Wildlife & Biodiversity

Barrage repairs at Okhla park force birds out in breeding season

Irrigation officials dried up the wetland for 15 days for the task, but ecologists claim the repairs are not needed every year

Wildlife & Biodiversity

A peek into the secret lives of Indian spiders

India is home to several unique species of spiders; some are known to science, while many others are yet to be discovered

Wildlife & Biodiversity

There are 150 Bustards in the Desert National Park, claims report

Wildlife Institute of India pegged the species' total population for the whole country at 150 during 2018

Wildlife & Biodiversity

How Google images helped us pin down the diet of Africa’s largest eagle

Declines in Martial eagles have been so steep that this species is now considered vulnerable to extinction

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Another species extinct: This time the Yangtze giant soft shell turtle

The last surviving female dies in a Chinese zoo

Wildlife & Biodiversity

First leucistic five-striped palm squirrel found in North India

The individual was found in a human-made forest in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district by an independent researcher

Wildlife & Biodiversity

India Eco Watch: Major ecological happenings of the week (Apr 8-14)

Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of Indian ecology, botany and zoology

Wildlife & Biodiversity

How much evidence is enough to declare a new species of human from a Philippines cave site?

There is no reason to expect human evolution to have been any different to the evolution of other animals 

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Female turtle returns to Maldivian atoll to lay eggs, finds runway instead

The turtle laid her eggs on the runway of Maafaru airport itself, on Noonu Atoll

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Astro-ecology: Counting orangutans using star-spotting technology

A new collaboration between astrophysicists, conservationists and ecologists is aiming to save rare and endangered animals such as the Great Apes of Asia

Wildlife & Biodiversity

From Australia to Africa, fences are stopping Earth’s great animal migrations

For time immemorial, many wildlife species have survived by undertaking heroic long-distance migrations. But many of these great migrations are collapsing right before our eyes

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Why black kites attack humans

A new study has found that the probability of attack by kites, birds of prey that inhabit urban areas, increases in neighbourhoods where human population is high and conditions are unhygienic. The birds also get more aggressive when they have eggs in their nests

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Want to save millions of migratory birds? Turn off your outdoor lights in spring and fall

Birds use stars to orient their journey between summer breeding grounds and winter feeding grounds. The artificial lights produced by humans disrupt the migration of birds, often with fatal consequences

Wildlife & Biodiversity

India Eco Watch: Major ecological happenings of the week (Apr 1-7)

Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of Indian ecology, botany and zoology

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Fourth 'unnatural' leopard death in Odisha this year

Environmentalists in the state have raised concerns about the safety of the animals given that poaching is rampant

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Rwanda's gorillas have figured out where to find their sodium fix. But it's dangerous

In Volcanoes National Park, gorillas have been leaving the confines of the protected area to raid crops 

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘If trees are lost, giant and flying squirrels will lose their arboreal highways’

Three researchers talk to Down To Earth about the real danger facing India’s canopy-dwelling rodents

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘Indo-Nepal effort needed to prevent Ganges Basin fish from losing genetic variability’

Steve Lockett, a Mahseer expert, feels the two countries must pool in their efforts to preserve the freshwater fish stocks in the Ganga and its tributaries

Wildlife & Biodiversity

India Eco Watch: Major ecological happenings of the week (Mar 25-31)

Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of Indian ecology, botany and zoology

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Odisha fisherman sells rare fish for Rs 1.1 lakh

A merchant bought the 28-kg Ghol fish, known for its medicinal qualities, for Rs 3,940 a kg

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Stakeholders discuss measures to reduce elephant mortality from rail collisions at meet

Organised in mid-March, government agencies and conservation organisations at the meet also agreed to begin a series ‘focused workshops’ on the issue