‘She carried the dead calf for hours even though it wasn’t hers. She had had a miscarriage two years before – and now picked up the stillborn babies of other mothers’

My love of African animals, in particular elephants, dates back to when I was three or four years old, growing up in Milan in a house full of old nature books. When I was six, my parents took me on my first safari in Kenya – I cried on the plane home, feeling I was being torn away from the savanna I’d dreamed of, somewhere I really loved. But for the past 20 years, that’s where I’ve lived, guiding photographers on the Maasai Mara National Reserve and elsewhere in Africa.

I’ve spent time photographing other animals, especially big cats, but elephants are still my favourite subject. They have this extraordinary presence, dominating the landscape and making it come alive. I love to follow them in different habitats. They are extremely adaptable – in Kenya they’re associated with the savanna and acacia woodland, and they can also live in extremely arid areas, such as the deserts of Namibia, where this photograph was taken.

Natural History Museum and British Museum among cultural institutions leveraging collections and exhibitions

They are often free to visit but museums are bolstering their finances by putting their stamp on everything from upmarket hotel suites to trendy jumpsuits and virtual reality experiences.

Forget buying a T-shirt. If you can afford the “from £724” price tag, you can spend the night in the Natural History Museum family suite at the Park Plaza London Riverbank hotel, which has an interior inspired by the museum’s founder, Sir Richard Owen, complete with Tyrannosaurus rex bunk beds.

Scientific specimens are being sold to foreign museums or snapped up by the super-rich. They should have the same legal protections as works of art

As Sir David Attenborough has observed, “there’s nothing more magical than finding a shiny shell and knowing you’re the first person to have seen it for 150 million years”. Senior museum figures are campaigning for fossils to be classed as national treasures, according to the Waverley criteria, which control the export of objects considered culturally important to the nation. But the rules only cover natural treasures that are “made”, excluding fossils.

These calls come after a private collection from the Jurassic Coast was sold to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi for a reported eight-figure sum. Both the Natural History Museum in London and Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) were offered the 318 fossils, but they didn’t have the funds. Unlike countries such as Brazil and Mongolia, where fossils belong to the state, Britain relies largely on a voluntary code of conduct.

A new exhibition, Jurassic Oceans, showcases the fearsome creatures that lurked below the surface – and offers a stark warning about the impact of warming waters on marine ecosystems today

Deep in the bowels of the Natural History Museum, Kate Whittington is standing in front of the skeleton of a 23ft plesiosaur, one of prehistoric Earth’s most fearsome marine reptiles, explaining how it would eat us for dinner, were it still around today.

“Its long neck allowed its head to get a head start on its body,” says the museum’s exhibition and interpretation manager. “So it could sneak up on prey and grab it [with its mouth] before its body and flippers created a disturbance in the water.”

Specimen from 1983 lay forgotten at Natural History Museum until recently, when spotted by a volunteer and identified as new genus

He has lizards, bats, frogs, weevils, flatworms, snails and spiders named after him. But now Sir David Attenborough can celebrate his 100th birthday with an entirely new genus named in his honour.

Scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have paid tribute to the world-renowned broadcaster for his 100th birthday on 8 May by describing a new genus of parasitic wasp and a new species found within the museum’s collections.

There are better ways to raise money than jeopardising a model that draws visitors to Britain and has huge benefits for the wider economy

Twenty-five years ago, the UK made the bold and generous gesture of making its national museums free to all. Suddenly, anyone from anywhere in the world could gaze at iconic works of art by the greatest artists in history without having to pay a penny. Many incredible artworks were suddenly accessible to everyone: Hepworth, Turner and Hockney at Tate Britain, and Bonnard, Picasso and Bourgeois at Tate Modern (which had both always been free) were now joined by Raphael at the V&A and Kapoor at the Walker Art Gallery, dramatic seascapes at the National Maritime Museum and bustling cityscapes at the Museum of London. And maybe afterwards they would reward the gallery by buying a slice of cake in the cafe or a print of their favourite work in the gift shop.

In the years that followed, this policy proved to be a huge success. It led to a dramatic and sustained increase in audiences. Within the first decade, visits to museums which used to charge rose by 151% – the uplift was 180% at the Natural History Museum and V&A, and 269% at National Museums Liverpool. Is now really the moment to reverse direction by charging international tourists to access our museums and galleries, as ministers are proposing?

Karin Hindsbo is interim director of Tate, and former director of Tate Modern, London and the National Museum, Oslo

Research suggests hunter-gatherers were feeding dogs and giving them ritual burials as early as the last ice age

They are humankind’s best friend, and now ancient DNA analysis has revealed that the enduring bond between dogs and humans dates back more than 15,000 years.

The groundbreaking research, published in the journal Nature, pushes back the oldest genetic evidence for domestic dogs by 5,000 years, revealing that hunter-gatherers were feeding the animals and giving them ritual burials long before the emergence of agriculture.

London museum defies drop in numbers seen elsewhere, attributed to cost of living and fall in international tourists

London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) was the most popular attraction in the UK during 2025, with its renovated gardens, new climate gallery and lack of entry fee leading to record-breaking numbers of visitors.

More than 7.1 million people passed through its doors, a 13% increase in visitors year on year and an all-time record for any UK museum or gallery.