Geographical Location: Australia & Oceania

January 24, 2020

Watch: Scientists work to improve brown tree snake detection

New research shows that invasive brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) behavior makes it harder for researchers to detect them in Guam. The snakes have caused ecological problems in the Pacific...

January 21, 2020

For Australian wildlife, first fire — then cats

Wildlife that survived the bushfires in Australia may face a new threat — feral cats. Studies have shown that the continents’ feral cats hunt along recently burned areas in search...

January 8, 2020

1 billion animals killed in Australian bushfires

Bushfires burning through Australia have left an estimated 1 billion animals dead. An initial estimate show the loss of 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles, based on population densities available...

December 4, 2019

WSB: Fake birds help conserve New Zealand terns

Conservationists can attract threatened terns to nesting habitat safe from invasive predators in New Zealand by deploying fake bird models and using speaker systems to play bird sounds. Black-fronted terns...

August 22, 2019

Is it a dingo, or is it a dog?

Is the dingo a separate species? Or is it a wild dog? The answer could determine its future, writes Undark. While local governments throughout Australia are working to remove the...

June 14, 2019

Wild Cam: Thermal cameras spot roosting birds in the dark

Thermal cameras are helping researchers focus on bird populations while the lights are out. Birds at roost aren’t always easy to survey due to the darkness and the fact they...

April 29, 2019

Australia uses poison sausages to tackle feral cat problem

Australia has eliminated an estimated 211,560 feral cats since it decided in 2015 to kill 2 million of them by 2020. The cats prey on threatened rodent and marsupial species...

March 11, 2019

Balloons play an outsize role in seabird deaths

Parents may want to think twice before allowing their children to let balloons fly off into the atmosphere. When seemingly harmless latex balloons end up in the ocean, according to...

March 8, 2019

Heat-sensing drones spot koalas through the leaves

Some species can be notoriously difficult to spot, especially if they occupy forests with dense canopies. To detect koala populations through the cover of eucalyptus trees, researchers with the Queensland...

February 28, 2019

Did climate change claim its first mammal?

The last recorded sighting of a Bramble Cay melomys was in 2009, when a fisherman reported seeing a few of the small rodents take flight across the Australian island where...