Science

Farmers in Kenya’s Kimana area that neighbors Amboseli National Park are disputing claims that 15 elephants died of cyanide poisoning saying the toxin is not present in the pesticides they use. The elephant deaths have intensified concerns over growing human-wildlife conflict in the region due to expanding agricultural activities near the park. Kenya has been widely recognized for rebuilding its elephant population from historic lows to more than 36,000 individuals by reducing poaching and protecting elephants. But conflict between people and elephants remains the second leading cause of deaths after poaching, according to Kenya’s National Elephant Plan.

Once a rare visitor, the greater flamingo is booming in Bulgaria’s Burgas wetlands. Its growing population - and the country’s first successful breeding last year - is attracting birdwatchers and shining a spotlight on the need to protect one of Europe’s richest wetland habitats. (AP Video: Valentina Petrova)

Once rescued from the brink of extinction, Tuscany’s iconic Cinta Senese pig is facing a new existential threat. As African swine fever spreads southward in the region, farmers fear the virus could wipe out one of Italy’s most distinctive native breeds.

Scientists have captured images of the sun’s surface in the finest detail yet. Researchers were able to peek with the help of a telescope on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

Scientists say they’re certain that a SpaceX rocket has slammed into the moon as predicted. The 5,400-mph crash has yet to be officially confirmed. But space-tracking experts say it’s inevitable that the leftover rocket segment plowed into the moon on Wednesday after drifting off course for the past year.

Scientists at a biotech company have used gene editing to switch off a gene that produces the main allergy-causing protein in dogs. It’s the first time this technique has been successful in dogs. Findings were published in the CRISPR Journal. (AP Video/Mary Conlon)

Brazil’s beloved capybaras, the world’s largest rodents and social media favorites, made an unexpected appearance inside the legislative assembly building in Brazil’s central-western state of Mato Grosso. Video filmed by a civil servant shows the animals calmly roaming the halls as she tries to gently guide them back outside.

With different parts of the globe aflame in wildfires, deadly heat waves parking over cities, record hot oceans and a strengthening super El Nino, it seems like we’re baking through the hottest year on record. But we’re not quite there — yet. It’s only No. 3 in the record books. But we could be soon.

For the first time in more than a century, a total solar eclipse would come to mainland Spain. Daytime darkness would descend on Aug. 12 across the Iberian Peninsula, plus slivers of Greenland and Iceland, with a partial eclipse visible in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Scientists claimed that climate change, caused mainly by burning oil, coal and gas, is making the Mediterranean Sea hotter, bringing hundreds of new and invasive fish species that decimate indigenous populations. (AP Video by: Maria Grazia Murru; Production by Silvia Stellacci)

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Scientists’ mission to understand Greenland’s melting glaciers

The UK’s largest telescope is facing an uncertain future after an announcement that funding for a network of telescopes is be withdrawn. The Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank is part of the e-Merlin array, which UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a government funded body, says will not be prioritized for further funding after its current agreement ends in March 2028.

A U.S.-Russian space crew landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan on Sunday after an eight-month stint on the International Space Station.

Caught on camera: a 300 strong humpback whale supergroup gathering to feed

Critically endangered newts have been released into the wild in Spain. The 32 Montseny brook newts were reared in a breeding program at the UK’s Chester Zoo.

Hundreds of birthday cards flew in from all around the world to wish “Punch”, beloved Japanese macaque, a Happy Birthday. (AP video by Mayuko Ono)

Volunteers worked to clean a 240-million-year-old fossilised amphibian at Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Centre. The bone must be separated from the surrounding rock millimetre by millimetre using a pneumatic chisel. (AP video shot by Rafal Niedzielski)

SpaceX’s Starship rocket has blasted off on another test flight, this time carrying 20 of the most advanced Starlinks. Towering more than 400 feet, Starship soared from Texas on Friday, a week after a last-second launch abort. It’s the 13th flight of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.

Rangers in Uganda’s largest national park are on a mission to translocate 12 endangered Nubian giraffes. They plan to move the animals 106 kilometers to Ajai Wildlife Reserve. The project is aimed at preserving the species’ population, enhancing biodiversity and diversifying tourism opportunities. About 40% of Uganda’s oil deposits are estimated to be in the Murchison Falls area and within the national park where the giraffes reside. There has been increased activity in the national park including heavy machinery movement despite years of opposition to the oil drilling activities from environmentalists. (AP Video shot by Patrick Onen)

There was a new addition to the southern pudu herd at Cologne Zoo in western Germany. Named ‘Yenai’, the pudu species is one of world’s smallest species of deer. (AP video and production by Daniel Niemann)

A Brazilian bay’s surprise shark nursery sparks conservation project

A U.S.-Russian crew successfully blasted off on a mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday.

Okinawa is one of Japan’s best-known manta ray habitats, but researchers say basic questions remain about how the animals move, where they feed and how they may be affected by warming seas, coral reef degradation and the pressure of tourism. Now a group of divers are deploying a systematic approach to tagging these sea creatures to track their movements and how they live. (AP video shot by Katie Tam)

One runner was gored in the face and many more were fortunate to not be seriously injured during a chaotic bull run at Spain’s San Fermin festival on Saturday.

A zoo in Thailand celebrated the 2nd birthday of the viral sensation pygmy hippo Moo Deng on Friday, with a large cake made of fruits and vegetables. (AP video shot by Tian Macleod Ji)

From deserts to the deep ocean, hundreds of thousands of species are at risk according to the latest IUCN report. The report highlights a growing global biodiversity crisis, with the Red List expanding to 175,909 species, of which 49,505 are now threatened with extinction.

It’s a very special dinner time for dogs and their owners in Hong Kong. For the first time in more than 30 years they can go out together to restaurants, thanks to a new policy aimed at promoting the pet economy. (AP video/Alice Fung)

In June, a bellowing and blubbery 5-year-old elephant seal hauled himself onto land for his twice-yearly tour of beachside towns in southern Tasmania after months of feeding at sea. Neil, the only male elephant seal to visit Tasmania in years, has commanded an enthralled TikTok following of 1.4 million in part because he acts like kind of a jerk.

A married couple in Maine saw a large bear chasing a calf moose down a rural roadway and were able to capture some photos of the chase. (AP Video: Dylan Lovan)

Sightings of humpback whales off Rio de Janeiro’s coast are surging as they recover from decimation due to commercial whaling, prompting an acceleration in the demand for whale-watching excursions to spot the huge marine creatures during their annual migration.