Happy Nirvana

Screengrab via Vic’s Crappy Videos

Time for an afternoon break from the grind. Check out these two absolutely hilarious videos from a couple guys who think nature is pretty neat — so neat, that we should call it “neature”!! The film makers are sending out an important message about the wildlife all around us, and were inspired to make the short films because “we want everyone to know about how neat nature is, instead of just me and Rodney knowing it.” … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Image credit: brian.gratwicke/Creative Commons

Scientists call it the “Olympic Village Effect”: A phenomena in which the fittest of a species breed with one another to create generations of physically exceptional individuals.

This mechanism may be the cause of the incredible spread of cane toads in Australia—a revelation that proves they may be nearly impossible to stop but… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Photo: mirsasha

Decades of deforestation in development in the forests of Borneo have done a number on the love lives of the endangered orangutans that call the region home. Although there are still thousands of orangutans in the area, groups have become isolated from one another in patches of jungle bordered by rivers and palm oil plantations, threatening… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Photo: Deanaero

For about a month, the community of North Swindon, England was plagued by a mysterious vandal. Numerous residents filed reports with the local police after discovering the brake cables in their cars had been severed by the unknown assailant. To combat the growing problem, officials stepped-up patrols and warned the community to be on alert. But after an extensive investigation, the culprits were finally nabbed — and they turned out to be far bushier than an… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Photo: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

CuteOverload it’s not. This fellow is a newly identified cat-sized species called Durrell’s vontsira, found in the wetlands of Madagascar.

This image is just one amazing shot in our roundup of the week in animal photos: We’ve also got news on a goose that, thanks to persistence, now has its own music video; a female humpback whale who travels 6,125 miles for a mate; and a human-led migration of whooping cranes.

Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Image credit: joshDubya/Flickr

I am currently in the little town with the really big secret: Taiji, Japan, made famous by the Academy Award winning documentary The Cove .

I am here as a volunteer for Save Japan Dolphins and Earth Island Institute. This is my second trip here since the killing season began on September 1st. Although I have seen the movie many times, this week was the first time I was in Taiji during a dolphin slaughter…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Images courtesy of the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

That’s ’9′ followed by 20 zeroes
The probability of a lobster being born with a blue shell are about 1 in a million. For a calico or pumpkin-orange colored lobster, the odds are in the excess of 1 in 30 million. The chances of seeing all three variations in one place — well, let’s just say it’s mind-bogglingly slim. But one aquarium in Connecticut has managed to defy the odds with their once in a lifetime lobster exhibit…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Photo via Peter Bosshard / International Rivers

Dams are among the most monumental examples of mankind’s engineering savvy, though they’re also perhaps the most environmentally impactful, too — but none of that could keep this brave herd of Ibex goats from scaling the sheer face of one such dam in Italy. While it may be a testa… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Photo: mikebaird / CC

What could drive a female humpback whale to travel a quarter of the world, shattering mammal migration records? The quest to find a mate, of course. The whale’s journey took her from the coast off south Brazil all the way to waters of eastern Madagascar — an incredible 6,125 miles. And it’s not just feat of endurance that is impressive to researchers; Studying the epic trek may help biologists better understand… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger

Photo: Screen capture from video.

Sometimes it takes a heartbreaking video to fully grasp the scale to which some human activities are jeopardizing habitats of crucial species around the world. When the World Wildlife Fund installed a camera on the grounds of a forest in Indonesia’s Riau Province, they were hoping to better understand the movement of the highly endangered Sumatran tigers that live there — but what they captured instead was devastation…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Credits to:TreeHugger