Latest Predators Stories

Scientists measuring electrical activity in the muscles of a cobra have found the mechanism that triggers the frightening "hood flare" that the snake uses as a defensive display. The scientists found a precise group of muscles that the cobra uses to raise their hoods. The procedure was very tricky. Scientists had to implant tiny electrodes into the snake's muscles while the reptile was carefully anaesthetized. Once the electrodes were in place, they took measurements of electrical activity...

LOS ANGELES, April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Non-profit organization Iemanya Oceanica today announced their second shark-tagging research expedition to Baja California, set to take place from July 1st-5th, 2010. The organization is actively seeking up to 20 individuals from the general public to swim with and learn about the conservation of the world's largest fish: the giant whale shark. The team will be traveling to Bahia de Los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez in Baja where whale...

It might sound like a mashup of monster movies, but palaeontologists have discovered evidence of how an extinct shark attacked its prey, reconstructing a killing that took place 4 million years ago.Such fossil evidence of behavior is incredibly rare, but by careful, forensic-style analysis of bite marks on an otherwise well-preserved dolphin skeleton, the research team, based in Pisa, Italy, have reconstructed the events that led to the death of the dolphin, and determined the probably...

Scientists are now saying that there are actually two types of killer whales living in UK waters instead of just one, as was previously thought, according to BBC News. The whales are different from each other in both the way they look and the way they eat, and the males of one type are about 6-feet longer than the other. Researchers believe the killer whales could be at an early stage of becoming two separate species. The findings have been published by the international group of scientists...

Conservation success depends on understanding feeding behaviorScientists in Scotland, Canada and the US have proposed a new method to identify priority areas for whale conservation. The team's findings, published in Animal Conservation, suggest that even small protected areas, identified through feeding behavior, can benefit highly mobile marine predators such as killer whales."There are enormous challenges associated with setting conservation priorities for such mobile and migratory...

Researchers gained 3 more Sharks for Adoption WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Non-profit organization Iemanya Oceanica today announced the addition of 3 newly tagged whale sharks to their family of sharks for research and conservation. The 3 new sharks are available to the public for adoption online and represent the need for urgent conservation of sharks. The organization's Adopt A Shark Program now has a total of 10 sharks that, with the aide of the tags, will...

Federal officials say they are considering giving killer whales in Washington state's Puget Sound a broader protective zone. Boats are now required to stay 100 yards away from the whales. The proposed National Marine Fisheries Service regulations would double that and would also close off a half-mile channel off San Juan Island between May and September, The Seattle Times reports. The rules would apply to whale-watching boats and recreational boaters but not to commercial fishermen, cargo...

Officials said 1,261 live fish, including seven sharks, have arrived in Britain following a 4,000-mile plane ride from Barbados. Biologists with the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, England, said only 21 small fish died before the plane was unloaded in Exeter, England. The rest were taken to the aquarium, The Sun reported Wednesday. The fish, which came from a Barbados aquarium, include four 10-foot-long nurse sharks and three 6-foot-long blacktip reef sharks. The pilot could feel the...

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Bruin Dale is no average, cute-and-cuddly community of talking bears -- Edward C. Whisenant's collection of stories, "The Anthology of Stingy Bear's Adventures" (published by AuthorHouse), parodies a homogenous society of grizzly bears in order to address numerous modern-day social, political and economic issues. "Far too often child readers are presented with ho-hum themes that give children a misleading impression of life," says Whisenant....

Animal authorities in Montana said a grizzly bear accused of multiple home invasions during the past few years has been captured and euthanized. Tim Manley, the investigator charged with tracking down a bear dubbed Albino Basin Male, No. 191, said the approximately 20-year-old animal was captured when it returned Monday to a home it had previously broken into near Condon, Mont., The (Missoula, Mont.) Missoulian reported. Manley said the bear was euthanized Tuesday as a result of its age and...