topic: Megafauna

topic: Megafauna

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New calf, same threats: Javan rhinos continue to reproduce despite perils
- Recent camera-trap images of a Javan rhino calf, estimated to be 3-5 months old in March, demonstrate that the species continues to reproduce despite being beset by challenges.
- The species is confined to a single habitat, and while its population is officially estimated at more than 70 individuals, a report last year cast doubt on those figures, alleging that 18 of those rhinos had not been spotted on camera for years.
- The peninsula of Ujung Kulon National Park, where all Javan rhinos live, has been closed to all visitors since September 2023 after poaching activity was detected.

[Photos] New book is a stunning glimpse of Asia’s wildlife and landscapes
- A new photo book by authors and photographers Bjorn Olesen and Fanny Lai aims to raise awareness of Asia’s impressive biodiversity and protected areas, and inspire mindful ecotourism that supports effective conservation efforts.
- Many of the species intimately featured in the book encapsulate the major challenges facing the region from such threats as climate change, deforestation, development pressure, and the illegal wildlife trade, to name but a few.
- But most of all, the book is a celebration of the region’s biodiversity and conservation successes, featuring the stories of rare and imperiled species brought back from the edge of extinction through protected area management and combined efforts from governments, NGOs and communities.
- Mongabay interviewed Olesen to find out what he’s learned during his photography-inspired travels around the region and share some compelling images printed in the book.

To help beleaguered Javan rhinos, study calls for tree felling, captive breeding
- The sole remaining population of Javan rhinos, around 70 individuals, persists in a single national park in Indonesia.
- A new paper argues that conservationists should clear some areas of the park to increase feeding areas for rhinos, and create a captive-breeding program for the species.
- Recent government reports indicate that 13 of the remaining Javan rhinos display congenital defects, likely due to inbreeding.
- Despite intensive monitoring by camera trap, scientists know relatively little about the species’ reproductive behavior and breeding patterns.

New calf brings new hope, and new concerns, for embattled Sumatran rhinos
- A male Sumatran rhino calf was born Nov. 25 at Indonesia’s Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, marking the second birth at the facility in as many months.
- Independent estimates put the species’ wild population at no more than 47 individuals, so each new birth increases hopes the species can be saved from extinction; the new calf brings the captive population up to 11.
- However, the birth also highlights weaknesses of the captive-breeding program: the father and mother of the new calf are related, a consequence of all the male rhinos currently in captivity being descended from a single genetic line.

Boost for Sumatran rhino IVF plan as eggs extracted from Bornean specimen
- Conservationists in Indonesia say they’ve successfully extracted eggs from a Sumatran rhino to be used in an IVF program meant to boost the population of the near-extinct species.
- The donor rhino, known as Pahu, is a Bornean specimen of the Sumatran rhino, and her egg would greatly expand the genetic pool of a species believed to number as few as 40.
- Since 2012, three Sumatran rhinos have been born under Indonesia’s captive-breeding program, but all are closely related: a single captive male is the father to two of them and grandfather to the third.
- Conservationists say they hope to eventually fertilize Pahu’s eggs with sperm from captive Sumatran males, with one of the Sumatran females then serving as a surrogate to hopefully bring a baby to term.

Forest elephants are the ‘glue’ holding Congo rainforests together
- African forest elephants play a vital role in shaping the environment and composition of the Congo Basin rainforest, including the giant carbon-sequestering trees it is noted for.
- Without them, the Congo rainforest would lose carbon stocks and biodiversity, and the composition of the forest itself would change.
- Yet the full ecological value of this charismatic species — and the ecosystem impacts if it is lost — are not fully understood, so increased funding for study and conservation is needed, experts say.
- On this final episode of the Mongabay Explores the Congo Basin podcast season, Andrew Davies, assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, and Fiona “Boo” Maisels, a conservation scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, detail the unique value of forest elephants, what still remains unknown, and why urgent protection is needed.

Indonesia reports a new Javan rhino calf, but population doubts persist
- Indonesian officials have reported the sighting of a new Javan rhino calf in Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the last surviving population of the critically endangered species.
- While the discovery of the female calf is good news, it comes amid growing doubt about official claims that the species’ population is increasing steadily.
- The Indonesian government puts the Javan rhino’s current population at about 80 animals, with an average of three new calves added per year.
- Its past estimates, however, have counted rhinos that have disappeared (some of which were confirmed dead), throwing into question whether the species’ population trend is really increasing or even declining.

Conservationists urge caution as Nepal to gift more rhinos to China
- Nepal has committed to providing a pair of one-horned rhinos to China, as one gifted in 2018 died due to stomach ailments.
- Conservationists say orphaned rhino calves raised in human contact are best for this purpose.
- Separating rhino calves from their mothers should be the last option, conservationists say.

‘Chasing giants’: Q&A with megafish biologist and author Zeb Hogan
- Earth’s freshwater ecosystems are among the most at risk from human-induced threats including overfishing, dam building, pollution and climate change.
- But biologists know relatively little about the animals that live in the murky depths of our rivers and lakes, perhaps least of all about some of their largest inhabitants.
- In a new book, fish conservation biologist Zeb Hogan teams up with journalist Stefan Lovgren to get to the bottom of a curious question: What is the world’s largest freshwater fish?
- An exploration of the world’s freshwater ecosystems from Australia to the Amazon, “Chasing Giants” also looks into the range of threats giant fish face the world over and what scientists, policymakers and the public can do to support their conservation.

Flawed count puts ‘glorified’ Javan rhinos on path to extinction, report says
- Javan rhinos, a critically endangered species found only in a single park in Indonesia, may be on a population decline that could see the species go extinct within a decade, a new report warns.
- The report highlights questionable practices in the Indonesian government’s official population count, which has shown a steady increase in rhino numbers since 2011.
- Notably, the official count includes rhinos that haven’t been spotted or recorded on camera traps in years; at least three of these animals are known to have died since 2019.
- The report, by environmental NGO Auriga Nusantara, also highlights an increase in reported poaching activity in Ujung Kulon National Park, and a general lack of official transparency that’s common to conservation programs for other iconic species such as Sumatran rhinos and orangutans.

Stem cells may make ‘impossible possible’ for near-extinct Sumatran rhino
- Wildlife scientists in Germany are developing a method to produce new living cells from a dead Sumatran rhinoceros in an effort to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered species.
- They have used skin samples of the last male rhino in Malaysia, known as Kertam, who died in May 2019, to grow stem cells and mini-brains as reported in the researchers’ recently published paper.
- Fewer than 80 rhinos remain in the world, and they all currently live in Indonesia in the wild, and some in a sanctuary for captive breeding.
- The captive breeding initiative of the Sumatran rhinos began in the 1980s, but over the years, the attempts have yielded both successes and failures.

‘Unprecedented crisis’ for Nepal’s elephants: Q&A with conservationist Ashok Ram
- Conflict with humans is considered the biggest threat to Asian elephants in Nepal, says veteran conservationist Ashok Ram.
- Encounters between villagers and elephants typically occur when they stray into each other’s areas in search of food.
- Ram says there needs to be a landscape-level management approach to elephant conservation, given that the animals move freely between Nepal and India.
- In an interview with Mongabay, he explains the history of habitat fragmentation, why electric fences aren’t a solution to human-elephant conflict, and why mid-afternoon is the most dangerous time for encounters.

Giant stingray caught in Cambodia is world’s largest freshwater fish
- The largest freshwater fish ever recorded was captured last week in Cambodia’s stretch of the Mekong River: a giant freshwater stingray measuring 4 meters (13 feet) from snout to tail and weighing 300 kilograms (661 pounds).
- The discovery occurred in a stretch of the Mekong known for its diversity of freshwater habitats that support crucial fish-spawning grounds and migration corridors and provide refuges for other mega fish species and threatened species, such as Irrawaddy dolphins and giant softshell turtles.
- Local fishers collaborating with researchers to document the area’s underwater life alerted a monitoring team who measured the ray, fitted it with an acoustic tag to learn more about its behavior, and facilitated its release back into the wild.
- Experts say the find emphasizes what’s at stake in the Mekong, a river that’s facing a slew of development threats, including major hydropower dams that have altered the river’s natural flow. “It is a signal to us to protect our rivers and lakes,” they say.

Ray care center: Indonesia’s Raja Ampat a key nursery for young reef mantas
- Scientists have published new evidence confirming that Wayag Lagoon in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago is a globally rare nursery for juvenile reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi).
- Visual observations from 2013 to 2021 show that juvenile reef manta rays are repeatedly encountered in the small, shallow and sheltered lagoon, without the presence of adult individuals; the young rays spend months at a time inside the lagoon, never venturing out.
- The findings have prompted marine authorities in Indonesia to start revising the management of the lagoon to safeguard the manta nursery zone, with regulations being drawn up to limit disturbances to the young rays.
- Both oceanic and reef manta rays are protected species under Indonesian law, which prohibits their catch and the trade of any of their body parts.

Indonesia teams up with Germany on Sumatran rhino breeding efforts
- Indonesia and Germany will team up on advancing the science and technology for captive-breeding of critically endangered species in Indonesia, starting with the Sumatran rhino, to save them from extinction.
- The agreement, signed in May between Indonesia’s Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), will see a newcenter for assisted reproductive technologies and a bio bank established at IPB.
- The initiative between the two research institutes also welcomes government officials, scientists, NGOs and private sector experts from around the world to get involved.
- Indonesia is the last refuge for the Sumatran rhino, whose total population may be as little as 30 individuals.

It’s a girl: Super rare Sumatran rhino born in captive-breeding center
- Indonesia has reported the birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros in a captive-breeding program targeted to save the critically endangered species from extinction.
- The new calf is the first child of captive rhino Rosa at the Way Kambas Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, and Andatu, a male who was himself born at the sanctuary in 2012.
- This new captive birth of a Sumatran rhino has rekindled hopes among experts and officials for more newborns in the future.

Thai tourism elephants are ‘far better off’ in forests: Q&A with photographer Adam Oswell
- Following the collapse of tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of Thailand’s 2,700 captive elephants used for tourism trekked back to rural villages alongside their keepers, where it was hoped they could forage naturally.
- Two years later, international visitors are beginning to return to the country and a new tourism model is emerging in locations where community-managed forests are available to the elephants.
- Under the new model, elephants are granted access to community forests, where they can forage and explore their natural behaviors. Meanwhile, tourists keen to learn about elephants in a natural setting are beginning to visit, enabling people in the villages to generate income.
- Adam Oswell, a photographer who has been documenting wildlife trade and protection in Asia for more than 20 years, spoke with Mongabay recently about his work documenting these projects and the fate of Thailand’s tourism elephants.

Loss of Sumatran rhinos leaves several plant species without a seed disperser
- The critically endangered Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) plays a unique role in dispersing seeds in Southeast Asian forests, and its disappearance from these landscapes is already affecting the composition of the forests.
- Many plant species in this region evolved alongside large animals like rhinos and elephants, developing large, fleshy fruits to entice megafauna to eat and disperse them.
- A new study shows that Sumatran rhinos play this key role for an estimated 79 plant species.
- Despite some overlap in dispersal with Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and other smaller animals, the study found that several plant species have no other known dispersers than rhinos.

‘They’re going to get worse and worse’: Marine heat wave persists off Sydney
- In November 2021, an unusual marine heat wave materialized off the coast of Sydney; sea surface temperatures in the area have yet to go down.
- This marine heat wave is just one of numerous events occurring across the global oceans as human-induced climate change heats up the oceans.
- While marine heat waves can be triggered by a range of atmospheric, oceanic and climatic drivers, climate change plays a key role in driving these events.

Work starts on new sanctuary for captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos
- Indonesian conservation authorities have started building a new sanctuary for Sumatran rhinos in the Leuser Ecosystem on the northern tip of Sumatra.
- The facility will be the third in a network of Sumatran Rhino Sanctuaries (SRS), joining the Way Kambas SRS in southern Sumatra and the Kelian SRS in Indonesian Borneo.
- Conservationists plan to capture at least five rhinos from the wild in Leuser and move them to the new SRS as part of a captive-breeding program that’s seen as the best option for staving off the species’ extinction.
- There area currently seven rhinos at the Way Kambas SRS and one at the Kelian facility; in the wild, there are believed to be just 30-80 Sumatran rhinos left, all of them on Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands.

Overfishing threatens to wipe out bowmouth guitarfish in Indonesia, study says
- A study has found that uncontrolled fishing of wedgefish, a family of rays, in Indonesia threatens to push the bowmouth guitarfish to extinction.
- The bowmouth guitarfish and the white-spotted guitarfish are the most commonly caught wedgefish species in Indonesia, with their fins supplying the shark fin trade.
- Researchers have called on the government to impose full protection of juvenile wedgefish and a reduction in catches of bowmouth guitarfish specifically to ensure their survival.
- Both the bowmouth and white-spotted guitarfish are critically endangered species, but neither is included in Indonesia’s protected species list.

Trawling bycatch increases risk of marine life extinction in Brazil
- Up to 50 kilos of fish caught in Brazil are thrown away for every kilo that arrives on land; more than 400,000 tons of marine life were discarded between 2000 and 2018 in just four states.
- Less than 10% of the 25,618 fishing boats registered by the Brazilian government are monitored by satellites, and the program that tracks fishing boats by these satellites is not publicly open and not integrated with worldwide monitoring initiatives.
- At the global level, 19 countries, regions and territories have prohibited trawling in their waters, including two in South America: Chile and Peru.

Brazil a wreck on trawling control
- The country’s lack of statistics and technical information made way for greater deregulation and private sector influence in Jair Bolsonaro’s extremist government
- The lack of control amplifies the impacts of trawling, a technique that uses fine-mesh nets to “scrape” the seabed, sweeping up everything in their path; species of low commercial value return to the waters, almost always dead.
- The sardine catch in Brazil has already fallen from 80,000 tons to about 15,000 tons annually, and stocks of mullet and other species are also shrinking; commercial species that could disappear from the map jumped from 17 to 64 (376%) between 2004 and 2014.

Indonesia reports two new Javan rhino calves in the species’ last holdout
- Indonesia has reported the sighting of two Javan rhino calves on different occasions in April and June.
- The new calves have boosted hopes of stable population growth for the nearly extinct species in its last habitat on Earth.
- While strict conservation measures have helped stabilize the population, the species still faces other threats from natural disasters, a resurgence in human encroachment, and the risk of contagious disease from livestock herds.

Development of third Sumatran rhino sanctuary advances to save species
- The development of a highly anticipated sanctuary for the Sumatran rhinoceros in Indonesia’s Aceh province is advancing as part of conservation efforts to save the nearly extinct species.
- The planned facility will be the third in a network of Sumatran Rhino Sanctuaries to breed the species in captivity.
- Its location in the Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra means it will have access to what is believed to be the largest population of the critically endangered species.
- Indonesia is now the only home in the world for Sumatran rhinos, a species decimated by a series of factors, from poaching to habitat loss and, more recently, insufficient births.

Two new Javan rhino calves spotted in the species’ last holdout
- Indonesia has announced sightings of two Javan rhino calves this year in Ujung Kulon National Park, the last place on Earth where the critically endangered species is found.
- The new additions bring the estimated population of the species to 73; conservationists have recorded at least one new calf a year joining the population since 2012.
- Despite the stable population growth, the rhinos remain under the looming threat of disease, natural disaster, and a resurgence in encroachment.

Indonesian researchers study how to help rays released as bycatch survive
- Researchers in Indonesia are studying the survival rate of manta rays and devil rays released after being caught unintentionally by fishers.
- The study, which has so far tagged five of the animals with satellite trackers, aims to come up with best practices to boost the survival of these threatened rays.
- Populations of mantas and devils rays, from the genus Mobula, have been hit by the global trade of their parts, particularly their gills, for traditional medicine and food.

Mixed fates for captive elephants sent back to villages amid Thai tourism collapse
- With tourism collapsing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2,700 captive elephants used for tourism purposes in Thailand faced a crisis.
- Many elephants and their keepers trekked back to their owners’ native villages, where it was hoped they could forage naturally. Others remained in camps, often in chains and with fewer staff to care for them.
- The welfare of elephants in villages depends greatly on the amount of intact forest available to them. But experts say welfare monitoring is difficult.
- Campaigners are calling on the Thai government and tourism industry to make systemic changes to improve conditions and reduce the number of elephants used for tourism.

From penguins to sharks to whales, swimming in circles is a surprisingly common trait
- Many marine animals are intentionally swimming in circles consecutively at a relatively constant speed more than twice, according to a new study using data from movement trackers.
- The researchers say the behavior is surprising in part because swimming in a straight line is known to be the most efficient way to move about.
- They found some of the animals swim in circles during different activities, including foraging, courtship, navigation and even possibly geomagnetic observations.

Podcast: Where oh where are the Sumatran rhinos?
- Sumatran rhinos are one of the most endangered large mammals on the planet, with no more than 80 left in the wild.
- Not only that but biologists are challenged to even find them in the dense rainforests they call home in order to conserve them via captive breeding.
- To shed light on the animal’s precarious situation and mysterious whereabouts, this episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast series speaks with conservation biologist Wulan Pusparini.
- This ‘rhino search and rescue’ is a big challenge she tells host Mike DiGirolamo in this episode of the podcast.

Rarely seen Sumatran rhinos are now even more elusive as threats close in
- The wild Sumatran rhinos of Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia are becoming even more elusive in response to changes to their habitat, according to rhino expert Arief Rubianto.
- Fires and poaching of other species for bushmeat pose a serious threat to the critically endangered rhinos.
- Way Kambas is believed to be one of the last strongholds of the Sumatran rhino, with estimates of 12 to 33 wild rhinos, out of a global population of less than 80.
- Indonesian officials and conservationists are carrying out a census to get a better idea of the species’ true population to help inform conservation strategies.

Sumatran rhino conservation inspires a thriving creative economy
- Local communities in a Sumatran rhino stronghold are benefiting from a creative economy built up around the conservation of the critically endangered species.
- From collecting leaves to feed the rhinos, to selling wood carvings and wildlife-themed batik clothes, communities living around Way Kambas National Park are developing new income streams.
- Way Kambas is home to a captive-breeding center that is trying to shore up the flagging wild population.
- Indonesia is the last place on Earth with Sumatran rhinos, whose total population is estimated at fewer than 80 individuals.

Widodo Ramono, the man on a mission to save Sumatran rhinos
- Indonesian biologist Widodo Ramono has dedicated a lifetime to conserving the country’s Sumatran rhinos from extinction.
- A former government official, Widodo now leads a rhino conservation group that oversees a captive-breeding program at a sanctuary for Sumatran rhinos.
- To save the species, found only in Indonesia, Widodo says protecting its habitats from deforestation and poaching is the most important thing.
- Mongabay Indonesia recently spoke with Widodo about the country’s plans for rhinos and the challenges those plans face.

Snare traps decline, but still pose a threat to Leuser’s Sumatran rhinos
- The number of wire snares being found in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem has declined in recent years, but the traps continue to pose a severe threat to the region’s critically endangered rhinos.
- Poachers set the snares to catch anything ranging from wild boars for bushmeat to trophy animals — including the native Sumatran rhinos, elephants and tigers.
- Increased patrols have managed to reduce the numbers of snares found in Leuser, from 1,069 in 2016 to 241 in 2019.
- Conservationists say the Indonesian government must crack down harder on the entire supply chain of the illegal trade in Sumatran rhino parts, from poachers to buyers overseas.

Podcast: Saving the singing rhino
- Sumatran rhinos are one of the most endangered large mammals on the planet, with no more than 80 left in the wild.
- Small in stature and docile by nature, they sport a coat of fur and sing songs reminiscent of a whale or dolphin.
- To shed light on the animal’s precarious situation, this episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast series speaks with conservation biologist Wulan Pusparini and Mongabay senior correspondent Jeremy Hance about the unique challenges of conserving the creatures.
- They discuss the history of failed efforts, delayed actions, breakthroughs in conservation and breeding practices, and impactful efforts that are currently holding the line for this extremely vulnerable mammal.

Planned road projects threaten Sumatran rhino habitat, experts say
- Authorities in the Indonesian province of Aceh are planning 12 road-building projects through 2022, some of which will cut through the habitat of critically endangered Sumatran rhinos.
- The species is already under threat from forest fragmentation, which has isolated rhino subpopulations and led to the biggest threat to the animal: the inability to find other rhinos to mate with.
- Conservationists have called for full protection of the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh to safeguard the rhinos’ habitat from the road projects.
- But even in a protected part of the ecosystem, Gunung Leuser National Park, deforestation is already taking place on the fringes.

Video: The Sumatran rhino is sliding into extinction. It doesn’t have to
- A new animated short film from Mongabay, illustrated by artist Roger Peet, depicts the Sumatran rhino’s slide toward extinction.
- No more than 80 Sumatran rhinos are believed to survive today, scattered across isolated and fragmented habitats in Indonesia.
- Driven to the brink of extinction by habitat loss and hunting, Sumatran rhinos today face an even more fundamental threat: experts fear that too few calves are being born to offset even natural deaths in the remaining populations.

‘Luckiest people’: Encountering a newborn Sumatran rhino in the wild
- In 2018, five rangers had a rare encounter with a newborn Sumatran rhinoceros in the forests of Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem.
- Leuser is known as one of the last strongholds of the Sumatran rhino, one of the most endangered large mammals on Earth.
- Conservationists have called for beefing up security across the Leuser Ecosystem to allow the rhinos there to feel secure enough to continue breeding.
- The species is down to no more than 80 individuals in the wild, with forest fragmentation and a low birth rate driving it toward extinction.

Two new Javan rhino calves are spotted in the species’ last holdout
- Camera traps have captured images of two newborn Javan rhinos this year in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park, the last place on Earth where the critically endangered species is found.
- There are an estimated 74 of the rhinos left, with the population increasing by at least one every year since 2012.
- Conservationists credit stringent protection of the rhinos’ habitat for helping reverse a decline driven by poaching and habitat loss.
- But the rhinos remain under the looming threat of disease, natural disaster, and a resurgence in encroachment.

Forest fires set by poachers threaten a refuge of the Sumatran rhino
- Fires set by poachers are a top cause of habitat degradation in Way Kambas National Park on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.
- The park is home to critically endangered Sumatran rhinos, tigers and elephants, among hundreds of wildlife species.
- The burning on the fringes of the park spurs the growth of fresh grass, which draws the deer and boars that the poachers target.
- Park officials and conservationists are engaged with local communities to dissuade people from poaching, as well as replanting burned areas with hardier vegetation.

Sumatran rhino planned for capture is another female, Indonesian officials say
- Conservation officials in Indonesia have revealed that a wild Sumatran rhino planned for capture for a breeding program is a female, not a male.
- The rhino, named Pari, will join another female already at a breeding center in the Indonesian province on East Kalimantan.
- Female rhinos in captivity have been found to develop reproductive problems and infertility as a result of prolonged absence from a male, and conservationists fear this could happen to the rhino currently in captivity
- The Sumatran rhino is critically endangered, with fewer than 80 believed to be remaining in the wild.

Indonesia’s new lobster export policy threatens Javan rhino habitat
- A decision allowing the resumption of lobster larvae exports threatens a national park in Indonesia that’s the last refuge of the critically endangered Javan rhino.
- Only 72 of the rhinos are left on Earth, and tend to frequent a coastal area of Ujung Kulon National Park that is now open to lobster fishers under a controversial decision by the fisheries ministry.
- Park officials and conservationists say the biggest threat to the species is human activity, and a potential influx of more than 300 fishers into their habitat could prove devastating.
- Conservationists say there needs to be an ecosystem-wide solution that minimizes the threat to the rhinos while also considering the livelihood of local fishers.

Indonesia identifies rhino to capture for breeding, but will have to wait until next year
- Indonesian officials have identified a wild Sumatran rhino they plan to catch in Borneo for a captive-breeding program, but have not said whether it’s a male or female.
- The planned capture will have to wait until next year at least, with officials citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an obstacle.
- Officials already have a female Sumatran rhino at the Kelian Lestari captive-breeding facility in Borneo, and hope to either find her a mate from the wild or fertilize her eggs with sperm from rhinos held at the Way Kambas facility in Sumatra.
- The Sumatran and Bornean populations are distinct subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, and conservationists agree on the need to interbreed them to boost the genetic diversity of a species that numbers fewer than 80.

COVID-19 halts matchmaking attempt for female Sumatran rhino in Borneo
- Conservationists searching for a wild male Sumatran orangutan to join a lone female as part of a captive-breeding program have had to call off the search for the rest of the year.
- The field work by conservationists in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province has been halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other activities.
- The captive breeding programs is believed by experts to be the most viable means left to save the global population of the nearly extinct species.
- Indonesia is now the last refuge for Sumatran rhinos, with a population of fewer than 80 individuals.

A new sanctuary for the Sumatran rhino is delayed amid COVID-19 measures
- Indonesia has been working on a new sanctuary for the captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos in the Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia’s Aceh province.
- But measures imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have slowed down the progress of the facility, which had been slated for completion next year.
- Aceh’s Leuser Ecosystem is touted by experts as the most promising habitat for wild rhinos because it’s believed to hold the largest population of the species, at about 12 individuals.
- Indonesia is now the last refuge for the world’s Sumatran rhino population, which numbers between 30 and 80 individuals.

Study investigates impact of road deaths on giant anteater population in Cerrado
- For three years, the Bandeiras e Rodovias (Anteaters and Highways) project by the Institute for the Conservation of Wild Animals (ICAS) has investigated the impact of highway collisions on the health and population of the largest insectivorous mammal in the world: the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla).
- Between January 2017 and December 2019, researchers tracked 44 anteaters by GPS, interviewed truck drivers, and monitored 92,364 kilometers (57,392 miles) of highways. During this period they recorded the deaths of 725 giant anteaters, a slow-moving nocturnal species with non-reflective eyes and poor hearing.
- The study is especially relevant because it was conducted in the Cerrado, Brazil’s grain-growing heartland that’s served by a large truck fleet and marked by significant loss of habitat for corn and soybean plantations. The findings indicate that the impact of the highways has cut the growth rate of the anteater population in half, which could speed up its demise.
- The researchers warn that the possible extinction of the giant anteater could have wide-reaching ramifications, including on agriculture, since the species plays an important role in controlling insects and pests, thereby saving farmers from having to spend on pest control products that, among other things, contaminate the soil.

Indonesia-WWF split puts rhino breeding project in Borneo in limbo
- A recent decision by Indonesia’s environment ministry to abruptly cut ties with WWF Indonesia has thrown a crucial effort to conserve Sumatran rhinos into limbo.
- WWF Indonesia had been deeply involved in an initiative to start a captive-breeding program for the species in Indonesian Borneo.
- Experts agree that captive-breeding of the species is the best way to boost a birth rate that has dropped below natural replacement levels, and the capture of wild rhinos from Borneo was seen as key to boosting the available genetic pool.
- It’s not clear how the program will now proceed, but WWF Indonesia says it remains open to supporting the government on the conservation cause.

Indonesian officials wield sharia law in defense of Sumatran rhinos
- Indonesia’s Aceh province is considering a sharia, or Islamic, bylaw to strengthen punishment for the illegal wildlife trade, in a move that could help protect the critically endangered Sumatran rhino.
- The bylaw, if passed, would prescribe up to 100 lashes of the cane for anyone convicted of hunting, killing or trading in protected species, including rhinos.
- The province’s Leuser Ecosystem is believed to hold up to 50 of the maximum 80 Sumatran rhinos estimated to be left on Earth.
- The Indonesian government also plans to set up its third Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Leuser, part of a network of captive-breeding centers aimed at boosting the species’ population.

Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
- Efforts to breed the critically endangered Sumatran rhino in captivity have faced myriad challenges ranging from mysterious deaths and reproductive health problems to bureaucratic hurdles.
- Now, a sanctuary in Indonesia that has previously witnessed the birth of two healthy calves is facing a new, unexpected obstacle: relationship problems.
- One pair of rhinos, Andalas and Ratu, have successfully produced two calves. But after keepers attempted to mate Andalas with a second female, his previous mate now rejects him.
- Producing as many calves from the captive rhinos is a top priority in efforts to conserve the species, whose wild population is fewer than 80 individuals.

Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
- Indonesia hopes to capture three Sumatran rhinos from the wild next year to stock up a captive-breeding sanctuary, in a bid to boost the population of the critically endangered species.
- The sanctuary, opened in 1996 to provide a heavily protected semi-wild habitat for captive rhinos to breed, is already home to seven rhinos, two of which were conceived and born there.
- Experts are also calling on the government to protect the last remaining wild habitats of the rhinos so that there’s somewhere to release them back into once the situation allows.
- Fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos are believed to live in small populations scattered in the dwindling forests of Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo.

Newly spotted calves boost Javan rhino population to 72
- Four new Javan rhinoceros calves have been observed through a camera-trap survey in recent months in the species’ last habitat, putting the estimated global population at 72 individuals.
- Researchers have celebrated the news, calling it a positive outcome of long-running efforts by the Indonesian government and conservation groups to protect the rhino’s habitat to allow it to breed naturally.
- Poaching and habitat loss have driven the species to near extinction; it now survives in a precarious habitat within Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java.

Time is running out for Southeast Asia
- Several species and subspecies have gone extinct in the last 100 years. Others remain missing.
- Most of Southeast Asia’s large-bodied animals are now threatened with extinction.
- Deforestation and the wildlife trade have even left smaller-bodied species decimated as well.
- Southeast Asia has to decide if preserving its irreplaceable and unique wildlife is a priority – or the losses will continue to mount.

Indonesia plans IVF for recently captured Sumatran rhino
- In a bid to save the nearly extinct Sumatran rhino, Indonesia will attempt to harvest and fertilize an egg cell from a lone female at a captive-breeding center in Borneo.
- The sperm for the in vitro fertilization attempt will come from a male at a captive-breeding center in Sumatra; combining the Sumatran and Bornean lineages is expected to help boost the gene pool for an animal whose global population may be as low as 40.
- Conservationists anticipate obstacles, however: Pahu, the female, is quite old at about 25, and is possibly too small to be able to carry a regular-sized offspring to term.
- The planned attempt by Indonesia comes after conservationists in Malaysia tried and failed to carry out an IVF treatment there, with both the age of the female rhino and lack of access to quality sperm cited for the failure.

Malaysian attempt at Sumatran rhino IVF fails on low quality of sperm
- A recent effort to produce a Sumatran rhino embryo from egg and sperm samples taken from the last of the species in Malaysia has failed, officials said.
- The low quality of the sperm, extracted in 2015 and 2016 from an aging rhino that has since died, was cited as the main cause of the failure to fertilize the egg.
- Malaysian officials say they will continue to improve and attempt their in vitro fertilization attempts, and have called on Indonesia to send sperm samples from younger rhinos held in Sumatra.
- Indonesia has refused to send any samples, citing the need for a formal agreement, but conservationists say that captive-breeding of Sumatran rhinos is the only feasible solution to protect the species from extinction.

Bid to breed Sumatran rhino is handicapped by bureaucratic ‘quibbling’
- A group of international scientists working in Malaysia have successfully extracted an egg cell from the country’s last Sumatran rhino and injected sperm into it, in a last-ditch attempt at breeding the world’s most threatened rhino species.
- However, the scientists say the prospects of a successful fertilization are “not bright,” given the poor quality of the genetic samples they had to work with.
- They blame a bureaucratic impasse between Malaysia and Indonesia for depriving them of high-quality sperm from rhinos held in captivity in Indonesia, which they say would have given a better chance of fertilization.
- An Indonesian official says no exchange of genetic material, including sperm and eggs, can proceed until the requisite paperwork is signed, but conservationists say this is “quibbling” at a time when the species faces extinction.

Europe-bred rhinos join South African cousins to repopulate Rwanda park
- Five critically endangered eastern black rhinos have been flown from Europe to Akagera National Park in Rwanda.
- Eastern black rhino populations across the region are small and isolated, with the risk of inbreeding damaging long-term genetic viability.
- The rhinos come from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) breeding program and will add vitally needed fresh genetics into Rwanda’s fledgling population, made up of rhinos bred in South Africa.

Indonesia agrees to attempt Sumatran rhino IVF with eggs from Malaysia
- Conservationists have welcomed a long-awaited agreement by Indonesia and Malaysia to move ahead with assisted reproductive technology for the captive breeding of the nearly extinct Sumatran rhino.
- Indonesia has long balked at sending rhino sperm to Malaysia for use in artificial insemination, but has now agreed to accept eggs from Malaysia to carry out in vitro fertilization.
- If successful, the program would give the species a much-needed boost in genetic diversity.
- Scientists in Germany last year used IVF to successfully produced embryos — though not a baby — of white rhinos, an African species.

In Nigeria, a highway threatens community and conservation interests
- Activists and affected communities in Nigeria’s Cross River state continue to protest plans to build a major highway cutting through farmland and forest that’s home to threatened species such as the Cross River gorilla.
- The federal government ordered a slew of measures to minimize the impact of the project, but two years later it remains unclear whether the developers have complied, even as they resume work.
- Environmentalists warn of a “Pandora’s box” of problems ushered in by the construction of the highway, including illegal deforestation, poaching, land grabs, micro-climate change, erosion, biodiversity loss and encroachment into protected areas.
- They’ve called on the state government to pursue alternatives to the new highway, including investing in upgrading existing road networks.

Zambia halts plans to dam the Luangwa River
- WWF reports that the Zambian government has cancelled a pre-feasibility study for a dam on the Luangwa River, the Ndevu Gorge Power Project, which would have cost $1.26 billion and generated between 235 and 240 megawatts of power if completed.
- More than 200,000 people had signed a petition calling for the legal protection of the river. Critics of the dam project argued that fragmentation of the Luangwa would threaten wildlife and freshwater fish stocks, as well as the agriculture and tourism that local communities rely on.
- A study recently published in Nature found that two-thirds of the world’s 242 longest rivers are no longer free-flowing, mainly because so many of them have been fragmented by dams.

Search for a new home for Javan rhinos put on hold
- The Indonesian government says plans to establish a second habitat for the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros have been put on hold.
- The species numbers an estimated 68 individuals, all of them corralled in a national park on the western tip of the island of Java.
- Conservationists had for years considered finding a second habitat outside the park to establish a new population of rhinos, given the risks they currently face from disease and natural disasters.
- However, the top contender for a second habitat currently serves as a military training ground, leaving conservationists to find ways to expand the rhinos’ suitable habitat within the national park.

Sumatran rhinos to get a new sanctuary in Leuser Ecosystem
- A third captive-breeding sanctuary for the nearly extinct Sumatran rhino is set to be built in Indonesia, according to a top official.
- The facility, scheduled to open in 2021, will be located within the Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, home to what’s believed to be one of the largest populations of the critically endangered species.
- Global and local rhino conservation groups have welcomed the plan and pledge to help with financial and technical support for the new facility.
- Indonesia currently has two captive-breeding centers for the rhinos: in Sumatra’s Way Kambas National Park, which holds seven rhinos, and Borneo’s Kelian forest, which has a single rhino.

Vets rule out poaching and disease in recent death of rare Javan rhino
- In March, a Javan rhinoceros was found dead in a protected area at the western tip of the Indonesian island.
- A necropsy carried out by veterinarians has now determined that the young rhino bled to death, due to injuries likely sustained during a fight with an adult male rhino.
- The finding rules out earlier fears that the rhino may have been killed by poachers or contracted an infectious disease from livestock living near the park.
- The estimated population of the critically endangered animals is now at a minimum 68 individuals.

Javan rhino found dead in Indonesia, bringing global population down to 68
- The body of a juvenile male Javan rhinoceros was discovered last month in a mud pit in Ujung Kulon National Park, the sole remaining habitat for the species.
- The death of the rhino, known as Manggala, brings the known global population of his species down to 68 individuals.
- The body was intact when found, and preliminary investigations indicated the rhino did not die due to an infectious disease. A detailed post-mortem is being conducted, with results expected May 7.
- The body bore multiple wounds, leading park officials to suspect Manggala may have been attacked by an adult rhinoceros.

To rescue Sumatran rhinos, Indonesia starts by counting them first
- In February, authorities in Indonesia held an exercise for Sumatran rhino researchers to track and tally the remaining wild population of the species.
- The government aims to finalize an official count of the critically endangered rhino within three years, according to the environment ministry.
- Natural breeding for the rhinos has been particularly difficult as the remaining individuals live in fragmented lowland forests away from each other. On top of that, rhinos are slow breeders and the females have a short fertility period.
- Estimates of the current size of the wild Sumatran rhino population range from 30 to 100 individuals. Another nine live in captivity in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Human population boom led to Madagascar’s megafauna extinction: Study
- Large animals, called megafauna, went extinct in Madagascar about 1,000 years ago.
- Humans are believed to have played a major role in their disappearance.
- A human population boom, supported by the shift from a hunter-gatherer to a pastoralist-herder lifestyle, was a key driver, a new study says.
- Large populations meant more hunting pressure and habitat degradation, ultimately leading to extinction.

Better than sex? For hard-to-breed rhinos, technology strives for a solution
- Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are being developed to improve the outcomes of captive-breeding programs for rhinos.
- If successful, these efforts could help create a self-sustaining reserve population and help diversify the gene pool of wild populations.
- ARTs have been successfully used in both humans and livestock since the 1970s, but have not been as effective in wildlife species such as rhinos.
- Experts say they believe ART could play an important role in rhino conservation, but caution that these technologies are only one part of the solution.

Sumatran tiger killed at London Zoo by potential mate
- Melati, a 10-year-old female Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), was killed Feb. 8 at ZSL London Zoo when she was introduced to a 7-year-old male called Asim.
- Asim had been transferred from Denmark as part of the European Endangered Species Programme, a captive-breeding program.
- The two tigers had been kept in separate but adjacent paddocks for 10 days before zookeepers opened the door between them on the morning of Feb. 8.
- Scientists believe that fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers live on their namesake Indonesian island.

Conservation couture: Batik artisans make rhinos a fashion statement
- Campaigners in Indonesia have blended rhino conservation with artisanal batik production to raise awareness about saving the critically endangered species.
- Under a program started by a conservationist, local batik designers are incorporating rhino motifs into the hand-dyed textiles, in the hope that this will get the public thinking about rhinos.
- There may be as few as 30 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild, following decades of poaching, habitat loss, and climate-induced forest fragmentation.

The long journey to saving the Sumatran rhino, via Borneo (commentary)
- The presence of near-extinct Sumatran rhinos in Indonesian Borneo was for a long time the stuff of legend, with no hard evidence to support it. Still, wildlife experts spared no effort to investigate every scrap of information.
- Those rumors eventually bore fruit with the capture of two individuals by conservationists in the past two years. The first rhino, however, died of injuries sustained before its capture.
- Today, a facility in eastern Borneo holds the other rhino, a female, with around-the-clock care from vets and experts, as part of a wider effort to kick-start a captive-breeding program.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Pumas engineer their environment, providing habitat for other species
- A new study finds that mountain lions in the western United States change their surroundings and as a result are “ecosystem engineers.”
- A team of scientists tracked 18 lion kills in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming and identified 215 species of beetles living in, on and off the carcasses — that is, the kills provided habitat as well as food for scavengers.
- The work demonstrates the critical role mountain lions play in providing resources to other species in the ecosystems in which they live.

First wild Sumatran rhino in Borneo captured for breeding campaign
- A female Sumatran rhinoceros has been captured in Indonesian Borneo and moved to a local sanctuary as part of an initiative to conserve the near-extinct species through captive breeding.
- A team of veterinarians and rhino experts is now caring for the rhino around the clock, and will seek to establish whether she is viable for breeding.
- Conservationists and government officials have welcomed news of the capture and rescue, a key step toward replenishing a species whose total population may be as low as 30 individuals.
- The capture comes two years after another female rhino was trapped in the same district, only to die less than a month later.

Indonesian government puts off Sumatran rhino IVF program
- Indonesia says a long-awaited program to breed Sumatran rhinos through IVF has been postponed, citing the lack of viable eggs from a female rhino in Malaysia.
- The news becomes the latest setback in the years-long saga between the two countries, with some conservationists in Malaysia blaming the Indonesian government inaction for the dwindling odds of a successful artificial insemination attempt.
- There are only an estimated 40 to 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the world, scattered on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

In protecting the Javan rhino, locals gain a ‘more meaningful life’
- Working in Javan rhino protection programs is no mean feat, according to locals who have dedicated decades of their lives to the endeavor.
- From getting chased by rhinos to meeting face-to-face with armed hunters, their experiences speak to the often grueling reality of on-the-ground conservation work, highlighted by rare encounters with the elusive animals.
- Yet despite the challenges, the workers say they have found worth in their daily duties, and have come to value the rhinos even more as a result.

2700 scientists issue call to action on border wall wildlife threat
- A recently published study finds that more than 1,500 species stand to be affected by the completion of a border wall along the U.S. – Mexico border.
- Overall, they found that a continuous border wall would disconnect more than 34 percent of native, nonflying U.S. species – 346 in total – from at least half of their range. Of these 346 species, 17 percent – including jaguars and ocelots – would have remnant U.S. populations covering less than 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles), which the researchers write would elevate their risk of local extinction.
- The authors say that to reduce risk to wildlife, the U.S. Congress should ensure that the DHS follows the scientific and legal framework of environmental protection laws such as the ESA and NEPA. They also implore the DHS to strengthen research and monitoring along the border, consider and mitigate environmental harm imposed on particularly sensitive ecosystems and species by wall construction, and train Border Patrol agents to be more sensitive to the presence of researchers.
- As of press time, 2,723 scientists and 674 general supporters had signed the study in support.

Study finds elephants plant trees, play big role in forest structure
- Many large animals – collectively called “megafauna” – eat the fruit of Platymitra macrocarpa trees, including Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), bears and gibbons.
- When researchers examined the fruit consumption, seed dispersal, and seed germination trends of P macrocarpa, they discovered that elephants were responsible for the lion’s share of successful seedling germination – 37 percent – despite consuming only 3 percent of available fruit.
- They also noticed a decline in P macrocarpa, which they say may be due to extirpated rhinos or reductions in local elephant populations.
- They say their results highlight the important role large herbivores play in forest structure, and that losses of these animals might significantly change tree composition and even a forest’s ability to store carbon.

Robbery or retribution? Police investigate death of prominent conservationist in Kenya
- Esmond Bradley Martin, a 76-year-old American, was found stabbed to death in the home he shared with his wife in a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday.
- Martin had been working in Africa and around the world since the 1970s to stop the slaughter of rhinos and elephants for their horns and tusks.
- Colleagues credit Martin with increasing the conservation community’s understanding of the trade of wildlife parts through his often-undercover investigations.

Indonesia hints rhino sperm transfer to Malaysia may finally happen this year
- Indonesia has signaled it may send a much-needed sample of Sumatran rhino sperm to Malaysia for use in a captive-breeding program seen as the last means of saving the critically endangered species.
- If it goes to plan, the program would boost the genetic diversity of the species, of which only 30 to 100 individuals are believed to remain in the wild.
- The Sumatran rhino population has been decimated by poaching and habitat loss, but the biggest threat facing the species today is the small and fragmented nature of their populations, with an increased risk of inbreeding.

Liberian park protects Critically Endangered western chimpanzees
- The establishment of Grebo-Krahn National Park in southeastern Liberia was approved by the country’s legislature in August 2017.
- The 961-square-kilometer (371-square-mile) park is home to an estimated 300 western chimpanzees.
- There are about 35,000 Critically Endangered western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) left in the wild, and Liberia is home to 7,000 of them.

Rhino horn confiscated, three alleged traffickers arrested in Sumatra
- Indonesian authorities arrested three alleged wildlife traffickers and seized a rhino horn in Medan, North Sumatra on Aug. 13.
- Officials believe the horn comes from a Sumatran rhino, one of the world’s rarest and most endangered mammal species.
- The arrest followed a June 12 raid in a neighboring province that also resulted in the confiscation of a Sumatran rhino horn. Authorities have not yet determined whether there is a connection between the two incidents.

Mammal numbers high in logged tropical forests, study finds
- The study quantified mammal numbers in forests and landscapes with varying degrees of human impact in Malaysian Borneo.
- Across 57 mammal species recorded with live and camera traps, the average number of all animals combined was 28 percent higher in logged forests — where hunting wasn’t an issue — compared to old-growth forests.
- The findings demonstrate the importance of conserving degraded forests along with more pristine areas.

U.K. is the world’s biggest exporter of legal ivory, data analysis shows
- The United Kingdom legally exported more than 36,000 pieces of ivory between 2010 and 2015, 370 percent more than the United States, the next biggest exporter.
- Over the same time period, the U.K. has been the major supplier for markets in China and Hong Kong.
- EIA and other environmental groups fear that the trade of legal ivory encourages the continued poaching of elephants by perpetuating demand and masking the trade of illegally harvested ivory.

Five promising stories for Global Tiger Day
- Since the last Global Tiger Day in 2016, researchers have discovered tiger populations in unexpected areas, such as forested corridors along riverbanks and in areas that recently served as theaters of war.
- Several countries have worked to protect the tigers that live within their borders, including the creation of a massive national park and taking steps to end tiger farming.
- Camera trap surveys continue to prove invaluable to wildlife researchers in tracking down tigers and other species that can range over huge areas.

Flood hits India’s Kaziranga National Park, killing four rhinos
- Annual monsoon floods are a natural part of Kaziranga National Park’s ecosystem but pose multiple threats to animals, including the risk of drowning or getting poached or hit by cars while fleeing rising water.
- According to officials, 81 animals have been killed in this year’s flood, including four rhinos. Another 78 animals have been stranded or injured.
- Mitigation measures include increased monitoring by rangers, police and drones; closely tracking the speed of vehicles through the park; and the construction of artificial highlands.
- Authorities are also considering a controversial proposal to build a road-cum-embankment to prevent floodwaters from inundating the park.

Orangutans find home in degraded forests
- The study leveraged three years of orangutan observation in the field and airborne mapping of the forest structure using laser-based light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology.
- The research team found that orangutans make use of habitats that have been ‘degraded’ by logging and other human uses.
- The research is part of a larger effort in collaboration with the Sabah Forestry Department to map carbon stocks and plant and animal biodiversity throughout the Malaysian state of Sabah with the goal of identifying new areas for conservation.

Behind rising rhino numbers in Nepal, a complex human story
- The fortunes of the indigenous Tharu people and Nepal’s rhinos have been linked for centuries.
- The establishment of Chitwan National Park in 1973 deepened the marginalization the Tharu, evicting thousands from their land and depriving them of access to the forest.
- Since the 1990s, conservation groups have been working to develop a community-based conservation model that includes the Tharu.
- Other ethnic groups have long remained outside the community conservation model, and have in some cases turned to poaching for income.

Charcoal and cattle ranching tearing apart the Gran Chaco
- The year-long probe of Paraguay’s charcoal exports by the NGO Earthsight revealed that much of the product was coming from the Chaco, the world’s fastest-disappearing tropical forest.
- Suppliers appear to have reassured international supermarket chains that it was sustainable and that they had certification from international groups such as FSC and PEFC.
- But further digging by Earthsight revealed that the charcoal production methods used may not fit with the intent of certification.
- Several grocery store chains mentioned in the report have said they’ll take a closer look at their supply chains, and the certification body PEFC is reexamining how its own standards are applied.

Investigation finds ‘thriving’ rhino horn trade in Asia
- Over 11 months, EAL investigators posed as potential buyers and identified 55 ‘persons of interest’ involved in the trade of rhino horn.
- The group mapped out the routes by which rhino horn – valued at tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram – arrives in China.
- Recorded conversations during the investigation allude to the fact that dealers and traders understand that rhinos face the threat of extinction.

Nepal’s rhino numbers rise, thanks to national and local commitment
- Nepal’s population of greater one-horned rhinos has fluctuated wildly over the past century.
- Widespread in the early 1900s, rhinos were reduced to a few pockets by the 1950s and around 100 individuals in the 1970s.
- Conservation efforts boosted the population by the 1990s, but the 1996-2006 Maoist insurgency took a devastating toll.
- Numbers are now rising again, a trend attributed to commitment at both the grassroots and the highest levels of government.

Big mammals flourish as Cerrado park’s savanna comes back
- The study examined a state park in the Brazilian Cerrado, which contains land used in recent decades for eucalyptus plantations, cattle ranching and charcoal production.
- The researchers used camera traps, recording the dry season presence of 18 species of large mammals.
- In a subsequent analysis, they found that the number of large mammals found in the ‘secondary’ savanna was similar to numbers found in untouched regions of the Cerrado.

Ongoing mass extinction causing ‘biological annihilation,’ new study says
- Building on research in which they showed that two species have gone extinct per year over the past century, a team of biologists analyzed the population trends for 27,600 vertebrates around the world.
- They found that nearly a third of the animals they looked at were on the decline.
- In a closer look at 177 well-studied mammals, the team found that all had lost 30 percent or more of their home ranges, and 40 percent had lost at least 80 percent of their habitat.

Footprints in the forest: The future of the Sumatran rhino
- Fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) remain in the wild, a number many biologists say is too low to ensure the survival of the species.
- Several organizations have begun to build momentum toward a single program that pools resources and know-how in Malaysia and Indonesia, the last places in Southeast Asia where captive and wild rhinos still live.
- Advocates for intensive efforts to breed animals in captivity fear that an emphasis on the protection of the remaining wild animals may divert attention and funding away from such projects.
- They worry that if they don’t act now, the Sumatran rhino may pass a point of no return from which it cannot recover.

When it comes to rhino conservation, Asia and Africa can learn a lot from each other
- Despite its proximity to Asian markets for trafficked rhino horn, Nepal has lost only four rhinos to poaching since 2011.
- Experts credit this success to a combination of top-down enforcement and efforts to involve the community in conservation.
- Protected areas in Africa that have collaborated with area residents have shown promising results, suggesting lessons from Nepal can be successfully applied elsewhere.
- In turn, conservationists say Nepal can benefit from African countries’ expertise in promoting wildlife tourism, and alternate models of benefit sharing.

Research suggests less affluent countries more dedicated to wildlife conservation than rich countries
- A team of researchers with Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and non-profit conservation organization Panthera looked at 152 countries and compiled what they call a Megafauna Conservation Index in order to evaluate each country’s contributions to the conservation of the world’s biodiversity.
- African countries Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, together with South Asian nation Bhutan, were the top five megafauna conservation performers, the researchers found.
- Norway came in at sixth, the top-ranked developed country, followed by Canada, which came in at eighth. The United States ranked nineteenth, lower than countries like Malawi and Mozambique that are among the least-developed in the world.

Why losing big animals causes big problems in tropical forests
- A team of scientists from Germany and Spain built a mathematical model to test the interplay between plants and animals that results in the distribution of seeds.
- Field data collected from Peru’s Manu Biosphere Reserve formed the foundation of the model.
- The scientists discovered the importance of matching between the sizes of seeds and the birds in the ecosystem.
- As larger birds were removed from the forest, the forest’s biodiversity dropped more quickly.

Vaquita survival hinges on stopping international swim bladder trade
- Recent investigations by the Elephant Action League and WWF have uncovered the complicated trade in fish swim bladders from the Gulf of California that is pushing a porpoise known as the vaquita toward extinction.
- A two-year-old gillnet ban so far has not yet stemmed the declining numbers of vaquita, which are down 50 percent since 2015 and 90 percent since 2011.
- Not more than 30 vaquita remain in the wild, making it the most endangered cetacean on the planet.
- The swim bladders can sell for as much as $20,000 per kilogram.

Bringing rhinos back to India’s parks
- Launched in 2005, the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 aimed to boost the population of rhinos in Assam State and expand the species’ range within the state from three protected areas to seven.
- Manas National Park was the first to receive translocated rhinos. The animals appeared to adapt well to their new home, but poachers repeatedly struck the park.
- The program then turned to Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, but the rhinos moved there grew sick and died.
- Conservationists still believe the overarching goal of boosting the state’s rhino population to 3,000 by 2020 is achievable.

Gabon pledges ‘massive’ protected network for oceans
- The network of marine protected areas covers some 53,000 square kilometers (20,463 square miles) of ocean, an area larger than Costa Rica.
- The marine parks and reserves could also draw tourists eager to catch a glimpse of the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) that all shuttle through Gabonese waters.
- Government officials are in the process of overhauling how they manage fisheries, and they hope the move to protect Gabon’s territorial waters will improve the country’s food security and give its citizens a better chance to earn a living from fishing.

One of Malaysia’s last rhinos euthanized to ‘end her suffering’
- Puntung was one of three Sumatran rhinos known to survive in Malaysia, and one of fewer than 100 representatives of this Critically Endangered species.
- Her health first raised concern in March, when she was found to suffer from an abscess in her jaw.
- Dental surgery was successfully performed in April, but she was then found to have squamous cell cancer.
- Veterinarians determined the disease was fatal and that treatment would only prolong her suffering. Puntung was euthanized just after dawn on Sunday, June 4.

Slight bumps in protected areas could be a boon for biodiversity
- Increasing protected areas by 5 percent in strategic locations could boost biodiversity protection by a factor of three.
- The study examined global protected areas and evaluated how well they safeguard species, functional and evolutionary biodiversity.
- More than a quarter of species live mostly outside protected areas.
- The new strategy from the research leverages the functional and evolutionary biodiversity found in certain spots and could help conservation planners pinpoint areas for protection that maximize all three types of biodiversity.

On the road to ‘smart development’
- Ecologist Bill Laurance and his team are looking at development projects across Southeast Asia in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
- The scientists are traveling throughout the regions to better understand the needs of planners, and to impart lessons about ‘smart development’ based on decades of research in the tropics.
- In Malaysia, they are focusing on finding solutions that preserve the repository of forests and biodiversity there in a way that also looks out for the country’s human residents.

Bowling for Rhinos: a grassroots project with global reach
- Since the original event in 1987, Bowling for Rhinos — a project run completely by volunteers — has raised more than $6 million to support rhino conservation efforts around the world.
- Funds have supported ranger units that protect the Asian rhino species, as well as conservation programs for black and white rhinos.
- Fundraisers, which happen across the United States, go beyond just bowling — some groups opt to host events like Painting for Rhinos or Winos for Rhinos.
- Some participants and supporters point to Bowling for Rhinos as an antidote to feelings of hopelessness in the face of national and global environmental problems.

Skewed sex ratio spells danger for rhinos in India’s Gorumara National Park
- Gorumara National Park, in India’s West Bengal State, is home to a small but steadily growing population of greater one-horned rhinoceroses, currently numbering 51 individuals.
- Despite its overall growth, the sex ratio of the park’s rhino population is severely imbalanced, with more reproductive-aged males than females.
- Ideally, there should be more females than males. A male-heavy population threatens the long-term reproductive and genetic viability of the population, as well as leading to increased conflict over mates.
- Until this spring, Gorumara had been relatively free of poaching since the 1990s. However, two dead rhinos were found in April, and another suspected poaching incident was reported May 18.

With poaching curtailed, a new menace to Nepal’s wildlife
- Since 2011, with poaching largely under control in the country, conservationists in Nepal have been paying increasing attention to the risks of diseases spreading to wildlife from domesticated animals.
- Domesticated animals near Chitwan National Park form a reservoir of pathogens that could cross to wildlife. Veterinarians have already identified tuberculosis in a dead rhino and a suspected case of canine distemper in a leopard.
- The country currently lacks facilities to fully analyze and respond to the threat of diseases, but local and international groups are working to rapidly increase capacity.

Fighting a plant to save rhinos in Nepal
- Mikania micrantha, a plant native to the Americas, has been present in Chitwan National Park since the 1990s. As of 2010, it was present in 20 percent of the park, becoming a threat to wildlife and local people’s livelihoods.
- The plant is particularly prevalent in habitats like wetlands, grasslands and riverine forests, which are also favored habitats for the more than 600 one-horned rhinos living in the park.
- Mikania chokes out native fodder species, pushing rhinos and other grazers out of the safety of the park and increasing human-wildlife conflict, researchers have found.
- Mikania is extremely difficult to eradicate since plants produce up to 40,000 seeds per year and can re-root from even small stems. Efforts are underway to improve removal strategies and engage local communities in the work.

Over the bridge: The battle for the future of the Kinabatangan
- Proponents of the project contend that a bridge and associated paved road to Sukau would have helped the town grow and improve the standard of living for its residents.
- Environmental groups argue that the region’s unrealized potential for high-end nature tourism could bring similar economic benefits without disturbing local populations of elephants, orangutans and other struggling wildlife.
- The mid-April cancellation of the bridge was heralded as a success for rainforest conservation, but bigger questions loom about the future of local communities, the sanctuary and its wildlife.

Rwanda welcomes 20 black rhinos to Akagera National Park
- The 20 black rhinos are of the eastern subspecies (Diceros bicornis michaeli).
- African Parks, the NGO that manages Akagera National Park in cooperation with the government of Rwanda, says that it has rhino trackers, canine patrols and a helicopter to protect the rhinos from poaching.
- Fewer than 5,000 black rhinos exist in Africa. Their numbers have been decimated by poaching for their horns, which fetch high prices for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
- Officials hope that the new rhino population will boost Akagera National Park’s visibility as a ecotourism destination.

Despite numerous challenges, rhinos are thriving in India’s Jaldapara National Park
- Jaldapara National Park in the northern fringe of West Bengal hosts more than 200 one-horned rhinos.
- Growing demand for rhino horn means poaching is a rising threat, especially when anti-poaching measures in neighboring Assam State prompt poaching networks to seek new targets.
- In addition to extensive anti-poaching patrols, the park’s management is relying on cooperation with residents of nearby villages to protect the park’s wildlife.
- The park now shares 40 percent of ecotourism revenue with community-based Joint Forest Management Committees, trains former offenders as wildlife protectors and is developing other projects to integrate the welfare of communities and wildlife.

Cross River superhighway changes course in Nigeria
- The 260-kilometer (162-mile) highway is slated to have six lanes and would have run through the center of Cross River National Park as originally designed.
- The region is a biodiversity hotspot and home to forest elephants, drills, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees and Cross River gorillas.
- The proposal shifts the route to the west, out of the center of the national park, which garnered praise from the Wildlife Conservation Society.
- The route still appears to cut through forested areas and protected lands.

Rhino poachers in Borneo: Q&A with a conservationist who lived with them
- Fiffy Hanisdah Saikim — now a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation — spent two years living with Tidong communities on the outskirts of the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Malaysian Borneo.
- These communities included both poachers and people employed in ecotourism and conservation programs centered around the Sumatran rhino and other endangered species.
- According to Saikim, attempts to engage communities in anti-poaching programs can succeed when they demonstrate that conservation has better long-term economic returns than poaching.
- The Sumatran rhino is now extinct in the wild in Malaysia, but Saikim believes lessons from Tabin can be applied in places where rhinos still exist in the wild.

One-horned rhino killed by poachers in Nepal
- The body of a male one-horned rhinoceros was found with its horn gouged out on Saturday in Nepal’s Chitwan Park.
- Chitwan Park was gearing up to celebrate three consecutive years without any rhino poaching.
- Nepal has one of the world’s most effective anti-poaching programs, and the country’s rhino population is on the rise.

Rare Malaysian rhino still sick, but showing signs of improvement
- Puntung, one of three Critically Endangered Sumatran rhinos known to survive in Malaysia, is suffering from an abscess in her jaw.
- The rhino’s caretakers feared she would not survive the infection despite receiving round-the-clock veterinary care.
- Since Saturday, Puntung has shown signs of improvement, although she is “not out of the woods yet.”

One of the last three rhinos in Malaysia is critically ill
- Wildlife officials fear Puntung, one of the last three rhinos known to survive in Malaysia, is on the brink of death due to an abscess in her jaw.
- The abscess has not responded to veterinary treatment provided at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah, where Puntung lives with the other two surviving rhinos in Malaysia.
- The Sumatran rhino was declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia in 2015. Fewer than 100 are believed to remain, mostly in Indonesia.

Kaziranga: the frontline of India’s rhino wars
- Kaziranga National Park in India’s Assam State is home to around 2,400 one-horned rhinos, as well as elephants, tigers and hundreds of other mammal and bird species.
- India’s rhinos were hunted nearly to extinction by the early 20th century, but have rebounded since the park was established. However, rhino horn is highly sought in the black market and poaching remains a constant threat.
- Rangers in Kaziranga rely on antiquated weaponry to face off against poachers, whose links with international crime syndicates mean they are often better armed and better financed than forest guards.
- The park’s approach to conservation has drawn criticism from indigenous rights group Survival International, a critique that gained prominence in a recent BBC documentary.

World’s second breeding population of Indochinese tigers discovered in Thailand’s forests
- The world’s second known breeding population of Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti) confirmed in Eastern Thailand’s Dong-Phayayen Khao Yai Forest Complex – a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Remarkable discovery now makes Thailand home to two breeding populations of this tiger subspecies, a significant step toward ensuring their long-term survival in the wild.
- Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and conservation groups Freeland and Panthera have conducted a scientific survey on the tiger population using the ‘photographic capture-recapture’ method, indicating a density of 0.63 tigers per 100 square kilometers.
- While conservationists welcome these exciting new findings, they warn of the continued decline of tigers elsewhere in Thailand and across their global range.

Saving orphaned baby rhinos in India
- The Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, near Kaziranga National Park in Assam State, is currently home to nine greater one-horned rhino calves, including eight orphaned in monsoon floods last year.
- Carers at the center hand raise these young rhinos with the aim of reintroducing them to the wild when they are old enough to fend for themselves.
- Since 2002, the center has raised and released 14 rhino calves, along with young from other species including elephants and wild buffalo.
- Raising these vulnerable animals requires years of painstaking effort.

Reducing Asia’s hunger for rhino horn
- In 2015, the most recent full year for which data is available, more than 1,350 rhinos were killed for their horns in Africa and Asia.
- The vast majority of rhino horn is bound for destinations outside of the source country, meaning that conservationists in places like South Africa or India can do little to fight demand.
- Demand reduction efforts currently center on China and Vietnam, the primary destinations for poached rhino horn.
- Effective demand reduction campaigns require research into consumer behavior and careful targeting of messages.

The Republic of Congo: on the cusp of forest conservation
- The Republic of Congo’s high forest cover and low annual deforestation rates of just over 0.05 percent have led to the country being named as a priority country by the UN’s REDD+ program.
- The country has numerous protected areas and has signed agreements to certify the sustainability and legality of its timber industry.
- Skeptics caution that more needs to be done to address corruption and protect the country’s forests, a third of which are still relatively untouched.

Scrapping Nigerian superhighway buffer isn’t enough, say conservation groups
- The superhighway project, intended to stimulate the Cross River state economy, will no longer include a 20-kilometer-wide buffer zone along its 260-kilometer length.
- The NGO Wildlife Conservation Society said minimizing the destruction necessary for the buffer zone was an important step, but that it will still disrupt communities and wildlife.
- Representatives of the Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, told the media that they intended to move forward with the superhighway despite the criticism.

Loving apes celebrated this Valentine’s Day
- The IUCN estimates that as few as 15,000 bonobos remain in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Bonobos, unlike chimpanzees and humans, live in matriarchal societies and have never been observed killing a member of their own species.
- The California Senate passed a resolution stating that Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) would also be known as World Bonobo Day beginning in 2017.
- Bushmeat hunting, habitat destruction and the wildlife trade are the greatest threats to the survival of bonobos.

India’s Manas National Park illustrates the human dimension of rhino conservation
- Manas National Park, one of India’s rhino conservation areas, is at the heart of a proposed homeland for the Bodos, an indigenous ethnic group.
- From the 1980s until 2003, the park was engulfed by armed conflict, and its rhino population was wiped out. During this period, the Bodos were frequently portrayed as hostile to conservation efforts.
- A 2003 peace accord paved the way for the establishment of autonomous local governance, and the restoration of rhinos to the park. Former guerrillas now serve as anti-poaching patrols.
- With the Bodos in power, a new group has been cast as ecological villains: Bengali Muslims living in the fringes of the park.

Fighting rhino poaching in India, CSI-style
- RhODIS, the Rhino DNA Index System, relies on a database of rhino DNA collected from across rhino range states in Africa.
- The system, developed in South Africa, allows investigators to link captured poachers and confiscated horns to specific poaching incidents.
- Researchers are currently working to expand the database to include Asian rhino species.
- This year, India is expected to be the first Asian country to roll out the program as part of its anti-poaching strategy.

Thap Lan: Thailand’s unsung forest gem under threat, but still abrim with life
- Thailand’s Thap Lan National Park is part of the Dong Phayayen – Khao Yai Forest Complex (DPKY-FC), designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its importance to global biodiversity.
- The DPKY-FC supports 112 species of mammals, 392 species of birds, and 200 species of reptiles and amphibians.
- Thap Lan receives few visitors and faces major threats, including poaching, illegal logging and the expansion of a highway leading from Bangkok to the country’s northeast.
- The park, along with the rest of the DPKY-FC, could be downgraded by UNESCO to inscription on the “List of World Heritage in Danger.”

Saving the Sumatran rhino requires changing the status quo
- With a small, fragmented population, the Sumatran rhino is currently on the path to extinction.
- Despite dedicated efforts by conservationists, existing policies — population surveys, anti-poaching efforts and a small breeding program — have been unable to reverse this trend.
- Attorney and nonprofit consultant W. Aaron Vandiver argues that we now face a binary choice between maintaining the status quo until the species goes extinct, or embracing the expense and “risk” required to carry out an ambitious plan to capture and manage the surviving population.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Trouble in India’s rhino paradise
- Two one-horned rhinos were shot in Kaziranga National Park in December, bringing the park’s total number of poaching-related rhino deaths to 18 for the year.
- Anti-poaching efforts face huge challenges: burgeoning demand for rhino horn in nearby China and Vietnam, easy terrain for poachers, poverty in the fringes of the park, and the presence of armed insurgent groups in the region.
- Officials have responded by boosting anti-poaching patrols and punishing rangers found to be neglecting their duties, adopting new technologies and clearing encroachments on parkland.
- Despite the ongoing threat of poaching, Kaziranga’s rhino population is growing.

Nepal’s extraordinary devotion to preserving its rhinos
- Despite its proximity to China, the epicenter of demand for wildlife products, only one of Nepal’s rhinos has been killed by poachers since 2014.
- Observers credit this success to broad-based support for conservation, including at the highest levels of Nepal’s government and military.
- Other species also benefit from this commitment to conservation, including elephants and tigers.

Reports that wild Sumatran rhinos may survive in Malaysia prompt hope, skepticism
- Sumatran rhinos were declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia in 2015. No more than 100 are believed to survive anywhere.
- This week, researchers for WWF Malaysia announced that an August expedition found a footprint in the Sabah’s Danum Valley Conservation Area, which they believe could belong to a rhino.
- Other experts say the evidence is too scant to support such a conclusion.

Cash-strapped rhino groups turn to crowdfunding, with little success
- Bornean and northern white rhinos have little chance to avoid extinction without cutting-edge assisted reproductive technology.
- Conservation groups find it difficult to attract funding to develop these technologies, which are costly and not guaranteed to succeed.
- Organizations in Kenya and Malaysia have launched separate crowd-funding appeals to fund efforts to develop in vitro fertilization techniques.
- Both campaigns are far below targeted donation levels.

The Javan rhino: protected and threatened by a volcano
- Around sixty Javan rhinos are known to survive, all in Ujung Kulon National Park in western Java.
- The park lies across a narrow strait from Anak Krakatua – literally the “child of Krakatoa” – the successor to the one of the deadliest volcanos in history.
- The park’s rhino population faces numerous threats, and researchers fear a volcanic eruption could push the species even closer to extinction.

Nepal goes high-tech in its fight against rhino poachers
- Since 2011, Nepal has had four 365-day stretches with no rhino poaching and has seen its rhino population increase by 21 percent.
- Experts say Nepal’s success is largely down to unity of purpose from officials, conservation groups and communities, but technology plays a key role too.
- Anti-poaching patrols have experimented with a wide variety of high-tech tools including GPS collars and drones.

Its own rhinos hunted to extinction, Vietnam is a hub for the rhino horn trade
- The last Vietnamese rhino, a subspecies of the Javan rhinoceros, was shot by a poacher in 2009.
- Vietnam is both a destination for rhino horn and other wildlife products, and a hub for the trafficking of endangered species from Africa and Asia into China.
- Vietnam is facing global scrutiny for its failure to crack down on the trade.

From Ohio to Indonesia: captive-bred Sumatran rhinos may be the species’ only hope for a future
- Andalas, the first rhino born at the Cincinnati Zoo, has already fathered two calves with a female at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia. Hopes are now pinned on his brother successfully breeding there too.
- Researchers in Malaysian Borneo, where the last three rhinos surviving in captivity all have fertility problems, have turned to in vitro fertilization to try and produce a calf.
- Experts say they have to be optimistic about the future, but Sumatran rhinos face daunting challenges: small numbers, low fertility, bureaucratic obstacles and questions over the wisdom of expending so many resources on so few animals.

From Indonesia to Ohio: the struggle to breed Sumatran rhinos in captivity
- Sumatran rhinos were once widespread across southern Asia; today, fewer than 100 are believed to be left in the wild.
- An international captive breeding program was launched in 1984, sending rhinos to the United States and United Kingdom.
- The first calf wasn’t born until 2001, because maintaining and breeding these rare rhinos turned out to be an unusual challenge.

North Sumatra’s governor wants to build a road through Mt. Leuser National Park
- The national park lies within the Leuser Ecosystem, home to one of Indonesia’s last great swaths of intact rainforest.
- The governors of Aceh and North Sumatra provinces have asked the central government for permission to develop parts of the national park.
- The environment ministry in Jakarta has rejected the plans, citing ecosystem concerns.

Rhino killed in India’s Kaziranga Park, highlighting the ever-present threat of poachers
- At least 16 rhinos have been killed for their horns this year in India’s Assam State.
- The most recent killing happened last Friday in Kaziranga National Park.
- The state’s new government has vowed to crack down on poaching and has worked to build collaboration between police and forest patrols.
- Arrests are increasing, but forest officials still struggle to get convictions in court.

Efforts to conserve Asia’s rhinos meet successes, setbacks
- Asia is home to three of the world’s five surviving rhino species
- Rhino populations in India and Nepal are growing, but Javan and Sumatran rhinoceroses remain critically endangered
- Their survival likely depends on successful collaboration between governments and conservation organizations

Ignoring scientists, Poland begins logging famous primeval forest
- Unlike the rest of Poland and much of Europe, a significant portion – approximately half – of Bialowieza Forest has never been knowingly logged.
- The forest is home to wildlife like wolves, moose, and lynx. It served a pivotal role in bringing back the European bison, which had been hunted to extinction in the wild.
- Now, Poland’s new far-right government is planning on opening up parts of Bialowieza Forest to loggers, in a purported effort to fight spruce beetle infestation.
- But scientists and environmentalists are criticizing the move, saying it isn’t scientifically valid and is simply a ploy to access the forest’s timber reserves.

It’s a girl: rare rhino gives birth to second calf in Sumatra
- The father, Andalas, was born in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo before being transferred to Indonesia.
- An uncle, Harapan, was the last Sumatran rhino in the Western hemisphere before following his brother to Indonesia earlier this year.
- The mother, Ratu, has now given birth twice, raising the population of Indonesia’s Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary to seven.

Can we save the Sumatran rhino? Indonesia holds out hope

Can a sanctuary in Indonesia keep the world’s most imperiled rhino from extinction? “One percent of the world’s population,” veterinarian Zulfi Arsan says as he nods towards Bina, a 714-kilogram (1,574-pound), 30-year-old female Sumatran rhinoceros leisurely crunching branches whole. A gentle and easygoing rhino, pink-hued Bina doesn’t seem to mind the two-legged hominids snapping pictures […]
The triumph of the bison: Europe’s biggest animal bounces back a century after vanishing

We’d been hiking through deep snow all day with the mercury well below zero, not an uncommon occurrence during winter in eastern Poland. Still I was sweating, covered in several layers and walking with greater strides than I was used to. We stopped once for lunch, taking our repast on a snow-covered log, eating our […]
Ongoing overkill: loss of big herbivores leading to ’empty landscapes’

Megaherbivore collapse particularly acute in Asia and Africa. Hunting may be the single greatest threat to the world’s endangered megaherbivores. Skinned antelope for sale in Guinea, Africa. Photo by: Terry Sunderland for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Ten thousand years from now, human historians—or alien ones—may view the current wave of biodiversity loss and […]
Elephant poaching rate unchanged – and still devastating

Savannah elephant in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. New figures show essentially no change in the number of elephants killed in Africa by poachers last year, despite a high-profile meeting on the crisis which was attended by 46 countries and a number of commitments. Data from CITES’ Monitoring the […]
Arctic upheaval: new book outlines challenges at the top of the world

Chukotkan dancers. Subsistence hunting will be increasingly difficult for the Inuit who depend on marine mammals in the Arctic to provide them with food and materials for clothing. Photo by: Edward Struzik. For most of us, the Arctic is not at the front of our minds. We view it as cold, stark, and, most importantly, […]
Sabah shocked by banteng poaching

A banteng bull and two cows in one of Sabah’s protected forests on camera trap. Photo courtesy of Danau Girang Field Centre. Malaysia’s Daily Express recently published graphic photos of poachers in the Malaysian state of Sabah posing proudly with a number of illegally slaughtered large animals, including the incredibly rare and cryptic banteng. Wild, […]
Videos: new film series highlights bringing Gorongosa back to life

Tracking lions, photographing bats, collecting insects, bringing elephants home: it’s all part of a day’s work in Gorongosa National Park. This vast wilderness in Mozambique—including savannah and montane rainforest—was ravaged by civil war in the 1980s and 90s. However, a unique and ambitious 20-year-effort spearheaded by Greg Carr through the Gorongosa Restoration Project—and partnering with […]
1,215 rhinos butchered in South Africa in 2014

Poacher’s toll: South Africa’s rhino population may be declining for the first time in 100 years Black rhino killed by poachers. Photo by: Anti-poaching patrol/TRAFFIC. 1,215: that’s the total number of rhinos butchered last year in South Africa for their horns. The number represents another annual record—the seventh in a row—topping last year’s total by […]
California introduces bill to close ivory loophole

Baby elephant in South Africa. California congresswoman, Toni G. Atkins, introduced a bill yesterday (AB 96) that would close a major loophole allowing ivory to be sold all over the state. Thousands of miles away, across Africa, poachers are decimating elephants for their ivory tusks. A recent study estimated that one fifth of the continent’s […]
How black rhinos and local communities help each other in Namibia
- Africa’s rhinos are in a state of crisis.
- Poaching for their horn has resulted in the deaths of thousands of animals and pushed the continent’s two species—the white and black rhino—against the wall.
- Yet, despite the crisis, there are pockets of rhino territory where poaching remains rare and rhinos live comparatively unmolested.
- Indeed, one of the brightest spots for rhinos is in Namibia.

Man plants forest, becomes film star

This is the second in a series of two articles telling the story of Molai, a forest in the Indian state of Assam that was planted by Jadav Payeng over 35 years. Read the first part here. Jadav “Molai” Payeng is a 51-year-old man who lives in India’s north-eastern state of Assam in the village […]
One man plants forest larger than Central Park

This is the first in a series of two articles telling the story of Molai, a forest in the Indian state of Assam that was planted by Jadav Payeng over 35 years. Read the second part here. In the northeastern Indian state of Assam, a 51-year-old man lives with his family in a small hut […]
It only took 2,500 people to kill off the world’s biggest birds

All of the world’s moas exterminated by just a few thousand people A Haast’s eagle divebombing a pair of moas. A new study finds that it only took a few thousand people to kill off the nine species of moas found on New Zealand, an act which also led to the extinction of their only […]
The only solution for polar bears: ‘stop the rise in CO2 and other greenhouse gases’

Steven Amstrup will be speaking at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo in San Francisco on October 11th, 2014. In 1773, an expedition headed by Constantine John Phipps, the Second Baron Mulgrave, embarked on a dangerous journey North—to see how far they could go before having to turn back. In his report at the end of […]
Photos: Czech Republic publicly burns confiscated rhino horns

Armed customs guards stand behind a rhino horn waiting to be burnt. Photo courtesy of CITES Secretariat. Late last month, armed guards escorted officials marching 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of rhino horns to a pyre for burning. The event, at the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic, was the first public burning of rhino […]
What makes the jaguar the ultimate survivor? New books highlights mega-predator’s remarkable past and precarious future

An interview with Alan Rabinowitz, author of the new book, An Indomitable Beast: the Journey of the Jaguar Female jaguar (staring into camera) with subadult male offspring moving through an old oil palm plantation in the jaguar corridor of Colombia. Photo by: Esteban Payan, Panthera. For thousands of years the jaguar was a God, then […]
20 percent of Africa’s elephants killed in three years

Around 100,000 elephants were killed by poachers for their ivory on the African continent in just three years, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Between 2010 and 2012 an average of 6.8 percent of the elephant population was killed annually, equaling just over 20 percent of the […]
Want to save Africa’s elephants? Close all ivory markets

The only way to save the long-suffering elephants of Africa is to close every ivory market on the planet and destroy all ivory stockpiles, according to a bold new essay in Conservation Biology. Written by Elizabeth Bennett, the Vice President for Species Conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the paper is likely to prove […]
Desperate measures: researchers say radical approaches needed to beat extinctions

Introduction of non-native species, de-extinction may work better than traditional conservation practices Today, in the midst of what has been termed the “Sixth Great Extinction” by many in the scientific community, humans are contributing to dizzying rates of species loss and ecosystem changes. A new analysis published in Science refutes the value of common conservation […]
On babies and motherhood: how giant armadillos are surprising scientists (photos)

Uncovering the reproductive mysteries of the little-known giant armadillo. Arguably the most important moment in any animal’s life— whether it be a whale, a human, or a mosquito— is the act of giving birth, of bringing a new member of the species into the world. It’s no wonder that biologists treat reproduction— from conception to […]
Grenades, helicopters, and scooping out brains: poachers decimate elephant population in park

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW. Poached elephant skull shows bullet hole from above, likely from a helicopter. The elephant’s face was cut off by a chainsaw to remove the tusks. In addition, its brain was taken. Photo by: African Parks. Over the last two months, poachers have killed 68 African elephants in Garamba National Park representing […]
Despite poaching, Indian rhino population jumps by 27 percent in eight years

The world’s stronghold for Indian rhinos—the state of Assam—has seen its population leap by 27 percent since 2006, despite a worsening epidemic of poaching that has also seen 156 rhinos killed during the same period. According to a new white paper, the population of Indian rhinos in Assam hit 2,544 this year up from a […]
Featured video: elephant advocates ask Antiques Roadshow to stop appraising ivory

The 96 Elephants campaign has asked the television program, Antiques Roadshow, to stop airing appraisals of ivory, even if it is antique. To help convince the PBS program, the campaign—run by the Wildlife Conservation Society along with dozens of partners—produced a satiric video capturing not the worth of ivory, but its cost (see below). “Allowing […]
Death of young Sumatran rhino shouldn’t discourage captive breeding efforts say conservationists

Just over two weeks ago, conservationists in the Malaysian state of Sabah managed to finally catch a wild Sumatran rhino female after months of failed attempts; the female, named Iman, was quickly helicoptered to a semi-wild rhino reserve in hopes that she may breed with the resident male, Tam. But following such hopeful events, comes […]
Kala: the face of tigers in peril

In 1864, Walter Campbell was an officer in the British Army, stationed in India when he penned these words in his journal: “Never attack a tiger on foot—if you can help it. There are cases in which you must do so. Then face him like a Briton, and kill him if you can; for if […]
Meet Iman: the Sumatran rhino’s newest hope for survival

Iman wallowing in the mud. Photo by: John Payne/BORA. Hopes for one of the world’s most imperiled megafauna rose this month when wildlife conservationists succeeded in catching a female Sumatran rhino named Iman in the Malaysian state of Sabah. The female, which experts believe to be fertile, has since been successfully transferred via helicopter to […]
Blame humans: new research proves people killed off New Zealand’s giant birds

Artist’s rendition of the coastal moa, which a new paper says was hunted to extinction, along with all of its relative, by humans. Image by: Michael B. H./Creative Commons 3.0. Moas were a diverse group of flightless birds that ruled over New Zealand up to the arrival of humans, the biggest of these mega-birds stood […]
Conservationists catch wild Sumatran rhino, raising hope for world’s most endangered rhinoceros

Conservationists have succeeded in catching a wild Sumatran rhino in the Malaysia state of Sabah in Borneo, according to local media reports. Officials are currently transferring the rhino, an unnamed female, to a rhino sanctuary in Tabin National Park where experts will attempt to mate her with the resident male, Tam. The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus […]
Palm oil plantations allegedly poison seven Critically Endangered elephants in Sumatra

Wildlife officials suspect foul play in the deaths of seven Sumatran elephants on the outskirts of Tesso Nilo National Park. Officials stumbled on the corpses of one female elephant, five young males, and one male calf in mid-February. Although the males had their tusks hacked off, the officials suspect the elephant were poisoned in revenge […]
Ivory trade’s shocking toll: 65% of world’s forest elephants killed in 12 years (warning: graphic image)

Forest elephants have suffered unprecedented butchery for their ivory tusks over the past decade, according to new numbers released by conservationists today in London. Sixty-five percent of the world’s forest elephants have been slaughtered by poachers over the last dozen years, with poachers killing an astounding nine percent of the population annually. Lesser-known than their […]
Over 75 percent of large predators declining

The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline […]
Scientists make one of the biggest animal discoveries of the century: a new tapir

Update: The classification of Tapirus kabomani as a distinct species was officially contested in 2014. In what will likely be considered one of the biggest (literally) zoological discoveries of the Twenty-First Century, scientists today announced they have discovered a new species of tapir in Brazil and Colombia. The new mammal, hidden from science but known […]
86 percent of big animals in the Sahara Desert are extinct or endangered

Bigger than all of Brazil, among the harshest ecosystems on Earth, and largely undeveloped, one would expect that the Sahara desert would be a haven for desert wildlife. One would anticipate that big African animals—which are facing poaching and habitat loss in other parts of the world—would thrive in this vast wilderness. But a new […]
Elusive giraffe-relative – the okapi – now listed as Endangered

The discovery of the okapi shocked the world in 1901. African explorer, Henry Stanley, called it “donkey-like,” while others thought it a new species of zebra, given the stripes. However, this notoriously-secretive rainforest ungulate proved to be the world’s only living relative of the giraffe, making it one of most incredible taxonomic discoveries of the […]
Armored giant turns out to be vital ecosystem engineer

Massive, but little-known, the giant armadillo caught on cameratrap. Photo by: Kevin Schafer/The Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project. The giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) is not called a giant for nothing: it weighs as much as a large dog and grows longer than the world’s biggest tortoise. However, despite its gigantism, many people in its range—from the […]
Tapirs, drug-trafficking, and eco-police: practicing conservation amidst chaos in Nicaragua

An interview with Christopher Jordan, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series. Baird’s tapir caught on camera trap in Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast. Photo courtesy of: Christopher Jordan. Nicaragua is a nation still suffering from deep poverty, a free-flowing drug trade, and festering war-wounds after decades of internecine fighting. However, like any country […]
Nutrient deficiency in Amazon rainforest linked to megafauna extinction

Around twelve thousand of years ago, the Amazon was home to a menagerie of giant creatures: the heavily armored glyptodons, the elephant-sized ground sloth, and the rhino-like toxodons among others. But by 10,000 B.C. these monsters were largely gone, possibly due to overhunting by humans or climatic changes. There’s no question that the rapid extinction […]
Kenya getting tough on poachers, set to increase fines and jail time

The Kenyan parliament has approved emergency measures to tackle the on-going poaching crisis: last week Kenyan MPs approved legislation that should lead to higher penalties for paochers. The emergency measure passed just as Kenya Wildlife Service’s (KWS) is pursuing a gang of poachers that slaughtered four rhinos over the weekend. Both rhinos and elephants have […]
Malaysia may be home to more Asian tapirs than previously thought (photos)

You can’t mistake an Asian tapir for anything else: for one thing, it’s the only tapir on the continent; for another, it’s distinct black-and-white blocky markings distinguishes it from any other tapir (or large mammal) on Earth. But still little is known about the Asian tapir (Tapirus indicus), including the number surviving. However, researchers in […]
Bison return to Germany after 300 year absence

Earlier this month, officials took down a fence allowing the first herd of European bison (Bison bonasus) to enter the forests freely in Germany in over 300 years, reports Wildlife Extra. The small herd, consisting of just eight animals (one male, five females and two calves) will now be allowed to roam unhindered in the […]
Seeing the forest through the elephants: slaughtered elephants taking rainforest trees with them

Forest elephants in the Mbeli River, Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Congo. Photo by: Thomas Breuer. Elephants are vanishing. The booming illegal ivory trade is decimating the world’s largest land animal, but no place has been harder hit than the Congo basin and its forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). The numbers are staggering: a single park in Gabon, […]
Scientists document baby giant armadillo for first time (photos)

Mother giant armadillo with baby in Baia des Pedras. Photo by: The Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project. Despite weighing as much as full-grown human, almost nothing is known about the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) including its breeding and reproductive behaviors. How does mating occur? How long does pregnancy last? How many babes are typically born? Scientists […]
Photos: Scientists discover tapir bonanza in the Amazon

Camera trap image of tapir in Madidi-Tambopata Landscape. Photo by: WCS. Over 14,000 lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), also known as Brazilian tapirs, roam an Amazonian landscape across Bolivia and Peru, according to new research by scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Using remote camera trapping, thousands of distribution records, and interviews, the researchers estimated […]
Three developing nations move to ban hunting to protect vanishing wildlife

African savannah elephants on the Chobe River in Botswana. From 2014 on, hunting will no longer be allowed in Botswana’s public lands. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Three developing countries have recently toughened hunting regulations believing the changes will better protect vanishing species. Botswana has announced it will ban trophy hunting on public lands beginning in […]
Asia’s third largest animal may be on the rebound

Wild yaks cross the Tibetan Plateau near the edge of a glacier. A scientific team recently counted more than a thousand wild yaks in this region signaling a possible comeback for this species once decimated by over-hunting. Photo by: Joel Berger, WCS/University of Montana. Unlike Asia’s largest animal (the elephant) and its second largest (the […]
Key mammals dying off in rainforest fragments

New research shows that the lowland tapir is nearly extinct in the Atlantic Forest. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. When the Portuguese first arrived on the shores of what is now Brazil, a massive forest waited for them. Not the Amazon, but the Atlantic Forest, stretching for over 1.2 million kilometers. Here jaguars, the continent’s apex […]
Humans killed off magnificent Australian megafauna, flipping rainforest into savannah

An extinct marsupial mega-herbivore, Diprotodon optatum. Drawing by Peter Murray. Image © Science/AAAS. The theory that humans, and not climate change, was primarily responsible for the extinction of giant marsupials in prehistoric Australia takes another step forward with a new study in Science. Exploring sediment cores for past evidence of big herbivores, researchers found that […]
When giant coyotes roamed the Earth

Coyote feeding on elk carcass in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by: Jim Peaco/U.S. National Park Service. Not long ago, geologically speaking, coyotes (Canis latrans) were bigger and more robust than today’s animals. In the late Pleistocene, over 10,000 years ago, coyotes rivaled grey wolves (Canis lupus) in size. But, according to a new paper in […]
Vietnamese rhino goes extinct

Camera trap catches one of the world’s last Vietnamese rhinos before its extinction. Photo courtesy of WWF. In 2009 poachers shot and killed the world’s last Vietnamese rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus), a subspecies of the Javan rhino, confirms a report from International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Vietnamese […]
Loving the tapir: pioneering conservation for South America’s biggest animal
- Compared to some of South America’s megafauna stand-out species – the jaguar, the anaconda, and the harpy eagle come to mind& – the tapir doesn’t get a lot of love.
- This is a shame. For one thing, they’re the largest terrestrial animal on the South American continent: pound-for-pound they beat both the jaguar and the llama.
- For another they play a very significant role in their ecosystem: they disperse seeds, modify habitats, and are periodic prey to big predators.

Eastern cougar officially declared extinct

The Eastern cougar, a likely subspecies of the mountain lion, was officially declared extinct today by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, ending 38 years on the Endangered Species List (ESA). The cougar, which once roamed the Eastern US, had not been confirmed since 1930s, although sightings have been consistently reported up to the present-day. […]
Monster turtle killed off by man
Researchers have linked another extinction to human beings: this time of a massive prehistoric horned turtle. Prehistoric turtles in the Meiolania genus were thought to have vanished some 50,000 years ago. However, scientists have found a new species that was likely wiped out by human hunters much more recently. Announced in the Proceedings of the […]

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