Happy Nirvana

Photo via Animal Planet
Each year in early September, Japan opens season on dolphins, and today marks the start of the season in Taiji, a now notorious place for slaughtering cetaceans thanks to the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove. And of course, activist Ric O’Barry is on the move. He delivered a petition to the US Embassy [...]

Photo via Brian Gratwicke
Does the intelligence of an animal factor in on your decision whether or not to eat them? Many people consider pigs to be incredibly intelligent, but they’re still mostly factory farmed in often abhorrent conditions. Scientists are pushing for dolphins and other cetaceans to have non-human person status, complete with inalienable rights. [...]

Photo via JWGA Inc
Sometimes the waterway is both greener and faster than the highway. Though ferries are bigger than cars and usually use more fuel, they can carry hundreds of people and cars at one time. Plus, they are also often the shortest route from point A to point B — meaning a fraction of [...]

Taken June 2009. Courtesy Jeff Ford.
Michigan lost its last wild wolverine in March. State wildlife officials later said the animal, a female about nine years old, would be mounted and put on display at a state park. But that was months ago. What happened to plans for the display? It turns out the animal may [...]

Image credit: psyberartist/Flickr
In the northern hemisphere, the winter of 2010 was notable for its unpredictability and extreme conditions. From East Coast blizzards to a devastating cold snap in Florida, cities struggled to to keep pace and entire ecosystems hovered on the brink of collapse.
Now, as winter wears on in the Southern Hemisphere, Bolivia is reeling [...]

Photo via fabriziogiordano23
If you´re a city dweller, chances are you see them everyday – strolling down the sidewalk with their friends, having lunch at a local cafe, or just hanging out in the park. But for as much as we share with our urban lifestyles, few animals are as misunderstood or as maligned as [...]

Photo via National Geographic
Most desert animals spend their days hiding from the environment’s raging heat — it’s just one of the adaptations that allows desert residents to thrive in the arid, unforgiving regions. (They also build underground tunnels, develop ways of staying hydrated, and learn to stay cool.) But these animals came out long [...]

Image credit: TRAFFIC
When security personal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport scanned a woman’s over-sized carry-on last Sunday, they discovered something unexpected in the x-ray: A live tiger cub.
The woman—who has not yet been linked to the UK’s cat-trasher—was carrying the sedated tiger in a suitcase filled with stuffed toy tigers…. Read the full story on [...]

Image credit: Hemera/Thinkstock
Every year, sockeye salmon return to the rivers of western Canada to make their arduous upstream journey to calmer spawning grounds. It is a seasonal touchstone that signifies the approaching end of summer, one that has been observed for centuries.
The only problem is that some years, like in 2009, the salmon don’t return…. [...]

Photo via thirtyfootscrew
Few animals are as adept at swinging through the treetops as our primate cousins – but sometimes even they could use a refresher course. After years of being limited to mostly terrestrial locomotion, a group of orangutans at a zoo in the Netherlands now have a chance to get their swing on [...]