Tag - animals

 
 

ANIMALS

Trash cans have been installed at Nara Park for the first time in about 40 years following a rise in littering alongside an increasing number of foreign tourists in recent years.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 5, 2025
Rise in tourists prompts Nara Park to install trash cans to protect deer
Increased littering in the park has created a health hazard for the protected animal.
A herd of sheep move across a solar farm in Haskell, Texas, on Dec. 2, 2024.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 4, 2025
Sheep grazing under solar panels help U.S. farmers to survive crop-price slump
Instead of plowing fields, Raines spent the year ferrying his flock of sheep to solar farms, to munch on the grass that grows around the gleaming panels.
A worker paints a robotic elephant model at a workshop in Thrissur, in India's Kerala state on Feb. 25.
WORLD / Society
Mar 4, 2025
Animal rights activists in India offer robot elephants to replace real ones
Accidents involving spooked elephants trampling crowds are common in India, leading some temples to switch to the robot versions.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025
Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon
This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
A bear that appeared in the city of Sapporo in June 2021
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025
Japan to approve shooting of wild bears that wander into town
After the amended law is enacted, brown and black bears will be designated as "dangerous animals" along with wild boars under a government ordinance.
Atsuko Sato holds her shiba inu, Neiro, alongside the bronze statue of her shiba inu Kabosu, in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025
Shiba inu Kabosu continues to be loved after death
Atsuko Sato received many letters from Kabosu fans across Japan on the dog's birthday last November, six months after her death.
A government-hired hunter holds up a captured iguana in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on Feb. 10. Taiwan's iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced more than 20 years ago as exotic pets. Many escaped or were dumped by their owners and have bred rapidly in the warm climate of southern Taiwan, invading neighborhoods and ravaging farmers' crops.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 17, 2025
Taiwan bounty hunters kill invading iguanas as numbers soar
Taiwan began culling iguanas nearly 10 years ago and this year's target has been set at more than 100,000.
As peckish deer chase delighted tourists in Japan's temple-dotted Nara Park, a quiet but dedicated team of litter-pickers patrols the stone paths, collecting plastic waste that threatens the animals' health.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 15, 2025
New street patrol helps Nara's deer clean up their act
Garbage dropped by tourists can pose a serious risk to Nara's famous deer, but a new group is cleaning up the town.
Dewi Sukarno (center) at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2025
Celebrity Dewi Sukarno launches political group for animal rights
The 12 Heiwa To party, whose name is a play on "wan-nyan" (bow-meow), will focus on animal protection as its main policy.
Tsuneo Yamaguchi, head of the Nihon Dobutsu Kaigo Center (right), takes in a border collie that was affected by the disaster in the Ishikawa town of Uchinada, from its owner.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2025
Nonprofit continues to care for pets displaced by Noto earthquake
One owner left their dog at the center after being unable to find an evacuation center that would accommodate pets.
Social loneliness contributes to the development of mental illness, obesity and Type 2 diabetes, a study finds.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 9, 2025
Social loneliness found to worsen arteriosclerosis in mice
A team from Keio University and others said that loneliness without social connections contributes to the development of mental illness, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Whips, cages and other items that were seized from Hiroshi Tsuji, who has been rearrested on suspicion of violating the animal welfare law, by the Metropolitan Police Department are displayed in the city of Tachikawa, Tokyo, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025
Kawasaki taxi driver rearrested on suspicion of killing pigeon
It is believed Hiroshi Tsuji initially gave the bird food and water but began abusing it when it showed no affection in return.
Japanese rice fish detect ultraviolet rays from sunlight directly with the pituitary gland and turn their bodies black for protection, a team has found.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2025
Japanese rice fish detect UV rays with pituitary gland
The team suspects that animals with almost translucent bodies may have yet more systems to detect light directly.
Sea turtles in Amami Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture. Their nesting activity has continued to decline in recent years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 30, 2025
Amami Oshima sea turtle nesting declines to second-lowest level
Scientists believe declining populations may be a key factor and have warned that a long-term analysis is needed to assess the situation.
Smoke from the Palisades Fire rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California,  on Jan. 7.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 29, 2025
Scientists race to gauge Los Angeles fires’ impact on ocean life
The more than 15,000 structures that burned in the Los Angeles fires released carcinogenic clouds of ash that blew far out to sea.
The third patient to receive a genetically engineered pig kidney is thriving post-transplant, providing valuable insights into animal-to-human organ replacement and bringing the field closer to clinical trials. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2025
Why a recent pig kidney transplant is a major advance
The 53-year-old woman who received the genetically modified animal organ is the ideal recipient to push science forward.
An Asian black bear preys on a live deer caught in a trap in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, in May, in this image from video footage shot by researchers.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2025
Black bear caught on camera attacking trapped deer in rare footage
The discovery suggests that if bears learn to associate traps with easy prey, the risk of encounters with humans could rise.
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed at Muan International Airport lies near a concrete structure it crashed into, in Muan, South Korea, Dec. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 27, 2025
Duck remains found in both engines of Jeju Air plane that crashed, report says
The authorities are still trying to determine what caused the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
The production line at Tanmiah Food’s chicken processing plant in Shaqra, Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2025
Chickens hatch across the Saudi desert in kingdom’s pivot from oil
The kingdom imports about 80% of what it eats, triggering worries about shortages in a time of rising geopolitical tensions.
The A23a iceberg is seen in the waters of the Southern Ocean off Antarctica on Jan. 14.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Jan 25, 2025
Mega-iceberg drifts toward Antarctic penguin island
The gigantic wall of ice is moving slowly from Antarctica on a potential collision course with a crucial wildlife breeding ground in the South Atlantic.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly