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Primatologist Plans School Where Apes Learn English

6:52 pm in endangered species, malaysia, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

teaching orangutans photo Photo: Chi King / cc As a polyglot fluent in seven languages, French primatologist Dr. Francine Neago can converse in the native tongue of peoples throughout the world -- but she's interested most of all in talking with orangutans. In 1978, Neago spearheaded a program of orangutan language study at UCLA, and, using a specially designed computer program built in collaboration with IBM, became the first (and only) researcher to successfully teach a young ape to read and spell in English. Now, decades after proving that other primates h...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Adorable, But Threatened, Chicks Call Cargill’s Old Salt Ponds Home (Pics)

9:25 am in animals, birds, conservation, endangered species, Science & Technology, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

snowy plover photo All photos by Jaymi Heimbuch Friend and fellow photographer Rebecca Jackrel knows the quickest way to my heart -- invite me out into the field with a camera to photograph, well, pretty much any living thing. She invited me along for a trip with Caitlin Robinson-Nilsen of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) as she checked on Western Snowy Plover nests for newly hatched chicks to band....Read the full story on TreeHugger

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6 Species Facing Extinction Without Protection

9:13 am in animals, conservation, endangered species, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

american pika on a rock photo Photo credit: normalityrelief/Creative Commons Tigers, black rhinoceros, and giant pandas attract a lot of attention from conservationists and wildlife lovers—and...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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The Platypus Faces Extinction As Australia Heats Up

1:06 pm in animals, australia, endangered species, global climate change, global warming effects, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

platypus-endangered-global-warming.jpg Photo: einalem under a Creative Commons license. As a mammal that lays eggs, has a duck's bill, a beaver's tail, an otter's feet and a venomous spur on its foot (males only), the platypus is a one of a kind animal. I mean that literally: it is the only non-extinct species in its genealogical family and genus. But things aren't looking good for the perplexing animal: as temperatures on its native Australia heat up, the platypus is finding it harder and harder to survive. A Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Polar Bear Kills Teenage Boy in the Arctic

3:50 pm in animals, Business & Politics, endangered species, global climate change by TreeHugger

polar-bear-habitat.jpg Photo: flickrfavorites via Flickr/CC BY Reports are coming in that a tragic attack has occurred on an Arctic expedition in Svalbard, Norway: A British teenager taking part on the trek was attacked and killed by a polar bear -- four others were wounded, and the bear was shot dead. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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The Week in Animal News: Miracle Turtles, Taking a Bite Out of Shark Week, and More (Slideshow)

7:30 am in animals, biodiversity, conservation, endangered species, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

miracle sea turtle rescue intro photo Photo: edanley/Creative Commons Last year, a sea turtle was discovered on a sandbar clinging to life after its body was split by the propellers of boats. It might have seemed futile to try and save the animal, but a team of veterinarians did anyways -- and now, after a hard-fought recovery, the sea turtle is heading home with a patched shell and a new chance at life. Read more about the turtle's miraculous recovery -- plus stories of endangered sharks, tiger meat served up to a television reporter, people-watching whales,...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Rare Flower Bounces Back From Presumed Extinction

11:26 pm in conservation, endangered species, tennessee, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

tennessee purple coneflower photo Photo: John Delano The delicately hued petals and striking brown florets of Tennessee's purple coneflower once seemed fated to live on only in description, or as a ghostly sketch yellowing on the page of some dusty botanical volume, yet today it's thriving. For over half a century after it was first discovered, the flower was believed to have died out entirely, never to be seen again dotting the cedar glades of central Tennessee. But now, after years on the endangered species list, the purple coneflower has made a remarkable ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Hundreds Gather For the Release of a ‘Miracle Turtle’

11:53 pm in endangered species, oceans, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

green-sea-turtle.jpg Photo: motleypixel / cc Today, nearly a thousand onlookers gathered along the shore in Juno Beach, Florida, craning for a peek of single sea turtle wading out to sea -- using words like 'miracle' to describe the animal's release. Last year, the turtle was discovered on a sandbar clinging to life after its body was split by the propellers of boats. It might have seemed futile to try and save the animal, but a team of veterinarians did anyways -- and now, after a hard-fought recovery, the sea turtle is heading home with a patched shell a...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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New Software Developed to Recognize Monkey Faces

5:28 pm in endangered species, Science & Technology by TreeHugger

chimp-face.jpg Photo: TheBusyBrain / cc Computers are already better than humans at games like Chess and Jeopardy, but soon they may best us at recognizing monkeys, too. For researchers studying great ape populations in the wild, learning to distinguish between faces is key to ensuring that no individual is counted twice -- and that often takes a keen eye and months of working closely with the animals. Now, thanks to a new facial-recognition software being developed, soon computers may be able to identify primate mugs much in the same way current technology can...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Museums Being Targeted By Rhino Horn Thieves

11:15 pm in endangered species, Travel & Nature by TreeHugger

stuffed-rhinos photo Photo: Instant Vantage / cc In recent months, museums throughout Europe have been the targets of particularly crafty criminals -- not international jewelry thieves, but illegal wildlife dealers. While the poaching of rhinos in Africa continues to devastate the endangered species, their stuffed counterparts on display in museums across England, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and France have faired little better. According to police, thieves have turned to stealing rhino horns from educational museum displays in order to sell them on t...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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