National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen (previously) relates the harrowing tale of a sweet, insistent, and ferocious lunchmate (note - clip begins with a dramatic drumbeat, mind your speakers) [more inside]
posted by Hypnotic Chick on Nov 12, 2009 - 37 comments

Twenty years ago this month, the nearly 700 mile border between East and West Germany started to disappear. "The fence is long gone, and the no-man's land where it stood now is part of Europe's biggest nature preserve. The once-deadly border area is alive with songbirds nesting in crumbling watchtowers, foxes hiding in weedy fortifications and animals not seen here for years, such as elk and lynx. But one species is boycotting the reunified animal kingdom: red deer." According to the Bavarian National Forest Park Service, scientists [link in German] have recorded nearly 11,000 GPS locations for 'Ahornia," a red deer who appears to never enter the Czech Republic.
posted by webhund on Nov 4, 2009 - 22 comments

Great photographers: Clark Little (surf photography), Nick Brandt (mostly African wildlife), John Hyde (mostly wildlife and Alaska), Veronika Pinke (landscapes), Dale Allman (miscellaneous; particularly beautiful are his Australian cityscapes and the HDR/DRI photos), Ansel Adams (the undisputed master of nature photography who died in 1984; famous quotes: "You don't take a photograph, you make it.", "A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. "), Michel Rajkovic (mostly marine landscape, exclusively in black and white). And again, as a tribute to a gifted artist who died far too early, the work of Bobby Model (adventure photographer). Last but not least: Onexposure, probably the biggest collection of quality photography on the net.
posted by Matthias Rascher on Sep 21, 2009 - 9 comments

A mysterious black blob of something is floating along the Alaskan coast... and it's biological. According to the Coast Guard, "It's definitely not an oil product of any kind." The strange goop even has a taste for flesh... "[S]omeone turned in what was left of a dead goose -- just bones and feathers..."
posted by SansPoint on Jul 16, 2009 - 111 comments

Have you ever wondered what New York was like before it was a city? Find out at The Mannahatta Project, by navigating through the map to discover Manhattan Island and its native wildlife in 1609. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Jun 4, 2009 - 16 comments

OdyseeTV explores the pressures faced by wildlife and habitat. Featuring video content like the Plight of the Snow Leopard, or a feature about manatees, Can Gentle Survive?, by conservation organizations worldwide. Limited at present to about 30 programs, but growing as more groups come on board.
posted by netbros on Apr 30, 2009 - 2 comments

Dame Daphne Sheldrick runs an orphanage in Kenya. For elephants. The orphanage has been the focus of a report on 60 Minutes and a special called "The Elephant Diaries" on BBC1. At the orphanage, elephants are taught skills they will need to know in the wild, including how to play football.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Apr 26, 2009 - 11 comments

...the Department of Transportation will not keep secret the data we collect on birds striking airplanes. - Ray LaHood, United States Secretary of Transportation

From the dreaded mourning dove to the nefarious Canada goose to the humble armadillo, the FAA's recently released National Wildlife Strike Database ON-LINE contains information on aircraft/wildlife strikes from over 100,000 reported incidents between 1990 and 2008. [more inside]
posted by shoesfullofdust on Apr 24, 2009 - 11 comments

An escaped beaver has been felling trees in Devon. The large (six-stone) male escaped an animal sanctuary along with two females when an electric fence was shorted by flooding. His owner thinks he went in search of a mate."We've got traps being made up at the moment," he said. "Using the scent from one of the female beavers, we'll be able to catch the male beaver fairly quickly." [more inside]
posted by chuckdarwin on Jan 5, 2009 - 39 comments

An orphaned deer and a wild rabbit quickly become best friends. [original page, auf Deutsch] [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Dec 1, 2008 - 40 comments

The GDT's* European Wildlife Photographer of the Year; winning image is NSFW. (2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001) *Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen [more inside]
posted by Korou on Nov 14, 2008 - 22 comments

Steve Winter has won Wildlife Photographer Of The Year. More shortlisted images. Previous winners.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Oct 30, 2008 - 6 comments

Brutal or Amazing? - this is just one of many fine posts on the Photo Africa Blog, an excellent source of in-the-wild animal and nature photos and reports from bush field guides. Also see: Madikwe Lions.
posted by madamjujujive on Oct 4, 2008 - 20 comments

Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project ― the grizzly bear has had a threatened status for more than 30 years now. Several zones have been established in the northwestern U.S. and Canada to monitor recovery. Kate Kendall of the USGS led a project to investigate recovery through DNA monitoring of the bears. Since the funds dried up, Kate and her team have used remote cameras to capture some interesting footage of bears and other wildlife.
posted by netbros on Jun 30, 2008 - 9 comments

“I can’t express how extremely disappointed I am that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has chosen to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act," Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a statement issued today. [more inside]
posted by salvia on May 14, 2008 - 61 comments

Kennan Ward Nature-Wildlife Photography -- “Being a nature-wildlife photographer is a demanding job … but all the hardship is forgotten when I make eye-to-eye contact with a wild animal, or experience the moment when a window in the clouds opens up, highlighting a landscape … I feel honored to be able to bring the inspiring beauty of nature to others.” [more inside]
posted by netbros on Apr 29, 2008 - 4 comments

Are golf courses bad or good for the environment? Chances are the answer you give depends on whether you are actively involved with the game. Representing anti-golf we have the Organic Consumers Association, the Journal of Pesticide Reform (pdf), and the Global Anti-Golf Movement. Speaking on behalf of golf course management the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (pdf) and the United States Golf Association. A group of leading golf and environmental organizations have jointly developed Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States.
posted by netbros on Apr 24, 2008 - 38 comments

Located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, tiny Sable Island has a population of about 15 humans, assorted marine birds and seals, and more than 300 wild horses. The island is a bastion of purity, wildness and beauty unmatched in the world. [more inside]
posted by loiseau on Apr 6, 2008 - 27 comments

Wildlife Photographer of the Year
posted by Flashman on Feb 9, 2008 - 15 comments

Wildlife rehabilitators take care of wounded or orphaned animals, nursing them back to health and preparing them for a life back in the wild. This leads to a lot of cute baby animal videos. (Roll over for descriptions.) [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good on Jan 7, 2008 - 14 comments

What I Killed Today. I work with a lot of injured wildlife. Also not wild animals that are just in a lot of pain. Sometimes I have to euthanize them. I decided to record each animal I euthanize here.
posted by monju_bosatsu on Dec 9, 2007 - 80 comments

Build your wild self using a flash game from the New York zoos and aquarium and the wildlife conservation society. [more inside]
posted by FunkyHelix on Oct 23, 2007 - 18 comments

Giraffe mating battles can be brutal but they are generally gentle giants. Man's fascination with these exotic creatures can be tracked from 9,000 year old rock art to the quest for exotics that brought them to the courts of Medici-era Florence, Restoration Paris, and Imperial China, spawning much curiosity and fanciful illustration. Today, giraffe-o-philes can get up close and personal in Kenya's Giraffe Manor. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 30, 2007 - 32 comments

"This site brings together just a few of the hundreds and hundreds of new species discovered since the year 2000. Hopefully, it will inspire us to see the world as a place still being explored, and give us the courage to conserve and protect the fragile, shrinking areas of habitat left on Earth... areas which, as we see here, contain creatures we haven't even yet Imagined... " That, of course, makes living in a low impact woodland home even more appealing or scary (you choose). Although I will admit that even the best of intentions can lead to perile, as in the case of Timothy Treadwell (as previously discussed). He too wanted to be 'one with nature'.
posted by NotInTheBox on Jul 24, 2007 - 18 comments

When Wild Coyotes in San Francisco Attack (previously).
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Jul 16, 2007 - 27 comments

Unexpectedly, thousands of mammals were spotted during their migration in the Southern Sudan surprising scientists who had given up thinking that wildlife might still exist [video link] in this war torn region of the world.
posted by infini on Jun 13, 2007 - 11 comments

Paul Nicklen's Northern Wildlife Photography.
posted by srboisvert on Jun 12, 2007 - 10 comments

Wild coyotes roam San Francisco.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Jun 6, 2007 - 60 comments

Badgers--fierce, secretive, beloved, reviled, surprisingly widespread, and enemy to snakes [Warning: Gore in "Snakes"]. Cousin to ferrets and weasels, badgers have some strange habits--such as digging a large new burrow to sleep in every night.
posted by agentofselection on May 12, 2007 - 24 comments

Bald Eagle nest cam. 24/7 real-time video of a Bald Eagle nest at Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Virginia.
posted by fandango_matt on Apr 14, 2007 - 12 comments

The Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly was thought to be extinct in 1982, after its primary (and federally protected) habitat was (allegedly) destroyed by the City of Ranchos Palos Verdes. But in 1994, butterfly enthusiasts discovered that it had apparently survived LA's best efforts to destroy it. It even spawned a PC app (that anyone can download) aimed at tracking insect populations. These days, it's doing better.
posted by hifiparasol on Apr 3, 2007 - 4 comments

Bee eaters and lesser kestrels.
posted by Wolfdog on Mar 3, 2007 - 12 comments

As two more villages are relocated to create reserves for Project Tiger in India, each family will be offered two hectares of land, a house and 100,000 rupees or approximately $2200. But is this a sustainable solution for anti poaching measures? At Ranthambhore tiger reserve in the backward district of Sawai Madhopur, poaching has been controlled but pressure on the park remains as long as the seven relocated villages are unable to find alternate sources of long term income and other resources. When seeking food and shelter, saving the tiger is the last thing on their minds. Witness the slaughtering of the rare gorilla in Congo for food recently until the rebels were convinced to stop. Local needs versus long term ecological preservation will continue to be issues unless alternate viable solutions can be found.
posted by infini on Jan 26, 2007 - 8 comments

The late Dan Gibson: Pioneering wildlife documentarian and sound archivist. Inventor of the Dan Gibson Parabolic Microphone. Musician. Order of Canada recipient. All-around good guy.
posted by The Card Cheat on Dec 19, 2006 - 6 comments

Elephants are self aware (news story, videos). "As a result of this study, the elephant now joins a cognitive elite," said researcher Frans de Waal at Emory University. [Past posts tagged with "elephant" "elephants"]
posted by salvia on Oct 31, 2006 - 52 comments

Amphibian Extinction Crisis: "For the first time in modern history, because of the way that humans are impacting our natural world, we're facing the extinction of an entire class of organisms....This is not the extinction of just a panda or a rhino, it's a whole class of organisms." Original declaration of the Amphibian Conservation Summit (pdf). More details in the BBC and San Francisco Chronicle. Previously.
posted by salvia on Jul 7, 2006 - 9 comments

the new urban jungle . . . is a growing movement led by cities like San Francisco, New York, and Leiden to restore active and vibrant natural systems in urban areas. Far from the eden-like depictions of nature of yesteryear, i.e. the garden of earthly delights (nonetheless, still attracting some dynamic new christian converts), the movement has morphed into today's backyard and grassroots environmental movement which is more and more a picture of hybridity, compromise, mixed-use, and ultimately, taking nature out of the walled islands of zoos, aquaria, national parks and other thick-walled institutions and offering a different kind of everyday "unmediated" community experience with the new urban wilderness. VIDEO LINK
posted by huckhound on Jul 6, 2006 - 1 comment

Dancing with demons - riveting underwater adventure about a close encounter with a giant, hungry Diablo Rojo. Also see filming the Humboldt squid. Past squid threads:1, 2, 3, and 4. Via Squidblog.
posted by madamjujujive on Apr 6, 2006 - 16 comments

Scott Stulberg takes beautiful photography of people and places in southeast Asia. Also, some fantastic nature and wildlife work. (flash, sound alert)
posted by madamjujujive on Feb 11, 2006 - 14 comments

How To Have A Ton Of Fun Raising Baby Squirrels. Husband and wife document their adventures raising these little spazz-monsters with many photos and some Flash movies. Via Cute Overload.
posted by Gator on Jan 2, 2006 - 40 comments

National Wildlife Magazine's 35th Annual Photography competition. [via Fark]
posted by Gyan on Dec 10, 2005 - 9 comments

We all know that otters are terminally cute (warning: streaming WMV), but the Federal Government is only just now figuring out that they're also smarter than humans give 'em credit for. And they have no respect for the poor widdle shellfish industry. No respect at all. Awww.
posted by Gator on Nov 16, 2005 - 27 comments

Alex Bernasconi's (Mostly Wildlife) Photography [via MeCha]
posted by Gyan on Sep 16, 2005 - 4 comments

Orca Live: The idea of Nature Network is to relay live imagery and sound from cameras set up in Nature throughout the world. "My hope is to bring people closer to Nature without disrupting her" that hope is the hope of Dr. Spong. At this very moment, all over the world, a variety of organisms are beaming with life. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were media by which people could get a sense of this? If a window could be opened up that would trigger city dwellers' memories of the rhythms of Nature, the way we sense the world and our way of being are bound to change somewhat. That hope, too, lies within. via
posted by hortense on Aug 31, 2005 - 2 comments

The Faroe Islands is a weatherbeaten North Atlantic archipelago, which is small and sparsely populated, but rich in fish, sheep and birdlife. Not to mention dramatic scenes of natural beauty. (More inside)
posted by the_unutterable on Jun 11, 2005 - 26 comments

Bird Watchers Guide on Flickr. "Linked list of species submitted; find all photos of a species here".
posted by nthdegx on Jun 5, 2005 - 11 comments

Sometimes it's hard for me to conceive that other contemporaneous people on this planet lead lives so dramatically different from my own. What if this or this or this constituted your daily commute? Or if this or this were among the challenges you faced in your daily job? The native people and arctic wildlife galleries offer a glimpse of the past preserved. More wonders at Bryan & Cherry Alexander Photography.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 5, 2005 - 14 comments

only in Kenya [via memepool]
posted by scrim on Mar 4, 2005 - 11 comments

Remember the threads last week about R/C planes with digital cameras? Rank amateurs. Animal Planet has upped the stakes in the unmanned aerial vehicle race by strapping a video camera to an eagle. That's right, an eagle. It's incredible. Check out the dogfight in particular. They're also doing a bunch of other cool things with animals and technology.
posted by loquax on Dec 6, 2004 - 28 comments

The Peace Parks Foundation is an international, neutral body that coordinates the creation of "Peace Parks" -- a more foundation friendly name for "Transfrontier Conservation Areas." Peace Parks are defined as "relatively large protected areas, which straddle international frontiers between two or more countries and cover large-scale natural systems encompassing one or more protected areas."

Executive Vice-Chairman Willem van Riet of South Africa, in San Diego, California, this month to receive the Presidential Award from GIS software giant ESRI, is that Peace Parks remove the fences of international frontiers -- the "scars of history" -- to let elephants resume their natural migratory paths. An early success of this idea was profiled in full and stunning color by the National Geographic in 2001.
posted by mmahaffie on Aug 22, 2004 - 6 comments