Animals

Team USA Hockey Player Adopts 2 Stray Dogs From Sochi

7:30am February 27, 2014

The stray animal population in the Russian resort town received a lot of international attention during the games. David Backes hopes his "Olympic souvenirs" will raise awareness.

Queue Listen Now

Koala Escapes From Zoo, Naps And Then Gets Hungry

7:30am February 27, 2014

Mundu went missing from his exhibit at the San Diego Zoo on Tuesday. He escaped his enclosure and fell asleep — spending the day in a tree nearby. Zookeepers lured him back with eucalyptus.

Queue Listen Now

Eagles Make DTE Energy Plant Their Winter Home

7:37am February 19, 2014

The Michigan power plant dumps a lot of warm water into Lake Erie. The warm water attracts fish. The fish in turn attract bald eagles. Almost 200 of them have been nesting at the plant.

Queue Listen Now

Penguins Are Depressed By Lack Of Sun

11:26am February 07, 2014

It's been a dreary winter but penguins should be used to it, right? Not the Humboldt penguins at the Sea Life Center in Britain. They are natives of coastal South America — far from the U.K.'s unrelenting wind and rain. They're feeling so blue that zoo staff had to prescribe antidepressants.

Queue Listen Now

Each year, 6 to 8 percent of the global population of sharks and rays gets caught, scientists say. The fish can't reproduce fast enough to keep pace

Ancient And Vulnerable: 25 Percent Of Sharks And Rays Risk Extinction

9:23am January 22, 2014

by Richard Harris

"People know about the global trade in shark fins, but few know that some of the most valuable fins ... used in shark fin soup come from the sharklike rays — species like sawfishes and wedgefishes and guitarfishes," says Sonja Fordham, who contributed to a new analysis of the fisheries.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Profiting From Rhinos, Far From Their Habitat

6:42pm January 19, 2014

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Rhinoceros horns now sell for more on the black market than cocaine or heroin. Demand from Southeast Asian consumers is primarily to blame. In order to cash in, thieves have begun targeting a different kind of rhino habitat: museums. NPR's Arun Rath speaks with journalist Adam Higginbotham about the so-called "Rathkeale Rovers," a gang suspected of several thefts.

Queue Listen Now

A northern spotted owl in a Redwood forest.

To Save Threatened Owl, Another Species Is Shot

12:19pm January 17, 2014

by Elizabeth Shogren

The rare northern spotted owl species faces habitat loss and, now, intruding barred owls. A biologist, and the federal government, have made a difficult decision — killing one owl to ward off the extinction of another.

Queue Listen Now

National

Months After 'Blackfish' Release, Controversy Over SeaWorld Grows

9:11pm January 15, 2014

by Greg Allen

An anti-SeaWorld movement has unfolded online and on social media in the wake of the documentary about the death of an orca trainer at the park. Musical acts and schoolchildren have boycotted the theme park — but it's still drawing big crowds.

Queue Listen Now

Emerald ash borer larvae damage the ash trees they live in.

Environment

The Upside Of The Bitter Cold: It Kills Bugs That Kill Trees

7:19pm January 10, 2014

by David Schaper

Scientists say that the freezing weather can help reduce the population of a beetle that harms trees, as well as other invasive species. In Minnesota, up to 80 percent of the beetle's larvae may die off, buying some time for those who feared its negative effects on the ash tree population.

Queue Listen Now

No Polar Vortex For Brazil; Instead, Sizzling Heat

10:21am January 10, 2014

Zookeepers in Rio brought in icy treats to help the animals "beat the heat" that reached 120 degrees. Primates cooled off with strawberry and mango popsicles. The big cats got icy blocks of meat.

Queue Listen Now