Animals

Oyster reefs once abounded in the Chesapeake, but overharvesting slashed their populations, leading to poorer water quality and less habitat for other species. Now, researchers and local residents are finding creative ways to bring their numbers back up.

A species of seabirds appears to become disoriented on flights back to its nest due to shifting time zones.

The Chesapeake Bay, home to blue crabs and striped bass, has a new apex predator: the blue catfish. It's invasive and voracious. It's also delicious, which officials hope might help save the bay.

Rescuers in Indonesia have saved dozens of orangutans from wildfires. The critically endangered species is fighting for their lives and habitats during this deadly wildfire season.

Manhattan's Upper West Side has been reveling in the company of its latest celebrities: A family of barn owls nested in a water tower atop a building near Central Park.

If you're looking for an (adorable!) break from the news, we have a furry suggestion: The Smithsonian's cheetah cam, showing five cheetah cubs bonding with their mother.

It's likely you've already chewed and swallowed some tasty morsel today. But when did that ability emerge? New evidence points to at least the middle Jurassic, back when dinosaurs still reigned.

State media cited investigators who said the network recruited people to ride motorcycles through neighborhoods at night, trapping up to 10 cats a night.

The new field of "smoke ecology" examines how wildfire smoke perturbs wild places and animals — and what might be done to prevent its worst mayhem.

D.C.'s Rat Rangers take anyone who is interested on night time safaris through some of the Capitol's filthiest back alleys to learn the way of the rats, and to be better humans.