UK wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation is urging us all to take part in The Big Butterfly Count to help asses the health of our environment. Launching today and celebrating its 10th year, the world’s largest butterfly survey attracted more than 100,000 people in 2018 who counted over one million butterflies. Participants are encouraged to spot […]
BBC2’s Animal Babies: First Year on Earth is a fascinating new three-part wildlife series following the first difficult and dangerous year of six animal infants as they overcome daily threats to survive. In episode one, we learn how the first three months are critical as our animal babies rapidly get to grips with their new […]
Wildly recognised as The ‘King of Beasts’, lions have been celebrated and revered throughout history for their courage and strength. Once roaming most of Africa and parts of Asia and Europe, now only around 20,000 remain, and the lion is mostly regarded as an iconic symbol of Africa. Yet three-quarters of African lion populations are […]
Visitors to Twycross Zoo will be able to meet a pair of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers from this weekend as a new state of the art habitat is revealed. Female, Jahly and male Sialang, both two-years-old, arrived from separate zoo’s in France last month. Since then, the big cats have been getting used to their new […]
Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation (BC) has confirmed that elusive butterfly the Purple Emperor has officially returned to Norfolk after disappearing half a century ago. Last recorded in 1961, the Purple Emperor was declared extinct in the county in the early 1970s, but experts from BC’s Norfolk Branch have revealed the butterfly is back and could be breeding […]
A litter of ten adorable Arctic fox cubs have been born at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park, near Aviemore. The tiny cubs, who are barely big enough to peek over the grass, have started to explore their surroundings under the watchful eye of parents May and Bard, who arrived at the […]
One of the biggest international birding events will take place in England’s smallest county next month. Birdfair, held on the shores of Rutland Water Nature Reserve, attracts thousands of visitors from around the world each year, all passionate about bird watching, eco-tourism and wildlife conservation. Often referred to as the ‘Glastonbury of the birding world’, Birdfair is […]
GTO’s Sarah Jeffery recently visited Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre in Dorset. Open every day of the year except Christmas Day, the rescue centre has assisted governments around the world to stop the smuggling of primates from the wild since it was set up by Jim Cronin in 1987. Monkey World was originally created to […]
Nausicca, Europe’s largest aquarium located in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, has enhanced two of its major marine exhibitions with spectacular new displays. Stopovers in the Mediterranean now features a space devoted entirely to shipwrecks, created to allow visitors – like a diver – to discover creatures that have made the underwater habitat their new home – including the […]
An emotive new animation has been created by International conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) to help raise the profile of a deadly virus threatening UK common frogs. ‘Ranavirus – Where did the frogs go (and why)?’ – voiced by comedian, author, writer and frog enthusiast Stephen Fry – underlines a decade of research from […]
Seven tiny European wolf pups have been born at Longleat in Wiltshire, to the delight of the park’s keepers. This is the second litter to be born at the Safari Park in the last year and boosts the pack size to 14. The pups weighed less than half a kilogramme when born, but at a month […]
BAFTA award-winning Michaela Strachan has been a regular on our TV screens for many years presenting popular wildlife programmes including The Really Wild Show, Countryfile, Orangutan Diaries and, most recently, Springwatch. In an exclusive interview for Discover Animals, Michaela talks to Abbe & Simone about some memorable wildlife encounters, living in South Africa, conservation projects […]
A pair of fluffy, grey Humboldt penguin chicks have emerged from their nests at West Midland Safari Park, under the watchful eyes of parents – Elm & Elder and Ash & Juniper. At just five and seven weeks old, the chicks’ protective parents allowed keepers to weigh the youngsters and give them a quick health […]
To celebrate our glorious UK birdlife – and to highlight the devastating loss of over 40 million birds from the UK in 50 years – the RSPB has launched a free birdsong radio app. Broadcasting a soothing soundscape featuring species in serious decline, such as the turtle dove, nightingale, snipe, greenfinch and curlew, Birdsong Radio […]
Friday 21st June is summer equinox – the longest day of the year – and also World Giraffe Day. To mark the occasion – and celebrate the longest-necked animal in the world – Yorkshire Wildlife Park is treating its lofty residents while raising awareness for giraffe numbers in the wild. The Doncaster based attraction is […]
A litter of thee endangered dhole (Asiatic wild dog) pups made their first public appearance at West Midland Safari Park recently. After spending their first 10 weeks hidden away in a den, keepers were delighted to finally meet the boisterous youngsters after mum, Berni finally took them outside. The first veterinary checks revealed the pups to […]
SEA LIFE Brighton has launched a new £2.7 million Day & Night ocean exhibit, allowing visitors to experience 24 hours on a coral reef as part of an immersive display – the first of its kind in the UK. Home to over 840 stunning sea creatures, the impressive 700,000 litre display features an ocean tunnel […]
Edinburgh Zoo will host a world-exclusive this summer with the first-ever showing of BRICKLIVE Ocean. The display, featuring more than one million LEGO® bricks and over 30 life-sized sculptures, includes a killer whale, a hammerhead shark, and a giant squid, among other marine creatures forming an interactive trail around the Zoo. Lyndy Donaldson, the Zoo’s […]
Paradise Wildlife Park and the Zoological Society of Hertfordshire (ZSH) have opened a stunning new habitat for its pride of four white lions as part of an ongoing project to enhance the Park. ‘Lion Pride Lands’ is now home to male lion Moto and female Kya, both 12 years old, 10-year-old Izulu and Zuri, 6, […]
ZSL London Zoo has released a series of fascinating thermal images showing the nocturnal goings-on of some of its animal inhabitants after dark. Using a specialist FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) camera, ZSL’s photographer was able to reveal the unique heat radiation patterns of the animals during the ‘ZSL London Zoo Lodges’ overnight experience. Famous for their […]
Sea sparkle – or bioluminescent plankton – is a magical blue light, made famous in Leonardo DiCaprio’s film The Beach, and whilst it usually occurs in tropical waters such as those around the Maldives islands, it made headlines recently on BBC Earth when a display was captured off the shore of North Wales. How to find […]
Dartmoor Zoo is set within 33 acres of beautiful parkland just 20 mins from Plymouth, with an impressive collection of big cats, bear, wolves, meerkats, tapir and much more. The Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Mee wrote a book about buying the zoo called, We Bought a Zoo, which later became the subject of a major Hollywood […]
The Wildlife Trusts has welcomed news that the Government is designating 41 new Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) to help protect the seas around our shores. The new zones will form a vital series of underwater habitats which can be nursed back to health and join 50 previous MCZs awarded by the Government in 2013 and […]
The National Trust has launched a campaign in partnership with RSPB and the National Trust for Scotland to protect seabirds living on UK islands from predators. The Save Our Seabirds project aims to raise awareness of the risk to seabirds such as puffins, Manx shearwater and European storm-petrel from predators such as rats, stoats and […]
If your kids love nature, why not send them on a butterfly trail with these inspiring books – perfect to enjoy alongside The Big Butterfly Count taking place this July too … How to be a Butterfly Written by Laura Knowles and illustrated by Catell Ronca Ideal for younger children eager to learn more about […]
Love Your Zoo week is an annual event run by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to help raise awareness for the important work zoos do regarding conservation, education and research. This year, Love Your Zoo week runs over the bank holiday and half-term week, offering plenty of opportunities to support your […]