A European wild cat was nearly extinct. Now, it is making a comeback. The Iberian lynx is no longer classified as endangered, with one group calling it the "greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation."

In 2002 there were only about 60 adult Iberian lynx in Portugal and Spain, and the species was labeled "critically endangered." After a lot of hard work, there are now more than 2000 young and adult Iberian lynx on the Iberian Peninsula.

"If you shoot him, I'll shoot you": The hostage who made sure Ned Kelly survived his last stand. Constable Hugh Bracken, who insisted the infamous bushranger be captured alive, has been shunned by history. Now there's a push to honour his actions.

Fruit tree netting that can entangle flying foxes and birds now banned in Canberra backyards. Fruit tree netting with large holes is now prohibited in Canberra backyards, with residents facing fines of up to $800 if caught using it. Netting must now have a mesh size of 5mm by 5mm or smaller.

Why this sunken island is changing the way we think about myths. Legend has it a jealous husband used a wave curse to sink Teonimenu into the ocean forever. Scientists have worked out what really happened.

A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism.

How this remote Indigenous community has reduced every resident's power bill by 70 per cent. An Indigenous-owned solar farm, the first to be connected to a power grid, has been opened in the Northern Territory remote community of Marlinja.

The forgotten political warrior whose letter to King George V helped Aboriginal kids back into schools. A woman whose great-grandmother refused to give up on better access to education says acknowledgement of her family's New South Wales south coast healing place has brought a sense of justice.

In 1926, a Yuin woman from Moruya on the NSW south coast sat down to pen a letter to the King. Jane Duren was writing to King George V asking for her grandchildren to be allowed to attend Batemans Bay Public School. That letter, signed and stamped, would be received by Buckingham Palace, endorsed by the Australian Governor-General, and end up as an important artefact of cultural change in the state's archives. "I beg to state that it is months and months since those children were at school and it is a shame to see them going about without education," she wrote. "Your Majesty, we have compulsory education. Why are they not compelled to attend school?" Up until the 1970s, an Indigenous student could be removed from a school if a non-Indigenous parent complained. Ms Duren thought that ridiculous — and she had written as much in previous letters — to the Minister of Education, the Child Welfare Department, her local Member of Parliament, and the Aborigines Protection Board, but with no outcome. This letter, however, would have a different fate. Buckingham Palace forwarded the letter to the Governor-General who endorsed the letter and sent it to the NSW state government, which in turn passed it onto the Aborigines Protection Board — about whom Ms Duren was complaining.

Inmates nurse injured wildlife to health in prison program. A regional Victorian prison program training inmates to rehabilitate injured native wildlife is giving more than just the animals a second chance.

The UK's second-biggest city is so broke they can no longer keep the lights on. Birmingham was once a powerhouse industrial city but now the UK's second city is a shell of its former self as rubbish lines the streets, the lights stay out and children grow up below the poverty line.

Once nicknamed "the workshop of the world", Birmingham was an industrial powerhouse in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's where William Murdoch invented the first gas lantern, a technology later used to light streets across the world. But today the UK's second-largest city can no longer afford to keep its own streets brightly lit. In September Birmingham City Council issued a 114 notice, effectively declaring it was bankrupt. To claw back $600 million over the next two years, the council has approved a range of unprecedented budget cuts that will see streetlights dimmed and rubbish collected only once a fortnight. The cuts will also see 25 of the city's libraries close, money for children's services slashed and a 100 per cent funding cut to the arts and culture sector by 2026.

Food scraps make up about a third of general waste bins. City of Sydney hopes maggots can help reduce this and turn it into fertiliser. A 12-month trial using Goterra's black soldier fly larvae system will begin with hopes it can be extended to all Sydney residents.

Using drones, aerial imagery, and 3D modelling to map and identify stingray feeding pits on the estuary floor, a study has found stingrays play a significant role in the health of estuarine ecosystems.

Baby moose rescued from Alaskan lake. Three people have rescued a baby moose from a sure demise after the animal became stuck between a lake float plane and dock.

Historic gathering in remote Western Australia calls for urgent protection of Indigenous languages. Aboriginal language experts say the survival and preservation of Indigenous languages needs to be treated as importantly as art and storytelling.

Voice of Baceprot are a devoutly Muslim all-female Indonesian thrash metal band hell-bent on shattering the genre's masculine image and misconceptions about Islam.

Beluga whales saved from bombing in Ukraine in "the most complex marine mammal rescue ever." Two beluga whales faced a gruelling journey across Ukraine's war-ravaged region of Kharkiv to reach their new home in Spain.

Manure and the cost of fertiliser are both problems for farmers — dung beetles offer a solution. The Australian Capital Territory government is encouraging farmers to use dung beetles to recycle the nutrients in cow dung into their pastures, with experts saying they improve soil quality and reduce fly numbers — and are cheaper than fertiliser.

Joro spiders (which have been expanding their range into Georgia and New York) are large and colourful but not dangerous to humans. Joro spiders have venom like all spiders, but they aren't deadly or even medically relevant to humans. At worst, a Joro bite might itch or cause an allergic reaction. "They're not dangerous. They're not aggressive. Even if you...go after the spider and harass it to such an extent that it would bite you, it wouldn't be an issue," said Professor Kronauer.

Joro spiders actually have a reputation for being shy. A University of Georgia research scientist, Andy Davis, told the New York Times last year he had experimented by blowing air on different spiders with a turkey baster. "They don't like that, and they freeze," he told the outlet. "You can time how long they stay in that position." Other species remained frozen for two minutes. The joro spiders he tested didn't move for an hour.

From plague to pest-free haven: The ambitious plan that prevented an environmental catastrophe. It's been 10 years since Macquarie Island was declared pest free. Scientists say the transformation of the World Heritage-listed area has been extraordinary, but new threats are on the horizon.

Beavers create habitat suitable for water voles in Scottish rainforest. Beavers' dams have created more places for water voles to hide from predators and hopefully flourish, say experts.

A Single Mutation Gave These Fish a Sense of Curiosity And Opened Up Their World.