By Nick Engelfried With their cute appearance and docile reputation, domestic rabbits are one of the most popular pets in the United States, second only to cats and dogs. There is much to love about rabbits–however, many people who bring one home do not realize how much care and attention […]
By Nick Engelfried Few animals are as widely misunderstood as the Tasmanian devil, a species made famous by Looney Tunes, but which bears little resemblance to its cartoon namesake. Found only on the remote island of Tasmania off the southern tip of Australia, Tasmanian devils are in fact shy and […]
By Nick Engelfried Not far north of the contiguous U.S. border lies one of the largest industrial projects in human history, situated on top of one of the planet’s biggest petroleum deposits: the Canadian tar sands. In the tar sands, massive pieces of machinery mine the earth for a low-quality […]
By Nick Engelfried With evolutionary origins stretching back to the age of the dinosaurs, sea turtles are one of the oldest groups of large animals alive today. They range throughout the world’s oceans, venturing onto land only to lay their eggs, and are among the most beautiful and majestic of […]
By Nick Engelfried When marine biologists surveyed stretches of the Pacific Northwest coast after a record-smashing heat wave this past July, they discovered tens of millions of dead sea creatures roasted alive by the searing temperatures. Rocks in the intertidal zone were covered in dead mussels and barnacles, while the […]
By Nick Engelfried Probably few animals evoke as much fear and even hatred as sharks, the ocean’s premier predators. Sharks have been vilified and portrayed as bloodthirsty monsters in popular culture and films like Jaws, leading to fundamental misunderstandings about their role in marine ecosystems. In reality, they are far […]
By Nick Engelfried At the start of the 19th century, an estimated 30-60 million American plains bison roamed over much of what is now the United States. Although concentrated in the Great Plains, they ranged from Pennsylvania all the way west to Washington State. The great bison herds were among […]
By Nick Engelfried Elephants, majestic icons of the wilds of Africa and Asia, are the largest land animals alive today. Known for their intelligence and complex social behavior, they are also impressive for reasons that go well beyond their enormous size. Yet, these magnificent creatures could disappear within the next […]
By Nick Engelfried Picture an endangered animal habitat and the first place that comes to mind might be a tropical rain forest or the melting Arctic. It likely won’t be a wetland. Although they are some of the most threatened and important ecosystems on the planet, marshes, swamps, and bogs […]
By Nick Engelfried Crisscrossing the North American landscape is a network of massive pipelines carrying toxic, combustible oil or gas. The huge metal pipes are usually concealed underground, kept out of sight and out of mind for most people–but they carry the fuel that powers our cars and produces much […]
By Nick Engelfried Cities and towns are likely not the first places that spring to mind when you try to picture an ideal wild animal habitat. It is absolutely true that many wild species require intact natural ecosystems relatively free of human interference in order to survive. However, a surprising […]
By Nick Engelfried Where can you find wild elephants, tigers, rhinos, and apes all in the same forest? The answer is Indonesia, a tropical Southeast Asian nation composed of over 17,000 large and small islands. While not as famous as the Amazon or some other rainforests, the jungles of Indonesia […]
By Nick Engelfried Perhaps no other group of animals is as misunderstood and frequently mischaracterized as members of the order Chiroptera, or bats. Although long feared and maligned in many parts of the world, these furry flying mammals play essential roles in most land-based ecosystems and pose no threat to […]
By Nick Engelfried The 582,578 square miles of ocean and small islands in Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument encompass an area larger than all land-based U.S. national parks combined, providing a refuge for animals from tiny coral polyps to blue whales. The monument’s extensive coral reefs support countless tropical fish […]
By Nick Engelfried Millions of people are casting their votes in a U.S. election that will break turnout records. With polling and early voting activity suggesting a surge in voter participation, it appears more people than ever before are choosing to make themselves heard in the democratic process. For those […]
By Nick Engelfried What do the collapse of honey bee colonies across the U.S., bird population die-offs, and disappearing butterflies have in common? All can be partially traced back to the use of pesticides, an often invisible but deadly serious threat to animals and people. Although society has made great […]
By Nick Engelfried All too often, we humans are used to thinking of ourselves as the only species on Earth capable of advanced thought and emotion. However, as any pet owner has reason to know, many animals are much more intelligent and aware than we tend to give them credit […]
By Nick Engelfried In 2018, shocking video footage appearing to show trapped and drowned dolphins being disposed of by a French fishing vessel sparked outrage among animal lovers. Taken during a secret filming mission off the coast of France, the rare video shows a trawling net being hauled onto a […]
When convicted animal abuser Joseph Maldonado-Passage–also known as “Joe Exotic”–was sentenced to 22 years in prison earlier this year, the case put a spotlight on a sickeningly cruel trade that endangers some of the world’s most amazing wild animals. Wild cats in unaccredited roadside zoos, like the one operated by […]
As the deadly effects of the COVID-19 virus have spread around the world, awareness of the Chinese “wet markets” thought to be responsible for introducing the virus to humans has also spread. In some of these markets, wild animals like pangolins and bats are sold for their meat and body […]