Hydrothermal vents host rare species at incredibly high density comparable to tropical rainforests or coral reefs.

Camera traps set up by researchers in DR Congo have revealed 43 secretive forest species such as giant ground pangolins, African golden cats, leopards, cusimanses (a species of mongoose), bonobos, forest elephants and the endemic Congo peafowls.

Intensive farming and the wildlife trade are driving the “alarming” emergence rate of zoonotic diseases, the World Wildlife Fund has warned. 

An investigation into the global trade in pangolins has found evidence of inaccurate record keeping and loopholes that allowed the commercial trade to continue beyond an international ban. 

In March 2023, temperatures in eastern Senegal soared to 40°C, with the cooling rains still months away.

Apangolin’s defence mechanism, honed over millions of years, is a remarkable example of nature’s ingenuity. When threatened, the “scaly anteater” curls into a compact ball, its tough scales shielding its vulnerable belly from predators’ sharp teeth. 

A fossil trackway east of Still Bay in South Africa’s Western Cape province was found in 2018 by a colleague and was brought to our attention. It was found on the surface of a loose block of aeolianite rock (formed from hardened sand) that had come to rest near the high-tide mark in a private nature reserve.