Boy Scares off Lions With Flashy Solar Invention

A 13-year-old Massai boy in Kenya has invented an ingenious system to scare off the lions that were killing his family's livestock. His light bulb moment came after one small observation. Turere devised and installed his successful solar power system by himself, without ever receiving any training in electronics or engineering.

By Jeanne Goddard

26 February 35 Views

Animal Odd Couples: PBS Features Cross-Species Friendships (WATCH)

According to Dr. Marc Bekoff Ph.D., emotions like joy, love, empathy, compassion, kindness, and grief can readily be shared by improbable friends including predators and prey such as a cat and a bird, a snake and a hamster, and a lioness and a baby oryx.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 November 47 Views

Find Health and Happiness on a Walk in the Woods

Do you want to be happier, healthier, and smarter? I have just the prescription for you: add a daily dose of nature to your routine. Over the past decade, researchers from fields as diverse as biology, psychiatry, horticulture, neuroscience and medicine have discovered countless links between time spent outdoors and cognitive, physical, and emotional improvement. Over the past decade, researchers from fields as diverse as biology, psychiatry, engineering, horticulture, neuroscience and medicine have discovered countless links between time spent outdoors and cognitive, physical, and emotional development -- and a reduction in blood pressure, anxiety, and stress levels.

By April M Woodard

26 June 34 Views

Man and Goose Form Unlikely Friendship

They walk around the park together like they're in love, reports Steve Hartman. It all started when a gray goose named Maria started following Dominic every time he went to his local Los Angeles park.

By Jeanne Goddard

16 October 36 Views

Baboon Adopts Stray Kitten, Carries it Everywhere (Video)

At a petting zoo in Israel, a baboon has adopted a tiny kitten who recently strayed into its cage and then refused to leave. The baboon now cares for the kitten, checking it for fleas, and rarely lets the feline out of her sight.

By Jeanne Goddard

09 November 34 Views

Amazon Forest More Resilient to Climate Change Than Feared

The Amazon rainforest is less vulnerable to die off because of global warming than widely believed because the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide also acts as an airborne fertilizer, a study showed on Wednesday.

By Jeanne Goddard

08 February 37 Views

At Urban LA School, Nature Grows and Test Scores too

Biological diversity does not come easily in one of the most crowded and disadvantaged neighborhoods of Los Angeles County. One school, wanting only to beautify their campus, got an unexpected result after ripping out concrete and planting native flora. Kids' test scores in science rose sixfold.

By Renee Webb

21 April 45 Views

Sea Lion Pup Jumps on Boat, Cuddles With Driver (WATCH)

While sailing off Newport Beach, California, James Gilkinson and his niece got the surprise of a lifetime when a sea lion cub jumped onto their boat. The young mammal seemed tired but also became quite affectionate, rubbing against the captain and angling for pats on the head for an hour or more.

By Jeanne Goddard

14 June 36 Views

Animal Odd Couples: PBS Features Cross-Species Compassion (WATCH)

According to Dr. Marc Bekoff Ph.D., emotions like joy, love, empathy, compassion, kindness, and grief can readily be shared by improbable friends including predators and prey such as a cat and a bird, a snake and a hamster, and a lioness and a baby oryx.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 November 40 Views

Hidden Borneo Orangutans Provide Population Bump of 5-7 Percent

A team of conservationists have uncovered a hidden population of around 200 of the world's rarest Bornean orangutans in Malaysian Borneo. The Sarawak government has pledged protection.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 April 41 Views

Ducks Near Extinction Hang On, 18 Babies Hatched in Lab

On a remote lake in Madagascar, a fateful discovery of 22 ducks belonging to a variety thought to be extinct, inspired a group of conservationists to mobilize a last ditch effort to save the species, which had been previously been written off. This week, as the Madagascar pochard's only remaining wild population hangs on with just 22 adult birds surviving, the captive breeding program started in 2009 celebrated a huge success with the birth of 18 new babies.

By Jeanne Goddard

08 April 49 Views

Camera Drones Enlisted in Fight Against Badger Cruelty in Ireland

In the UK, the world's second oldest animal welfare organization said it was shocked by the scale of organized badger persecution it has uncovered in Northern Ireland. But now, operatives working for the USPCA are using an aerial drone with a camera onboard to film gangs, and chase them away, as they prepare to attack badgers.

By Madison Masters

15 March 43 Views

England's Forests to be Saved, Not Sold

Having dropped a policy allowing state-owned English woodland to be sold to the private sector, the government is now committing instead to preserving it for future generations. Environment secretary Owen Paterson announced in January 2013 that a previous policy of selling off 15% of the public forest to raise funds was to be dropped and an independent public body created to hold them in trust.

By Jeanne Goddard

26 February 33 Views

5,000 Years Old: Ancient Yew Tree Identified In Wales

A yew tree that hunkers over a graveyard near a church in Wales is more than 5,000 years old, according to experts — making it older than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 July 42 Views

Bitterns: The Endangered UK Birds Whose Population is Booming At Last

The boom of the bittern is being heard across Britain once again, after more than a century in which the bird has hovered on the edge of extinction. Noted for its foghorn-like call or boom, the bittern has made a recovery in numbers that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds described last week as a phenomenal success.

By Jeanne Goddard

13 February 42 Views