This piece comes to us from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). To honor Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, WCS and Nature are sharing stories of nature and conservation.

When Samuel Ramsey was a child, he was afraid of bugs. But a trip to the library with his mother changed everything and led him to become a bee entomologist. He grew up gay in a non-affirming ...

While nearly 100 known rhinoceros species have existed throughout the eons, there are currently five species of living rhinos. Two rhino species can be found in Africa and three species can be found ...

There are two species of camel: the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) and the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius). About 90% of the world’s camels are dromedary camels, also known as the Arabian ...

While they share their name with black-and-white giant pandas, they are not closely related. Previously, red pandas were classified as part of the Procyonidae family, which includes raccoons and their ...

In 1893, a bounty hunter named Ernest Thompson Seton journeyed to the untamed canyons of New Mexico on a mission to kill a dangerous outlaw. Feared by ranchers throughout the region, the outlaw wasn’t ...

Leopards are the smallest of the large cats, which includes lions, tigers, and jaguars. Female leopards weigh 46 to 132 pounds and males weigh 80 to 165 pounds. They average 28 inches at the shoulder ...

Capybaras are the largest rodent species. An adult capybara weighs 60 to 174 pounds, depending on the sex. They measure 3.2 to 4.2 feet in length and measure 1.6 to 2 feet at shoulder height. The ...

Puffins are small seabirds that vary slightly in size depending on the species. The tufted puffin is slightly larger than the other species, weighing 18.3 to 35.3 ounces and measuring 14.2 to 15.8 ...

The axolotl is a type of salamander. It has a long tail, flat head, and four lizard-like limbs, which it uses to move around the lake floor. But unlike other salamanders, axolotls are neotenic, ...

There are two species of elephant seals: northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) and southern and southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). Elephant seals are the largest extant ...

Bats comprise the order Chiroptera, stemming from Greek origin meaning “hand-wing” to describe the mammal’s unique anatomical feature. The order is the second-largest order of mammals, following only ...