wildlife

The horrific brushfires in Southern Australia are still raging on — displacing thousands of people, wiping out millions of acres, destroying hundreds of homes and killing almost half a billion total mammals, birds and reptiles, since it sparked in September.
With strong winds and high temperatures expected to come in, officials are warning residents that they could create incredibly dangerous conditions — even worse than past weeks. 

With all these horrifying outcomes, you may be wondering how you can help. 

So here are some wildlife charities and organizations you can show your love and donate to during this devastating time.   

It's hard to share such devastating news. 

It has been reported that nearly 500 million animals have perished since the start of the raging fires. 

500 million. That's half a billion. 

According to the University of Sydney, ecologists now estimate 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have tragically been lost since September. 

Entire species of plants and animals are endangered of being completely wiped out. 

If you're unsure just how insanely large this fire really is, The Guardian has published an interactive map stating the scale of the fire is 1.5 times the size of Belgium, just to give some perspective. 

We pray this horror ends soon without any more damage to the wildlife. 

Story via NZHerald

Are we ever going to address the wombat cube poop? The fact claims it's cube shaped so it doesn't roll away... why is rolling away a concern evolutionarily? 

So many questions, so little answers. About the cubed poop, that is. 

Here's a mini-challenge for you: Can anyone name all the bears in thumbnail pic? You can find the answers at the bottom, if you give up! 

Let's list some of the reasons as to why we're so obessed with tigers, shall we?

1. Aladdin. You cannot tell us that growing up with Aladdin, you didn't want a Rajah of your own, as a pet. You can try to tell us but we won't believe you. 

2. They're gorgeous 

3. Intelligent 

4. Extremely badass. Like, extremely. 

5. Did we mention gorgeous? Well, let's mention that one again. 

Tigers have been through a lot, in history, and it's important to know that these animals are sadly endangered. If you love tigers as much as us, and want to help out in anyways you can, WWF has an 'adopt a tiger' program, in which you can make an symbolic adoption. 

According to News 12, several areas in the Garden State, New Jersey, are having issues with bold, menacing and mannerless gangs of wild turkeys. The birds, which can grow to be 25 lbs. and can reach running speeds of 20 mph, are reportedly breaking windows, blocking roads, "pecking at cars and behaving aggressively," with one resident telling News 12 that, "Sometimes I can't get out of my car. They go to attack you."

While residents are doing their best to avoid interactions with the birds,  they are also sharing their pest problems with the world on Twitter. One of them is MLB all-star Todd Frazier who tweeted about it, saying the birds "have come close to harming my family and friends". 

Story via People.com

Below are 8 stunning and intimate photographs of white rhinos, taken with a BeetleCam at Solio Lodge wildlife conservancy, Kenya. 

The powerful images taken by British photographer, Will Burrard-Lucas, are part of his latest wildlife series. 

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, black rhinos are labeled as "critically endangered," and Southern white rhinos are "near threatened."

With a long lens, Burrard-Lucas' traveled around Kenya, and found black rhinos to be "very shy and elusive," he tells CNN Travel. 

While he found white rhinos to be the opposite, claiming they were "quite sociable animals."

"It's a very different experience being able to actually see them while I'm photographing them," he says. "That was a wonderful experience to be able to see that calf and mother going about their daily life."

Check out the extraordinary images below:

Story via CNN Travel

Amazing shots of wild animals in the Canadian Rockies by Simone Heinrich, a gifted self-taught photographer, adventurer, and nature lover who was born in Germany and came to Canada in 2003. Simone fell in love with the Canadian Rockies, its beautiful scenery and wonderful wildlife. She focuses mainly on wildlife, nature, and animal photography. Check out her Instagram page for more. 

It's Wild Out There!

As humans continue to take up more and more space, bears encounters are becoming more common, with the animals venturing out of the woods into more civilized areas, often in search of an easy food source — like a dumpster or snacks left behind by campers. But the summer of 2019 was extraordinary as the big, furry creatures have spent it crashing weddings, making pit stops at hotel bathrooms and other shenanigans, all over the US, as mapped in the map below. 

On its tenth anniversary, the British Wildlife Photography Awards celebrates both the work of amateur and professional photographers and the beauty and diversity of British wildlife. Winning images are chosen from thousands of entries in fifteen separate categories including a category for film and two junior categories to encourage young people to connect with nature through photography.

Damn nature, you scary! Yet, strangely beautiful at the same time. Here are 15 gifs from wildlife, above and below water, that have left us in awe.

Thousands of photos from around the world are sent in every year to the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards and here are the first round of 2019 winners: 

Story via Forbes

Animals get up to some pretty interesting shenanigans when they think no one is watching. There's raccoons climbing on top of wild pigs, flying squirrels on dive bombing runs, and deer just freakin' out. These animals behavior may be weird, but their demeanor is nothing compared to the many nopes of Australia. For more animal shenanigans, here are some stories fromfarmers whose animals made them think "how'd they do that?"

Bioparc Valencia is a small zoo in Valencia, Spain, with a large collection of African animals. Unlike your average zoo where animals are locked in cages, the animals in Bioparc Valencia appear to roam freely in the park. But there is no need to be afraid. Bioparc Valencia is what is called an "immersive zoo" – a concept of immersing visitors into the animals' habitat and not vice versa. But this isn't another Chinese zoo where visitors are locked in cages at the back of a trailer as it makes its way through the park. In Bioparc Valencia, there are no cages, instead of using rivers, ponds, streams and rocks to separate visitors from the animals. Here, the barriers are practically invisible and the animals feel right at home.