The Guardian
The Guardian
Articles from The Guardian
theguardian.comRare twins born in DRC raise cautious hope for endangered mountain gorillas
It was noon by the time Jacques Katutu first saw the newborn mountain gorillas. Cradled in the arms of their mother, Mafuko, the tiny twins clung to her body for warmth in the forest clearing in Virunga national park, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Africa’s great elephant divide: countries struggle with too many elephants – or too few
In countries such as South Sudan, the great herds have all but disappeared. But further south, conservation success mean increasing human-wildlife conflict
Birdwatch: Cold snap brings fieldfares and redwings to the fore
Just as swallows and swifts are the constant sight and sound of spring and summer, so our two winter thrushes – fieldfares and redwings – are usually ever-present during the autumn and winter months.
Horses can smell fear in humans, researchers say
Horses can smell fear, or at least whether you have scared yourself witless watching a horror movie, according to researchers who say the effect has consequences for riders, trainers and others who work with the animals.
Former NSW Labor minister condemns Forestry Corporation after greater glider ‘den trees’ found at planned logging site
A former New South Wales Labor environment minister has called on the government to halt imminent logging in a forest on the state’s south coast, after citizen scientists recorded 102 trees that they say are home to endangered greater gliders.
Search for single-tusked elephant after 22 killed in India rampage
Forest officials in India are on the hunt for an elephant that has killed more than 20 people in a days-long rampage through the eastern state of Jharkhand.
Ten Sydney Harbours’ worth of threatened species habitat approved for destruction in 2025, report finds
More than 57,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was approved for destruction by the Australian government in 2025 – the most in 15 years, according to analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Berry nice to meet you: bumper fruit crop could lead to huge mating season for NZ’s endangered kākāpō
It has been four long years, but the world’s heaviest parrots, the kākāpō , are finally about to get it on again.
Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst mass-mortality event since Australia’s black summer
Thousands of flying foxes have perished in the heatwave that scorched south-east Australia last week, the largest mass mortality event for flying foxes since black summer. Extreme temperatures resulted in deaths in camps across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
‘Profound impacts’: record ocean heat is intensifying climate disasters, data shows
The world’s oceans absorbed colossal amounts of heat in 2025, setting yet another new record and fuelling more extreme weather, scientists have reported. More than 90% of the heat trapped by humanity’s carbon pollution is taken up by the oceans.
Week in wildlife: rare gorilla twins, racing camels and a psychedelic spider
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
Are crabs animals and should we experiment on monkeys? Major review of Australia’s research code to mull tough questions
Animal sentience, categorising crustaceans as animals and rehoming lab animals are all on the table as the Australian code for animal research is scrutinised for the first time in a decade.
How demand for elite falcons in the Middle East is driving illegal trade of British birds
In the echoing exhibition halls of Abu Dhabi’s International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, hundreds of falcons sit on perches under bright lights. Decorated hoods fit snugly over their heads, blocking their vision to keep them calm.
Rapid expansion of ring-necked parakeets in UK sparks concern
In the past 20 years, the soundscape in the ancient wild, rolling landscape of Richmond Park has been transformed. Once you would have heard the chirrup of the stonechat, the chirp of the greater spotted woodpecker or the song of the skylark. Today, the auditory power of one bird dominates.
‘A place of darkness and light’: the uninhabited Japanese island that became a rabbit paradise
Once host to a poisonous gas research facility, Okunoshima is now an Instagram-friendly tourist destination.
What makes an elephant abandon her calf – and is it a growing problem?
K hao Tom, a two-month-old elephant, plays with a wildlife officer, nudging his face and curling her trunk around his wrist. When she lifts her trunk in the air, signalling that she is hungry, the team at the rescue centre seems relieved – she has not been eating well.
Often brutal, always beautiful: the sea hounds of the Frisian Islands – in pictures
For 10 years, the scientist and photographer Jeroen Hoekendijk has been observing pinnipeds such as seals and walruses on the fragile North Sea archipelago stretching along the Dutch, German and Danish coastline.
‘Heartbreaking’: Florida wildlife groups decry state-sanctioned bear hunt
Wildlife officials in Florida say the slaughter of dozens of black bears during a controversial three-week hunt this month was a success, despite the opposition of protesters who condemned the “heartbreaking, bloody spectacle”.
Young Atlantic salmon seen in three English rivers for first time in a decade
Young Atlantic salmon have been seen in three rivers in north-west England for the first time since 2015, marking a “significant environmental turnaround”.
If you really care about animals, stop eating them
Dean Weston says we are still killing animals by the billion, but praising ourselves for marginally reducing panic and pain, while Jo Barlow calls for transparency and truth about where our food comes from. Plus a letter from Scott Miller
UK’s warmest spring on record led to rise in songbirds breeding, data shows
The warmest and sunniest spring on record this year led to an increase in the breeding of some of Britain’s best-loved songbirds, data has shown. Scientists said the dry and warm spring had provided a glimmer of hope for threatened wild birds.
The hill I will die on: Pigeons are working-class heroes and deserve some respect
Is there something I would figuratively die on a hill for? Yes, there is – and as it happens, I’m sitting on a literal hill right now, feeding them. Pigeons. Why pigeons? Because it’s about time they get the respect they deserve. I like pigeons.
Brigitte Bardot’s image complicated by her controversial politics
Brigitte Bardot , hailed as the French Marilyn Monroe, was the first major film star to channel her glamour and fame into supporting France’s far right, who she backed for more than 30 years.
‘It brings you closer to the natural world’: the rise of the Merlin birdsong identifying app
When Natasha Walter first became curious about the birds around her, she recorded their songs on her phone and arduously tried to match each song with online recordings.
With numbers of abandoned cats soaring, we somehow found ourselves with 11
How many cats is too many cats? I can’t tell you exactly, but a couple of weeks ago, I had 11 cats living in my terrace house. And I can say with confidence this is absolutely, definitely too many. At time of writing, I still have seven.
Rare twins born in DRC raise cautious hope for endangered mountain gorillas
It was noon by the time Jacques Katutu first saw the newborn mountain gorillas. Cradled in the arms of their mother, Mafuko, the tiny twins clung to her body for warmth in the forest clearing in Virunga national park, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Africa’s great elephant divide: countries struggle with too many elephants – or too few
In countries such as South Sudan, the great herds have all but disappeared. But further south, conservation success mean increasing human-wildlife conflict
Birdwatch: Cold snap brings fieldfares and redwings to the fore
Just as swallows and swifts are the constant sight and sound of spring and summer, so our two winter thrushes – fieldfares and redwings – are usually ever-present during the autumn and winter months.
Horses can smell fear in humans, researchers say
Horses can smell fear, or at least whether you have scared yourself witless watching a horror movie, according to researchers who say the effect has consequences for riders, trainers and others who work with the animals.
Former NSW Labor minister condemns Forestry Corporation after greater glider ‘den trees’ found at planned logging site
A former New South Wales Labor environment minister has called on the government to halt imminent logging in a forest on the state’s south coast, after citizen scientists recorded 102 trees that they say are home to endangered greater gliders.
Search for single-tusked elephant after 22 killed in India rampage
Forest officials in India are on the hunt for an elephant that has killed more than 20 people in a days-long rampage through the eastern state of Jharkhand.
Ten Sydney Harbours’ worth of threatened species habitat approved for destruction in 2025, report finds
More than 57,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was approved for destruction by the Australian government in 2025 – the most in 15 years, according to analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Berry nice to meet you: bumper fruit crop could lead to huge mating season for NZ’s endangered kākāpō
It has been four long years, but the world’s heaviest parrots, the kākāpō , are finally about to get it on again.
Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst mass-mortality event since Australia’s black summer
Thousands of flying foxes have perished in the heatwave that scorched south-east Australia last week, the largest mass mortality event for flying foxes since black summer. Extreme temperatures resulted in deaths in camps across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
‘Profound impacts’: record ocean heat is intensifying climate disasters, data shows
The world’s oceans absorbed colossal amounts of heat in 2025, setting yet another new record and fuelling more extreme weather, scientists have reported. More than 90% of the heat trapped by humanity’s carbon pollution is taken up by the oceans.
Week in wildlife: rare gorilla twins, racing camels and a psychedelic spider
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
Are crabs animals and should we experiment on monkeys? Major review of Australia’s research code to mull tough questions
Animal sentience, categorising crustaceans as animals and rehoming lab animals are all on the table as the Australian code for animal research is scrutinised for the first time in a decade.
How demand for elite falcons in the Middle East is driving illegal trade of British birds
In the echoing exhibition halls of Abu Dhabi’s International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, hundreds of falcons sit on perches under bright lights. Decorated hoods fit snugly over their heads, blocking their vision to keep them calm.
Rapid expansion of ring-necked parakeets in UK sparks concern
In the past 20 years, the soundscape in the ancient wild, rolling landscape of Richmond Park has been transformed. Once you would have heard the chirrup of the stonechat, the chirp of the greater spotted woodpecker or the song of the skylark. Today, the auditory power of one bird dominates.
‘A place of darkness and light’: the uninhabited Japanese island that became a rabbit paradise
Once host to a poisonous gas research facility, Okunoshima is now an Instagram-friendly tourist destination.
What makes an elephant abandon her calf – and is it a growing problem?
K hao Tom, a two-month-old elephant, plays with a wildlife officer, nudging his face and curling her trunk around his wrist. When she lifts her trunk in the air, signalling that she is hungry, the team at the rescue centre seems relieved – she has not been eating well.
Often brutal, always beautiful: the sea hounds of the Frisian Islands – in pictures
For 10 years, the scientist and photographer Jeroen Hoekendijk has been observing pinnipeds such as seals and walruses on the fragile North Sea archipelago stretching along the Dutch, German and Danish coastline.
‘Heartbreaking’: Florida wildlife groups decry state-sanctioned bear hunt
Wildlife officials in Florida say the slaughter of dozens of black bears during a controversial three-week hunt this month was a success, despite the opposition of protesters who condemned the “heartbreaking, bloody spectacle”.
Young Atlantic salmon seen in three English rivers for first time in a decade
Young Atlantic salmon have been seen in three rivers in north-west England for the first time since 2015, marking a “significant environmental turnaround”.
If you really care about animals, stop eating them
Dean Weston says we are still killing animals by the billion, but praising ourselves for marginally reducing panic and pain, while Jo Barlow calls for transparency and truth about where our food comes from. Plus a letter from Scott Miller
UK’s warmest spring on record led to rise in songbirds breeding, data shows
The warmest and sunniest spring on record this year led to an increase in the breeding of some of Britain’s best-loved songbirds, data has shown. Scientists said the dry and warm spring had provided a glimmer of hope for threatened wild birds.
The hill I will die on: Pigeons are working-class heroes and deserve some respect
Is there something I would figuratively die on a hill for? Yes, there is – and as it happens, I’m sitting on a literal hill right now, feeding them. Pigeons. Why pigeons? Because it’s about time they get the respect they deserve. I like pigeons.
Brigitte Bardot’s image complicated by her controversial politics
Brigitte Bardot , hailed as the French Marilyn Monroe, was the first major film star to channel her glamour and fame into supporting France’s far right, who she backed for more than 30 years.
‘It brings you closer to the natural world’: the rise of the Merlin birdsong identifying app
When Natasha Walter first became curious about the birds around her, she recorded their songs on her phone and arduously tried to match each song with online recordings.
With numbers of abandoned cats soaring, we somehow found ourselves with 11
How many cats is too many cats? I can’t tell you exactly, but a couple of weeks ago, I had 11 cats living in my terrace house. And I can say with confidence this is absolutely, definitely too many. At time of writing, I still have seven.
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