Educational Science

Giraffe's Tumor Removed in Tricky Surgery

WASHINGTON (AP) -- National zoo veterinarians treated a giraffe Wednesday for a tumor on its head, in what the chief vet said was the first such case of skin cancer. The 13-foot-tall Jafari was back on his feet and in seeming good health in his habitat following the 45-minute procedure...

'Devil monkeys' are attacking people in Thailand, Japan and India. Here's why.

Wildlife tourism thrives on our fascination with animals and primates are particularly attractive animals to tourists. With their human-like faces, complex family dynamics and acrobatic antics, they are a joy to behold. But recent stories have emerged that portray monkeys in a more sinister light. Reports of monkey attacks, devil...

A researcher in Africa has finally spotted the rare white giraffe that he's been seeking for twelve years, and he's got a photograph to prove it. Charles Foley, a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) researcher, first heard rumors of the white giraffe in 1993 when he was working in Tanzania's Tarangire...

Primates have been masturbating for at least 40 million years

Masturbation in primates is deeply rooted in evolution, with the behavior likely going back at least 40 million years, to the ancestor of all monkeys and apes, new research suggests. The study researchers found that masturbation is an ancient trait in primates and speculated that it may drive reproductive success....

Chimps Learned Tool Use Long Ago Without Human Help

Chimpanzees learned to make and use stone tools on their own, rather than copying humans, new evidence suggests. And this means that chimps and humans likely inherited some of their sophisticated stone tool-use behaviors from a common ancestor, a report on the evidence claims. The handheld hammers were found at...

Meet 'Retro': The 1st ever cloned rhesus monkey to survive more than a day

Scientists in China have successfully cloned a rhesus monkey by providing the cloned embryo with a healthy placenta. The innovative technique could significantly increase the success rate of cloning, the researchers say. The monkey, named ReTro, is now three and a half years old and still doing well and growing...

Human elbows and shoulders evolved as 'brakes' for climbing ape ancestors

Humans have ape ancestors to thank for their flexible shoulders and elbows, which may have evolved as a natural braking mechanism for tree-scaling. Scientists made the discovery while watching numerous videos of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) monkeys, which are much more distantly related to both chimps...

Zoo monkey eats her baby's corpse after carrying it around for days

A monkey from a zoo in Europe was recently seen carrying around her baby's corpse for several days after it died. Then she devoured her own child. The mother's unusual actions may improve her chances of having another child in the future, experts say. In August 2020, the female drill...

'Monkey gang' member executed in Japan as marauding macaques run amok

A marauding monkey that’s been harassing people in Japan was recently tracked down and executed by a team of specially commissioned hunters. The macaque was part of a monkey gang that is responsible for more than 50 attacks in the city of Yamaguchi. For close to one month, a mob...

Chimps are naturally violent, study suggests

For years, anthropologists have watched wild chimpanzees go ape and attack each other in coordinated assaults. But until now, scientists were unsure whether interactions with humans had brought on this violent behavior or if it was part of the apes' basic nature. A new, 54-year study suggests this coordinated aggression...