4 . The Canada goose is the largest species of true goose. Its scientific name, Branta canadensis, means “black or burnt goose from Canada”. While Canada goose is the bird’s official and preferred name, it is also known colloquially (通俗地) as the Canadian goose.

The Canada goose has a black head and neck and a white “chinstrap (下巴)” that distinguish it from other geese. Its body is brown. The average Canada goose ranges from 75 to 110 cm in length and has a wingspan of 1.27 to 1.85 m. Adult females are slightly smaller and lighter than males, but they are visually indistinguishable. An average male weighs from 2.6 to 6.5 kg, while an average female weighs from 2.4 to 5.5 kg.

Canada geese are mostly herbivores (食草动物). They eat grass, beans, corn, and aquatic plants. They sometimes also eat small insects and fish. In urban areas, Canada geese will pick food from garbage bins or accept it from humans.

Fresh water is a primary need for these geese, and they seek it nearby wherever they happen to be. They will flock to lakes, ponds, streams, rivers and even swimming pools! This is the perfect habitat for Canada geese, and they take advantage of these areas commonly.

Originally, the Canada goose was native to North America, breeding in Canada and the northern U.S. and migrating further south in the winter. Some geese still follow the usual migration pattern, but large flocks have established permanent residences as far south as Florida.

Where you can find Canada geese varies based on what time of year it is. In some areas, the geese are becoming permanent residents, when they used to migrate south for the winter. The southern United States is their home during the winter, the northern United States has a year-round population, and Canada has a summer population.

5 . From time to time, Ding Peng makes his way across the waves to Zhongtiedun, an island in Zhejiang Province. He has made a point of coming back to visit it to greet and observe the Chinese crested terns (中华凤头燕鸥) over the past ten years.

The medium-sized bird is 30—40 centimeters long, with gray wings and a white body. It was first discovered in Indonesia by Polish in 1861. The birds were spotted in 1937 on islands around Qingdao, Shandong Province, and it was not until 2000 that a bird photographer spotted them on the Matsu Islands off the coast of Fujian Province, which immediately caused a storm in international ornithology (鸟类学) circles for researchers assumed that the birds had already died out.

Born in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, Ding grew up seeing barren (不毛的) mountains and sandstorms, and has an awareness of environmental protection at an early age. That was why, after graduating from university in 2012, he readily took a job offer from the Jiushan Archipelago National Nature Reserve (JANNR) in Zhejiang. “I love the sea and my major could be of some use in protecting it, ”he says.

Looking back at his life on the islands, Ding admits that it was very tough. There was no electricity to charge mobile phones and no air conditioner in hot summer, and drinking water was sent in by supply ships. The worst was the loneliness, though things took a turn for the better in 2017, when more volunteers came to join the bird protection team.

Ding’s contributions were recognized by the local authorities of Ningbo this year, who named him one of the city’s “most beautiful people”. “Everything was worth it, now that more people are aware of the importance of protecting the birds, and now that the number of the birds is on the rise, ” Ding says.

6 . David Daballen has been passionate about wildlife since he was a young boy. Now director of field operations at Save the Elephants, he’s been named as a finalist in the Tusk Conservation (环境保护) Awards, which celebrate Africa-based conservation leaders and wildlife rangers (护林员).

“When I first heard the news, I couldn’t believe it!” David says. “I hope it will inspire the next generation of Kenyan conservationists to follow in my path, Professionally, it will help my efforts in elephant conservation and allow me to scale up my mission to create more wildlife passages and develop even tighter relationships with leaders.”

“Over the past 20 years working with elephants, I have learnt to recognize 500 individuals through their ear patterns and tusk (长牙) shapes,” he says. “Many of them are like friends, and I know who they are by the way they hold themselves.” Recognizing individual elephants is the key to understanding how elephant society works, which in turn helps conservationists design solutions for coexistence that work for them and humans.

“Our field team collects data on a daily basis from a study elephant population,” David explains. They examine elephant families carefully: all births, disappearances, and soon. “A digital database enables analysis of population dynamics, social structure, individual and population dietary preferences, seasonal dispersal (扩散), paternity from DNA, and deaths from different causes, including illegal hunting. “As a Samburu elder, I am able to converse with all levels of leadership, and inspire behavioural change in local communities,” says David. He and his colleagues were able to persuade community leaders to act to stop elephant hunting in northern Kenya between 2009 and 2013.

“Thanks to the efforts of organisations like Save the Elephants, Kenya Wildlife Service and other partners, hunting has reduced considerably in Kenya,” says David. But these creatures are now facing a new trouble: human-elephant conflict (冲突) resulting from overgrazing and climate change. “Solving this is going to be a huge challenge,” David adds.

8 . The African elephant holds the record for sleeping the least among mammals—about two hours a day—but now, the elephant seal is giving its namesake a run for its money. Recent experiments on elephant seals showed the animals averaged only two hours of sleep per day during the seven months out of the year they spent at sea.

Jessie Kendall-Bar, a Ph. D. at the University of California, discovered elephant seals’ special ability. She found in the open ocean, elephant seals sleep less than two hours per day. While on land, they sleep more than 10 hours a day. “That’s really special,” she says. Previous observations had shown that elephant seals in the open ocean surface for a couple of minutes at a time. So scientists knew that they must be sleeping underwater. But they knew very little about it.

To find out more, Kendall-Bar developed a headcap to gather data about the animals’ brain waves, heart rates, dive (潜水) depths, and movements to determine when they were sleeping. She discovered that seals do not sleep in two-hour bursts. Instead, they take some catnaps (小睡) lasting less than 20 minutes each. Starting at the surface, adult seals take 10-minute dives at great depths, usually from 300 to 1,000 feet.

At this point, the animals enter the first stage of sleep, or slow-wave sleep. Then, they fall into REM sleep, when their bodies turn upside down. It seems REM sleep at great depths is risky because of the inability to escape at that moment. “It is just chilling to imagine an animal doing this underwater in that state.” says study co-author Terrie Williams.

But what’s likely happening is that the seals are sleeping at great depths where their primary hunters - sharks and killer whales - hardly appear. “The elephant seal is basically using its ability to dive really deep as a protective mechanism (机制)”, says Kendall-Bar. “It doesn’t have to keep one eye open or stay awake. It’s sleeping with its entire brain.”

On Monday, the Moscow Zoo started on     1     (it) website a live broadcast (直播) of two giant pandas,     2     arrived from China in late April. The broadcast is around the clock, and the pandas are for a 15-year     3     (science) program.

The zoo has put eight     4     (camera) in the walls of the pandas’ cage. So Ruyi, a three-year old male, and Dingding, a two year-old female, can     5     (watch) from several angles (角度).

“To get familiar with the     6     (usual) habits of the pandas, it is not enough     7     (spend) the whole day at their cage,” General Director of the Moscow Zoo, Svetlana Akulova,     8     (say) on Monday.

“The live broadcast will help correct this situation. Thanks to it, everyone can watch the pandas     9    different times of the day,” she added.

The pandas from Southwest China’s Sichuan Province will spend 15 years at the Moscow Zoo. They are part of the research program between the Moscow Zoo     10     the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

10 . In the 1980s, millions of western monarchs gathered in trees from northern California down to western Mexico. Now, their wintering sites are mostly on California’s central coast.

Western monarch butterflies travel south from the Pacific Northwest to California each winter. They return to the same places and even the same trees, where they gather. The monarchs usually arrive in California at the beginning of November. They spread across the country once warmer weather arrives in March.

The western monarch butterfly population has decreased by more than 99 percent since the 1980s. Another monarch population on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains travels from southern Canada and the northeastern US to spend the winter in western Mexico. Scientists estimate the monarch population in the eastern US has fallen about 80 percent since the mid-1990s.

Monarchs from across the West migrate (迁徙) yearly to about 100 wintering sites along central California’s Pacific coast. One of the best-known wintering places is the Monarch Grove Sanctuary in the city of Pacific Grove.

Pacific Grove, California, known as “Butterfly Town, USA”, has worked for years to help the decreasing monarch population. The city holds a parade to celebrate the butterflies every October. It also bans human interference with the monarchs. The crime carries a $ 1,000 fine.

In 2020, no monarchs appeared in Pacific Grove. But in 2021, an early count found that more than 13,000 of the insects had moved in.

Scientists do not know why the population increased in 2021. But Jepsen, director of Endangered Species at Xerces Society, said it is likely a combination of reasons, including better conditions on their breeding grounds. The non-profit science group Xerces Society carries out the official study every year. Volunteer counters have reported the presence of as many as 50,000 monarchs in the last few weeks.

Monarch butterflies lack legal protection that could keep their territory from being destroyed. Last year, the butterflies were denied federal protection. But the insects are now among the candidates for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.