The world could be such a nice place if we allowed it. It's all so goddamn unnecessary. There's no need for any of it. It's so beautiful here. It should be so cool to be alive

Tbh this almost makes me want to take up running

Turns out that Oxford is a hot spot for beauty in/of the beasts 🤣 The only reasonable thing is to read them both!

Oh hey, it’s just my new book taking flight into the world - read on to find out why these beautiful beasts deserve so much more from us… Available today in all good bookshops! And don’t take my word for it - New Scientist picked it as one of the best pop-sci books released this month, woohoo! 🥳

And while it’s still February, I’m going to keep bumping this 🤣

The second #kakapo chick of the #kakapo2026 breeding season hatched this morning: Hine Taumai-A1-2026 on Ako's nest on Te Kākahu. We transferred the egg from Anchor two nights ago. This is Ako's first-ever chick, which is just a few hours old in this video. #conservation #birds #parrots

A reminder of one of the loveliest pairs of siblings in the dictionary: ‘muscle’ and ‘mouse’. To the Roman imagination, the flexed biceps of a (typically naked) athlete resembled a rodent scuttling under the skin. ‘Musculus’, in Latin, means ‘little mouse’.

Egg-cellent news! The first California condor eggs of the season have been laid at our wildlife conservation center, and more could be on the way.

‘A charming, entertaining glimpse into the lives of unjustly scorned animals.’ Beauty of the Beasts comes out in the UK on Feb 26th, and in the US on April 28th! 🥳 Pre-orders and shares very welcome! #booksky #nonfiction @chiffchat.bsky.social www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Let’s pretend - the animal version! Fascinating new study finds that Kanzi (the superstar bonobo) can play along on a make believe tea-party, keeping track of imagined juice and grapes. Extremely cool work! 👏 Looking forward to seeing if the same is found in other individuals/species.

Extreme weather disasters and climate tipping points aren't in economic models of the impact of climate change on the global economy The result "is widespread complacency amongst investors and policymakers" We will all suffer as a consequence www.theguardian.com/environment/...

And, incredibly, me! Yes, Beauty of the Beasts is included in New Scientist’s best new popular science books of Feb 2026 🤯 *pinches self*

Veronika has been promoted 😆

‘Why would anybody write a book about the creatures that people don’t like? That’d never sell. Well, reader, I did just that…’ Beauty of the Beasts comes out next month! 🥳 Find out more and pre-order here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beauty-of... 🦈 🐊 🐍 🕷️ 🦟 🐛 🐝 🐀 🪳 @chiffchat.bsky.social

We’re working on a story about how children’s immune systems and microbiomes develop and we want to hear from you. Have you let your kids eat food that was dropped on the ground? 🍭 Argued with grandparents about cleanliness? 🧼 Saw your child do something incredibly gross? 🤢 Call us at 877 4 SCIFRI.

‘The risks have become too extreme to be ignored.’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Haha, these words might come back to bite me 🤣 Though I suspect the lack of engagement is more about my nonexistence here. Fortunately, social media abilities rarely correlate with book writing abilities! But given it comes out 4 weeks today, I’d love a bump, if you didn’t mind sharing the below 🥳

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem. Thank you. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously! 4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!

‘Why would anybody write a book about the creatures that people don’t like? That’d never sell. Well, reader, I did just that…’ Beauty of the Beasts comes out next month! 🥳 Find out more and pre-order here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beauty-of... 🦈 🐊 🐍 🕷️ 🦟 🐛 🐝 🐀 🪳 @chiffchat.bsky.social

Coyotes are such fascinating, maligned animals. As generalists, they survive in every environment, from the wilds of Yellowstone and Yosemite to urban streets and suburban neighborhoods. Now they’re swimming to Bay Area islands. First it was Angel Island… now The Rock? www.sfgate.com/local/articl...

Yes, it’s a cow using a tool! And in a remarkably goal-oriented, flexible way - Veronika appropriately used the bristles end for scratching her back, and the smooth pole end for her delicate under bits. V cool observations on an animal many people think is stupid 👏 www.cell.com/current-biol...

🌊 A historic moment for the ocean. The #HighSeasTreaty has officially entered into force, marking a new era in the protection of our shared ocean. Learn how you can take action for the High Seas: https://highseasalliance.org/

COMING SOON: Pets & their People explores why humans keep animals close, and what our evolving relationships with pets may reveal about ourselves. 🗓️ 11 March – 27 September 2026 📍 Weston Library 🎟️ Free admission Find out more: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/pets-and-their-people

The red dot is a baby North Atlantic right whale trying to migrate up the east coast of the United states. The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor. One collision and the whale is dead. We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍

According to the mining company involved, “The notion the mine can kill an orangutan directly has proven to be quite false.” In other words, ‘No no, it’s nothing to do with us, because didn’t you know that we’re not actually out there bludgeoning orangutans to death?’ 🤦🏻‍♀️

📣 We just released a new free resource at @climatecentral.org - a 72-slide deck introducing key facts about climate change, including its causes, impacts, and solutions. It also comes with speaker notes and links for local storytelling. ➡️ www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt... (English & Spanish)

Worrying reports of bird flu (avian influenza) are coming in, including an outbreak in Whooper Swans in the Fens. Other waterbirds are also being affected, and cases are rising. 📷 Sick Whooper Swan by Kane Brides #UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland

I’m just a poppy, Standing in front of a person asking, Why TF am flowering in November??

In 1850 the weight of all the world's wild mammals equalled the weight of humans and our livestock Today they are outweighed 1 to 20 Reconfiguring life on this planet to produce cheap meat and dairy www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here it is! So happy to announce that my next book, Beauty of the Beasts, will be released by Bloomsbury Wildlife on Feb 26th (April 28th in the US). And I couldn’t be happier with this stunning cover, designed by Abby Cook, which works so well to show a vilified creature in a beautiful way 😍

Despite the global pledge to stop deforestation by 2030, agricultural industries have received $409 BILLION in annual subsidies. 20m acres of forest were cleared last year as a result. We need finance funneled towards climate solutions NOT the problems. #DefundDeforestation https://bit.ly/475IIJh

From poisonings to collisions with power lines, vultures face many threats. But as they decline, so does their ability to control the spread of deadly diseases. Here's how one country is working to save them: https://therevelator.org/saving-zimbabwes-vultures/

🚨 BREAKING: All oceanic devil rays are now Critically Endangered. 🤝 Be part of our #SaveTheMantas campaign: ✔️ Sign the petition: only.one/act/cites-2025 ✔️ Grab a campaign T-shirt, snap a photo, and share it on our campaign page: mantatrust.org/save-the-mantas

🙏 💚

"If we lose hope, we're doomed." We must continue Dr. Jane Goodall's mission and all fight for the future of the planet.

Hi. It's me. 2 weeks later. This is done. 58 frames over 3 seconds, *50* layers in the final image. WOO. This was a long edit, felt like ACTUAL work so unless I get it again with the actual sunset I doubt I'll be editing more like this. Psyched for the final piece tho! 🪶

It’s truly baffling to me that so many of these stories focus on “wow big fish” and not “this is an IUCN Red List Critically Endangered species that is extremely physiologically fragile and often does not survive fishing practices like this” www.mysanantonio.com/news/south-t... 🦑🧪🌎🦈🐠

Wild Reads: 10 New Books that Celebrate Wildlife and Their Environments • The Revelator

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

Hey, that's today! Still some in-person tickets available, and you can stream for only £5. #ornithology #UKbirds #conservation

One of the most joyful times of the year is almost here! 🥳 🐻

Squelching through the soggy bogs on Coll this week we saw quite a lot of grass-of-parnassus - such a beautiful flower 🤩 #wildflowerhour

Today is “drag and tag,” tagging sharks with drag queens while raising money for LGBQT+ youth organizations in Florida! www.scientificamerican.com/article/drag...

368 million birds are estimated to be migrating right now! 🪶

Happy International Vulture Awareness Day to all who celebrate.* (*If you like clean, safe, healthy humans and ecosystems, you should celebrate.) #vultures #birds #nature

It’s #InternationalVultureAwarenessDay, so let’s make a fuss of these phenomenal birds! I took these at the Horstmann Trust last year, and will tell their stories in my (nearly finished!) new book... They deserve so much more recognition for all they do, and up close are utterly charming 😍 #IVAD2025

111 years ago today the last Passenger Pigeon on earth, which we called Martha, died in Cincinnati Zoo at around 12:30pm local time. The most abundant bird species Earth had ever seen had been driven to extinction. markavery.info/2025/09/01/p... #cincinatti #ohio #extinction #birds #martha