Animal Studies at the University of Glasgow

Animal Studies at the University of Glasgow page for Dr Lizanne Henderson's 'A Cultural History of Animals' PGT course on human-animal The course convenor is Dr Lizanne Henderson.

A graduate course designed to study the cultural history of animals and their complex relationship with humans.

'A Cultural History of Animals' is an optional course for the taught postgraduate degree MLitt Environment, Culture and Communication. The programme convenor is Dr David Borthwick. If you would like to find out more about this degree please look at our website page.

07/09/2026

The Tasmanian tiger, which went extinct almost a century ago, had a rare combination for a carnivorous mammal: a huge skull and a lethal snap.

03/09/2026

JOB OPPORTUNITY:

We're looking for a Director of Wild Places to join the John Muir Trust.

We are looking for an exceptional leader who is passionate about protecting Wild Places and has a proven track record of delivering strategic conservation and land management at scale.

As a member of our Leadership Team, you will combine outstanding ecological and landscape expertise with the vision, leadership, and influence to shape the protection of Wild Places across the UK.

Think you're right for the role? Find out more and apply now on our website: https://hr.moorepay.co.uk/hr/recruitment/role/ae49c4ef06ad6c040730fa8fc49c08cf/54071?fbclid=IwY2xjawTi0MdwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMGdoTnpycjRPQzVVRklJUHlzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEezkLg_sKyqJmk5_1Em1SvwmmXCzVU8F7eMVeCwmq-dKLlGicdpDwxZ61nps8_aem_23BjeHwScgqFB4j2A18GTw

26/08/2026

FOUR-YEAR-OLD GORILLAS FOUND A HIDDEN SNARE, AND INSTEAD OF RUNNING AWAY, THEY WENT STRAIGHT TO THE PARTS THAT COULD DISARM IT.

In July 2012, a tracker in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park spotted a rope-and-branch snare near a mountain gorilla family. Before he could remove it, the silverback warned him back. Two young gorillas, Rwema and Dukore, then approached the trap. Rwema broke the bent branch while Dukore pulled the dangerous noose free.

Moments later, the youngsters discovered a second hidden snare that even the tracker had missed. A teenage gorilla named Tetero joined them, and together they dismantled that one too. Conservationists said it was the first documented case of juvenile gorillas destroying snares, witnessed only days after another young gorilla had d13d from injuries caused by a similar trap.

The snares were generally intended for other animals, but a hidden rope cannot choose its victim. We cannot know exactly what the young gorillas understood, yet observers watched them identify and neutralize the danger with remarkable speed. Their intelligence makes the story extraordinary, but the deeper reality is far sadder: no young wild animal should have to learn how to dismantle a human-made threat simply to move safely through its own home.

25/08/2026

Want to put your community engagement skills to work for nature? Can you bring people together around plans for nature restoration?

We’re looking for a Community Engagement Lead to join our Loch Abar Mòr team.

Your work will include:

🧩 Building relationships with communities, landowners and other stakeholders across Lochaber
🗣️ Designing and delivering workshops, drop-ins, site visits and volunteer activities
📣 Working with our communications team to tell the story of landscape-scale nature restoration

🗓️ Applications close at midday on Monday 14 September.

👉 Find out more and apply: https://scotlandbigpicture.pulse.ly/ly2cml0n12

22/08/2026

As well as destroying habitats, the massive footprints of AI data centre developments cause habitat fragmentation. This prevents animals from moving from one part of an ecosystem to another and makes it more difficult for them to find food or mates.

19/08/2026

A wave of fossil discoveries has completely shattered the boundary between humans and apes — thee 'moment' of our origin is a scientific myth.

For generations, the search for human origins was driven by the hope of pinpointing the exact moment our ancestors separated from the apes. Textbooks depicted a neat, linear transition i.e., the iconic 'march of progress' leading straight to modern humans.

However, a wave of new fossil discoveries has dismantled this simple narrative. As researchers have unearthed a dazzling variety of ancient hominins, the neat dividing lines have blurred into a continuous spectrum, revealing a far stranger, bushier evolutionary tree where multiple upright-walking species coexisted, overlapped, and even interbred.

These discoveries reveal that key traits we once thought uniquely defined humanity—such as bipedalism, tool-use, and complex social behavior—did not emerge all at once in a single, defining leap. Instead, these characteristics appeared in a piecemeal fashion across various closely related species over millions of years. Ultimately, science is showing us that the strict boundary between human and ape is an artificial human construct. By embracing this messy, interconnected reality, we gain a deeper and far more fascinating understanding of what it truly means to be human.

source: New Scientist. (2026). The Line Between Human and Ape Doesn't Exist.

Address

Dumfries
DG14ZL

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Animal Studies at the University of Glasgow posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to Animal Studies at the University of Glasgow:

Shortcuts

Share

Category