Iberian lynx makes a comeback from brink of extinction

The Iberian lynx, once the world’s most endangered cat, has made a remarkable recovery from the brink of extinction, thanks to extensive and coordinated conservation efforts in Spain and Portugal, The Associated Press reported. In the early 2000s, the population of the lynx, scientific name Lynx pardinus, had dwindled to 62 mature individuals in the wild. Habitat loss, a precipitous decline in the population of European rabbits, their primary prey, from disease, and expanding human...

Beluga whale pair rescued from war-torn Ukraine recovering in Spain

In what may yet come to be considered the rescue of the year, Oceanografic de Valencia, Georgia Aquarium, and SeaWorld collaborated with Kharkiv’s NEMO Dolphinarium to carry out a heroic evacuation from the embattled industrial city in northeast Ukraine. Two beluga whales, Plombir and Miranda, were rescued from Kharkiv and transported to the Oceanografic aquarium in Valencia, Spain. The complex, high-risk operation was necessitated by the growing threat to the city from Russian artillery fire,...