Tag - animals

 
 

ANIMALS

John Hume, the South African who bred the world’s biggest rhino herd, has for years campaigned unsuccessfully for the legalization of international trade in the animals’ horns.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 20, 2025
Man who bred world’s biggest rhino herd charged with horn smuggling
John Hume, 83, has for years campaigned unsuccessfully for the legalization of international trade in the animals’ horns.
Sharon Kwok Pong, founder of the Hong Kong Parrot Rescue, interacts with "Winnie," a rescued yellow-crested cockatoo.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 19, 2025
Hong Kong scientist puts hope in nest boxes to save endangered cockatoos
Their future now hangs in the balance, due to habitat loss and, some suspect, a black market for the rare birds.
The Rausu mountain range at Hokkaido's Shiretoko National Park. A man in his 20s who went missing after being attacked by a bear while hiking on Mount Rausu has been found dead.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2025
Hiker missing in Hokkaido after bear attack found dead
The man, in his 20s, went missing after a brown bear attacked him while he was descending a mountain in eastern Hokkaido on Thursday.
People watch a cockfight in Bulacan province, north of Manila. Cockfighting has long been a national obsession in the Philippines, tracing its lineage to well before the first Spanish arrived in the 1500s.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 15, 2025
Online cockfighting thrives in Philippines despite ban and murders
Authorities estimate cockfight bettors are fueling an industry that generates millions of dollars in revenue each week.
An Emerald Toucanet. Nearly half of all bird species are found in biodiversity-rich tropical regions.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 12, 2025
Climate heat extremes driving tropical bird decline: study
Intensifying temperatures caused a 25% to 38% reduction in tropical bird populations between 1950 and 2020, compared to a scenario without global warming.
Four units at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in northern France were shut down on Monday due to the "massive and unforeseeable presence of jellyfish" in the pumping stations for the water used to cool the reactors.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 12, 2025
Jellyfish shut down French nuclear reactors as heat wave builds
A marine heat wave, like the one intensifying off the west coast of France, can help jellyfish populations "bloom," and several beaches have been closed due to their invasion.
According to government data, bears attacked 85 people in the year ending March 2025, with three people killed.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2025
Bear attacks woman outside disabled home in Akita
More and more wild bears have been spotted in residential areas in Japan in recent years, resulting in a rising number of attacks and deaths.
A month-old lion cub (center) is seen in front of two 8-day-olds at a breeding facility in Chachoengsao province, Thailand, on July 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 29, 2025
'Absolute madness': Thailand's pet lion problem
Thailand's captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes.
Wild goats photographed by a camera trap in November 2024 in the Takae district of the village of Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jul 28, 2025
Why authorities in Okinawa are trying to capture feral goats
The goats are causing damage to crops and there are concerns that they could negatively impact the forest ecosystems harboring rare animals and plants.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance said Thursday that it will sell to local governments a policy to cover property damage caused by bullets fired during wild bear extermination.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2025
Japan insurer to launch policy linked to bear culling
The move comes as the revised wildlife protection and management law is set to take effect in September.
Climate change affecting food sources and hibernation times, along with depopulation caused by an aging society, are causing bears to venture into towns more frequently, scientists say.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 16, 2025
Bear stops play again at Japan golf event
The bear was spotted in the morning near the first tee at the Meiji Yasuda Ladies tournament at Sendai Classic Golf Club, a stop on the JLPGA Tour.
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2025
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The team of researchers discovered a large number of squid fossils from rocks of the late Cretaceous period using a technique called digital fossil-mining.
Outbreaks of rice stink bugs were confirmed in 37 prefectures last year, leading to lower yields in some areas. Similar damage is feared this year.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2025
Pest outbreaks feared to affect rice harvests again
Last year, outbreaks of rice stink bugs, which prevent rice plants from bearing grains, were confirmed in 37 prefectures.
Jung Yong-sun, a local official tasked with pest-control duties, poses while wearing a plastic netted onion bag for protection from "lovebugs" on the peak of Gyeyangsan Mountain in Incheon, west of Seoul.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 9, 2025
South Korea battles 'lovebug' invasion amid climate change
Seoul is now annually hit by a weeks-long infestation of a type of March fly whose distinctive mating behavior earned it the nickname.
Two specimens of the Japanese beetle have been detected for the first time in France.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jul 9, 2025
France worries about Japanese beetles after finding two
The insects threaten plum trees, apple trees, vines, corn, soy, green beans and asparagus, among other cultivated plants.
Following a string of bear attacks that led to human injuries, the Environment Ministry has announced guidelines that list conditions and procedures for allowing the shooting of bears and other wild animals in urban areas.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 8, 2025
Japan releases guidelines on shooting of bears in urban areas
The move follows a string of bear attacks that led to human injuries.
Eels for sale in Tokyo in 2018. In Japan, eels are a prized food.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2025
EU proposes eel trade restriction despite opposition from Japan
The proposal is aimed at putting fry, full-grown eels and processed eel products of all 18 species under regulation.
Japan is mad about pets, and the Interpets trade fair showed to what lengths some owners will go for their furry friends.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 28, 2025
Cats, dogs, meerkats, goats: Interpets trade fair draws furry hordes
From June 19 to 21, a veritable animal kingdom (and their owners) descended on the Intex Osaka convention center to try new foods and meet new friends.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during an event in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025
Farm minister Koizumi opposes EU call for more protection for eels
Koizumi told reporters that the country carefully manages stock levels of the Japanese eel in cooperation with its neighbors.
Fans bid fareweel to the four pandas residing at Adventure World in Wakyama Prefecture on Friday, their last viewing day before being returned to China on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025
Fans bid farewell to four pandas in Kansai ahead of return to China
Rauhin, 24, and her three daughters — 8-year-old Yuihin, 6-year-old Saihin and 4-year-old Fuhin — will be transferred to China on Saturday.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers