Wild Animals Archives - Page 2 of 160

Scientists Are Burying Dressed Pigs in Mexico for Surprising Reasons

January 30, 2026 by Katy Stublen

The experiment looks strange, but the reason is deadly serious.

In remote fields across Mexico, researchers are digging graves on purpose. What they place inside them is deliberate, unsettling, and designed to answer questions families have been asking for years. The work is not symbolic, and it is not academic curiosity. It is an attempt to understand how bodies disappear, how long evidence lasts, and why so many searches come up empty. The answers could change how mass graves are found, and why so many have been missed.

Why Gorilla Infanticide Is Rising, and What Scientists Are Linking It To

January 30, 2026 by Katy Stublen

Researchers say the behavior may reflect mounting pressure.

For decades, gorilla societies followed patterns that felt tragically predictable but stable. That stability is now starting to fracture. A new body of research points to a rise in infant killings within some gorilla groups, a behavior scientists once considered rare and situational. The most unsettling part is not the violence itself, but the conditions surrounding it. As habitats shift and food becomes less reliable, researchers are asking whether environmental stress is beginning to rewrite behaviors long thought to be fixed.

Brazilian River Closed After Piranha Attack Injures 10 People

January 30, 2026 by Julie Majid

What looked safe hours earlier turned suddenly dangerous.

©Image license via PetsnPals/ChatGPT, School of Piranhas

A popular Brazilian river was abruptly closed after a cluster of piranha attacks injured ten people within a short window, alarming local authorities and residents. The incident unfolded during peak swimming hours, when families were already in the water. Officials moved quickly, citing uncertainty about whether conditions had stabilized or if further attacks were likely. Similar events in past years show how fast circumstances can change in freshwater systems. What triggered this surge, and how officials decide when rivers are safe again, remains unsettled as investigations continue.

Chinese Trash Collector Heard Infants Crying in the Garbage

January 30, 2026 by Katy Stublen

What she kept encountering was never supposed to surface.

Each morning began the same way, with bags, bottles, and silence. Then a sound would break routine, faint, human, impossible to place. Lou Xiaoying did not set out to become part of a national reckoning. She was trying to survive. But across decades, her daily route intersected with choices others felt forced to make in secret. What she found again and again was not meant to be seen, only discovered. The reasons unfolded slowly, shaped by fear, policy, and the hope that someone, somewhere, would stop and listen.

9 Animal Species That Almost Never Sleep

January 29, 2026 by Julie Majid

For some animals, rest comes in fragments.

Sleep is often assumed to be universal, yet across the animal kingdom it varies dramatically. Some species survive with almost no true sleep, relying instead on brief pauses, partial brain shutdowns, or constant low alert states. Scientists studying animals in oceans, skies, and harsh terrestrial environments have documented patterns shaped by predation risk, migration demands, and physiology. The stakes are high because losing awareness can mean death. These animals challenge long held assumptions about why sleep exists at all and how little of it life can endure.