2026

A bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) at the University of Mississippi Field Station. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons  When Crown Prince Akihito visited Chicago in October 1960, his sole request was to visit the city’s Shedd Aquarium. The 26-year-old heir to the Japanese throne was already a serious student of fish biology, and the aquarium stop was less…

Jim and Betty Woodford. Image Credit: Cedar Run Wildlife refuge In 1951, Jim and Betty Woodford bought 185 acres in what was then the largely undeveloped Medford Township, New Jersey, hoping to create a summer retreat. But the land became the foundation for a lifelong commitment to wildlife. According to the Cedar Run website, the…

Ferrets were released on Rathlin Island in the mid-1980s, off the north coast of Northern Ireland, to deal with the island’s rabbit population | Wikimedia Commons Ferrets were released on Rathlin Island in the mid-1980s, off the north coast of Northern Ireland, to deal with the island’s rabbit population. The ferrets established a feral population…

In the 1990s, a predatory flatworm was released in Samoa to control giant African snails An aggressive predatory flatworm introduced to Pacific islands during the 1990s to control agricultural pests has pushed native land snail species toward extinction, turning a planned biological control program into an ecological disaster. The New Guinea flatworm (Platydemus manokwari) was…