Nine Romanian hamsters, also known as Dobrudzhan or black-breasted hamsters, were successfully released back into their natural habitat during the first reintroduction campaign for the species in 2026. The initiative was carried out by scientists from the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at BAS, in collaboration with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), Agrotime Ltd and volunteers. The experts dug artificial shelters (burrows) and installed protective metal cages to help the hamsters adapt to their new environment. The animals were fed fresh vegetables and a mixture of grains. During the adaptation period, they are under constant monitoring, including via installed camera traps. The chosen location is a harvested wheat field with natural grass cover and numerous unharvested ears of wheat providing [...]

The ninth palaeontological expedition to the Tran dinosaur site, discovered in 2017, has begun. The scientific team is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr Latinka Hristova from the National Museum of Natural History at BAS (NMNHS-BAS), and the participants include palaeontologists Assoc. Prof. Dr. Docho Dochev from Sofia University, Asst. Prof. Vladimir Nikolov (NMNHS-BAS), Prof. Marlena Yaneva, a sedimentologist from the Geological Institute of BAS, and two student volunteers. The scientists’ fieldwork began on 27 July and will continue until 3 August. The expedition can already boast its first modest successes: several fragments of carapaces from side-necked turtles of the Bothremydidae family, a crocodile tooth, a poorly preserved and incomplete dinosaur bone, several small bone fragments which, at this stage, cannot be taxonomically identified. The team [...]

Dr. Greg Graffin visited the National Museum of Natural History on July 10 at the invitation of Assoc. Prof. Tihomir Stefanov, the museum’s deputy director. Dr. Graffin holds a PhD in zoology from Cornell University and is a professor of natural sciences at the University of California and Cornell University. His research interests lie in the fields of evolutionary biology and palaeontology. In addition to being a zoologist, Dr. Graffin is the lead singer and co-founder of the Bad Religion band which is participating in the sixth edition of the Midalidare Rock in the Wine Valley International Rock Festival. The two toured the new storage facilities for the scientific collections built with European funding under the DiSSCo project where Assoc. Prof. Stefanov gave him a [...]