Free Republic

Federal wildlife officials approved a plan last year to protect northern spotted owls by shooting other owls, but it has faced pushback from animal rights advocates and lawmakers — including conservatives. Now lawmakers could kill the plan. An unusual alliance of Republican lawmakers and animal rights advocates, together with others, is creating storm clouds for a plan to protect one threatened owl by killing a more common one.

America's first national park and the first and oldest in the world, Yellowstone National Park, is regularly in the headlines. Just recently, Yellowstone visitors shared the grim reality of trying to gain entry to the park while it experiences record-high visitation—on a Tuesday morning of all days, not even on a busy weekend. However, some of the most eyebrow-raising stories coming out of the park typically involve visitors regularly crossing the line; for example, only days ago, a park visitor was spotted actually tasting the thermal water of one of Yellowstone's springs. Naturally, though, accounts of tourists behaving badly also...

Fisherman holding a pair of sea cucumbers. (Photo by The Pirates on Shutterstock) Scientists Discover Sea Cucumbers Contain Powerful Compound That Fights Aggressive Tumors In a nutshell * Scientists found that a compound from sea cucumbers can block Sulf-2, an enzyme that helps cancer cells spread throughout the body * Smaller fragments of the sea cucumber extract work just as well as the full compound but cause fewer side effects * The compound targets cancer cells specifically without broadly attacking healthy cells like traditional chemotherapy ========================================================================== UNIVERSITY, Miss. — Scientists at the University of Mississippi have discovered that a slimy...

Wild orcas, also known as Killer whales, have been spotted offering food to humans in unusual interactions recorded over the past 20 years, according to a new study that has scientists searching for answers. The findings, published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, describe 34 confirmed cases where orcas voluntarily approached humans and dropped sea creatures near them. These offerings included fish, seabirds, stingrays, whale parts, seaweed, and even a turtle. Most interactions were observed off the coasts of California, Norway, and New Zealand. The orcas often paused after delivering the prey, as if watching to see how people would...

I need to get rid of some wildlife in my suburban Atlanta backyard. My biggest problem is wife foxes. I have three that have dug a hole and live in the ground. They are about the size of a medium sized dog.

No sea creature inspires terror – rightly or wrongly – as much as the white shark does. With its sleek body optimized for hunting, razor sharp teeth, and its (somewhat undeserved) reputation for enjoying human flesh, the 'great' white (Carcharodon carcharias) is widely regarded as one of the ocean's top predators. And that's true, it is – but there's something even the great white fears. Watch the video below for a summary of the research that revealed a predator other predators fear:

A surge of supercell thunderstorms over the last week has pummeled Wyoming, Montana and Colorado with golf ball- to baseball-sized hail that’s obliterated windshields, tore pieces off of homes and killed wildlife. Haden Wichman was branding calves near Kolin, Montana, on Saturday evening when he saw dark storm clouds on the horizon. “We went up the road to watch it, because we knew the big white cloud was going to come down the creek bottom,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “It was like a flash flood of golf ball-sized hail and 2 inches of rain that came with it.” After...

Bay area residents are reporting that dozens of birds are exploding and falling out of the sky mid flight. One ring camera caught the instant of a bird's demise on video. I've time stamped it in this report. VIDEO AT LINK......... There's a pop and then it drops. Residents watching it happen explain it like this: ‘So when they land and it happens, they just quickly explode and it's really violent,' Richmond resident Maximillian Bolling told KGO-TV. And 'It sounded like a firecracker, and a black bird — a starling — just plummeted to the ground,' witness Mark Hoehner told...

Three men have been arrested in Japan for attempting to smuggle hermit crabs out of the country. The suspects, aged 24, 26 and 27, and widely identified in Japanese media as being Chinese nationals, were detained on Amami, a southerly island where the spiral-shelled crustaceans are a protected species. Authorities were alerted to the men's live cargo when hotel staff, who had been asked to look after their luggage, noticed the suitcases making a "rustling noise", police told local media. Officers subsequently discovered "thousands" of hermit crabs, weighing around 95kg. The third man was found to have a further 65kg...

Two adult males feed on fermented African breadfruit. Credit: Bowland et al., edited Wild chimps share fruit containing alcohol, suggesting deep evolutionary links between fermented food and social behavior. For the first time, wild chimpanzees have been observed eating and sharing fruit that contains alcohol. A research team from the University of Exeter installed cameras in Guinea-Bissau’s Cantanhez National Park to monitor the behavior. The footage captured chimpanzees sharing fermented African breadfruit, which was confirmed to contain ethanol. This discovery raises intriguing questions about whether chimpanzees intentionally consume alcohol and what effects it might have on their behavior. Alcohol and...

April 25 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts town is under siege from an apparently territorial pileated woodpecker being blamed for damaging more than 25 vehicles in the area. Rockport resident Janelle Favaloro managed to capture a photo of the culprit caught in the act of targeting a vehicle with its jackhammer-like beak

Thanks to some thoughtful collaboration between researchers and traditional Inupiat whalers (who are still allowed to hunt for survival), scientists have used amino acids in the eyes of whales and harpoon fragments lodged in their carcasses to determine the age of these enormous animals—and they found at least three bowhead whales who were living prior to 1850. Granted those are bowheads, not sperm whales like the fictional Moby Dick, (and none of them are albino, I think), but still. Pretty amazing, huh? Bowhead whales reach an average length of 35 to 45 feet, and they are believed to live over...

A rare “dinosaur fish,” once believed to have disappeared 70 million years ago, has been filmed in the wild by divers in the Indonesian archipelago. The Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis) was captured on camera in its natural habitat, marking a breakthrough for marine exploration. The discovery was made in October 2024 during a deep-sea mission led by Alexis Chappuis of UNSEEN Expeditions. Using special breathing equipment, Chappuis and fellow diver Alexandre Leblond descended to 152 meters along a volcanic slope in the Maluku Islands, where they spotted the elusive creature at a depth of 144 meters. Long-lost species returned to...

HOUSTON, Texas — U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ron Burgum and Texas Governor Greg Abbott met near Houston to dedicate the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge. President Donald Trump ordered the park to be renamed in honor of the the life of the 12-year-old girl who was brutally kidnapped, raped, and murdered, reportedly by two alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members. “It’s our vow that Jocelyn’s memory be tied to a place of protection, a place of life, and a place of healing,” Secretary Burgum said during the dedication. The Interior Secretary was joined by Governor Abbott, Jocelyn’s...

The two men had entered Kenya on a tourist visa and were staying in a guest house in the western town of Naivasha. Their lawyer said that her clients did not know what they were doing was illegal. Two Belgian teenagers who were found with thousands of ants valued at more than €8,000 and allegedly destined for European and Asian markets will be sentenced in two weeks, a Kenyan magistrate has said. Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya's main airport, said she would not rush the case but would take time to review environmental impact and psychological reports...

BETHLEHEM, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) – A father in Connecticut was arrested after he said he shot a bear in self-defense to protect his family. The shooting happened at Todd Topicz’s home in August. He said that the bear entered the home through the garage, where his two kids were at the time. “He [the bear] walked right into the garage with people in there. He didn’t care. So, who knows what would’ve happened next time,” Topicz said.

See ya later, alligator. Many Floridians have had bizarre encounters with alligators — but this one might take the cake. A Sunshine State resident took to Reddit to share their frightening experience with two creepy reptiles that came up to their home’s front door, which was all captured on the family’s Ring camera. The footage shows two enormous alligators dilly-dallying around the home’s front porch. When one of the alligators saw that no one was coming to the door to welcome them into their home, they lingered a little bit longer before growing impatient. The video then showed one of...

First confirmed live observation of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, in its natural habitat First confirmed live observation of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, in its natural habitat Image credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute Behold: a live colossal squid in all its glory. After a century of searching, the extremely elusive cephalopod has been caught on camera alive in its natural habitat for the first time (and, for once, not inside the belly of a whale or washed up dead on a beach). The juvenile squid was filmed on March 9 at a depth of 600 meters (1,968...

Today, Congressman Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s, R-Colo., legislation to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List and ensure that action is not subject to judicial review passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act will restore authority back to state lawmakers and state wildlife officials to control the gray wolf population. H.R. 845 will now head to the full House of Representatives for a vote. “The damage to pets, livestock and wildlife from an unmanaged wolf population can no longer be ignored. The gray wolf has exceeded federal and...

Timothy Treadwell was a controversial figure who insisted on approaching and viewing brown bears at close range for about 13 years. He did not carry a firearm or bear spray or any deterrents. From backpacker.com: Wes: Timothy thought he was the dominant bear in the ecosystem. I think he was past the point of accepting any input on that. I think he had convinced himself that they would never hurt him, and he was untouchable. Treadwell was repeatedly warned about the danger. From akfatal.net:Despite that, Treadwell refused to carry firearms or ring his campsites with an electric fence as do...