Animals

Known as Przewalski’s horses, the animals have been missing from Kazakhstan’s landscape for 200 years. They're being reintroduced, where they'll play a crucial role in the ecosystem.

Hawaii's unique birds, known as honeycreepers, are being wiped out by mosquitoes carrying avian malaria. The birds' last hope could be more mosquitoes, designed to crash their own population.

Forget names like "Dumbo"—wild elephants appear to have their own unique names that other elephants use while talking to them in low rumbles.

Research on the rumbles of wild elephants suggest that these animals address each other with unique, name-like vocalizations. (Story aired on All Things Considered on June 10, 2024.)

Wildlife trafficking is one of the largest and most profitable crime sectors in the world. The illegal trade estimated to be a multi-billion dollar industry. On a high level, that illegal trade causes problems for everything from global biodiversity to local economies and the balance of entire ecosystems. And on the immediate level, authorities are tasked with caring for confiscated animals and placing them in long-term care facilities.

One network launched last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association for Zoos and Aquariums hopes to help. And with wildlife trafficking surging globally, the organizations are now in talks to expand the program to other parts of the country.

Read more about illegal wildlife trafficking and check out more photos in climate correspondent Nate Rott's full story.

Have other wildlife stories you want us to cover? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

Crows can count... out loud! They do so similarly to human toddlers who are learning to tally things up. A neuroscientist trained birds to produce a number of calls in response to random visual cues.