Animals Animals

Animals

A golden retriever named Kilian is part of a Swedish rescue team in Morocco after the earthquake. He's a veteran of past disaster rescue missions and his handlers say he helped find 18 people alive under the rubble in Turkey earlier this year. Carol Guzy for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Carol Guzy for NPR

A pug reacts to the camera on the first day of the Festival of Dogs weekend at Castle Howard on May 21, 2022 in York, England. Ian Forsyth/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Wouldn't it be great if pets could talk? This might be the next best thing

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198992060/1199516178" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

The cover of Ben Goldfarb's latest book, Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping The Future of Our Planet Courtesy of W.W. Norton and Co. hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of W.W. Norton and Co.

From "massive squishings" to the insect apocalypse, roads are terrorizing nature

40 million miles of road unite us. They also cause mass destruction for many species. Today, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb and host Aaron Scott go on a tour of that destruction — the subject of Ben's new book Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. But don't worry, it's not all grim! Along the way, we learn why fewer insects are hitting our windshields, talk about the breakthrough that is highway overpasses, and how at least one bird has adapted to avoid 18-wheel semi-trucks.

From "massive squishings" to the insect apocalypse, roads are terrorizing nature

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198822462/1199129490" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A baby giraffe was discovered in Namibia, Africa, without any spots. The only other known living spotless giraffe was born at a zoo in Tennessee in late July. Eckart Demasius/Giraffe Conservation Foundation hide caption

toggle caption
Eckart Demasius/Giraffe Conservation Foundation

A livestream set up by Explore.org in the Katmai National Park for bear enthusiasts captured a missing hiker pleading for help on Sept. 5. Screenshot by NPR/Explore.org hide caption

toggle caption
Screenshot by NPR/Explore.org

A feral cat hides in a wooded area near a beach parking lot at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, N.Y. The American Bird Conservancy sued the state parks department in 2016 to have the cats removed because they were a threat to the endangered piping plover and the cat colony was relocated to cat sanctuaries. Frank Eltman/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Frank Eltman/AP

Paula Rodriguez and her dog, Maia, were separated while on their way from the Dominican Republic to San Francisco on Aug. 18. Rodriguez was turned away by border agents and forced to catch a flight home without Maia, who was lost by Delta Air Lines staff. @ATLairport/Twitter hide caption

toggle caption
@ATLairport/Twitter
Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

What to know about the link between air pollution and superbugs

Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Ari Shapiro joins Aaron Scott and Regina G. Barber for our science roundup. They talk about how antibiotic resistance may spread through particulate air pollution, magnetically halted black holes and how diversified farms are boosting biodiversity in Costa Rica.

What to know about the link between air pollution and superbugs

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198013055/1198346768" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Two American flamingos seen at a Zoo in Miami, in July 2016. Flamingos are native to Florida, but less than 1% of the world's population resides there after the birds were hunted to near extinction at the turn of the 20th century. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Wilfredo Lee/AP
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Sweet, gooey poop and a taste for grapes: 7 wild facts about the spotted lanternfly

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1196976849/1197393586" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Marsi Parker Darwin says Peanut loves a good cuddle. Marsi Parker Darwin hide caption

toggle caption
Marsi Parker Darwin

Meet Peanut, a 21-year–old chicken and world record holder

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197051442/1197054921" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Back in March, four or five goats scrambled along the streets of San Francisco and became instantly famous as videos of their runabout were posted on social media. What became of the runaway ruminants? screengrab by NPR via u/kevin1760/Reddit hide caption

toggle caption
screengrab by NPR via u/kevin1760/Reddit

Beekeeper Mike Osborne uses his hand to look for the queen bee as he removes bees from a car after a truck carrying bee hives swerved, causing the hives to fall and release bees in Burlington, Ontario, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Carlos Osorio/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Carlos Osorio/AP

Scientists have engineered an albino squid that provides a window into the inner workings of the brain. Carrie Albertin/MBL Cephalopod Program hide caption

toggle caption
Carrie Albertin/MBL Cephalopod Program

How scientists engineered a see-through squid with its brain in plain view

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1196073961/1196348416" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Mohammad Saud (left) is one of two bird-saving brothers profiled in the documentary All The Breathes. Above, he and his employee and friend Salik Rehman tend to an injured kite. Courtesy of HBO hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of HBO

Journalists film the live telecast of spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 landing on the moon at ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bengaluru, India, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Aijaz Rahi/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Aijaz Rahi/AP

Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute studied female octopuses that nest together off Central California at a depth of about 3,200 meters. MBARI hide caption

toggle caption
MBARI

Here's why 6,000 octopuses like to be under the sea at an 'octopus garden'

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1195028955/1195506001" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A reticulated giraffe was born without spots at Brights Zoo in northeastern Tennessee at the end of July. The zoo is asking the public to cast their vote on what to name her. Tony Bright/Brights Zoo via AP hide caption

toggle caption
Tony Bright/Brights Zoo via AP