Tag - animals

 
 

ANIMALS

At least 172 out of 1,928 assessed species of wild bees face extinction in Europe, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 13, 2025
Europe’s bees and butterflies at risk, conservation body says
At least 172 out of 1,928 assessed species of wild bees face extinction in Europe compared to 77 in 2014, the IUCN has said.
A bear seen in security camera footage taken at a supermarket in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, on Tuesday. More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Man killed in apparent bear attack as deaths mount in Japan
The official death toll due to bear attacks has risen to six for the fiscal year starting in April, matching a record high seen in 2023.
A bear seen in security camera footage taken Tuesday inside a supermarket in Numata, Gunma Prefecture
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Bear injures two in Japan supermarket; man killed in separate attack
More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
Jane Goodall communicates with a chimp named Nana in June 2004 at a zoo in Magdeburg, Germany. She was the world's foremost authority on chimpanzees.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2025
Without Jane Goodall, chimps need new champions — us
Goodall revolutionized the way we see both great apes and ourselves. We can’t let her legacy fade away.
Shirakawago, a U.N. World Heritage site in Gifu Prefecture
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2025
Spanish tourist injured in latest bear attack
The 44-year-old tourist was pounced on from behind as he was walking to a bus stop on Sunday.
A Fisheries and Oceans Canada team patrols the Grand River in Dunnville, Ontario, in search of invasive grass carp specimens on Sept. 25.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 6, 2025
Americans and Canadians unite in battling ‘eating machine’ carp
If the battle against invasive carp were to fail, the consequences could be both dire and unpredictable.
A bear warning sign. More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2025
One dead, one missing in Japan after bear attack
More and more wild bears have been spotted in recent years due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
An owl cafe in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2025
Investigation finds poor infection controls at some animal cafes in Japan
Through microbial examinations, investigators found a type of pathogenic E. coli in four of the stores and a type of salmonella bacteria in two.
What’s worse, waking up to find a bear going through your trash or getting an earful from your neighbor on garbage separation?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 3, 2025
Don’t poke the bear: Learn how to sort your garbage the right way
Bears are increasingly wandering into towns and cities looking for food. Make sure you don’t tempt them with your leftovers.
Jane Goodall spun her love of wildlife into a lifelong campaign that took her from a seaside English village to Africa and then across the globe in a quest to better understand chimpanzees.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 2, 2025
Wildlife advocate and primate expert Jane Goodall dies at 91
The scientist and global activist was a pioneer in her field, both as a female scientist in the 1960s and for her work studying the behavior of primates.
A rendering of the "big right whale of Sapporo," whose fossils have been found to be a new type of right whale
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2025
Fossils unearthed in Hokkaido revealed to be of new whale species
The fossil bones were first discovered by a local citizen along the Toyohira River in Sapporo in October 2008.
(From left) Kazato Oishi, associate professor at Kyoto University's Graduate School of Agriculture; Tomoki Kojima of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization; and Sei Sato of the Aichi prefectural livestock research center at the award ceremony for the Ig Nobel Prize in Boston, Massachusetts, on Thursday
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2025
Japanese researchers win Ig Nobel Prize for painting cows with zebra stripes
It is the 19th consecutive year that Japanese researchers have received an Ig Nobel Prize, a spoof of the Nobel Prize that honors humorous but creative research.
The Environment Ministry and other government agencies decided to strengthen calls for caution, as bear sightings are feared to increase this autumn.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025
Asian black bear sightings hit record high in Japan
Bear sightings are feared to increase this autumn due to an expected poor harvest of beech nuts, a key food source.
A worker sprays Holstein-Friesian cows from Australia with water at a dairy farm managed by Laras Ati milk cooperative in Kuningan, West Java province, Indonesia, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2025
Indonesia presses businesses, their licenses at stake, to import a million cows
Program aims to provide free meals to 83 million children and expectant mothers, calling for the dairy cows to be imported over five years at a cost of nearly $3 billion.
A woman wearing a poncho takes a selfie at Bondi Beach during wet weather in Sydney on Aug. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 6, 2025
Suspected ‘large shark’ kills man off Sydney beach
It was the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 2022, when 35-year-old British diving instructor Simon Nellist was killed off Little Bay.
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Aug 31, 2025
How Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
From limiting their time outdoors to serving frozen food, the staff at Ueno Zoo take a number of measures to help the animals cope with the heat.
Emergency kit product for pets developed by Irish Ohyama
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2025
Japan boosting disaster preparedness for pets
A ministry official said there is no law making it mandatory to accept pets into shelters.
A screwworm in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, on July 4
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2025
Human screwworm case in U.S. traced to person who traveled from Guatemala
Screwworms can be devastating in cattle and wildlife, and rarely infest humans, though an infestation in either an animal or a person can be fatal.
The Environment Ministry plans to increase subsidies to local governments to fund projects such as setting up fences to prevent bears from encroaching into populated areas, as well as training personnel who can react when there are sightings.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025
Environment Ministry to boost support for local governments facing bear attacks
Funds will enable municipalities to secure and train staff able to respond to incidents involving bears.
A tourist enjoys the Ras Hankorab beach in the Red Sea Wadi Al-Gemal protectorate in southern Egypt. The local environment is under threat amid development projects.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 21, 2025
Tourism deal puts one of Egypt’s last wild shores at risk
The shadowy contract, which allows for the construction of a resort on one of the country’s last undisturbed Red Sea beaches, was halted but not permanently canceled.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival