Flora & Fauna: Chunk, the Fat Bear Week winner; learning bird songs; deterring wolves; nabbing feral pigs

Chunk's broken jaw didn't stop him from feasting on sockeye salmon and gaining hundreds of pounds this summer. 
(Photo by Christine Loberg, NPS)

During this year's Fat Bear Week, many Alaskan brown bears made the salmon run at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park the place where they packed on the pounds eating as much sockeye salmon as possible. But there was one bear that was more dedicated to getting his unfair share of salmon: Chunk. "A bear weighing in at over 1,200 pounds — with a broken (but healing) jaw — is the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion," reports Ava White of NPR. "It’s the first time number 32, or as he’s aptly nicknamed Chunk, has been dubbed the fattest bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve."

An unlikely union between two plants created the potato, affectionately known as the spud. "The origin of the potato has long puzzled scientists. Genetically, it is a close relative of the tomato. But in appearance, it resembles three potato-like species found in South America known as Etuberosum," reports Aylin Woodward of The Wall Street Journal. "The problem is, Etuberosum don’t have tubers — the parts of the potato plant that grow underground, and that we eat baked, mashed or fried. . . . An examination of these DNA sequences revealed that between eight million and nine million years ago, Etuberosum and an ancient tomato exchanged genes." And today's spud was born.

Watching and listening to birds is a delightful hobby that can be enhanced by learning to identify birds by their songs. "Learning bird songs is the difference between 'hearing' and 'listening,'" writes ornithologist Chris Lituma for The Conversation. "Listening requires full attention and limiting distractions. It means using your ears to pick up different patterns in the sounds that birds make. Every person has the capacity to listen and learn patterns in sound." Read all of Lituma's tips for learning bird songs and sounds here.

In this remote arctic town, it's too cold for trees, but strawberries grow by the dozens. "A high-tech greenhouse brings fresh produce to Gjoa Haven, an Inuit hamlet in Canada’s Arctic whose residents have little experience growing plants," reports Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times. "The greenhouse, researchers hope, will eventually provide an alternative to perishable goods flown in at great cost from southern Canadian cities — and a healthier diet for the Inuit, the only people who have lived in Canada’s Arctic for centuries."

The wolves have learned to associate the drones
with people. (Illustration by A. Dixon, Offrange)

In most states, gray wolves are protected, which means livestock owners have had to find creative ways to keep wolves from preying on their cattle. While human presence and voices remain the most effective wolf deterrent, it's often not feasible, so some ranchers are experimenting with drones combined with human voices from speakers to deter wolves from grazing cattle, reports Rose Garrett for Offrange. Dustin Ranglack, predator project leader for the National Wildlife Research Center, told Garrett, "The wolves in this area have had exposure to the drone, and they will often already be moving away when we approach them. They’ve already come to associate the drone with people, and we’re not necessarily having to use the human voice."

When feral pigs invade the countryside, they go hog wild, eating farm crops, tearing up the ground, prolifically reproducing and spreading diseases. States have been under pressure to find ways to oust unwanted swine, but few have been as successful as Missouri. "Alan Leary, the feral hog coordinator with the Missouri Department of Conservation, says since 2016 the state’s population of feral hogs has dropped 80%," reports Chris Six of Farm Progress. The state formed a multi-agency partnership that "uses traps, drones, helicopters and more to find and eliminate the feral hogs."

Flora & Fauna: Joyrides for rats; feral pigs forage through Hawaii; serviceberry tree history; a unique "comeback" bird

Rats learned to love driving and would opt to take longer routes to get to their destination.
(Photo by Kelly Lambert, CC BY-ND)

People aren't the only ones who love to go for a drive. Rats do, too. "I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life," writes Kelly Lambert for The Conversation. "My colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat. . . . Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the 'lever engine' before their vehicle hit the road. Why was that?" Read the research here.

In the lowlands of Hawaii, things are going to pigs. Feral pigs have invaded six of the state's islands with shocking efficiency and left a path of overwhelmed ecosystems in their wake. "Their impact is profound on Kaua‘i. Its mountains are home to 255 unique native plant species and 208 native birds, including 11 found nowhere else on Earth," reports Brendan Borrell of Hakai magazine. "Their wallows breed mosquitoes that spread avian malaria, contributing to 10 of Kaua‘i’s 16 native honeycreepers [birds] going extinct. . . . Despite the damage that feral pigs are causing, you can’t just shoot them on sight . . ."

Serviceberry trees are smaller trees native to North
America. (The Spruce graphic)

Like humans, a tree species has a history. The serviceberry tree was once common in the United States, particularly in colonial New England, where its bloom cycle indicated when the soil was soft enough to begin digging graves for the many settlers who didn't make it through the winter. "Preachers then went from settlement to settlement to perform funeral services," writes Jessica Damiano of The Associated Press. "Because it’s one of the earliest spring bloomers, the serviceberry is an important food source for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Later, its berries sustain dozens of bird species and mammals. . . .There are more than 20 species of the North American native tree, which is sadly underused." Here are four favorites.

Whether it's that hefty frozen turkey, a delectable ham or ground lamb ready to be transformed into meatballs, the holidays can be a special time to be thankful for the meat on our tables. As an act of gratefulness for farm animals, a donation to an animal charity that works to make the lives of factory animals better may be in order. "Animal Charity Evaluators, a California-based nonprofit, puts out an annual guide for recommended animal charities," report Sigal Samuel and Kenny Torrella of Vox. "ACE researches and promotes the most high-impact, effective ways to help animals." Find this year's list here.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers nest in family units.
(Adobe Stock photo)

Americans love a comeback, especially when the returning member is cute, social and unique. "The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one," reports Christina Larson of The Associated Press. Will Harlan of the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, told Larson, "It’s an amazing bird that has an unusual communal nesting structure. All nests usually cluster in the same tree, and the birds stick together as a family unit.”

Hazelnut trees are poised to flourish where they once died by the thousands. "Bullied by blight, the filbert has long failed to find a home on farms in the eastern U.S.," reports Ben Seal of Ambrook Research. "All across the eastern United States, hazelnuts had been cut down by Eastern filbert blight, or EFB, an endemic disease that chokes life from a tree. . . .But now, after nearly three decades of developing a way for farmers to overcome EFB. . . . A collection of four cultivars, [was] released in 2020, that can withstand even the intense pressure on [a] New Jersey research farm, where numerous strains of the blight are present."

AI is helping wolf trackers without using radio collars.
(Photo by ML, Unsplash)

New AI tracking technology is making it easier for wolves and ranchers near Yellowstone Park to coexist. "After 30 years of using traditional boots-on-the-ground observations, researchers are collecting wolf calls in hopes of honing population estimates, tracking wolves without using radio collars, and reducing conflict between the animals and ranchers," reports Devin Farmiloe of The Washington Post. "Learning more about how wolves communicate from a young age can shed light on pack dynamics that wildlife managers can use to better track and protect the species."

Flora & Fauna: Bee slaps ant off the plank; grasshopper sparrows are back; boars aren't boring -- they're dangerous

This bee has had enough of ants trying to sneak into
her hive. (Popular Science photo)

Humans aren't the only ones who reach maximum tolerance and get slap-happy -- animals do it, too. How about this real-life wing-drop-swing-swipe maneuver a bee puts on an unsuspecting ant? The Night at the Museum's smack-it-out scene between Capuchin monkey "Dexter" and Ben Stiller's night guard character is a play-by-play theatrical version of living creatures being frustrated. We all get frustrated. For people, humor and possibly catharsis can help.

A steer and a cow crossed the road to munch on grass on the other side. The traveling adventure of two curious bovines from rural western New York may sound harmless. It wasn't. When they "strayed from their pasture, they set off a chaotic chain of events involving death threats, chicken rustlers and Joaquin Phoenix," reports Christopher Maag of The New York Times. "The town of Newfane, N.Y., hasn’t been the same since."

Very hungry spined sea urchins 'clean' coral by eating
harmful algae growth. (University of Florida photo via Hakai)

A spiky sea animal is helping Caribbean coral reefs recover from an onslaught of smothering algae. "Long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum) play a vital role in Caribbean coral ecosystems," reports Lisa S. Gardiner of Hakai magazine. "Dark and rotund with spines radiating in all directions, some as long as knitting needles, the urchins eat massive amounts of algae that would otherwise smother corals or prevent coral larvae from affixing to rocks and growing into colonies." Some experts call these busy creatures the "janitors of the reef because they're so efficient at cleaning reef surfaces."

Birds can be incredibly resilient, but in the case of Florida's grasshopper sparrow, scientists intervened. "Numbers of the Florida grasshopper sparrow, seen only in prairies in central regions of the state, dwindled so severely by 2015, mostly through habitat loss, that authorities decided to remove remaining breeding pairs into captivity," reports Richard Luscomb of The Guardian. "Their gamble was rewarded." Experts released their 1,000th bird back into the wild . . . "adding to an increasingly stable population that researchers believe has turned the tide towards the species’ survival."

Feral pigs are fierce and carry diseases.
(Graphic by Adam Dixon, Ambrook Research)

Worried about shark season? Maybe another animal is a bigger danger. "Scientists determined feral pig attacks are more than three times deadlier to humans than sharks worldwide," reports Emma Glassman-Hughes of Ambrook Research. "That, coupled with feral hogs’ capacity for carrying disease, has raised their profile from farm pest to existential threat. But not enough people seem to understand the gravity of the situation, according to experts — and municipalities are struggling to control it."

Silver carp jump in the Fox River in Illinois.
(Photo by Ryan Hagerty, Fish  & Wildlife Service via the Louisiana Illuminator)

Winner, winner, Asian carp for dinner. Sound yummy? Midwesterners working to keep the invasive fish from establishing itself in the Great Lakes hope so. "Silver carp particularly represent a huge threat to the fisheries in the Great Lakes. . . . One way to get the silver carp population under control seems relatively simple – eat the carp," reports Elise Plunk of the Louisiana Illuminator. Americans aren't convinced Asian carp is a great dinner entre, but marketers are working to change consumer opinion. "Creative cooking, such as making carp burgers with dill pickles and cheddar or New Orleans-style carp po’boys, when paired with the knowledge that eating carp helps the environment, could be more palatable to Americans."