Background Articles

Climate change is ravaging the natural laboratory that inspired Darwin. The creatures here are on the brink of crisis.

With their habitat shrinking, brown bears in Baile Tusnad, Romania, have turned to scavenging. Residents sit and gawk, environmentalists want to protect the animals, but hunters just want to hunt.

Killer whales go to extraordinary depths to pilfer a meal.

A team of researchers has found that black-browed albatrosses living on the Falkland Islands see rising divorce rates during times when the sea surface temperatures rise. They point out that hunger could lead to one or the other partner abandoning an egg or hatchling—events that could lead to one of the birds ditching the other.

The fatal grizzly attack in West Yellowstone has sparked a debate over the number of bears, with some arguing for delisting and state management to prevent future tragedies.

Since 2020, members of a small group of killer whales have rammed into at least 673 vessels off the coasts of Portugal, Spain and Morocco — causing some to sink. The Spanish and Portuguese governments responded by tasking a group of experts with determining what was causing the whales to strike rudders, which are used to steer ships, and how to stop it.

The snakeworm gnat larvae move in columns, possibly to frighten predators and to keep their fragile bodies moist when crossing dry ground.