British scientists are attributing the spread of the rare brown argus butterfly in the U.K. to warmer summer temperatures, according to a new study published in the journal Science on Friday. The butterfly, once rare in Britain, was historically limited to sunny areas in the southeast areas of the country. As summer temperatures have risen steadily since the '90s, the species has expanded more than 40 miles north in the U.K., about 2.3 times the average pace of other insects. The butterfly's d... Read More
Visitors to the Edinburgh Zoo on Monday were forced to take shelter in the monkey enclosure after a family of large red river hogs escaped their pen and had to be subdued with tranquilizer darts. Zoo staffers were transferring the two 200-pound adult hogs and two adolescent hogs to a private collection when one of the adults broke through a barrier and the rest of the clan followed suit. Staff were seen chasing the animals with brooms before finally shooting them with a tranquilizer gun. Zoo p... Read More
Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson have made the first ascent of the Tooth Traverse in Alaska's Ruth Gorge, climbing some five miles of rock and ice across the Moose's Tooth massif. "It took me five days and lots of digging to cross this incredible skyline.... Hands down one of the most fulfilling mountain adventures I've had," Wilkinson wrote. Ozturk and Wilkinson made two previous attempts at the traverse, with a third canceled in 2011 when Ozturk broke his neck and sustained a head injury i... Read More
On Tuesday, Luxembourg cyclist Andy Schleck received the winner's yellow jersey for the 2010 Tour de France, four months after Alberto Contador was stripped of the title for doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sport found Contador guilty of doping in February, banning him from cycling for two years and withdrawing his victories in the 2010 Tour de France as well as the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Almost two years after the 2010 Tour, Schleck, who finished second, put on the yellow jersey in a special... Read More
On Saturday, in the last major summit push of the season, the Eddie Bauer First Ascent team led by Dave Hahn successfully summited Everest via the South Col route. The ascent marks Hahn's 14th Everest summit, the most of any Western climber. Conrad Anker, who had originally intended to climb the West Ridge route on the National Geographic-The North Face team, also summited from the South Col, doing so without supplemental oxygen. Speed climber Chad Kellogg, who was attempting to break the spee... Read More
