15 brutal, savage wildlife photos showcasing wild animals at their most ferocious and powerful
Brutal animals are those defined by their power, aggression, or deadly impact – whether through sheer strength, sharp weapons, or silent disease.
"Kids are super-interested in the natural world." Film-maker Hamza Yassin on lions, hippos… and worms
Celebrated wildlife film-maker Hamza Yassin says we should be doing more to encourage children's love of wildlife
“The baby must cling on for dear life.” A monkey troop need to leap into a croc-infested river. What happens next is astonishing
In footage captured for the BBC’s Earth’s Tropical Islands, proboscis monkeys must take a huge leap of faith
Into the wild: Where to spot rare species in 2026
Adventure on your own terms
Millions of armoured creatures are crawling into this US bay. What happens next is wild
Every April, horseshoe crabs descend on Delaware Bay to spawn, forming the largest horseshoe crab aggregation on the planet.
"It can grab its tail in its mouth and expand like a rubber ring." 7 freaky inflatable animals that can blow themselves up like a balloon...
From defence to display, these inflatable animals have evolved extraordinary ways to puff up their bodies — often with dramatic results
It’s deep enough to hide Mount Kilimanjaro, contains bone-eating worms and is the world’s largest habitat
The fourth of five ocean zones – the abyssopelagic zone or the abyss – stretches from 4,000 to 6,000 metres deep
“Each seal is swimming for its life.” These seals must cross shark-infested waters to find a meal. Will they make it?
In dramatic footage captured for the BBC’s Planet Earth, seals must risk an encounter with hungry great white sharks
It has a dagger beak, red throat and torpedo body – and its eerie cry is echoing across remote lochs
The red-throated diver, or red-throated loon, has one of the most evocative calls in the bird world.
10 rarest dogs in the world, many on the brink of extinction, from the beautiful Ethiopian wolf to the bizarre aquatic bush dog...
Meet the planet’s most elusive canids.
Birds
"The only way a female avoids starvation is by being fed by males hoping to mate with her. Females might have up to five males in attendance..."
Often male birds are more colourful than their female counterparts, but the ecelctus parrot bucks the trend, as zoologist and broadcaster Lucy Cooke explains.
Crow vs raven: what's the difference between these two very similar-looking black birds?
Don't know how to tell a crow from a raven? Stuart Blackman explains how to tell the difference between these two common corvids
What's the slowest bird on the planet? Clue – it's also a pretty slow walker and fairly dumpy...
Contenders, ready! Stuart Blackman ponders which bird would win the slow race of the skies
Oregon’s biggest city was drowning in crow poop. Then a new predator came to town
As thousands of crows darken the winter skies above Portland, Oregon, it makes sense to mind your step
“An entire colony of breeding penguins disappeared.” Bird flu is out of control – now it’s reached the Antarctic
The spread of avian flu to Southern Ocean islands is an alarming sign that the virus is out of control
A great predator has returned the towering cliffs of Yosemite National Park
New peregrine nest sites herald a record-breaking year for the world’s fastest bird.
How to identify wildlife
Red squirrel vs grey squirrel: Think you know how they differ? Think again as the differences between these two squirrels will surprise you
We take a look at how the red squirrel differs to its American grey cousin
Brown rat or water vole: How to tell the difference between these two lookalike-rodents
When all you've seen is a flash of brown fur, it can be hard to know whether it was a water vole or rat. Though the two species tend to live in different habitats, there are areas where they overlap, potentially leading to cases of mistaken identity. So how do you tell rats and water voles apart?
Mink or otter? What's the difference between these two slippery, semiaquatic lookalikes?
How do you tell the difference between otters and mink?
LRPs, PG Tips and Jizz: Cracking the secret language of birders
You’re sitting in a hide and overhear other birders talking. The conversation ranges from ‘LRPs’ and ‘roosting Leos’ and you scratch your chin as you try to decipher their code – welcome to the world of birding jargon.
It's the fastest animal in the world and its deadly claws can catch prey mid-air: Meet one of the world's most incredible birds of prey
Peregrines are the ultimate urban predator. Learn all about them, including how to spot them ‘stooping’ to catch prey
Save 30% when you subscribe to BBC Wildlife Magazine, plus receive Simon Barnes’ latest release, Spring is the Only Season
Save 30% when you subscribe to BBC Wildlife Magazine, plus receive Simon Barnes’ latest release, Spring is the Only Season
Plants
It rains poison, blinds on contact – and its fruit could kill: Inside the ‘Tree of Death'
"The ghostly trunks of a vast forest, submerged for tens of thousands of years, rose out of the sediment. These mighty trees had lived for hundreds of years before their watery grave"
The mystery of 60,000-year-old trees that still smell like fresh incense
"It explodes with a loud bang, flinging toxic seeds at speeds of up to 150MPH." 8 weirdest, wackiest trees on the planet, including one that walks...
Meet some of the weirdest and oddest trees on the planet
"It looks like an extra-terrestrial being that fell to Earth and behaves like a subterranean vampire." 10 weirdest, wackiest plants on the planet...
Meet some of the weirdest and oddest plants on Earth.
