Pygmy hippo Moo Deng, the internet’s favourite meatball, may soon get her own patent

Pygmy hippo Moo Deng, the internet’s favourite meatball, may soon get her own patent

Only a month after Thailand’s adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was unveiled on Facebook, her fame became unstoppable both domestically and internationally.  Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee has been posting cute moments of the animals in his care for about five years. He never imagined Khao Kheow Open Zoo’s newborn pygmy hippo would become an internet megastar … Read more

Viral TikTok ‘Temple Run’ videos put Cambodia’s Angkor Wat at risk – ‘it’s nonsense’

Viral TikTok ‘Temple Run’ videos put Cambodia’s Angkor Wat at risk – ‘it’s nonsense’

Some videos have received more than 2 million views and inspire copycat versions daily. Simon Warrack, a conservationist who has worked for three decades to preserve the nearly millennia-old ruins at Angkor, is troubled by the potential damage as well as the cultural and religious insensitivities being trampled on. “You wouldn’t run through St Peters … Read more

When India’s vulture population collapsed, half a million human deaths followed: study

When India’s vulture population collapsed, half a million human deaths followed: study

As It Happens6:42When India’s vulture population collapsed, half a million human deaths followed: study Vultures may not be the most popular animal in the world, but the work they do is essential for human life, a new study has found. New research attributes 500,000 human deaths in India over the course of five years in the … Read more

Jasper wildfire brings new threat to dwindling caribou herds

Jasper wildfire brings new threat to dwindling caribou herds

Jasper National Park is beloved for its breathtaking mountain landscapes — and the special opportunity to see iconic animals such as elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, grizzly bears and, with luck, endangered woodland caribou.  But this week, as thousands of visitors and locals alike fled raging wildfires that ripped through the park and its town, … Read more

Check out the elephants at risk of extinction, and the wild cats that are bouncing back

Check out the elephants at risk of extinction, and the wild cats that are bouncing back

Over 45,000 species are now threatened with extinction — 1,000 more than last year — according to an international conservation organization that blames pressures from climate change, invasive species and human activity such as illicit trade and infrastructural expansion. The International Union for Conservation of Nature released its latest Red List of Threatened Species on … Read more

UBC prof Suzanne Simard named in Time’s ‘most influential’ list

UBC prof Suzanne Simard named in Time’s ‘most influential’ list

When Suzanne Simard heard she was going to be named one of the 100 “most influential people” in the world on Wednesday, she had a hard time believing it at first. The Finding the Mother Tree author, who was included in Time magazine’s annual list alongside a handful of fellow Canadians, said she wondered whether her … Read more

P.E.I. river otters caught on camera as their population grows

P.E.I. river otters caught on camera as their population grows

River otters are making a comeback in at least one corner of Prince Edward Island, according to a recent journal article, and as a result measures are now being taken to protect the popular, water-loving mammal.   The Kensington North Watersheds Association started tracking river otters with trail cameras in late 2019. They began monitoring … Read more

Spider webs catch more than prey. They’re also jam-packed with animal DNA

Spider webs catch more than prey. They’re also jam-packed with animal DNA

As It Happens6:05Spider webs catch more than prey. They’re also jam-packed with animal DNA Josh Newton probably isn’t very popular with spiders. After all, the Australian scientist has a tendency to go around undoing their hard work.  “I liken it to when Princess Fiona in Shrek makes some cotton candy for Shrek from spider webs, where … Read more

How artificial intelligence can help beavers fight floods, droughts and wildfires

How artificial intelligence can help beavers fight floods, droughts and wildfires

A few years ago, a couple of Google employees reached out to a Minnesota scientist with an unusual proposal: What if they could teach computers to spot beaver habitats from space?  “They wanted to know if I thought it was possible to find beaver wetlands from aerial imagery myself, and then if that could be … Read more

Why scientists are hoping landscaping gravel can help restore Nova Scotia’s kelp

Why scientists are hoping landscaping gravel can help restore Nova Scotia’s kelp

In a converted shipping container perched oceanside in Ketch Harbour, N.S., a group of people gather to peer into tanks filled with fuzzy pieces of gravel.  The rocks are covered with tiny blades of sugar kelp. Soon, the squares of steel mesh they’re fixed to will be suspended in the water at a kelp farming demonstration … Read more