Flora & Fauna
Boobialla and the butterfly
It has the ring of a fairytale, but an endangered butterfly’s survival in Western Victoria isn’t the stuff of magic but rather a story of dedicated habitat restoration.
Category: Nature & Wildlife
Flora & Fauna
Wild cockatoos learn to drink from water fountain
Sulphur-crested cockatoos have shown extraordinary signs of brainpower in a Sydney park, where they’ve been seen turning on water taps, and even queuing to take turns drinking.
Nature & Wildlife
Where the giant things are: Tracking reveals ocean megafauna’s highways and hotspots
For 30 years, researchers tracked almost 13,000 ocean giants from over 100 species to map where they travel, feed and breed.
Land
Leadbeater’s possum spotted outside Victoria for first time
When a Leadbeater’s possum photobombed a camera trap inside New South Wales’ Kosciuszko National Park recently, researchers were left stunned.
History & Culture
The sea cucumber: Australia’s oldest export
Dive into the realm of the sea cucumber, an unassuming creature that helped shape Australia’s pre-European culture.
Flora & Fauna
Why do penguins porpoise?
Underwater in the freezing waters of Antarctica I watched awestruck as gentoo penguins effortlessly rocketed and swerved around me at speeds that were sometimes too fast to follow. Even more surprising was seeing the flock dash for the surface, leap clear of the water like dolphins, and hurry away.
Science & Environment
Regional innovations: On the snail trail
In Western Australia’s Esperance region, an Estonian migrant is solving an age-old pest problem in farming.
Land
Back from the dead: 10 Australian animals once thought extinct
Australia is known for its iconic flora and fauna. It also has a remarkable reputation as a place where animals believed to be extinct – sometimes for more than a century – have been rediscovered.
Fossils
Unearthing quolls’ weird, snail-eating cousin
The extinct Malleodectidae family of carnivorous marsupials has become a little bit bigger with the addition of a newly described species – Malleodectes arenai – and a new genus so strange it has been named Weirdodectes.
Nature & Wildlife
Off the beaten track
The Binns Track is a perfect gateway for 4WD enthusiasts to lesser-known attractions in the Northern Territory.