Category archives for Wildlife
Wildlife: Is Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater About to Hit Bottom?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on August 6, 2009 Beyond Green Travel is a blog written by Global Travel Editor Costas Christ. Read more NGA travel news in First In. If Noah’s ark had off-loaded into a massive version of Yankee Stadium, the result would have looked a lot like the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. The 102-square-mile caldera corrals great herds of zebras and gazelles…
Galapagos Wildlife: “Lonesome George” Tortoise Lonely No More
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 27, 2009 Text by Laura Buckley The rarest living creature on Earth may soon become a proud papa—and oldest natural father on record, according to the Galapagos Conservancy and NPR. If you’ve traveled to the Galapagos Islands within the last 30 years, you’ve only been privy to one Pinta Island Giant Tortoise, whom Darwin Station scientists have delightfully…
In Colombia, Tourists Spy on Hippos, Dinosaurs at Drug Kingpin’s House
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 23, 2009 Text by Annie Hay Since its opening last year, the former home of Pablo Escobar, leader of the world's most famous drug cartel, has attracted well over 50,000 visitors and even more publicity for its odd take on "tourist attraction." (Read an article about the ranch on npr.com.) The park boasts 18 hippos, life-size growling…
Tiger Watch: Entire Population of Tiger Reserve Now Gone
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 21, 2009 Text by Paul Kvinta Last week wildlife officials in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh finally confessed to something that they'd known for some time–Panna Tiger Reserve has been completely poached out of tigers. Panna is one of India's more notable and popular tiger refuges, and five years ago there were an estimate 35-40…
Solar Power: Saving or ruining our wilderness?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 20, 2009 Text by Alyson Sheppard Last month, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed an order to set aside more than 1,000 square miles–670,000 acres–of Bureau of Land Management land to review as "Solar Energy Study Areas," part of the Department of Energy's solar power initiative. Stagnant since 2003, the initiative's goal is to allow construction of 1,000…
The Meaning of Life: Is Happier Better Than Fitter?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 17, 2009 Text by Joe Battle Is it better to be plump and positive than thin and depressed? Roger Cohen from the New York Times wrote a piece, "The Meaning of Life," about a University of Wisconsin experiment involving two rhesus monkeys. The testing revolved around the effects of diet and aging. One monkey, 27-year-old Canto, is…
The Cove: Filmmaker’s Team Infiltrates Japan’s Dolphin Slaughter
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 16, 2009 Text by Ryan Bradley Some stories are simple, straightforward, even easy. Louie Psihoyos isn't interested in them. A photographer for National Geographic when he was just 23, Psihoyos sought out assignments that were broad, vague, and visually challenging—subjects included dreams, garbage, and smell. He spent nine months in trash heaps. One time, he nearly fell…
Whale-Watching: Are they happy to see us, or are they just itchy?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 16, 2009 Text by Laura Buckley If you want a whale-watching expedition with pretty much a whale-sighting guarantee, head to Baja California Sur, Mexico, where human-whale relations are on the up and up. Scientists have been studying the gray whales south of the border and, as writer Charles Siebert describes in “Watching Whales Watching Us,” (New York TImes) the…
Adventure Video: Killer Whales’ Cunning Seal Hunting Technique
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 9, 2009 Text by Laura Buckley We now have 40 Wild Chronicles videos, hosted by National Geographic's own Boyd Matson, up on our site. In each episode, top explorers and field scientists traverse the globe, from Antarctica to Iceland, to report on the state of the natural world. One of our favorites is "Antarctic Orca Hunting"—not because we particularly enjoy watching…
Deal of the Week: South African Steal in Kruger, Cape Town
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on April 15, 2009 Photograph courtesy of African Safari Company Stay three nights, get the fourth free—we’ve all seen these. But here’s one we haven’t: Stay three nights, get three more. At a four-star hotel. In Cape Town. You heard right. African Safari Company is currently offering a killer combo package where, if you buy three nights at the…
Spring Fever: Top 10 (Cute) Animal Videos
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on April 13, 2009 Text by Andrea Minarcek. Read previous ADVENTURE Top 10 lists. We know. We know what you’re thinking: What in the heck do cutesy animal videos have to do with ADVENTURE? Well, in our defense, baby animals are synonymous with spring and they love the outdoors. That's just a fact. And after last week’s spring-fever-prompted Top 10…
Adventure in 60 Seconds: Found: 6,000 Rare Irrawaddy Dolphins
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on April 3, 2009 Scientists working with the Wildlife Conservation Society have discovered a population of 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins in the freshwater regions of Bangladesh's Sundarbans mangrove forest and adjacent waters of the Bay of Bengal. Until this discovery in a largely un-researched area, the largest known population of the smiley ceteceans numbered in the low hundreds, according to…
Video: An Evening of Exploration, Exotic Foods, Kangaroo Boxing
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on March 25, 2009 The Explorers Club Annual Dinner is, like a lot of events held in the Waldorf=Astoria's glittering ballroom in New York City, ostensibly for charity. But the club, which "promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space" through its sponsorship of expeditions, is more fun than most not-for-profits. Hence: pig-eyeball eating, kangaroo boxing, and…
Serial Killer Croc Gustave Spotted in Burundi
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on March 16, 2009 Text by Tetsuhiko Endo; Photograph courtesy of Bobby Model Every culture has its monsters. The Scots have the reclusive Nessie; the Nepalese have fierce Yetis; and Americans have their beloved loner, Big Foot. However, only one monster in the world stands accused of killing hundreds people—Gustave, the maneating croc of Burundi. And after 16 months of inactivity, he's…
Wildlife Report: What’s Wrong in the Kingdom of the Blue Whales?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on March 6, 2009 Text by Ryan Bradley; Photograph courtesy of the National Geographic Channel September on the California coast is particularly lovely, except when there are dead blue whales washing up on shore. That’s what happened two years ago: The largest animal ever to exist on Earth, three of them, dead and bloated and stinky, floated to the…
News: Tiger Conservation Gets $2.8 Million in Funding From WCS and World Bank
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 26, 2009 Steve Sanderson, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, just made this announcement at the George B. Schaller: Practicing the Art of Conservation lecture in New York City: "I'm really delighted to be able to announce that we've just signed a $2.8 million agreement to protect tigers throughout their range, partnered with the World…
Live Blogging: Wildlife Conservation Society, George Schaller’s long reach in conservation (Updated)
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 26, 2009 Text by Ryan Bradley I'm sitting here at Rockefeller University's Caspary Auditorium in New York City for a daylong lecture series featuring several of the world's most interesting field biologists who are carrying the torch George Schaller lit more than six decades ago. It's sure to be a remarkable day. See photos and learn about…
Photos in the News: First Cheetah Camera-Trap Images in Algeria
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 24, 2009 Photographs courtesy of Farid Belbachir/ZSL/OPNA A Wildlife Conservation Society-supported survey of the Sahara has captured the first camera-trap photographs of the critically endangered Saharan cheetah in Algeria. The photographs were taken as part of the first systematic camera trap survey across the central Sahara, covering an area of 2,800 square kilometres (1,081 square miles). "The…
News: Congo Rebel Arrest Leaves Mountain Gorillas’ Fate Uncertain, Again
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on January 23, 2009 Photograph by Brent Stirton / Reportage by Getty Images In our March 2009 issue, writer Mark Jenkins examines how the bloody upheaval in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has affected one of the planet’s largest populations of mountain gorillas. His story focuses on the head ranger of Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, who…
Missing: 2,000 Elephants
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on December 12, 2008 Photograph courtesy of Michael Nichols/National Geographic Magazine WCS reports that Chad’s Zakouma elephant population may be down to 1,000, dropping 2/3 in just two years due to poaching The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has launched an urgent appeal to protect an isolated population of elephants in the Central African nation of Chad, where rampant, organized poaching has caused the number…
Field FAQs with Holly Morris
Diving Africa’s Fishbowl
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on December 8, 2008 Holly Morris is a TV host (Treks in a Wild World, Globe Trekker), and the author of Adventure Divas and founder of the multimedia company Adventure Divas. Post your travel questions here and they could get answered in the magazine. A friend told me that the diving in Lake Malawi is incredible. Is it worth…
News: World’s Rarest Leopard Found in Russia
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on October 30, 2008 Good news from the Wildlife Conservation Society: The world’s rarest big cat is alive and well. At least one of them, that is, according to researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who captured and released a female Far Eastern leopard in Russia last week.The capture was made in Primorsky Krai along the Russian-Chinese border…
News: Congo’s Surprise Lowland Gorillas Spur Conservation Efforts
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on August 6, 2008 Text by Mindy Zacharjasz The Republic of the Congo just gained a few more residents: An extensive Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) census found 125,000 western lowland gorillas in the area—that’s more than double the number of the critically endangered subspecies than scientists previously thought existed on Earth. "These figures show that northern Republic of Congo…
News: Russia’s “Man-Eating” Kamchatka Bears Face an Unsavory Fate
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 30, 2008 Text by Andrew Burmon The summer snows on the Kamchatka Peninsula began to thaw last week just as the world press turned its spotlight on this oft-forgotten corner of Siberia. After the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reported that two guards at the Koryakgeologia Mine near Khailino had been mauled to death by a rampaging gang…
A Deeper Connection: Facebook for Fish
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on June 25, 2008 Text by Ryan BradleyPhotograph by Joshua Scott Threatened by drift nets and habitat destruction, fish need all the friends they can get. A consortium of marine biologists has decided that to know the fiercest and fastest creatures in the sea is to love them. à la MySpace and Facebook, TOPP.org (Tagging of Pacific Predators) is…
