In the current issue of Science, researchers at the University of York report that the brown argus butterfly has spread its reach in England northward by about 50 miles over 20 years as a warmer climate allow its caterpillars to feed off wild geranium plants, which are widespread in the countryside.

“There was something unusual about the degree to which it was spreading its range,” said an author of the study, Jane K. Hill, a biologist at York. “It was turning up in places that were unexpected.”

It seems like Singapore’s billion-dollar green investments have paid off.

A new study says that the city-state is Asia’s most livable city, beating regional rivals like Hong Kong, which now has one of the worst levels of air pollution in the world.

With fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild, the Amur leopard is thought to be the world's rarest wild cat, and the creation of a new protected area in Russia is an important step towards the conservation of this highly threatened species.

Situated in Primorsky Province in Russia’s Far East, the 262,000 hectare Land of the Leopard National Park covers 60% of all remaining Amur leopard habitat and encompasses all known breeding grounds for this species.

The establishment of the park marks the positive culmination of more than a decade of work by WWF.

Dozens of conservation groups and nearly 100 scientists voiced opposition on Thursday to an Obama administration proposal they say would make it much harder for imperiled creatures to qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The proposed policy change, formally unveiled in December, stems from an ongoing dispute over the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, a small, rare bird whose range includes the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and a previous fight over the flat-tailed horned lizard in the California desert.

Silchar, Feb. 23: The habitat of birds and other animals like leopards, tigers, goral and deer in the Barak valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi is fast shrinking because of erosion, encroachment and felling of trees. Devashish Kar, professor of life science department in Assam University, said random felling had resulted in shrinking forest areas, helping encroachers settle on the land.

Making a pitch for tourism in tiger reserves, Madhya Pradesh has told the Supreme Court that people living in reserves pose more danger to the big cats since both compete for the same resources. As the hearing on a PIL seeking a ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves enters a crucial phase, the state has stuck to its stand that runs contrary to the position of the NTCA and the Centre that says core areas are meant to be kept inviolate. The Wildlife Trust of India has also backed activist Ajay Dubey’s plea, saying there is no control over hotels and resorts around the reserves.

The Cabinet yesterday added six birds to the list of protected wild animals in Bhutan under the Forest and Nature Conservation Act.

This, forestry officials said, was the first change since the Act’s introduction in 1995, taking the total number of protected wild animals to 30 different species.

The bird species added to the list include White-belled heron, Chesnut-brested hill Patridge, White-rumped vulture, beautiful Nuthatch, Blyth’s Tragopan and Satyr Tragopan.

An entire village has been relocated in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan to protect tigers, officials say.

More than 350 people from 82 families in Umri village, in the Sariska tiger reserve, moved to a new location.

The number of tigers in Sariska had dwindled to zero before growing to five over the last three years.

Umri is the second village in Sariska to be relocated to help secure a proper habitat for tigers to increase their numbers. The villagers moved last week.

A total of 72 villages in the district have been selected for implementing the ‘Tamil Nadu Village Habitations Improvement (THAI)' scheme.

Announcing this in a release, Nagapattinam District Collector, Mr T. Munusamy, said various infrastructure development projects would be carried out in these villages under the scheme, and Rs 21.60 crore had been allotted for this year.

JORHAT: Nikhil Bharat Krishak Sabha, Jorhat district committee today staged a demonstration at the gate of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, protesting against the failure of the district administration and the Forest Department to protect the lives and properties of the villagers of the north-west region in the Jorhat district from the wild elephants.

The protesters shouted slogans and demanded compensation for the damages caused by the wild elephants to the