Free Republic

A lone gray wolf padded quietly into Los Angeles County before dawn on Saturday — and made history. State biologists say the female wolf may be the first documented in Southern California in 100 years, after the apex predators were wiped out across the state by eradication campaigns aimed at protecting livestock. The last known wild wolf in California was shot on June 12, 1924, by federal trapper Frank W. Koehler in Lassen County. The three-year-old female, known as BEY03F, was spotted on a trail camera in the mountains north of Santa Clarita.

From a tender moment between a crane and her chick to a heartbreaking image of a polar bear cub’s final moments, the finalists for the Nuveen People’s Choice Award of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest stun. Photographers from 113 countries and territories submitted more than 60,000 images for consideration. A judging panel of photography, wildlife, conservation and science experts whittled the finalists list down to 24 photographs that are now competing for votes from the public. “No matter where you are in the world, it’s time to join the jury and vote in the Nuveen People’s Choice Award...

A North Carolina veterinary technician has been charged and fired from her job after she rescued a dog that was abandoned in the cold winter weather — but failed to hand the pooch over to animal control. Dason Garner has been left “completely broken” as she faces charges for keeping a stray animal, failure to surrender and interfering with law enforcement over her deed, according to WRAL. Garner says she was punished for her act of compassion in rescuing the pooch from the brutal conditions after a harsh snowstorm barreled across Wilson, NC, over the weekend.

Two former Underdog Pet Rescue of Wisconsin dogs are headed to one of the most-watched sporting events of the year — the 2026 Puppy Bowl. Anson and Avro will represent Wisconsin in this year’s Puppy Bowl, making them the only dogs from Wisconsin selected to participate in the nationally televised event. Both pups have since been adopted by loving Madison-area families and will reunite with Underdog supporters at a Puppy Bowl viewing party hosted by Underdog Pet Rescue, where they will attend in person and meet fans. Event details can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2450176842105030 Anson’s story is especially meaningful. A...

A Doberman pinscher named Penny wins best in show at the 150th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

After decades of mystery surrounding its existence, a rare animal once believed to be extinct has been confirmed on remote trail cameras in northern California, offering a thrilling sign of wildlife resilience. Scientists say the coastal marten — a small carnivorous mammal that nearly vanished from the state — was captured in recent footage and DNA samples collected via hair snares, validating that wild populations still persist in the region. The discovery has brought renewed hope for the species and underlines the value of modern conservation tools. Once targeted nearly to extinction during the 20th-century fur trade, coastal martens were...

After two hundred or so articles mostly focused on wildlife for the Tico Times, I’ve written about most of the more well-known species that are walking, swimming, and flying around in Costa Rica. Every time I pick a species to write about, I get to go through my video archives and pick out the very best clips to accompany the article. That’s all fine and good, but what happens when I record a particularly awesome video of an animal that I’ve already written about? I shared some interesting facts about Costa Rica’s pumas back in 2023. To go along with...

When the Prince was found more than 80 years ago, excavators immediately suspected he had suffered a significant traumatic event around the time of his death because of widespread damage to the bones of his left shoulder area, neck and lower jaw. But no official analysis of the skeleton was ever published, and the Prince's body was reassembled, glued together and put on display in the Ligurian Archaeological Museum shortly after World War II. Recently, the researchers obtained permission from the museum to remove bones from the display one at a time so that they could look at them under...

On Super Bowl Sunday, millions of people watching the big game will see a Budweiser commercial that portrays an adorable friendship between a bald eagle and a horse as they grow up together on a scenic farm. The beer ad, soundtracked by Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird," celebrates Budweiser's 150th anniversary by pairing the brand's Clydesdale mascot with a national symbol for America's 250th birthday. The commercial builds up to a stunning shot of the eagle spreading its wings while perched atop the horse's back — briefly resembling a pegasus — before the bird breaks into flight. "You crying?" a farmer...

The man who incited a mob to surround teenage girls simply for taking a photo with ICE, while threatening them and attempting to doxx them, has been identified as Mark Holodnak, the Democrat Committee Treasurer for Arizona District 12.

The family of a Canadian backpacker who was found dead on a heritage-listed tourist destination in Queensland, Australia, has been given the preliminary findings from her autopsy. The body of Piper James, 19, was found on Seventy Five Mile Beach on K’gari (Fraser Island) just after 5 a.m. Monday. Friends of James have revealed she had told them she was going for a swim around that time. Two passersby discovered James’ body, surrounded by a pack of dingoes. The preliminary findings from James’ autopsy have since been delivered to her father, Todd, and his wife, Angela, with the ABC reporting...

A pet cow named Veronika uses a tool in a surprisingly sophisticated way—possibly because she has been allowed to live her best life. In news that is sure to delight fans of a certain Gary Larson cartoon turned meme about the limitations of bovine cognition, cow tools are real. Larson’s 1982 comic for his series The Far Side showed a cow standing behind a table bearing an array of oddly shaped objects. The text below the image read simply “cow tools.” Now a pet cow named Veronika has been documented not only using a tool but doing so in a...

According to Census data from 2022, Wisconsin has the 25th highest percentage of single-parent households among the states and the District of Columbia. The Badger Institute has published several reports and news articles about family structure in Wisconsin and how it has changed over time: A piece by Marie Rohde in 2018 discussed why both older and younger people are deciding to stay single.A piece by Michael Jahr accompanied both those, showing how the idea of marriage is now becoming a foreign concept to some.We published a policy brief in 2019 on the marriage penalty in Wisconsin’s earned income tax...

A back scratching bovine has forced scientists to reassess the intelligence of cattle. Veronika, a brown Swiss cow from the Austrian village of Carinthia, shocked researchers with the first documented case of a cow working out how to scratch itself with a stick. The clever creature also recognises family members' voices and hurries to meet them when called.

Nearly two dozen people were killed and 15 were injured by a large wild bull elephant that went on a 10-day rampage through several towns in eastern India, terrorizing locals who reportedly climbed trees and slept on rooftops to stay out of its reach. The single-tusked male struck first on New Year’s Day when it killed a 35-year-old man in the village of Bandijhari in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district. Four days later, the animal killed five members of the same family in the nearby town of Sowan. The next day, it killed five more people in Babaria, including a married...

A man and boy were critically injured, and another boy had his surfboard bitten during three separate shark attacks in Sydney, Australia in just over 24 hours, police confirmed Monday. Big picture view: A man, believed to be in his 20s, was in a critical condition Monday after being bitten by a shark at Sydney's Northern Beaches on Jan. 19. At 6.20 p.m. local time, emergency services were called to North Steyne Beach, following reports of a surfer being bitten by a shark

Meet the worst Times Square interloper since the Elmos invasion — the “limited edition” anchovy-cheese donut at weirdly punctuated I’m donut ? The Japanese bakery chain, which set up its first US store at 154 W. 45th St. last spring, will stop at nothing to get attention from TikTok influencers. This month, the “chef’s inspiration” is to lay a single anchovy across the top of a donut filled with three (count ’em, three) types of cheese — white cheddar, Gruyère, Parmigiano-Reggiano — and creamy Béchamel sauce. It makes for a dairy debacle. The mutant munchie tastes like a salt slick...

Researchers found that prohibited species may be sold under false labels.Key Points: -Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that critically endangered shark species may commonly be sold under false labels in U.S. grocery stores. -The scientists revealed that out of 29 samples, 93% were ambiguously labeled as just "shark" meat. -Through DNA testing they found that numerous samples sold in grocery stores came from endangered shark species such as the shortfin mako and great hammerhead. If you spot shark on a menu or grocery store shelves in the United States, the odds are high that...

A fearless muntjac deer weighing just 50 pounds went head-to-head with a nearly two-ton rhinoceros at a zoo in Poland in a caught-on-camera David and Goliath bout for the ages. A caretaker at Wroclaw Zoo in Poland captured the standoff between Maruska the rhino and Mundzak the Chinese muntjac deer in a video viewed millions of times on social media.

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is investigating after a bear ransacked a candy store in Gatlinburg. This is not the first time the bear has caused damage to the store, but the store is hopeful the bear will be relocated. Glades Homemade Candies shared on social media Friday that this is the fourth time the bear has caused damage at the store. Photos of the damage show a glass door the bear busted through, an overturned sheet pan rack and pans that were once full of sweets dragged outside. The store is located along East Parkway,...