Animals

Why Massachusetts loves Nibi the beaver and is fighting to keep her out of the wild
For the past several weeks, the beloved beaver has been embroiled in a court battle over whether she should return to the wild or stay at the rescue center where she has lived since she was a newborn.
Birders argue over plan to change dozens of bird names
On Thursday, a major birding society will discuss how to go about changing potentially offensive bird names. There's resistance to the original plan to rename all birds named after people.
50 years and flying: The Raptor Center hosts public celebration, bird release for its anniversary
The Raptor Center is marking 50 years of helping Minnesota’s birds of prey. Lori Arent, interim executive director, joined Morning Edition Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about its history and a free, public celebration happening on Saturday.
The slowest of trailblazers: Better DNA testing means trafficked turtles can go home
New technology is making it easier to find the origins of trafficked wildlife so they can be released back to the habitat they came from, instead of languishing for decades as sometimes happens.
A 'golden age' of rat research may be here. What the often unwanted companions can teach us about us
Rat and human lives have long intersected, but there's little relatively little research about them. Thanks to advances in genomics and paleoarcheology mean a lot more study may be on the horizon.
If you’re gonna keep a goat in St. Paul: What I learned about the mini farm animal craze
Americans are showing more interest in owning miniature cows, goats, alpacas and other diminutive farm animals. It is a trend driven by hobby farmers looking for easy-to-manage livestock and homesteaders who like the idea of having a petite pig or a scaled-down sheep as a pet.