Animal behavior News

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Research shows that a koala’s gut microbiome directly influences its diet limitations, determining the species of eucalyptus it can eat. Translocations and reintroductions should take this relationship into account, says Michaela Blyton. Image by Mathias Appel via Flickr (CC0 1.0).

Poop pills and gut microbes: Wildlife microbiome studies aid conservation

Sean Mowbray 26 Mar 2026

A bonobo named Kanzi could play pretend, challenging ideas about animal imaginations

Liz Kimbrough 18 Mar 2026
The noise from dredges and large vessels may interfere with the Amazon river turtle’s communication. Image courtesy of Camila Ferrara/WCS Brasil.

Amazon waterway noise threatens unique social life of giant river turtles

Fernanda Wenzel 17 Mar 2026
A radio-collared slow loris in Bangladesh.

Out of captivity, into conflict: slow lorises struggle to survive after release

Carolyn Cowan 26 Feb 2026
Scientists Yanive Aluma and Odel Harve check on a subaquatic whale-recording device. Image courtesy of Project CETI.

Scientists call for ethics rules as AI fuels animal communication research

Mongabay.com 10 Feb 2026
Black-footed cats (Felis nigripes) in southern Namibia. Image courtesy of Alex Sliwa

Rodent burrows offer unusual sanctuary to Africa’s smallest wildcat

María de los Ángeles Orfila 9 Feb 2026
A chimpanzee in Uganda. Image by Nigel Hoult via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Risk-taking comes earlier in chimpanzees than in humans, study finds

John Cannon 6 Feb 2026

African wild dogs break the carnivore rule in Botswana 

Ryan Truscott 3 Feb 2026
A mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the eastern gorilla, in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Study ties same-sex behavior in primates to ecological and social pressures

Aimable Twahirwa 28 Jan 2026

The bird that builds tree skyscrapers: The oropendola

Romina Castagnino 6 Jan 2026
A subadult male capuchin with a howler monkey infant. Image courtesy of Brendan Barrett/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.

5 unexpected animal behaviors we learned about in 2025

Shreya Dasgupta 2 Jan 2026
A barn owl hunting for fleeing prey along a fire’s periphery.

How are California’s birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?

Gloria Dickie 31 Dec 2025

Most Watched Video Stories of 2025

Lucia Torres 30 Dec 2025
Eastern tree hyrax in Pare mountains. Image courtesy of Hanna Rosti.

Tanzania’s tree-climbing hyraxes have adapted to life without trees

Ryan Truscott 19 Dec 2025

In Peru, community-led camera trapping boosts conservation and ecotourism

Astrid Arellano 16 Dec 2025

‘Internet of Animals,’ a unified wildlife tracker, set to resume after hiatus

Abhishyant Kidangoor 16 Dec 2025

Elephant seals can recognize the voices of their rivals

Bobby Bascomb 11 Dec 2025
The California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides). Photo by Anik Grearson.

Octopuses use their arms to sense and respond to microbiomes on the seafloor

Pepper St. Clair 1 Dec 2025

Behind Sri Lanka’s ‘fish rain’ lies a web of migrations now blocked by rising dams

Malaka Rodrigo 27 Nov 2025

Deep-diving manta rays use the ocean’s midnight zone to build mental maps, study suggests

Liz Kimbrough 26 Nov 2025

Wolf hauls up crab trap to eat bait, hinting at possible tool use

Bobby Bascomb 20 Nov 2025
Parasitic ant queen Lasius orientalis, left, approaches the queen of L. flavus to spray her with a fluid. Image by Takasuka et al., 2025 (CC BY 4.0)

Game of tiny thrones: Parasitic ants grab power by turning workers against their queen

Mongabay.com 20 Nov 2025
Asian golden cat caught on camera in Nepal.

Asian golden cat range expands, but declines continue amid rising threats

Sean Mowbray 7 Nov 2025
Video of a brown rat catching a bat at Segeberger Kalkberg. Image courtesy of Gloza-Rausch et al., 2025 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Europe’s under-pressure bats face ‘astonishing’ threat: Ambush by rats

Shreya Dasgupta 7 Nov 2025

Night dives reveal hidden alliances between young fish and larval anemones

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 31 Oct 2025

Heart checkup for anteaters

Abhishyant Kidangoor 25 Oct 2025

As Singapore heats up, pests are seeking refuge indoors

Robin Hicks 9 Oct 2025
Alisha’s dorsal photograph during her initial tagging in May 2012 in Gansbaai, South Africa.

Long-lost white shark tag traces remarkable journey from South Africa to SE Asia

Miriam Bahagijo 26 Sep 2025
A beaver explores its new home at Tásmam Koyóm in 2023.

When does beaver reintroduction make sense?

John Cannon 23 Sep 2025
A beaver swimming in a pond just after its release at Tásmam Koyóm in northern California.

Beavers restored to tribal lands in California benefit ecosystems

John Cannon 15 Sep 2025
A jackdaw feeds from various bowls containing food.

Are crows really street smart? Science confirms the genius of corvids (commentary)

Deyatima Ghosh 19 Aug 2025
Kavantissa, a regal tusker considered Sri Lanka’s largest elephant, stands more than 3 meters (10 feet) in height. He faces the risk of being killed due to his habit of roaming close to human settlements. Image courtesy of Gimantha.

It’s time to update the language of human-wildlife interactions (commentary)

Tracie McKinney 14 Aug 2025

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