2015 nature picture highlights
During the course of my reporting in 2015 I took nearly 20,000 photos. Here are some of the highlights. [envira-gallery id=”2277″] [envira-gallery slug=”2015-highlights”]
Photos from a few days in the Canadian Rockies
Over the Fourth of July weekend, I spent a few days in Alberta’s Banff National Park. The photos are now online on the Canada pictures page. A few more:
Photos from China’s tropical rainforest
In August I did a lecture series at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in China’s Yunnan Province. The series focused on communicating science to the public, leveraging the Internet for environmental education, and drivers of deforestation. On the trip I spent some time in Yunnan’s spectacular tropical rainforest. Pictures from the trip are now online. More China...
Endangered Malayan tapir baby born at Minnesota zoo
Last Saturday, a female Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) was born at the Minnesota Zoo, the first baby tapir for the zoo in over 20 years. “Malayan Tapirs are an endangered species and every birth is important to the population,” said Tom Ness supervisor of the zoo’s Tropics Trail at the Minnesota Zoo, located in Apple Valley. The only tapir species found outside of Central and South America, Malayan tapirs are...
Picture: rainforest on Peucang Island, off West Java, Indonesia
Rainforest tree on Peucang Island. More pictures of Peucang Island.
Picture: Blue-footed poison frog
Blue-footed poison dart frog (Oophaga pumilio) from Panama
1,000 new species discovered in New Guinea
Varanus macraei, a monitor lizard first described in 2001, lives on the island of Batanta. WWF calls it “one of the most spectacular reptile discoveries anywhere… with a mesmerising pattern of turquoise and blue.” Photo © Lutz Obelgonner. Scientists discovered more than 1,000 previously unknown species during a decade of research in New Guinea (slideshow), says a new report from WWF. Final Frontier: Newly Discovered...
What does a baby moose look like? (photos)
Moose and mom are doing fine. Photo courtesy of ZSL’s Whipsnade Zoo. It’s true that moose, also known as European elk (Alces alces), are odd looking animals, yet that doesn’t prevent their babies from being as endearing as any others. This baby moose, named Chocolate (get it?), was born at Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Whipsnade Zoo in late May. The moose are apart of the European Breeding Program. Photo...
Happy world oceans day! (photos)
Coastline in Colombia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Celebrated since 1992, today is World Oceans Day! As apart of the day’s festivities, conservation organization Oceana is asking people to become Ocean Heroes by pledging to recycle, clean up a local waterway, or eat only sustainable seafood for the summer! Purple-striped jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Leopard shark in a kelp forest at Monterey...
Antelope release! (photos)
Red hartebeest release. Photo courtesy of Colchester Zoo: Action for the Wild. Three antelope species were recently released at the Umphafa Private Nature Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa in an ongoing effort to restore an over-cultivated area. In all 7 impala, 21 red hartebeest, and 22 blue wildebeest were released. “These recent releases are exciting developments for UmPhafa. The releases of the wildebeest represent the...
Global tropical forest carbon map
Forest carbon stock from Saatchi et al. 2011. Click image to enlarge New global carbon map for 2.5 billion ha of forests (05/31/2011) Tropical forests across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia stored 247 gigatons of carbon — more than 30 years’ worth of current emissions from fossil fuels use — in the early 2000s, according to a comprehensive assessment of the world’s carbon stocks. The research, published in the...
Happy world turtle day! (photos)
Baby marine turtle taking its first step out to sea in Costa Rica. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Yes, there is a World Turtle Day created by the American Tortoise Rescue! And today (May 23rd) is that day! Ancient leopard tortoise in Uganda. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Sumatran freshwater turtle. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Sumatran freshwater turtle. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. Radiated tortoise in Madagascar. Photo by: Rhett A....
T-rex leech discovered in a person’s nose just one of the top ten new species of 2010 (photos)
The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University has selected its top ten new species from 2010. While all the species are extraordinary, one was discovered in a most baffling, manner: taken from the nasal mucous membrane of a person in a Peruvian clinic. This 2-inch leech is named Tyrannobdella rex, which means ‘tyrant leech king’, because of a resemblance to the extinct T-Rex: both share a...
Pictures: Primary forests included, secondary forests excluded in Indonesia’s moratorium
This week Indonesia officially signed a moratorium on the granting of new logging and plantation permits in primary forests and peatlands. Secondary forests are excluded from the measure.
Bird-dinosaur, only recently dead, discovered in Iran (or big hoax)
An photo of the reported recently-deceased bird-dinosaur. Real or faked? Photo from the Islamic Republic News Agency. A corpse reportedly showing a bird with a skull like a canine’s has shown up in northwestern Iran, reports the Islamic Republic News Agency. The animal has two bird-like legs, but a head that looks like a mammalian or reptilian predator, giving the media the ability to dub it a dinosaur bird. A team of...
