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☆ South Africa’s most epic hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Joe Yogerst | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Here are nine of South Africa’s best multiday backpacking trails:Otter TrailThe coastal Otter Trail takes in some of South Africa's most beautiful coastline. South African TourismSouth Africa’s oldest (established in 1968) and most celebrated hiking route, the Otter Trail runs along the Eastern Cape coast between Storms River Mouth and Nature’s Valley in Garden Route National Park. South African TourismSummit the legendary Drakensberg escarpment on a vertiginous route that rises high above Thendele Royal Natal National Park in KwaZulu-Natal province. Distance: About 25 kilometers (16 miles)Time: 2 daysInfo: hikingsouthafrica.co.za/kgaswane-summit-trail/Tsitsikamma TrailThe Garden Route National Park is an advenure sport paradise. Each traverse takes seven to 10 days during the South African spring (September-November).

☆ Mount Vesuvius park closes access to volcano after Napoli fans plan to fake an eruption after potential title victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Vesuvius national park authority in Naples, Italy, has announced it will be closing access to the live volcano on Saturday, ahead of Napoli’s potential title-winning game on Sunday. Should Lazio drop points against Inter Milan in an earlier kickoff on Sunday, the Italian side could win its first Italian league title in 33 years with victory against Salernitana. Authorities became concerned after reports emerged of plans to use blue smoke bombs and industrial strength fireworks inside the crater, which has been described as a “fragile and intrinsically dangerous place.”The volcano overlooks the city. Supporters burn flares next to a mock grave for a coffin in Naples adorned with the scarves of rival teams Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan. “Vesuvius crater is a fragile and intrinsically dangerous place.”The press release went on to say the Vesuvius police municipalities and the Carabinieri military police would provide a “massive garrison” to protect the entrances and access.

☆ How to put your best travel foot forward for Earth Day 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

But you don’t have to totally cut out travel or stay super close to home to be a good planetary citizen. You need a city that’s dedicated to getting it right to best enjoy an urban biking vacation. Here, we've curated 30 of our favorite corners, including the Thu Bon River, which flows through central Vietnam. A maze of rivers and caves, the UNESCO World Centre is defined by its craggy limestone facades and jade green water. Bruno De Hogues/Photodisc/Getty Images Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park: A UNESCO World Heritage, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is heaven for spelunkers.

☆ Uninhabited Scottish island could be yours for $190,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —If you’ve ever fancied escaping the grind of daily life and heading to a remote island with no other inhabitants, now could be your chance. Situated just off the southern coast of Scotland, Barlocco Island is up for sale, priced at offers over £150,000 ($190,000). Barlocco Island is a haven for wildlife. At low tide, the island can be reached on foot, by tractor or quadbike. “We have witnessed strong demand from domestic and international parties for entire private islands having handled the sale of several in Scotland,” Edgar said.

CNN —A female bear that was sentenced to death for the fatal mauling of jogger in Italy has been given a stay of execution until May 11, officials in Trento have said. Andrea Papi, 26, was attacked and killed last week while jogging in a public nature reserve in the Trentino–Alto Adige region of northern Italy. In the last 15 years, several bear attacks have been reported, including the nearly fatal attack of a mushroom farmer in 2014 and the 2020 attack of a father and his son while they were hiking. This time, after the fatal attack on Papi the World Wildlife Fund, which had previously petitioned to keep JJ4 alive told CNN they agree that the bear should be put down. There are now four bears, including JJ4, with judicial orders to be culled.

☆ Hippo attacks: How to avoid one of Africa's most dangerous animals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

“Hippos attack not to eat people, but to get them the hell away from them,” Lewison said. Larger vessels can offer more protection from a sudden hippo attack. photocech/Adobe StockGet to know the signs of disturbed hippos, Muruthi advised, in case you wander too closely. … If you slap the water, the percussion 99.9 times out of 100 will turn the hippo,” Templer said. Remember to suck in air if on the surface.”Another hippo attack survivor in this National Geographic video also was able to conserve her breath.

☆ Charles Rivers recommends against PETA's proposal for transparency on lab monkeys
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 31 (Reuters) - The board of Charles River Laboratories (CRL.N) has unanimously recommended against a shareholder proposal requiring transparency on its import practices of lab monkeys, according to a regulatory filing by the U.S. contract research organization firm. PETA's proposal also demands information on whether the monkeys are caught in the wild or bred in captivity. Charles River shareholders will vote on PETA and other proposals from the board at the company's annual meeting on May 9. According to government estimates, 95% of the 92,430 monkeys brought into the U.S. between 2019 and 2021 were long-tailed macaques. While Charles River's board recommended against PETA's proposal, it said the company will include information on how its "imports are purpose-bred in accordance with applicable laws" in its 2024 annual report, the filing on Thursday showed.

☆ Fears for orangutans, dolphins as Indonesia presses on with new capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Stefanno Sulaiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

She is one of 127 orangutans that the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) is caring for in the Samboja district, East Kalimantan. The Nusantara Capital City Authority said mangroves would be replanted in other areas and guidelines have been made for workers encountering an animal. "It's a very high concern of how we'll try to have harmony between people, nature and culture...because that's the soul of the city," Nusantara chief Bambang Susantono said. "We hope that with the capital city being here, we can pave the way for animals to live side by side (with humans)," said BOSF manager Aldrianto Priadjati. "At least provide an area for orangutans so they can live a better life."

☆ New images offer rare glimpse of the DMZ between North and South Korea where wild animals find peace and flourish
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New images were released showing a "wildlife sanctuary" in Korea's demilitarized zone (DMZ). The project marks 70 years since the Korean armistice agreement split the nation between North and South. Photographs show many rare flowers and endangered animals living in the area. "After the Korean War, the DMZ had minimal human interference for over 70 years, and the damaged nature recovered on its own," the site said. The DMZ is home to plants and animals "completely unique to Korea" — 38% of which are endangered, Google said on the project site.

☆ Google Offers Rare Look at Restricted Areas Near Korean Peninsula’s DMZ
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jiyoung Sohn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL—For nearly 70 years, the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean Peninsula has stayed off limits to nearly all human habitation. Now anyone can take a virtual walk through restricted areas that border the DMZ, catching rare glimpses of former battle sites, as well as natural landscapes, fauna and endangered wildlife that has flourished in the decades since the Korean War hostilities ended with an armistice in July 1953.

☆ Cruz Foam makes styrofoam alternative from shrimp shells and food waste
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meanwhile, companies that ship or sell fragile goods, food or medical supplies that need to stay cold during shipping still need materials with the lightweight, insulating qualities and manufacturability of styrofoam. That's where startup Cruz Foam comes in. Cruz Foam is made from naturally occurring materials including chitin (pronounced like "kite-in") along with starches and fibers diverted from agricultural waste streams. Chitin is a polymer contained in the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, as well as insect exoskeletons. Besides that, styrofoam products are usually treated with flame retardants and can absorb other pollutants from water around them, increasing the threat to any wildlife that eats or lives amid the discarded styrofoam.

☆ New museum in Mexico spotlights endangered axolotl salamander
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alberto Fajardo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] An axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) swims in an aquarium at the new Axolotl Museum and Amphibians Conservation Centre, which is to promote the protection and study of this endangered species, at Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, Mexico, January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Henry RomeroMEXICO CITY, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A new museum and conservation center dedicated to Mexico's critically endangered axolotl salamander is highlighting the amphibian's remarkable story that has captured the attention of scientists and the public alike. With an impressive ability to heal itself, the axolotl (pronounced ah-sho-LO-tul) salamanders were showcased in the exhibit, which opened on Saturday, at Mexico City's Chapultepec Zoo. For decades, researchers have marveled at how the axolotl can regenerate amputated limbs and damaged body tissue, even its heart and brain. While the axolotl native to Mexico City's southern Xochimilco district is especially well-known, Gual points to 16 other kinds of axolotls that also call Mexico home, each one "like a wetlands ambassador."

☆ ‘Wildheart’ Review: Saga of a Scots Pine on PBS
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Making a single tree the star of a wildlife special wouldn’t seem like the path to electrifying programming, but “Wildheart”—titled after the 500-year-old Scots pine at the center of this “Nature” presentation—is not just enchanting in its approach to the flora, fauna and history of the Scottish Highlands, but a novel way to get into the subject, even if the process does take anthropomorphism to new heights. The tree in question, treated as a character in its own drama by narrator Thoren Ferguson , has been a mute witness to history since Mary Queen of Scots was a child; in a fanciful bit of dramatic recreation, the tiny royal tosses a pine cone, which takes root in the country where she was crowned at nine months of age, betrothed to the son of Henry VIII of England and, after treaties fell apart and tension mounted, secreted away in what the Romans had dubbed the Caledonian forest. By 1549, when the pine had attained a height of about two feet, Mary was already in France, temporarily safe from dynastic battles and French-English-Scottish politics.

☆ It’s Not Every Day That You Run Into a Coyote
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Joe Queenan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Recently, while walking my son’s dog in a wooded area near his home in southern Colorado, I turned around to see a large animal staring at us. Collarless, too big to be a household pet, it had an expression on its face that I didn’t like. Neither did the dog. Because there are lots of pushy bears and territorial mountain lions around there, and because I had read that Colorado recently reintroduced certain endangered species to the state, and because I have always been much stronger on flora than fauna, I initially concluded that the animal was a wolf.

☆ Hiking has become a nationwide New Year's Day tradition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Just 380 people participated in the initial First Day Hike in 1992 at the nearly 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation just south of Boston. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in First Day Hikes at hundreds of parks in all 50 states. The late Patrick Flynn, the former supervisor at Blue Hills, came up with the original plan. In 2012, First Day Hikes went nationwide when the National Association of State Park Directors endorsed the idea. Elijah Bristow State Park near Eugene is even offering a first day horseback ride.

☆ In 'Wildcat', Amazon fauna helps heal emotional wounds of war
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Rollo Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Their triumphs and travails are at the heart of "Wildcat", a documentary filmed deep in the rainforest that premieres on Amazon's Prime Video on Friday. Then they get a call from a friend that an ocelot kitten was found by loggers and little Keanu helps Turner out of his grief. The documentary came about after Zwicker shot videos documenting Khan's upbringing, hoping it would help other conservationists return cats to the wild. Directors Trevor Frost and Melissa Lesh came on board to document the lives of Turner, Zwicker and their animals after receiving Keanu. With proceeds from the reported $20 million Amazon Studios paid for the documentary, Zwicker is building up her conservation program Hoja Nueva, while Turner has set up his own charity, Emerald Arch.

☆ Colombia's oil theft soars, leaving trail of environmental harm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Oliver Griffin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Reuters accompanied a police unit tasked with tackling oil theft in September to two sites near Tumaco, a Pacific port in southwest Colombia that is the terminal for the country's Transandino oil pipeline. The animals, the trees - everything is totally burned," said Colonel Johan Pena, commander of the police unit charged with tackling oil theft in Narino, a province bordering Ecuador that is known for cocaine production. Reuters approached more than a dozen environmental groups, rights advocates, government agencies and international organizations who either said they had no detailed information on the extent of the environmental damage in Colombia from oil theft or did not respond to questions. Oil spills on land smother soil pore spaces, restricting microorganisms' access to oxygen, said Martha Daza, a professor at Cali-based university Universidad del Valle's school of engineering of natural resources and the environment. Regional health authorities in Narino did not immediately respond to questions about the health impact of oil spills.

☆ How AI Is helping to reduce landfill waste
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Ibm With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But circular economy models can provide smart examples and accessible starting points for how we can work toward avoiding a trashy future, so to speak. For an example of a perfect circular economy, look to nature. Waste management companies, in particular, have an opportunity to minimize landfill waste using artificial intelligence and automation technologies. Evaluating the potential of AI for waste sortingHera personnel analyze waste manually. "The experience with IBM Garage has allowed us to activate a particularly innovative solution in the field of waste collection, selection, and recovery," Zappoli said.

In 2019, Cambodia supplied 8,571 of the 33,818 research monkeys imported to the U.S., or 25%. In 2021, the number of monkeys from Cambodia more than doubled to 18,870, making up nearly 60% of the 31,844 research monkeys brought to America. Earlier this year, long-tailed macaques and pig-tailed macaques were listed as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The decades long effort by animal rights groups to derail the monkey trade has made some impact. The incident shined a rare spotlight on the monkey trade, which largely goes on outside the view of the public.

At 190 minutes, the running time of “Avatar: The Way of Water” is longer. Jake and Neytiri have had numerous children and adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the daughter of a human scientist’s avatar body. Rather than invaders exploring the land they’ve invaded, the second “Avatar” film is about the encounter of two different indigenous societies. But the human colonizers —preparing to strip-mine Pandora for its minerals and its biological resources (including space whale essence) — are the aliens. Rather than invaders exploring the land they’ve invaded, the second “Avatar” film is about the encounter between two different indigenous societies.

☆ Pelicans rest up in Mexico City as clean water push bears fruit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Carlos Carrillo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Dec 16 (Reuters) - On the northern flank of the bustling hubbub of Mexico City, white American pelicans paddle on the waters of a lake after traveling thousands of miles from the United States and Canada to escape the bite of a northern winter. Part of migratory flocks that come to Mexico every year to feed and rest, the pelicans began stopping at the lake at Bosque San Juan de Aragon after the city and scientists a decade ago began creating nearby wetlands to revive the local environment. [1/7] A flock of white American pelicans rest during their winter migration from the United States and Canada, at the Bosque de San Juan de Aragon in Mexico City, Mexico December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha 1 2 3 4 5Growing out of a initiative between the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Mexico City government to clean up local water supply by creating a wetland in 2010, the cleaned up water refuge was designed to attract wild life. To visitors, it is a reminder that Mexico City has more to offer than building sites and traffic jams.

☆ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Review: A Second Plunge Into Pandora
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

With “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Mr. Cameron reaffirms himself as the blockbuster director of his generation—still the king of the world. To distinguish it from the first film, some might call the second entry in the proposed five-movie series “W.O.W.” And “Wow” is as handy a one-word review as any. With its gorgeous sea beasts, luminescent underwater fauna and pellucid diving excursions, “Way of Water” is unquestionably a great-looking movie. Mr. Cameron, the director of the first two “Terminator” films, “True Lies,” “Aliens” and “Titanic,” seems to have lost interest in character, and even the story is a bit of an afterthought. “Way of Water” is an excursion in paradise.

☆ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ rekindles the wonder in a way that demands to be seen
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —“Avatar” took a very basic story and adorned it with eye-popping spectacle, in a way that made the film a must-see commodity, and a record-breaking hit in the process. Thirteen years later, braving much different theatrical tides, director James Cameron has done it again with “Avatar: The Way of Water,” a state-of-the-art exercise that rekindles that sense of wonder and demands to be seen by anyone with lingering interest in watching movies in theaters. The children, in particular, must grapple with the personalities and pettiness associated with becoming the new kids on the reef. Ultimately, though, “The Way of Water” melts away any skepticism that it might be too late or too long in its return to Pandora. “Avatar: The Way of Water” premieres December 16 in US theaters.

☆ A lost ecosystem revealed in Greenland by oldest environmental DNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A long time agoAn artist's illustration reconstructs Greenland's unique ecosystem as it existed 2 million years ago. Beth ZaikenScientists in Denmark have found the world’s oldest DNA sequences in sediment from the ice age. The core, taken from northern Greenland, revealed that the polar region was once abundant with plant and animal life 2 million years ago. Mastodons, reindeer, geese, lemmings and hares lived in an ecosystem that was a mix of temperate and Arctic flora and fauna. The fossil includes the head, neck and body together — a rare discovery for the marine reptiles, which didn’t preserve well in one piece.

☆ Companies Face Prospect of New Biodiversity Rules From U.N.’s COP15 Summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Dieter Holger | Joshua Kirby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Participants at a United Nations biodiversity summit under way in Montreal hope to hash out an agreement to help protect nature by pushing countries and businesses to minimize their environmental impact. Unlike the 2015 deal, the proposed biodiversity framework targets companies as well as nations. Biodiversity reporting would add to the challenge, particularly as the metrics are more varied and complex than carbon-emissions data. Biodiversity reporting has been done in different forms for many years. For instance, mining companies often enlist experts to produce an environmental impact report for governments before they start a project.

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