wildlife

Oct 17, 2016

Citizen Scientists Needed to Find NC’s Candid Critters

North Carolina scientists are looking for volunteers to help with the largest-ever camera trap study of wildlife. Find out how you can get involved. 

Oct 3, 2016

Study Sniffs Out Effects of Dogs, Humans on Wildlife

Exploring a protected forest like Umstead State Park in Raleigh with your dog sounds like a relaxing way to enjoy nature. But how much does your visit disturb wildlife? 

Jul 5, 2016

Does Biomass Harvest Affect Wildlife?

Researchers counted mammals, reptiles and amphibians on clearcut loblolly plantation sites in Georgia and North Carolina to find out how removing woody debris affected wildlife. 

Jun 7, 2016

Hiking, Hunting Have Minor Effects on Mammals in Protected Eastern Forests

Six-state study finds that recreation had less of an impact on wildlife distribution than factors such as forested habitat and housing density. 

May 27, 2016

A Cougar’s Epic Journey East

A male cougar's 1,500-mile trek shows mountain lions can get to the East but they won't find company of their own kind. 

May 4, 2016

NC State Study Asks Kids to Choose Wildlife Conservation Priorities

Future wildlife decisions could be in good hands. Elementary students’ priorities for saving wildlife mirrored those of conservation biologists. 

May 4, 2016

Call of the Wild

Private support at NC State has enabled Sam Freeze to turn his love for wildlife into a career as a conservationist and bat biologist. 

Jan 21, 2016

Evolutionary Clock Ticks for Snowshoe Hares Facing Climate Change

NC State research shows a mismatch in coat colors is deadly for snowshoe hares. Will they be able to adapt in time? 

Jun 30, 2015

Where the Wild Things Aren’t: Cats Avoid Places Coyotes Roam

An NC State animal tracking expert says the first large-scale study of 74 million U.S. domestic cats shows they hunt close to home. 

Mar 25, 2015

A New Top Dog in North Carolina

Coyotes — newcomers to North Carolina — may fill the role wolves once did. 

Mar 2, 2015

Tracking Bald Eagles in Coastal North Carolina

NC State researchers are part of a team that’s using state-of-the-art GPS transmitters to track bald eagles in coastal North Carolina. 

Jun 23, 2014

Carnivore Mystery: Why Fishers Thrive in East, Not West

For weasel-like fishers it’s a good time to live in the East. The fierce little carnivores are reclaiming historic habitats, including the Bronx, New York, where police have photographed one fisher. But it’s a different story for fishers in the West, which haven’t been as successful in repopulating areas they once roamed in the Pacific… 

Feb 27, 2014

Caught on Camera: Tree-Dwelling Orangutans on Ground

When researchers in Borneo set up camera traps to monitor tropical mammals on the ground, they didn’t expect to be photobombed by orangutans. In the wild, humans rarely see the red apes come down from the trees, says Dr. Rahel Sollmann, an NC State postdoctoral researcher in fisheries and wildlife. Sollmann helped analyze a database of… 

Feb 11, 2014

A Wealth of Wildlife, Right in the Backyard

Zoologist Roland Kays travels the world to study rare species, so he calls it a “cool surprise” to find a wealth of wildlife in the suburban backyards of Raleigh and Durham, N.C. “As scientists, we’ve traditionally thought of residential areas as non-habitat,” says Kays, a faculty member at NC State University and the North Carolina Museum… 

Jun 18, 2013

Scientists Seek to Solve Oystercatcher Mystery – and You Can Watch Online

Oystercatchers are beautiful birds, but to biologists they are also a mystery waiting to be solved. And the solution will be gradually revealing itself online over the next couple of years. Wildlife biologists are particularly interested in oystercatchers because they are a good indicator species for determining whether a natural space is being well managed.…