Posts by Jamie Maddison
Celebrate Valentine's Day with a homemade symbol of nature's love
As anyone who read yesterday’s article will know, the Japanese, or red-crowned, crane is widely regarded as a symbol of love, luck and fidelity. In fact—according to Japanese lore—if a hard working and dedicated individual folds one thousand origami paper cranes, then they’ll be granted a single wish come true or a lifetime of good fortune. So whilst it may … Continued
Illustrator creates beautiful images of nature's families for his newborn daughter
What would you draw if your child had just been born? For Newcastle-based illustrator Michael Sutton it was a beautiful array of different animal families. The designer, who currently works at Sumo, explained: ‘I’m a big lover of nature and I originally created those illustrations for my daughter. She had just been born and I really wanted to create a series of illustrations … Continued
Why this adventurer followed Darwin's footsteps up a threatened Argentinian river
At the end of November 2014, Leon McCarron and Tom Allen set off for Patagonia to follow the Santa Cruz river across Argentina. Inspired by the story of the first European crew to explore the area in 1834—which included on its roster a very young and altogether impressionable Charles Darwin—Leon, Tom and their friend Jose used the expedition’s old diaries to … Continued
These beautiful illustrations of woodland wildlife are simply serene
If you read down this article today, you’re sure of a big surprise. As you’ll go down to the woods today, and see creatures in many a painted guise. We recently stumbled upon this amazing portfolio of forest-animal artwork, and simply had to ask the artist if they’d be willing to let us feature them … Continued
Saving Zambia’s wild animals through the airwaves
‘My name is Britius Munkombwe and I’m 37 years old. I was born in Zambia and have lived here my whole life.’ ‘I have a Grade 12 level education and am currently studying for a diploma in Project Management. I have received comprehensive training in community mobilisation, community based natural resource management, human elephant conflict mitigation, and various HIV … Continued
Amazing double-exposure gifs explore the often sad, sometimes beautiful, relationship between Man and Nature
The relationship between humans, animals and the environment is a complex one; sometime beautifully harmonious, at other times it is completely devastating and unequal. In his free time, Ankara born and Instanbull based art director Said Dağdevire likes to explore the complexities of our interaction with the natural world—through the medium of double exposure images and cinematographic gifs. ‘I … Continued
Meet the NGO protecting Zambia's orphaned elephants
Zambia is home to amazingly vast array of wildlife but, like other African countries, human-animal conflict and the insidious presence of poaching has left its mark on the nation’s beautiful and diverse animal populations. At Love Nature, we don’t just want to capture footage of amazing creatures such as the African elephant, we also want … Continued
Prophet and Loss: Charles Rothschild and the 284 special sites that kept Britain wild
Britain owes a lot to Charles Rothschild. Banker, entomologist, member of the Rothschild family, Charles is credited with establishing the UK’s first nature reserve—Wicken Fen, near Ely, in 1899—and for spearheading the nation’s fledging conservation movement over a century ago. Now, 100 years on, author Simon Barnes reveals the fascinating story of how we began to cherish our wild places in … Continued
Following the team filming the animals (Or, a Scottish adventure in the field with Love Nature)
The rain blurs the twin humps of a Bactrian camel, standing motionless at the back of its enclosure; watching our lone car trundle down a muddy road. The downpour, a product of erratic storms breaking over the nearby Cairngorm National Park, is in fact obscuring every detail of the place we’re approaching. It’s eerily quiet … Continued
This British explorer shares his experiences alone inside the world's largest forest (and no, it's not the Amazon)
As anyone who’s ever lost a game of Risk will know, Asia’s a big place, and there’s no bigger geographical region on the continent than Siberia. Covering more than five million square miles, this vast expanse of land first claimed by the Russian Tsars around the 17th century is also home to the world’s largest … Continued
David Bowie and the spiders from Malaysia
Web browsers and television sets flicked to life this morning to announce the death of music legend David Bowie. The 69-year-old—renowned for his visionary musical experimentation across glam rock, art rock, soul, hard rock, dance pop, punk and electronica—died today after an 18-month battle with cancer. Bowie’s artistic breakthrough came with 1972’s The Rise and … Continued
To celebrate Christmas, here's our 10 most popular articles from 2015
It’s Christmas day; you’re probably gathered around the tree right now, swapping presents and preparing for the sumptuous feast of food to follow. But to the natural world, today is the same as any other day and that means—at least for the northern hemisphere—surviving another 24 hours of winter’s bleak embrace. Mother Nature may not stop … Continued
Why primates don't make good pets (and other interesting facts), as explained by the co-creator of Monkey Day
Every year without fail the calendar rolls round to December 14th, which just so happens to be Monkey Day. It’s an unofficial holiday, celebrated by pranksters and primate lovers right across the planet. First started by illustrator Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin in 2000, the day has grown in leaps and bounds since then, capturing the hearts of internet … Continued
The magical footage of 2000 beluga whales playing together that simply needs to be watched
Spots of bright white fleck an otherwise calm and turquoise sea in Canada’s far north. They are beluga whales—over 2000 of them—caught on camera frolicking about in Cunningham Inlet last summer, the edited footage recently published online. Arctic adventure tour guide Nansen Weber captured the footage whilst on a mission to film the beauty of the … Continued
Under the lens: Peacock mantis shrimp
Kay Burn Lim is an aerial and underwater videographer currently shooting out on location in Indonesia’s Lembeh Straits for the upcoming Love Nature show ‘Strange Creatures’ Famed as having some of the best ‘muck diving’ in the world, the straits are a macro-heaven full of tiny, unusual and curious critters, perfect for this particular assignment. … Continued
'Save the forests, save the planet'—advocates' collective message to UN Climate Summit
Over 30 forest advocates from the upper-echelons of conservation, charity, diplomacy, politics and business recently came together to voice a collective message for country leaders, gathered this week in Paris for the COP21 UN Climate Summit. Titled ‘STOP THE BURNING‘, the film takes less than nine minutes to outline the harrowing facts surrounding global deforestation and the devastating impact Slash … Continued
The world's oldest tracked bird is ready to have another chick, her 37th
Wisdom is a Laysan albatross and—at the grand age of 64—the world’s oldest living tracked bird. She was recently spotted at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge with a mate, following a year away. First tagged in 1956, when she was likely five-years-old, Wisdom has raised an estimated 36 chicks in the six long decades … Continued
No cause for alarm: This is just a half-mile long spiderweb
The ground lay covered in a beautiful coat of gentlest white, glittering serenely in dawn’s early light. But this isn’t frost. This is North Memphis, Tennessee, and the city—rather than being in a state of deep freeze—is actually covered in a spiderweb a half-mile long. When the gigantic spiderweb—and ‘millions’ of spiders—was first spotted, residents … Continued
337 whales have died in the largest mass-stranding known to science
During of a routine aerial research mission last summer, scientists flying over a remote fjord in Chilean Patagonia spotted something below that was not only entirely unexpected, it was also truly shocking: 337 dead whales. They were witnessing the grizzly and decaying aftermath of the biggest whale stranding event ever observed. What’s even more alarming is that—as … Continued
Facial-cleansing routines are harming so many fish that even this cosmetics industry body says it should be stopped
A major cosmetics industry association has made a big move towards reducing plastic pollution in the world’s oceans after recommending that its 4,000 members phase out the use of microplastics in wash-off cosmetic and personal care products. The recommendation by Cosmetics Europe—the ‘voice of Europe’s EUR 58.1 billion cosmetic, toiletry and perfumery industry’—was cautiously welcomed by … Continued
Africa's vultures are circling towards extinction, a new study warns
One of nature’s most iconic birds—the vultures of Africa—is now in serious danger of vanishing from the continent completely, a new study reports. The assessment, carried out by BirdLife International, discovered that six of Africa’s 11 vulture species are now at risk of extinction. The drastic population decline is thought to be the result of … Continued
Perfectly preserved: 10,000-year-old lion cubs discovered in the Siberian permafrost
Siberia’s permafrost throws up all sorts of oddities from time to time, from wooly mammoth carcasses, to the remains of ancient equine species. But in an extraordinary turn of events, Russian palaeontologists have just discovered what it is being called ‘the most perfectly preserved remains of cave lions ever unearthed.’ The two long-dead cubs, thoughts to … Continued
Monkey trouble: The plight of primates behind closed doors
A new campaign has been launched to highlight the ongoing welfare concerns of monkeys and other primates kept confined and isolated in homes right across Britain. An estimated 5,000 primates are kept as pets in the UK and rescue groups such as Wild Futures and the RSPCA receive approximately one call a week relating to the welfare … Continued
This little koala is the most adorable hugger on the internet
We all have those moments where the only thing that’ll make the world a better place is a good hearty hug, and this little marsupial is no exception. The baby koala, named Imogen, is seen exploring her new home in a koala sanctuary for the first time. Then all of a sudden—perhaps made nervous by … Continued
Lost baby bat is rescued by mum and given a big worried hug of relief
A baby fruit bat lies on the concrete floor, desperately calling out for its mother in the darkness; it’s a scene that even the most hardhearted of watchers will struggle not to feel concern over. Luckily this story has a happy ending when—hearing the distress calls—the juvenile’s mother sweeps into the rescue, giving the scared baby … Continued
Africa’s biggest elephant is killed by a German hunter, who paid $60,000 to do it
In a rather macabre turn of events, one of Africa’s largest elephants has been shot dead by a German hunter, less than three months after the killing of Cecil the Lion caused international outrage amongst animal lovers. The killing is believed to have occurred on October 8 on a private hunting estate bordering Gonarezhou National … Continued
