Fantastic beasts and how to save them
Katherine Rundell’s new book is a treasury of extraordinary animals endangered by human negligence and greed.
ByAnimals
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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Human supremacism: why are animal rights activists still the “orphans of the left”?
Fighting dehumanisation is a central challenge for the left.
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Does David Attenborough’s Dynasties dumb down animal politics?
Animal stories are at their best when they reveal our shared emotional experience, but they must also touch on the…
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Why we should be wary of using animal behaviour in trying to explain our own
Odd that Jordan Peterson didn’t choose giraffes, for whom most sexual encounters are male-male with penetration.
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Animal cruelty is part of our day-to-day language. But we can change it
When Trump calls opponents “dogs”, it’s not just racist and sexist – it’s also speciesist.
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Why Michael Gove’s proposed ban on exporting live animals won’t “take back control” of animal rights
The debate around live animal exports suggests the government’s post-Brexit vision of animal welfare is driven as much by self-interest…
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