Why “franken-chicken” shouldn’t be on the menu for the coronation
A court case has demanded an end to the breeding of fast-growing chickens – and the damage it causes the…
ByAnimals
Consider the noble octopus
The Canary Islands will soon host the world’s first industrial octopus farm. But there is no humane way to slaughter…
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The eradication of species
Biodiversity is not just an asset from which humans gain. We have complex social relations with all non-human life.
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George McGavin Q&A: “All species live on the knife-edge of survival”
The entomologist on lush prehistoric forests and inescapable doom.
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The Year of the Cat: feline fellowship and the meaning of life
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s memoir of adopting a kitten doubles as a study of anxiety, parenthood and purpose.
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Fantastic beasts and how to save them
Katherine Rundell’s new book is a treasury of extraordinary animals endangered by human negligence and greed.
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From the NS archive: The November garden
15 November 1913: Edith Nesbit looks out her window at late flowers in autumn.
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Why would anyone lobby on behalf of dangerous dogs?
On the one hand you have the right of five-year-olds not to be disfigured; on the other, the right of…
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The natural world is vanishing before it has even reached our eyes
From resentful crows to narwhal tusks, we understand only a fraction of the Earth’s beauty. And now we risk losing…
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Save the planet by saving the pandas
If the green movement wants to capture British hearts and minds, it should focus on animals, not abstract temperature rises.
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Can animals count? BBC radio finds out
Bees can recognise number patterns, not just of objects found in nature but even of random symbols.
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How are animals adapting to climate change?
Books by Thor Hanson and Emma Marris offer fascinating insights into how species are surviving and what we must do…
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How animal senses reveal hidden worlds
Ed Yong’s fascinating new book on the complex behaviours of creatures uncovers a universe of unfathomable beauty.
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From the NS archive: Through the bars
22 August 1959: The zoo is a penitentiary, a theatre, an alms house, a laboratory, a conference room, a microcosm.
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Is Boris Johnson ditching nature to save his skin?
The Prime Minister appears to be giving in to small-government Tories who want him to ditch policies aimed at protecting…
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What animal activists can learn from historical upheavals
“Informational cascades” can be key in turning the tide against animal cruelty.
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Andrea Arnold’s Cow explores sex, death, and motherhood through the eyes of an animal
The British director’s first documentary is the story of a trapped female told through social realism. But this time, the…
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HG Wells and the human animal
The visionary novelist sought to transform the world, but he could not escape its, or his own, dark irrationality.
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The row over Afghan pets shows the UK’s animal obsession has gone too far
The clamour to put pets before people during the Afghanistan evacuation is a symptom of misguided priorities.
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The moral conflict between environmentalism and animal welfare
Animal rights supporters and environmentalists are divided: one group prioritises the welfare of the individual animal, the other emphasises the…
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