Wildlife

Cheetahs Return to India

Cheetahs will soon roam the forests of central India for the first time in 70 years. The country's indigenous cats were declared extinct in 1952 after decades of hunting, habitat loss and food shortages led to their disappearance.

But a long-anticipated agreement with Namibia will see the world's fastest land animals transported from Africa to "cheetah- friendly" areas of Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh state. Asiatic cheetahs once roamed from Afghanistan to the Arabian Peninsula, but only about a dozen still survive in Iran.

Winged Tragedy

The worldwide bird flu epidemic that has resulted in the deaths of untold millions of poultry in recent months is also decimating the planet’s wild bird populations. The Guardian reports the UK has suffered its worst-ever infections, with more than 300 outbreaks in the nation’s seabird colonies.

Birds are also dying in many other areas of the world. More than 2,000 of the world’s approximately 8,000 Dalmatian pelicans have already perished. “We are facing an event of mass extinction of animals. Entire populations are affected by this virus,” says Uri Naveh, a senior scientist at the Israel Parks and Nature Authority. The international poultry trade, farming and sale of birds, as well as wild migrations, are the leading causes.

Rare Humpback Whale Washes up on Australian Beach

A dead white humpback whale was recently found on a remote beach in Australia. However, experts say the animal is not an albino.

Monarch Butterflies Teetering on Edge of Collapse

The migratory monarch butterfly has joined the endangered species list.

On Thursday (July 21), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the butterfly, a subspecies of monarch (Danaus plexippus) as endangered, indicating that the subspecies is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. The main threats to the migratory monarch are habitat loss, pesticide and herbicide use, and climate change.