Scientists — and those of us who are polar bear enthusiasts — have long thought that polar bears started off as brown bears about 150,000 years ago, adapting to their cold environment by developing smaller ears, thicker fur, and teeth ideally shaped to tear into seal flesh. But a new, international study coming out of Germany states that polar bears may be a lot older: about 600,000 years old.
And while it was also widely believed that polar bears are most closely related to brown bears living on islands off the coast of Alaska, United Kingdom scientists have recently uncovered evidence that they share the most genetic traits with ancient brown bears from Ireland.
It surely makes us wonder how much we truly know about one of the Earth’s largest land predators. But more than that, how will this new information change our thinking about how polar bears will deal with the current challenges of climate change and global warming? Continue reading →
Right now, Earth is experiencing an amazing natural event — one you may not even have noticed if you haven’t been looking directly at the sun, as your mother wisely warned. A very large sunspot has been tracking across our nearest star and is about to face directly toward our planet. Known as AR1476, the sunspot is hurling coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at us.
CMEs are bubbles of gas, which release huge quantities of matter and electromagnetic radiation into space. The ejected material, a plasma, consists mainly of protons and electrons and small quantities of helium, oxygen, and iron. These bursts of energy striking the Earth’s magnetic field are the makings for some colorful and fantastic auroras.
AR1476 is so large that people are noticing it without the aid of a solar telescope. The best time to look for it is at sunrise or sunset, when the light of the low-hanging sun is somewhat dimmed. The sunspot looks like the Hawaiian archipelago, but it is much bigger than any island on Earth. From end to end, AR1476 stretches out across 99,419 miles, or a dozen times wider than our entire globe.
A few days ago, on May 8, 2012, a solar wind stream hit Earth’s magnetic field, stirring geomagnetic activity and auroras at high latitudes. And scientists predict that AR1476 could be on the verge of producing something even stronger.
So in honor of the sunspot, read the except below, written by naturalist guide Conrad Hennig, from the Churchill chapter of NatHab’s new book,An Adventurous Nature: Tales from Natural Habitat Adventures. Then watch the following video from filmmakers Claus and Anneliese Possberg (music by Justin Durban), who used about six hundred frames to create this montage of the northern lights dancing in the skies over Norway.
“What are we still doing out on the Arctic tundra in the pitch of night? Churchill hosts a second extraordinary natural phenomenon, only visible on cloudless, still, cold evenings. The town is positioned under the Van Allen Belt, a circumpolar irregular ribbon demarcating the best place on Earth to see the aurora borealis, the northern lights. I periodically venture to the buggy’s balcony and, with teeth clattering, look up into the heavens to see whether the characteristic green tinge is visible. Tonight we have hit the jackpot and swirls of jade green — like delicate, seamlessly flowing, sand ribbons — dance through the heavens, as if God shook out His bioluminescent duvet over the Earth. Sometimes He shakes a bit harder, and the ribbons shoot downwards, the color spectrum extending through yellow and, in rare bursts, amber red.”
A male Greater Bird of Paradise (Wikipedia/Andrea Lawardi)
Keep your eyes trained on the trees during our Wild Papua New Guinea trip, and you may be fortunate to spot one of the showiest birds on earth, the bird of paradise. The island is home to 40 species of these dazzling male avian dancers, known for carefully selecting and preparing a “stage” on which to perform elaborate courting choreographies for their more subdued mates.
Their feathered finery and elaborate displays have for centuries attracted more than just a female bird of paradise. The traditional cultures of Papua New Guinea have hunted the male birds of paradise since time immemorial to adorn their own ceremonies and ritual dress. And the first sighting of these birds by crew members on Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world ignited European demand for the feathers, which became fashionable on women’s millinery up until the early 20th century.
Although their numbers have been threatened by hunting, the biggest danger to the survival of the bird of paradise today is deforestation. They are protected and may only be legally hunted in strictly limited numbers by local tribesmen for their ceremonial use… and by awestruck visitors armed with cameras and binoculars.
A Huli wigman from the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Our itinerary includes two days visiting the Huli. (Wikipedia/Nomadtales)
All animal mothers seem to share one common trait: a fierce desire to protect their young. In fact, sometimes that desire becomes a little too overbearing, and moms begin to cross the line into what’s known as “helicopter parenting.”
Most animal young seem to have a universal attribute as well: an urge to prove themselves by testing their limits. And that can cause them to take on more than they can chew — literally.
That’s certainly the case with these two cheetah cubs in the African desert, who sneak away to hunt without their mother and tackle what they think will be an easy meal. The problem is, they didn’t count on the gemsbok (or oryx) calf having a protective mother, too.
Watch this short video of one gemsbok mom who demonstrates that helicopter parenting can, at times, be of value in the wild. And then I hope all of you animal mothers “out there” have a happy upcoming Mother’s Day, from Colorado to the Kalahari!
It is a conflict as old as the hills: the predation of domestic livestock by a wild animal and subsequent eradication of the predator by the deprived herder. In this era of endangered species and declining natural habitat, such retaliation can hasten the extinction of an already imperiled animal.
The snow leopard is clinging by the tips of its claws to a continued existence in a vast central Asian range from Afghanistan to Bhutan and northward through China to Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Estimates put the number of snow leopards remaining in the wild over this immense sweep at just 4,000 to 6,500 individuals. Not only are human settlement and climate change encroaching upon its mountain habitat, but this elusive and secretive animal is also hunted for trophies and pelts and the reputed medicinal value of its body parts.
In September 2008 while their boat was in the Sea of Cortez between Isla Ángel de la Guarda and Bahia de los Angeles, Mexico, some fishermen encountered a pod of dolphins. The animals are known for their “bow riding” and playfulness at spotting boats; but when you run into a large pod of them, their individual glee is collected into what’s known as a “dolphin stampede.”
In fact, Southern California researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who has spent years studying local marine mammals and who has been among pods of up to ten thousand common dolphins, said she has never witnessed them exhibit what resembles a negative reaction to a boat. They either race over to it; or, if they’re feeding, they simply ignore it.
According to the Field Guide to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast, written by National Marine Fisheries Service scientists, of all of the dolphin species around the world, “Common dolphins are the most renowned and skilled for their delight in bow riding” alongside moving boats. Alisa Schulman-Janiger concurs that the mammals do seem to enjoy the interaction — which they typically initiate — and that they’re amazingly adept at avoiding moving vessels.
Moving vessels? Yes, but other dolphins?
Watch the first video of a dolphin stampede below. And then take a look at the mid-air collision in the second. These dolphins give the phrase “living ocean” a new meaning!
Good Nature is the official nature and adventure travel blog of Natural Habitat Adventures. We feature reports from the field, news from the natural world and thoughts from our accomplished authors and staff.
NHA Network Blogs
The Adventure Corner
Follow modern-day Viking Olaf Malver & the Explorers' Corner crew.
Written By 
Written By 
