This is how Baby Giraffes sleep. Super important stuff for you to see right now.

Western black rhino declared extinct. “The subspecies of the black rhino — which is classified as ‘critically endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species — was last seen in western Africa in 2006. The IUCN warns that other rhinos could follow saying Africa’s northern white rhino is ‘teetering on the brink of extinction’ while Asia’s Javan rhino is ‘making its last stand’ due to continued poaching and lack of conservation.”

Brazil’s land of the jaguar. “Situated south of the Amazon, the lesser-known Pantanal is the world’s largest freshwater wetland. It covers an area roughly half the size of France within the Upper Paraguay River Basin, extending over the border into Paraguay and Bolivia. Home to one of the greatest concentrations of tropical wildlife in the western hemisphere, the region is the best place in South America to see some of the continent’s most iconic birds and beasts. The Pantanal is also the last stronghold of the jaguar, and with an estimated 4,000 to 7,000 animals in the region (compared to less than 50,000 scattered across the Americas), it is home to the highest density of these majestic big cats anywhere in the world.”

Old military bunkers could house bats threatened by deadly fungus. “Decommissioned military bunkers on national wildlife refuges could be transformed into artificial hibernation chambers for wintering bat populations devastated by the lethal fungus known as white-nose syndrome, according to an investigation by federal biologists. The deadly bat epidemic, which was discovered in New York in 2006, has now been confirmed in five Canadian provinces and 22 states as far west as Missouri. It has killed mostly little brown bats — one of the most common mammals in North America — which have lost an estimated 20% of their population in the northeastern United States.”

Photo credit:  birdfarm via Flickr