Wildlife

Poaching Spurs Rhino Evolution

The average size of prized rhinoceros horns appears to have shrunk during the past 130 years, most likely due to poaching techniques, according to a study that examined photos spanning more than a century.

The horns are lucrative for poachers, prompting them to target rhinos with the largest horns to be sold for traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicines. Targeting only rhinos with the largest horns has encouraged the survival and breeding of small-horned rhinos. However, hunters will now have to shoot more rhinos if they want the same amount of horn, researchers say.

Long-Haul Flight

A tagged bar-tailed godwit set a new nonstop flight record by winging 8,435 miles from Alaska to Tasmania. The 11-day marathon initially went on a southwesterly course toward Japan, then the bird turned to a more southerly course along the International Date Line to New Caledonia before making a sharp right turn to its final destination at Tasmania’s Ansons Bay.

Guinness World Records lists the previous longest migration by a bird without stopping for food or rest as 11,265 kilometres by a satellite-tagged male bar-tailed godwit flying from Alaska to New Zealand.