Category Archives: Wildlife

Nature Views: Sandhill Cranes & Chicks Near Titusville, Florida (Video)

On this Mother’s Day “Sunday Morning” takes us among sandhill cranes and their chicks in Titusville, Florida. Videographer: Doug Jensen.

The sandhill crane is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska’s Sandhills on the American Plains.

Titusville is a city and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city’s population was 43,761 as of the 2010 United States Census. Titusville is located along the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center, and south-southwest of the Canaveral National Seashore.

New Wildlife Books: ‘Last Of Their Kind’ By Joachim Schmeisser (April 2021)

“Some of the largest and most wonderful creatures in Africa have become very dear to me over the years,” Schmeisser writes. His book of portraits carries two messages. “It [is] a homage and warning at the same time—a visual message with the aim of sharpening our clouded view of the one, infinitely complex and vulnerable nature and to recognize which treasures we are about to irretrievably lose,” he writes.

There are exactly two black rhinos left in the world, a subspecies of the white rhino, the very last of their kind. In this deeply poignant tribute, photographer Joachim Schmeisser presents these rhinos as well as other wild animals in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya, where Maasai tribespeople ensure that nobody endangers them. With his breathtaking black-and-white images, Schmeisser brings us up close to these extraordinary and endangered creatures, creating a powerful document of nature’s splendor and fragility.

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Nature: ‘The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act’ – Benefits To Texas Habitats

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is a bipartisan bill that would provide $1.4 billion to state and tribal wildlife conservation initiatives to support at-risk wildlife populations and their habitats. The funding would come from existing revenues and would not require any new taxes.

Texas would receive more than $50 million per year for projects to conserve vulnerable wildlife like the much-loved Texas horned lizard, our state fish the Guadalupe bass, and many songbirds and coastal birds. This funding will also help recover species that are already endangered, such as sea turtles and the Whooping crane. The additional resources are urgently needed to aid fish and wildlife populations under increasing pressure from habitat loss, invasive species, emerging diseases, and extreme weather events in Texas and throughout the country.

Wildlife View: Protecting Columbia’s Jaguars (Video)

Jaguars roam the rainforests of South America silently and well camouflaged. But their habitat is dwindling and ranchers see them as a threat. Yet two brothers are fighting misconceptions and want to project them.

Views: ‘Fischer’s Lovebirds’ At Lake Eyasi, Northern Tanzania In Africa (Video)

“Sunday Morning” takes us to the far-away shores of Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania, home to the aptly-named Fischer’s Lovebirds. Videographer: Lee McEachern.

Fischer’s lovebird is a small parrot species of the genus Agapornis. They were originally discovered in the late 19th century, and were first bred in the United States in 1926. They are named after German explorer Gustav Fischer.

Lake Eyasi is a seasonal shallow endorheic salt lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau, just south of the Serengeti National Park and immediately southwest of the Ngorongoro Crater in the Crater Highlands of Tanzania.

Animals & Wildlife: ‘The Evolution Of Bears’

Bears are able to live and sometimes thrive from the North Pole to the tropical rainforests around the equator and although they are largely confined to the forests nowadays, in the not too distant past they dominated grassy plains as well. And in overcoming the challenges of each new habitat they migrated into presented, they have evolved to drastically change diets. Bears evolved from small carnivorous animals and yet have become omnivorous, insect eaters, or have a diet occupied entirely of plant foods. So how have bears been able to evolve to eat almost any food in a very small amount of time.

Underwater Views: The ‘Hawaiian Garden Eel’ (PBS)

The Hawaiian garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by John Ernest Randall and James Robert Chess in 1980. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Hawaiian archipelago, in the eastern central Pacific Ocean. It is non-migratory, and is thought to be restricted to the region.

Ocean Wildlife: Green Sea Turtles Of Hawaii (Video)

Hawaii is home to the largest hard-shelled sea turtles in the world.

Hawaiian green sea turtles, or honu, are native to Hawaii. They are the largest hardshelled sea turtle in the world, reaching lengths of four feet and weights over 300 pounds. Out of the seven types of sea turtle, the Hawaiian green sea turtle is the most common turtle in Hawaii.