Tag - animals

 
 

ANIMALS

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog, Dekopin, who delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game against the Orioles on Aug. 28
MORE SPORTS
Oct 6, 2024
The furry performance-enhancers that are sweeping the world of sports
Athletes from Shohei Ohtani to Naomi Osaka are using dogs to reduce stress and help enhance performance before and during high-stakes competitions.
A flock of Common Teal fly across a wetland on a winter day on the outskirts of Srinagar.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 5, 2024
Study documents extinction of 610 bird species and ecological impacts 
The disappearance of avian species erases functions they serve in innumerable ecosystems and may lead to "secondary knock-on extinctions."
Visitors take photos of Shin Shin at Ueno zoo in Tokyo on Saturday. Saturday was the last chance for Japan's panda-lovers to see Shin Shin and Ri Ri before their return to China.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2024
Japan's legions of panda-lovers bid farewell to beloved pair in Tokyo
Avid fans of the pandas congregated outside Ueno zoo overnight to secure a spot in line to see the pair for one minute each.
Ageuma Shinji, a Shinto ritual, is held at Tado Shrine in Mie Prefecture in May 2018. On Tuesday, prefectural police referred 12 individuals to prosecutors over allegations of animal abuse in connection with the treatment of horses during the centuries-old annual event.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2024
12 referred to prosecutors over alleged horse abuse during Shinto ritual
The 12 allegedly forced horses to climb up a steep hill during the Ageuma Shinji ritual in May 2023 and committed violent acts against the animals.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2024
If killing one species might save another, should we do it?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
A police officer explains with a loudspeaker the correct way of interacting with the deer on July 25 at Nara Park in the city of Nara.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 20, 2024
Nara urges respect for sacred deer after viral abuse video sparks outcry
A video showing a man kicking a deer began circulating on social media in late July, resulting in the lodging of over 100 police reports.
Takanori Takebe (behind the lectern) speaks after his team of researchers and he were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in physiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2024
Scientists win Ig Nobel for discovering anal breathing in mammals
The research team of Japanese and American scientists hope the discovery will help treat people with COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.
Hiroyuki Mano, director of the National Cancer Center Japan's (NCC) research institute, explains  on Wednesday the use of mice bearing patients' cancer tissues to screen drug candidates for their efficacy.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2024
New mouse models can boost Japan's drug development: National Cancer Center
The tumor-bearing mice retain many of the characteristics of the patients' cancer tissues, so favorable drug test results are likelier to be replicated in human trials.
A bluestreak cleaner wrasse faces a mirror. A Japanese team has found that the fish intentionally uses a mirror to check its own size.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2024
Bluestreak cleaner fish can use knowledge of its size to judge attacks
When able to check its size in a mirror, the bluestreak cleaner wrasse attacked fish of a larger or similar size less often, a Japanese research team has found.
Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, is seen on Sept. 8 in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, two weeks after escaping from an event in the area. The bird's keeper, Ryosuke Imai, described her return as a "miracle."
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024
'Miracle' penguin found two weeks after escape
Pen-chan had never swum in the open sea before or fended for herself.
A colorized electron microscope image of avian influenza grown in cultured cells
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 7, 2024
U.S. confirms first bird flu case without animal contact
A person in the state of Missouri has become the first in the United States to test positive for bird flu without a known exposure to infected animals.
A sheep suffering from Bluetongue virus is injected with an anti-inflammatory medicine on a farm in Saint-Felix-de-Rieutord, south of Toulouse, France.
WORLD
Sep 6, 2024
European farmers grapple with bluetongue virus surge
Explosion of cases of the insect-borne viral disease that affects sheep and cows impacts thousands of farms in Europe.
A mongoose captured in Amami-Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2024
Japan declares eradication of mongoose on World Heritage island
This is one of the world's largest-scale cases in which long-settled nonnative mongooses have been eradicated, according to the Environment Ministry.
Therapy dogs are brought in for correctional education at the Kakogawa Gakuen juvenile correctional facility in Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 3, 2024
Novel dog training program aids rehab at juvenile correctional facility
An official involved in the program highlighted its importance, saying, 'Interaction with animals plays a valuable role in the rehabilitation of juveniles.'
People watch the male giant panda Ri Ri at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in June 2017.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024
Panda pair in Tokyo to return to China
The elderly pandas Ri Ri and Shin Shin will be returned to China next month for medical care.
Quokkas have been dubbed the "happiest animal in the world."
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024
Saitama zoo seeks donations for 'smiling' quokkas
The Saitama Children's Zoo in Higashimatsuyama is the only place in Japan where people can see quokkas.
Seven Magellanic penguins evacuated from Notojima Aquarium in Ishikawa Prefecture were shown at Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Penguins evacuated from quake-hit Noto shown at aquarium in Tokyo
The penguins arrived at Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo from Notojima Aquarium in the city of Nanao on Feb. 1, one month after the 7.6-magnitude temblor.
An infant orangutan with its mother in Sepilok, Malaysia, on Saturday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024
Apes to stay at home as Malaysia tweaks 'orangutan diplomacy'
Countries that buy Malaysian palm oil can "sponsor" one or more orangutans, and the funds collected will be used to implement conservation programs, minister says.
The Tsuruga Coast Guard Office in Fukui Prefecture issued warnings about possible attacks by wild dolphins as early as 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024
Fukui coast guard warns swimmers of danger posed by wild dolphins
In one case, a 10-year-old who had gone for a swim at a beach in the city of Tsuruga was bitten by a dolphin, suffering a serious injury to their hand.
A loggerhead sea turtle hatches eggs on a beach in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 29, 2024
Aichi sea turtle researchers assess risks of warmer nesting sites
The warmer the nest is, the more likely hatchlings will be female — that bodes ill for the survival of the marine species.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?