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Scientists discover 180,000 giant tortoises on one Seychelles island

Free-roaming Aldabra population far exceeds human population of Seychelles after decades-long recovery programme

A survey of the world’s largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has discovered that the once endangered species is thriving.

A population of Aldabra giant tortoises lives on an island in Seychelles called Aldabra Atoll.

Can hope save the planet? An endangered parrot that is beating the odds can help us find out | Helen Pilcher

A new global biodiversity report strikes an encouraging note. But we cannot rest on our laurels – and resilience is key

The new Living Planet Report is out. Published every two years, it assesses the health of the natural world and, historically, it’s made for gloomy reading.

Take 2024’s report, which showed global wildlife populations had plummeted by 73% in 50 years and that ecosystems were being pushed toward collapse.

Monkeys as service animals? The ‘bizarre’, tortured history of humans and primates

Ape Sh*t, a new zine by writer and designer Carrie McLaren, looks at the ways monkeys and apes have communicated to humans that they’re individuals too

Zines have always lent themselves to weird and wonderful topics, from sci-fi reflections to punk fanzines to radical political tracts. The underground, often homemade publications have offered readers and writers a way to throw themselves into niche topics since long before the internet.

For Carrie McLaren, a veteran zine maker, the latest topic of choice is admittedly “bizarre”, disturbing and darkly funny: the tortured relationship between humans and monkeys.

As monarch butterflies migrate for the fall, meet the Chicago woman trying to protect them

Claudia Galeno-Sánchez has turned her home into a sanctuary for the insects by planting native milkweed and wildflowers – and sharing her experience

Along the concrete streets of Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, a vividly colored home stands out among the rest.

Over the past few years, Claudia Galeno-Sánchez has transformed her modest family home, which she shares with her husband and two children, into a sanctuary and educational space dedicated to the monarch butterfly.

Galeno-Sánchez painted her home with the help of neighbors, her kids, and the renowned muralist and painter Héctor Duarte.

LA officials document first case of a rabid raccoon in more than 50 years

Four people and a dog may have been exposed to rabies from the animal, Los Angeles public health officials say

Los Angeles county recently documented its first rabid raccoon in more than 50 years, and health officials are urging residents to never touch wild animals.

The county’s department of public health announced in a statement this week that four people and a dog may have been exposed to the animal at a backyard work site in the city of Westlake Village. The raccoon appeared in ill health but was not aggressive.

Tents, night-vision goggles and bear tracking kits: America’s first nature library opens

As well as books, the new facility in Colorado offers equipment to help connect people with the natural world. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of it

Mark Fink knows exactly why he opened the first public nature library in the US. “There are a lot of barriers for people to access nature here. We want people to learn about the birds and the plants in their own back yard and to appreciate that you don’t need a three-day camping trip in the mountains to experience nature.”

The library offers people in Colorado’s Adams county the opportunity to borrow books and equipment to help them to engage with the natural world – for free.