 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY DENIS HUOT, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY | |
Pinker flamingos: Flamingos that are pinker tend to be healthier and more sought after by mates, but a new study indicates they also are more apt to start fights. That’s because the healthier birds spend more time vying for food and eating it, said researchers, who focused on lesser flamingos (pictured above, in Kenya), the smallest of the six flamingo species. One insight from the study for keepers of captive flamingos: Give the birds more space so fewer food fights break out, Virginia Morell reports for Nat Geo.
A reprieve: For decades, China’s list of approved traditional medicines included scales from the pangolin, the world’s most trafficked nonhuman mammal. This year, however, the authorities have spared the scaly anteater-like animal, which is facing extinction. Days earlier, China had upgraded pangolins to the status given to the nation’s beloved panda—a status that prohibits almost all domestic trade and use of the animals, Nat Geo’s Dina Fine Maron reports.
Best friend (and early warning system): A new study finds that dogs carry the similar chemical loads as their owners, but they will get chemical-related diseases faster. That information could be useful as scientists seek to offer guidance for people exposed to certain chemicals, researcher Catherine Wise tells Nat Geo. With COVID-19 restrictions keeping people at home more, she said, the importance of “our shared environment has never been so great."
Once barbaric, soon to be legal: Reversing an Obama administration rule, the National Park Service is allowing the killing of wolves and coyotes in Alaska, including pups, during the season when mothers wean their young. The park service is also letting hunters use dogs to track down bears. The switch, promoted by big-game hunters including Donald Trump, Jr., affects Alaska public lands and is to take effect in July, the New York Times reports. Among the tactics now allowed: Gunning down swimming caribou from motorboats. Baiting grizzly bears with doughnuts. Using spotlights to blind and shoot hibernating black bear mothers and their cubs.
There’s a reason: Why, you might ask, do baby froglets erupt from the back of a Suriname toad? Well, the mother toad protects the babies before hatching by carrying them around, leaving them less vulnerable to egg predators, Jake Buehler explains for Nat Geo. Jake also addresses the nine-month pregnancy of female Nimba toads.
Playdate: With all this serious stuff in the world, here’s a change of pace: A deer and a dog in western Pennsylvania, separated by a chainlink fence, are mimicking each other’s moves, as you can see from this short video. “I’m not sure which is cuter, the dog and deer, or the little girl narrating this video,” one fan writes.
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