Tag - animals

 
 

ANIMALS

Scientists on Wednesday identified what might be the genetic mechanism behind humankind's tailless condition — a mutation in a gene instrumental in embryonic development.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 3, 2024
People with tails? No, because of this ancient genetic mutation
The absence of a tail may have better balanced the body for orthograde — upright — locomotion and eventually bipedalism, said one scientist.
Director of the Akan International Crane Center, Miyuki Kawase, says tourism is incredibly helpful for the birds, but the people who come to take pictures of the birds have to remember they are still wild animals.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 24, 2024
Miyuki Kawase: ‘Experience, whether happy, sad or painful, makes you grow’
The director of the Akan International Crane Center in Hokkaido tells us how she found herself in a career centered around the symbolic white birds.
Specimen M831 stored at the National Museum of Nature and Science’s Tsukuba Research Departments in Ibaraki Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Feb 22, 2024
How a 13-year-old discovered a possible Japanese wolf specimen
A new paper by Hinako Komori and two academics says a specimen she found could be one of two Japanese wolves kept at Ueno Zoo in the late 19th century.
A boat approaches a dead whale floating in Osaka Bay in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2024
More whales getting stranded in Osaka Bay amid global warming
A narrowing of temperature difference between the Pacific Ocean and Osaka Bay is resulting in more of the mammals wandering into the region.
A whale confirmed dead in Osaka Bay in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Monday
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2024
Whale found dead in Osaka Bay to be buried on prefectural land
After being buried for up to two years, the skeletal remains will be offered as a specimen to the Osaka Museum of Natural History.
Giant African snails are unpopular among local residents and are referred to as an alien species that shouldn’t be touched, as they damage crops and sometimes hosts rat lungworms.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 19, 2024
Giant African snails mark 90 years of history in Okinawa
The snails, one of the world’s largest of the kind, are native to East Africa, and their shells can grow to as high as 20 centimeters.
A Banei Keiba horse race takes place at the Obihiro racecourse in Hokkaido on Dec. 9. The unpredictable stop-and-start drama of the world's slowest horse race has drawn new fans.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024
'Suspense' of slowest horse race wins new fans in Japan
At the Banei Keiba races in Hokkaido, spectators cheer on workhorses moving at the pace of a brisk human walk.
Inspections by authorities found that puppies and kittens have been traded at younger ages than permitted by law, apparently because younger animals sell better.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 16, 2024
Birth date falsifications suspected for puppies auctioned in Japan
The Environment Ministry believes breeders altered dates of birth in order to put puppies and kittens up for auction even though they were too young.
Naoko Motooka began hunting 10 years ago. Her hobby is one way Hokkaido hopes to curb a current boom in the deer population.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 15, 2024
Hunting in Hokkaido; Taylor Swift comes to Tokyo
You probably don’t think of guns when you think of Japan, but Hokkaido’s hunters do.
Star Flyer began allowing owners to bring certain pets into cabins on some routes in 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024
Haneda plane collision prompts discussion about pets on flights
Most domestic airlines ban the carrying of pets in airplane cabins, out of consideration for those with allergies.
Members of the police dog units of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department take part in a New Year march in Tokyo in January 2023.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024
How dogs have helped Tokyo police for over a century
The role of police dogs has changed due to the spread of DNA testing, security cameras and other tools of technology.
A sea turtle swims off the coast of Brazil. Sea turtles can migrate hundreds or thousands of miles.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Feb 14, 2024
Overhunting and habitat loss endanger migratory animals, U.N. says
One in five migratory species is at risk of extinction, according to a new report by the United Nations.
Clone piglets born Sunday with genetically modified embryos
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2024
Japan startup creates pigs with organs suitable for human transplants
Research in the field helped produce pigs that have a smaller chance of immune rejection by human recipients by manipulating 10 related pig genes.
A tsugumi (dusky thrush). Bird-watching increasingly plays a critical role in mapping bird behaviors and paving the way for policy and conservation initiatives.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Feb 11, 2024
How a new flock of bird-watchers is contributing to science
The hobby increasingly plays a critical role in mapping bird behaviors and paving the way for policy and conservation initiatives.
Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward is testing a project to fight rats using garbage bags imbued with the smell of herbs they hate.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 11, 2024
Tokyo ward using garbage bags with herbs to combat rats
Chiyoda Ward received around 200 complaints annually in fiscal 2019 to 2022, a surge from around 50 until fiscal 2018.
Seibu Chuo park in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture, near where several children were bitten by a dog on Wednesday
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2024
Dog that bit 12 people in Gunma Prefecture was not vaccinated for rabies
The pet owner has admitted that he failed to inoculate the 2-year-old Shikoku that went on a biting spree in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture, on Wednesday.
A Bengal Tiger pauses in a jungle clearing a Kaziranga National Park, some 280 kilometers east of Guwahati in 2014. Tigers in India have been photographed in high-altitude mountains rarely seen before, with experts suggesting relentless human pressure and a heating climate are driving them from traditional hunting grounds.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Feb 8, 2024
India's tigers adapt to higher ground as temperatures soar and human pressure builds
The animals are venturing into higher mountainous terrain, signifying increased pressure on their habitats.
Seibu Chuo park in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture, near where children were bitten by a dog on Wednesday
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2024
12 bitten in dog attack in Gunma Prefecture, with five sent to hospital
The police have questioned the dog's owner, a 62-year-old man who lives in the city of Isesaki.
Killer whales are trapped in drift ice on Tuesday off the coast of the town of Rausu in Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 7, 2024
Orcas appear to escape after being trapped in drift ice off Hokkaido coast
Local officials are hopeful that the animals escaped to safety as the density of drift ice decreased Wednesday.
Japanese regulations determine which hunters can handle certain firearms based on the individual's experience and the level of rifling in a long gun's barrel.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 3, 2024
Hokkaido hunters say more firepower means more humane kills
A revision to Japan’s firearms laws would mean new hunters would be temporarily limited to less potent shotguns.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world