wild animals

A raccoon dog looks out of its cage in a Chinese live animal market in January 2004. Raccoon dogs could have been an initial host for the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

World News

Raccoon dogs may have been linked to the pandemic. What are they?

11:40am March 18, 2023

by Kaitlyn Radde

The wild animals are more similar to foxes than to domesticated dogs. Data that suggested a link between raccoon dogs and the origins of the COVID pandemic was removed from an international database.

This photograph, taken on February 24, 2014 during an aerial survey mission by Greenpeace in Indonesia, shows cleared trees in a forest located in the concession of Karya Makmur Abadi, which was being developed for a palm oil plantation. Environmental group Greenpeace on February 26 accused US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble of aiding the destruction of Indonesian rainforests.

Zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 and monkeypox will become more common, experts say

10:55pm September 29, 2022

by Ayana Archie

Researchers say diseases that spread between humans and animals will become increasingly commonplace as human expansion into previously uninhabited areas intensifies.

Liu Ping, a breeder of bamboo rats. He had to cull his rats when the Chinese government banned consumption of various wild animals as a way to potentially curb spread of viruses from animals to humans.

Health & Safety

Pandemic Causes China To Ban Breeding Of Bamboo Rats And Other Wild Animals

11:12pm June 28, 2020

The idea is to reduce the risk of spread of viruses through animal-human contact. Bamboo rat breeders are devastated by the loss of income. And critics say the ban has too many loopholes.

This wild hog from Hawaii was raised at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colo. Feral pigs in the wild tend to eat anything containing a calorie — from rows of corn to sea turtle eggs, to baby deer and goats.

Scientists Get Down And Dirty With DNA To Track Wild Pigs

11:17am February 07, 2017

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Wild hogs inflict $1.5 billion in damage on U.S. property each year. But biologists can now track the elusive animals via tiny bits of DNA the swine leave behind in puddles and ponds.

Queue Listen Now

A nosy bald eagle peeks out from behind the rocks to check out what photographer William Saunders is up to, Cordova, Ala.

PHOTOS: Finalists For The 2016 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

3:12pm October 21, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

A bear being fish-slapped. A decidedly not-regal eagle. An unfortunate buffalo/bird interaction.

African bush elephants on Fothergill Island, Zimbabwe.

World News

Facing Drought, Zimbabwe Says It Is Selling Off Wild Animals

1:41pm May 04, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

A government minister said the proceeds will be used "to buy food and secure water facilities for distressed animals." Zimbabwe is famous for parks full of animals such as elephants and lions.

A former circus lion peers from inside a cage during their arrival at OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday.

World News

PHOTOS: 33 Rescued Circus Lions Airlifted From Peru To South Africa

2:39pm May 01, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The organizers are calling it the "largest airlift of lions in history." The animals were rescued from circuses after Colombia and Peru banned the use of wild animals in circuses.