eagle ‘Foster Dad’ Who Went Viral for Incubating a Rock, Has Died Following Storms in Missouri

The 33-year-old raptor had parented two orphaned chicks since gaining international attention for sitting on a rock in 2023

The Galápagos yellow warbler is a genetically distinct subspecies of the yellow warbler, which might be familiar to residents of the United States.

Traffic Noise May Be Making These Bright Yellow Birds More Aggressive in the Galápagos Islands, Study Suggests

Male Galápagos yellow warblers appear to be shifting their behavior and adjusting their calls in response to the din of passing vehicles

"Mr. Blobby" is a blobfish discovered in 2003 off the coast of New Zealand. The preserved specimen is now housed at the Australian Museum in Sydney.

Voters Crown the ‘World’s Ugliest Animal’ as New Zealand’s Fish of the Year

The blobfish is specially adapted to life in the deep ocean, but it looks like a shapeless blob when brought to the surface. It beat out the other candidates with its “unconventional beauty”

Field zoologist Andrew Rapp caught an adult female Appalachian grasshopper on the side of the road in Augusta County, Virginia.

Biologist Spots Rare, Flightless Grasshopper in Virginia for the First Time in Nearly 80 Years

The last time anyone in the state had officially documented the Appalachian grasshopper was in 1946, and the species was once thought to be extinct

Plains-wanderers are difficult to spot because their feathers serve to help them blend in with Australia's grasslands.

Researchers Use A.I. to Find an Elusive and ‘Odd’ Australian Bird. It Hadn’t Been Recorded in the Area Since 1989

Once abundant throughout southeastern Australia, the critically endangered plains-wanderer is now on the brink of extinction

Police helped keep the baby seal out of harm's way until help could arrive.

Lost Baby Seal Found Wandering in Downtown New Haven Has Been Rescued—and Attained Local Fame

The juvenile gray seal recently weaned off his mother’s milk and ventured five miles into the coastal Connecticut city

For reasons scientists still don’t totally understand, these beautiful and mystical birds went extinct on February 21, 1918.

On This Day in History

The Last Member of This Bird Species Died in Captivity on This Day in 1918

Incas died at the Cincinnati Zoo, leaving behind mysteries over his death, his final resting place and the factors that led to the extinction of the Carolina parakeet

In captivity, baby loggerhead turtles do a little dance when they know food is coming.

Dancing Baby Sea Turtles Help Researchers Unravel the Mysteries of Their Navigational Superpowers

Loggerhead turtles can identify specific magnetic signatures, according to a new study, hinting at how the aquatic reptiles manage to return to the same foraging and nesting sites over and over again

LouLou, an elephant at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, was one of five that the Nonhuman Rights Project claimed in a lawsuit should be able to live in a sanctuary.

Elephants Aren’t People and Can’t Sue to Leave a Zoo, Colorado’s Top Court Rules

The court rejected a case to send five African elephants to a sanctuary, saying they have no legal right to demand release under habeas corpus

When a Japanese aquarium closed for a six-month renovation project, a sunfish named Mambo stopped eating and began rubbing up against the side of its tank. Aquarists wondered if the creature was lonely. (Mambo is not pictured.)

A Sunfish Got ‘Lonely’ When Its Aquarium Closed for Renovations. Then, Staff Found a Creative Way to Cheer It Up

The solitary fish named Mambo stopped eating and seemed to be missing its human visitors—so aquarists attached photos of human faces and uniforms to the side of its enclosure

The endangered Woodville Karst cave crayfish (Procambarus orcinus)

Freshwater Animals Are More Fragile Than Thought, With Nearly a Quarter Threatened With Extinction, Study Finds

Species in Lake Victoria, Lake Titicaca, Sri Lanka’s Wet Zone and the Western Ghats of India are particularly vulnerable to the effects of agriculture, human infrastructure and climate change, per the paper

A baby pygmy hippo was born at Virginia's Metro Richmond Zoo in December in another viral birth for the endangered species.

A Virginia Zoo Now Has Its Own Moo Deng—See the ‘Adorable’ Baby Pygmy Hippo Born in December

The young female made her public debut this week, and the Metro Richmond Zoo is asking fans to vote on her name—a choice between Poppy and Hammie Mae

More than 1,300 tiny snails were released into the wild after a captive breeding effort. One baby snail is shown here on a British five pence coin.

Once Feared Extinct, 1,329 Pea-Sized Snails Have Been Released on an Atlantic Island After Captive Breeding Effort

Goats, rodents and habitat loss threatened the snails on Deserta Grande Island, so the mollusks were reintroduced on a neighboring island that’s free of invasive species

Australian Reptile Park spider expert Rob Porter milks a male Sydney funnel-web spider to create antivenom in 2001.

Australian Zoo Asks Residents to Capture the World’s Most Venomous Spider: the Deadly Sydney Funnel-Web

The Australian Reptile Park’s annual callout is crucial to creating life-saving antivenom

Mary, the 54-year-old Asian elephant at the Berlin Zoo, loves using a hose to rinse off.

These Elephants Can Use Hoses to Shower—and Even ‘Sabotage’ Each Other, Study Suggests

Mary, a 54-year-old Asian elephant at the Berlin Zoo, is the “queen of showering,” but her companion Anchali seems to have figured out how to exploit that habit to play pranks

The beloved baby penguin Pesto is in his "awkward" phase, molting his downy feathers in favor of adult plumage.

See New Images of Pesto, Australia’s Enormous Baby Penguin, in His ‘Awkward Phase,’ Molting His Downy Feathers

The viral king penguin chick at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is beginning to lose his youthful down, a process that will give him his distinctive and waterproof adult plumage

Cassius held the title of the largest crocodile in captivity for much of his life. His age? That's harder to know.

After the Death of Cassius, the World’s Largest Captive Crocodile, Scientists Are Trying to Solve the Mystery of His Age

The beloved reptile in Australia died last weekend and was thought to be up to 120 years old, though that age is only an estimate. Research on his bones might reveal a more exact number

Haggis joins Moo Deng as a popular ambassador for the pygmy hippopotamus species, which is endangered.

Trending Today

Meet Haggis, the Latest Baby Pygmy Hippo to Win Over the Internet

Born October 30 to parents Gloria and Otto at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, the hippo is already gaining popularity, following in the footsteps of viral sensation Moo Deng

The researchers studied the dusky lory (pictured) and the rosy-faced lovebird.

A Simple Chemical Shift Explains Why Parrots Are So Colorful, Study Suggests

Unlike other birds, which get pigments from their diets, parrots produce their own—but scientists never fully understood the underlying mechanisms, until now

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