Owls are associated with wisdom in some cultures, think of the wise old owl in the Winnie the Pooh stories. But, sadly, those stories are about as close as some kids are ever likely come to the birds. Not everyone in South Africa would see this as a big loss, though. Owls are feared in [...]

The Vhembe region of Limpopo, which includes the Mapungubwe World Heritage site and the northern part of the Kruger National Park, was declared a Unesco biosphere reserve this week. South Africa now has six biosphere reserves.

Environmentalists concerned about the future of the lesser flamingos at Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam – one of only four sites in the whole of Africa where these birds breed – received some bad news this week. Their appeal against a decision to allow a massive housing development to be built in close proximity to the dam has been overturned.

After some high drama in the Southern Ocean, the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling vessel Steve Irwin and her crew yesterday withdrew from the Japanese whaling fleet and started the return trip to Australia after attempting to obstruct the fleet’s operations for more than a month and save the lives of many whales, says the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

South Africa’s only lesser flamingo breeding colony is well into its second successful breeding season, but threats remain from deteriorating water quality and development. Now a new live streaming webcam on the breeding island on Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam lets you watch the birds from your computer.

The City of Cape Town has produced a fabulous booklet – City of Cape Town Nature Reserves. A network of amazing urban biodiversity – which gives information on 24 small reserves and natural areas spread throughout the city that are easily accessible to residents or visitors. It’s packed with useful information on the species you’ll find in the reserves as well as what you can do when you’re there and how you can get involved in helping to conserve these places.