Animals

Chinese Zoo Substitutes Dog For Lion

7:18am August 16, 2013

A mother taking her son around a zoo in China thought her boy was mistaken when he pointed out the barking lion. But he was right. The zoo had taken their African lion away for breeding, and moved in an employee's large and hairy mastiff dog.

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Bison have been roaming the Santa Catalina Island since the 1920s. At one time they numbered more than 600.

National

Of Bison, Birth Control And An Island Off Southern Calif.

7:59am August 15, 2013

by Kirk Siegler

A wild herd of bison has been roaming the rugged Santa Catalina Island since the 1920s, when the animals were brought there by a film crew shooting a movie that was never made. With no natural predators, the bison population quickly exploded.

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Colorful covers of menus from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (left) and the Monarch Room Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Old Hawaiian Menus Tell Story Of Local Fish And Their Demise

3:53pm August 13, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

An ecologist wondered if Hawaiian menus might help explain what happened to Hawaii's sea turtle population. But the menus revealed another marine tragedy: that local fish numbers had dropped to about a tenth of what they once were.

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Could the images common in accounts of near-death experiences be explained by a rush of electrical activity in the brain?

Brains Of Dying Rats Yield Clues About Near-Death Experiences

7:57am August 13, 2013

by Rob Stein

Researchers discovered what appears to be a momentary increase in electrical activity in the brain associated with consciousness. As the brain struggles to survive, it also struggles to make sense of many neurons firing in the survival attempt.

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Thai Elephant Orchestra co-founder David Sulzer (bottom center, in red) poses with the animals and their mahouts, or keepers.

The Biggest Thing Out Of Thailand: An Elephant Orchestra

3:01pm August 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Based out of a conservation center for former work animals, the Thai Elephant Orchestra is just what it sounds like: a group of elephants trained to play enormous percussion instruments, holding mallets in their trunks and sometimes trumpeting along.

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The Emmen Zoo's baboons last week, when they were looking so sad.

Why Were The Baboons So Sad? Many Theories, No Answers

6:06am August 08, 2013

by Mark Memmott

At a zoo in the Netherlands, 112 baboons suddenly started acting oddly. They turned their backs to visitors. They moped around. They didn't want to eat. It was a week before they got back to normal. Were they upset by a storm or an earthquake that people didn't feel? Maybe aliens? It's a mystery.

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Victor Reyes has been photographing tourists atop Tijuana's "zonkeys" since he was 12, and says at one time he could earn $150 a day. Now, he's lucky to earn $15, he says. Here, Reyes poses with his donkey, Ruben.

Working To Save The Painted 'Zonkeys' Of Tijuana

4:31am August 08, 2013

by Amy Isackson

Americans once waited in line for the chance to be photographed atop the striped donkeys on this famed tourist strip. But 9/11, the recession and the Mexican drug war have stifled tourism and nearly put the "zonkeys" and their owners out of work. A new push is on to save the historic icons.

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Want To Be A Chicken Farmer? Try It Before You Commit

5:24am August 07, 2013

by Gigi Douban

The idea of raising backyard chickens has become very popular. But people who follow through on the idea don't always know what they are getting into. So a few companies are letting would-be chicken farmers try out the experience — for a fee.

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Researchers Focus On Sharks' Point Of View

7:18am August 06, 2013

The term "shark attack" is under attack by the leading society of shark researchers. They're calling on the media to stop labeling any sort of interaction with humans as an "attack." They suggest using specific terms like: shark sightings and shark encounters.

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A nematode worm glows as it nears death in this screenshot from a YouTube video showing the work of researchers in London.

Worms' Bright Blue Death Could Shed Light On Human Aging

7:50pm August 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

Researchers are getting clues about the human life cycle from studying the death of tiny worms, which internally release a blue fluorescent dye in the waning hours of their lives. The glowing chemical travels from one end of the creature to the other. One researcher calls it "reminiscent of the soul departing the worm."

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