Nature in brief

Feeling the way

Sea otters can detect subtle differences in surface textures from the most fleeting contact with their paws or whiskers, reports Journal of Experimental Biology. This tactile sensitivity allows them to hunt efficiently for shellfish in low light.

Tracking eels

Conservationists at WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire are microchipping Critically Endangered European eels to understand their behaviour at the reserve and, eventually, the wider Severn Vale.

Slow and steady

Aesop’s fable of The Hare and the Tortoise now has scientific support. New research published in Scientific Reports reveals the fastest sprinters are the slowest, on average, over their lifetimes, because they spend more time at a standstill.

Triumph for tigers

Nepal is on track to double its wild tiger population to almost 250 by 2022, so becoming the world’s first country to double its tiger numbers in line with the target set at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010.