They have loose, rolling skin and their ribs show through their tiny brown bodies. There is a glaze in their large round eyes. When they flop or lay down on the cement dry areas, it’s not the normal lounging that healthy California sea lions typically do for hours on end. Even their whiskers seem droopy. […]
Why do they want to confuse us? They are called ring-tailed cats, but they are not part of the cat family. Sigh. Sure, they are cat-sized animals, but these beasties resemble a cross between a fox and raccoon with a very bushy long tail. A critter cam recently caught images of a ringtail snooping around […]
Seeing any orange and black flappers this year? No? Not too many? Those giant monarch clusters…not so big? Not surprising. The monarch in Southern California has been experiencing dramatically depleted populations and last year was no exception. Every year around Thanksgiving, scores of citizen scientists – under the guidance of the Xerces Society – head […]
The dramatic story of the two Burbank mountain lions — Olive and Leno, now living in Paso Robles at a conservation education facility Zoo to You – is being filmed by Elkins Eye Visuals and Totem Pictures , San Francisco-based film companies under the auspices of directors David Elkins and Aneeta Akhurst. Elkins has “always […]
The challenges of getting the iconic California condor back up in the air where it belongs is the subject of a new 90-minute documentary that is slated to be screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 30 and Feb. 2. The Condor’s Shadow follows biologists, zookeepers, toxicologists and a feisty condor named Pitashi who tell […]
Calling all photographers: if you have a good photograph of ocean wildlife, that image may send you to the Galapagos Islands. Sponsored by the fine folks from SeaWeb’s Marine Photobank and Lindblad Expeditions, the “Ocean in Focus” photo contest is looking for pictures that illustrate – either positive or negative – the human impact on ocean environment and species. With hundreds […]
Flappers, flitters and flutterers – if you want more to visit your backyard, join an upcoming talk by local ornithologist Kimball Garrett who will discuss “Backyard Birds in Angeles: Who They Are and How You Can Attract More of Them” on Feb. 9, 1:30-3:30 pm at Theodore Payne Foundation in Sunland. Garrett – along with […]
Last week, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to put an end to a 24-year-old “no-otter zone” in Southern California – which also put an end to an experimental program to establish a southern sea otter colony on a remote island off Santa Barbara. Long thought of as a “big mistake” by environmentalists, the […]
They were once malnourished, fearful and full of parasites, but now these former SoCal two mountain lion cubs have grown into strapping young cats ready for the world ahead of them, a world that doesn’t involved being poked at with sticks by strangers on the streets of Burbank. Found in December of 2011 under a […]
With the news about the upcoming change in shipping lanes in the waters off Southern California – which means more room for whales to roam in their traditional feeding areas free of potential collision with shipping vessels – there was a big surprise on a recent whale watching expedition. There she was, a fin whale […]
Winging by – and with – a long neck, the sandhill crane was announced as the 2012 Audubon California Bird of the Year. One of North America’s largest water birds, the crane racked up 43 percent of votes cat during an annual online poll that invited more than 12,000 readers and nature-lovers to choose a […]
A good selection of California native reptiles and amphibians are among the 60 species that will be on display at the new Los Angeles Zoo exhibit aptly named the LAIR (Living Amphibian, Invertebrates and Reptiles) slated to open to the public on March 8.