Tag - animals

 
 

ANIMALS

Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 21, 2024
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
From Okinawa to Australia, “passive acoustic monitoring” projects are feeding scientists with data about changes to ecosystems and biodiversity.
As of April 4, the bird flu virus had been confirmed in more than a dozen herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024
Bird flu in cows demands vigilance, not panic
Bird flu had been confirmed in herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
A Tokaido shinkansen. It is unclear whether the snake was venomous or how it ended up on the train, and there was no injury or panic among passengers.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2024
Snake on a train: Discovery of serpent delays Tokyo-Nagoya shinkansen
Shinkansen customers can bring small dogs, cats and other animals, including pigeons on board — but not snakes.
Black bears have been added to the list of "designated wildlife species for control" by the Environment Ministry.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2024
Japan adds black and brown bears to subsidized hunting list
The government is stepping up the control measures as bear attacks on humans hit a record high in fiscal 2023 that ended in March.
A staff member attends to a dog at a day care center for pets operated by Peace Winds Japan in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2024
Nonprofit group provides vital pet care in quake-hit Ishikawa
Peace Winds Japan, based in Hiroshima, has been assisting with pet care in disaster-hit areas since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.
Deer that are kept in a fenced-off area in the city of Nara
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024
Nara Prefecture to expand area for culling iconic deer
The prefectural panel will discuss culling methods and other details to draw up a new protection program in fiscal 2025.
Prince Hisahito (center) holds a hornet's nest in the insect science laboratory of Tamagawa University in the Tokyo city of Machida on Saturday, as Crown Price Akishino (right) observes.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2024
Prince Hisahito visits Tamagawa University
Prince Hisahito visited Tamagawa University in the city of Machida in Tokyo with his father, Crown Prince Akishino.
A helmet jellyfish recorded at depth in the Lurefjord, Norway. The creatures experience acute physical effects from short-term exposure to suspended sediment, which could be caused by deep-sea mining.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 7, 2024
The weird deep-sea world, and how mining threatens it
Demand for metals such as lithium and nickel has driven a rush to take a stake in the seabed, with Japan being a major advocate of deep-sea mining.
A chicken in its coop on Fogline Farm in Pescadero, California, on March 1. Unlike the coronavirus, the H5N1 virus has been studied for years. Vaccines and treatments are available should they ever become necessary.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 6, 2024
Is bird flu coming to people next? Are we ready?
Outbreaks have been found among dairy cows in multiple states, as well as at least one infection in a farmworker in Texas.
If it's too hot to do much (and the costs for air conditioning continue to surge) during the day, it might be time to consider shifting the bulk of our activities to cooler nighttime hours.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 6, 2024
A solution for scorching days: Do everything at night.
Working night shifts, however, comes with a host of health problems, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
Dogs are long-lived enough to serve as better models for human aging than mice, but short-lived enough that aging treatments can be tested in just a few years.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2024
Your dog will have an anti-aging drug before you do
Dogs are long-lived enough to serve as better models for human aging than mice, but short-lived enough that aging treatments can be tested in a few years.
H5N1 has been discovered in dairy cows in the U.S. states of Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Michigan and Idaho.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2024
What to know about bird flu in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Health officials and scientists say the risk to humans remains low, but many questions remain.
Tan Tan was supposed to be sent back to China in 2020, but her return was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2024
Japan’s oldest panda, Tan Tan, dies at 28
The giant panda leased from China lived in Kobe Oji Zoo for 24 years as a symbol of recovery from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns says Japan's bears feel the pressure of human presence and have learned that encountering us is not worth their time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 30, 2024
Amelia Hiorns: 'Guiding and introducing people to Japan's nature has been rewarding'
Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns shares how separate interests in Japan and in bears culminated in conservation work in the mountains of Nagano.
An analysis of all the publicly available viral genome sequences yielded a surprising result: humans give more viruses — about twice as many — to animals than they give to us.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 27, 2024
Humans give more viruses to animals than they give us, study finds
Researchers looked at nearly 12 million virus genomes and detected almost 3,000 instances of viruses jumping from one species to another.
A new brain wave study published Friday suggests that hearing the names of their favorite toys actually activates dogs' memories of those objects.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 23, 2024
'Good boy!' Dogs do understand us, says new study
A new study published suggests that hearing the names of their favorite toys actually activates dogs' memories of those objects.
 A cow is prepared for slaughter at a facility in Corbas, France.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2024
Does religious freedom trump animal welfare?
The European Court of Human Rights found that protecting the welfare of animals is part of the legitimate government objective of protecting public morals.
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.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores