Tebay, Cumbria: A surprise surplus of Halloween veg on the farm means we’ve got new arrivals During the autumn half-term week, my son and his girlfriend held a “Pumpkin Patch” day on the farm. As well as pumpkins for sale, we had goats, sheep, hens, cows and ponies for children to see. We set up a walk around the farm for children to do, spotting wildlife along the way, with tree-planting at the end of the walk. Each tree had a name tag tied on to it, and the children will be able to come back next year and see how their tree has grown. The wildlife on the farm was very obliging for the open d ..read more

Taronga Wildlife hospital tracked three turtles that had been rescued, with one swimming as far as Longueville Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Endangered green sea turtles spend much of their young lives in close proximity to people, including travelling deep within Sydney harbour, new research suggests. Satellite tracking shows turtles frequenting busy waterways, including the harbour and Parramatta River, around Wollongong harbour, Brisbane Waters near Gosford and up the Hawkesbury River, as far as Cottage Point. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s fr ..read more

The whale breached for about 40 minutes, also performing several pectoral fin slaps and dives for onlookers A humpback whale visiting the waters off Seattle dazzled onlookers Thursday morning with several breaches in the bay just beyond the city’s downtown area. The whale has been spotted for the last three days swimming around Elliott Bay. But on Thursday, the whale breached for about 40 minutes, also performing several pectoral fin slaps and dives. This article was amended on 1 December 2023 after an editing error misidentified the whale in the headline ..read more

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world ..read more

The South African herd represents up to 15% of Africa’s remaining population. Happily, the new owners are willing to spend huge sums for translocations across the continent Every morning, South African conservationist Donovan Jooste looks out on to grasslands populated with some of the 2,000 southern white rhinos currently in his care. Representing 12-15% of Africa’s remaining white rhino population, there are more of the animals on this farm in the North West province of South Africa than can be found in any single wild location across the continent. “It’s definitely a sight. It’s a unique sc ..read more

Scientists studying the birds in Antarctica have found they snooze for 11 hours a day without falling deeply asleep Spending your nights sleeping for just four seconds at a time might sound like a form of torture, but not for chinstrap penguins, which fall asleep thousands of times a day, new research finds. Scientists studying the birds on King George Island in Antarctica found they nod off more than 10,000 times a day, allowing them to keep a constant eye on their nests, protecting eggs and chicks from predators. In total, the birds manage 11 hours of snoozing a day – without ever slipping i ..read more

Border collie Jessie sniffs out elusive species last seen in 1937 among dunes of South Africa An elusive, iridescent golden mole not recorded since before the second world war has been rediscovered “swimming” in the sand near the coastal town of Port Nolloth in north-west South Africa. The De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), previously feared extinct, lives in underground burrows and had not been seen since 1937. It gets its “golden” name from oily secretions that lubricate its fur so it can “swim” through sand dunes. This means it does not create conventional tunnels, making it a ..read more

Hunted almost to extinction for their pelts, the voracious mammals are being reintroduced to their traditional haunts on Canada’s west coast, but some fishing communities fear for their livelihoods The group of otters floats between amber stalks of kelp, preening their coats and foraging for urchins. Sheltered in a natural bay off Haida Gwaii, one of the most unforgiving coastlines on the west coast of Canada, the skittish mammals are hidden – from the fast-moving currents, and from groups that have pledged to shoot them on sight. Generations ago, the global frenzy for pelts pushed northern se ..read more

UN secretary general insists of the 1.5C climate goal: “It is not dead, it’s alive” on day one of summit in Dubai The UN Development Programme has published a video explainer on the issues at play at this year’s Cop climate summit. Take a look if you need a quick and easily absorbed rundown of what delegates will be discussing over the next fortnight. The United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s foremost fossil fuel producing nations, was always going to be an interesting choice for the Cop28 climate talks. Highlighting the apparent contradiction is a tweet from one attendee showing this incon ..read more

Cause of mass stranding of 34 pilot whales on Freycinet Peninsula unclear as authorities say they are unable to remove carcasses Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails,free app or daily news podcast Thirty-four pilot whales were found washed up across a beach on Tasmania’s east coast on Tuesday in what was described as a “confronting” and “devastating” scene. While out training on a boat, local guide Chris Theobald came across an “overnight mass stranding” of more than 30 pilot whales at Bryans beach near the southern end of the Freyc ..read more