topic: Wildlife

topic: Wildlife

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California learns from its beaver reintroductions
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Tásmam Koyóm, a high Sierra meadow in California, U.S. returned to the Mountain Maidu people in 2019, is once again wet where once it had been dry. Rivulets now snake through hip-high grasses and willow thickets, feeding a […]
In memory of the Christmas Island shrew
- Once abundant on Christmas Island, the tiny, five-gram shrew (Crocidura trichura) filled the night forest with its high, thin cry before vanishing into silence.
- Introduced black rats and their parasites decimated the island’s native mammals, and by 1908 the shrew was thought extinct, its memory confined to museum drawers and field notes.
- Brief rediscoveries in 1958 and 1984 brought fleeting hope, but the last known individuals died in captivity, and no others have been found despite decades of searching.
- Its loss, now made official, adds to Australia’s grim record of extinctions—a quiet reminder of fragile lives erased by invasion, neglect, and the noise of human expansion.

Has Uganda done enough to prevent pollution of Lake Albert by oil drilling? (commentary)
- Thousands of households in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo rely on Lake Albert for their daily water needs and for fish, and it provides key habitat for unique wildlife like shoebills and Goliath herons.
- Two oilfields — Kingfisher on its eastern shore and Tilenga near the northeastern terminus of Lake Albert — in active development there, by the Ugandan affiliate of Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Total E&P Uganda respectively, appear to be a threat to water quality and wildlife, a new op-ed argues.
- “Issues such as the lack of commitment to a system of sound disposal of water, sewage and drilling cuttings all portend a bad omen in an area that is home to some unique wildlife,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

International Gibbon Day: Spotlighting the overlooked, underprotected ‘lesser apes’
Gibbons, commonly called lesser apes, aren’t as well-known as some of their great ape cousins like chimpanzees or gorillas. But the lives of these highly arboreal primates are no less fascinating. They reside in the canopy of the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia, living in small family groups, each patrolling its own territory, […]
Researchers fear Chile copper project may threaten rare Andean cat population
- In Chile’s Valparaíso region, researchers say a proposed large-scale open-pit copper mine threatens a recently recorded Andean cat population and its habitat.
- The Vizcachitas project, owned by Los Andes Copper Ltd., is located on a rich copper deposit and has been presented by the company as a solution to help meet the demands of the global green energy transition.
- Government officials and courts have decided the project is compatible with the presence of the Andean cat, while community members and conservationists raise concerns about the potential impacts on this rare feline species.
- The Putaendo municipality and local organizations have requested that the Ministry of Environment in Chile declare the affected area a protected area to safeguard the Andean cat and other endemic species.

Nickel mining damage near UNESCO site stirs outrage in southern Philippines
- A recent survey by the Davao Oriental provincial government engineering office revealed that a strip mine operating in the province had scraped bare about 200 hectares of forestland.
- After the survey, the provincial governor said the province would order the Pujada nickel mine to cease operations.
- The mine is within 10 kilometers of two protected areas: the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and the Pujada Bay, a nationally protected seascape.

Arctic seals edge closer to extinction as sea ice vanishes
- Three Arctic seal species have been moved up to higher threat categories on the IUCN Red List, with one now endangered and two now near threatened.
- Global warming is melting away the sea ice they need for breeding, resting and feeding, which has led to widespread breeding failures among ice-dependent seals.
- Loss of sea ice is also opening the region to more human activity, including shipping and oil exploration, bringing added disturbance, noise and pollution.
- The IUCN warns a similar pattern is emerging in the Antarctic. It says urgent global emissions cuts, along with stronger local protections such as reducing bycatch and pollution, are needed to prevent further declines.

AI system eavesdrops on elephants to prevent deadly encounters in India
- Engineer-turned-conservationist Seema Lokhandwala has developed an AI-powered device that listens for elephant vocalizations and plays sounds like tiger roars or buzzing bees to drive herds away from villages near India’s Kaziranga National Park.
- Early field trials show the device is about 80% accurate in detecting elephants and 100% effective in deterring them, gaining support from local communities and forest officials despite limited funding.
- Lokhandwala and other experts stress that while technology can help mitigate human-elephant conflict, true coexistence requires addressing the root causes of conflict — habitat loss, land use and unsustainable development — and restoring respect for elephants among local communities.
- India’s Assam state, where Kaziranga is located, is a hotspot for human-elephant conflict, with expanding farms, infrastructure and climate-driven food shortages pushing elephants into villages, causing hundreds of human and elephant deaths over the past two decades.

International Snow Leopard Day: Conservation and coexistence in India and Nepal
They’re known as the “ghost of the mountains,” so it makes sense that snow leopards can be extremely difficult to spot. Yet, these majestic, thick-furred cats, living in the high mountains of Asia, are also disappearing from much of their range due to declines in prey, retaliatory killing for livestock predation, the illegal wildlife trade, […]
Christmas Island shrew officially declared extinct: IUCN
The Christmas Island shrew, a tiny mammal once found only on the Australian island of the same name, has been declared officially extinct. It’s at least the fourth small mammal species to be wiped out from the island since the introduction of invasive species there a century ago. The Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura) was […]
Study reveals overlooked cultural threat to wildcats across Africa
- The role that cultural demand plays in driving hunting and trade of many species of wildcats is poorly understood.
- Research commissioned by the wildcat conservation NGO Panthera found widespread use across Africa by traditional leaders, healers and participants in cultural ceremonies. Leopards were the most commonly identified species, followed by lions, servals and cheetahs.
- The researchers say recognizing the cultural contexts in which carnivores are used can help conservationists design interventions that are culturally sensitive and locally relevant.

Radar study shows when offshore turbines pose greatest risks to migrating birds
- A new study looks at bird migration patterns over open ocean in an attempt to assess how much risk offshore wind turbines and other marine infrastructure might pose to them.
- The authors used radar data from U.S. coastal weather stations to find that hundreds of millions of birds migrate over tight windows of time in the spring and fall while flying at slightly lower elevations on average than over land.
- This puts a proportion of them at risk of being killed by wind turbines, but that risk could be mitigated with dynamic management that accounts for their patterns, according to the study.
- The Trump administration, in office since January, says it doesn’t support offshore wind development, but the research has long-term implications and could be used more immediately for mitigating the impact of offshore oil and gas projects.

Primatology goes high tech — from bioacoustics to drones & AI
- From thermal cameras to deep learning AI, researchers are reinventing how they study primates in the wild.
- What began with Jane Goodall’s observational notes has evolved into artificial intelligence that identifies chimpanzees and decodes their social lives.
- A custom-built “dronequi” with a thermal and a high-definition camera is helping scientists spot Brazil’s elusive and endangered muriquis from above the trees.
- Hidden microphones across Borneo’s rainforests capture haunting gibbon duets, revealing clues about hybridization and habitat loss.

Booming sea otters and fading shellfish spark values clash in Alaska
- In Alaska, a state brimming with iconic wildlife — from grizzly bears to king salmon, humpback whales to harbor seals — the charismatic, densely coated sea otter stands out as perhaps the state’s most hotly debated, controversial species.
- Sea otters were nearly hunted into extinction a century ago for their luxurious pelts. But they have been surging in population in the Gulf of Alaska, bringing both benefits to nearshore ecosystems and drawbacks to the shellfish economy (due to the otters’ voracious caloric needs).
- Described by commercial shellfish harvesters and Native Alaskans as pillagers of clams and crabs, sea otters are seen by many marine biologists as having positive impacts on kelp forests — important for biodiversity and carbon storage. Scientists stress that shellfish declines are complex, with sea otters being just one among multiple causes.
- Native Alaskans are the only people given free rein to hunt sea otters. But long-standing federal regulations stipulating who qualifies as Native Alaskan make it illegal for most to manage their own waters. Tribes are fighting for regulatory changes that would enable them to hunt and help balance booming sea otter populations.

Rescued African gray parrots return to DRC forests
- In early October, 50 African gray parrots were released into the wild by the Lukuru Foundation, after having been rescued from poachers and undergoing rehabilitation for a year at a refuge run by the foundation.
- The foundation’s two parrot rehabilitation centers have been joined by a third one, at Kisangani Zoo, in April, which has already received 112 African grays.
- As the DRC begins enforcing a July ban on the trade in African grays, authorities will need to raise awareness in communities, dismantle well-established trading networks, and ensure released birds aren’t recaptured, conservationists say.

Rare dugong calf sighting in Alor spotlights seagrass & marine mammal conservation
- A rare sighting of a dugong calf in Alor, Indonesia, has renewed focus on the health of the region’s seagrass ecosystem and the species’ fragile future.
- Conservationists say the presence of multiple dugongs indicates a thriving habitat, but threats from tourism, habitat loss and limited population data remain pressing concerns.
- Authorities and experts are pushing for stronger monitoring and coordinated conservation strategies under a forthcoming national action plan.

Negro River study finds genetic damage in fish after oil spill
- Scientists assessed harmful effects on Amazonian fish after a barge capsized in 2013 with approximately 60,000 liters of petroleum asphalt cement in Manaus.
- Although the concentration of the contaminant decreased with rising water levels, the fish continued to exhibit effects of exposure three months after the accident, including DNA damage and neurotoxicity.
- The Negro River’s waters are rich in dissolved organic matter, which may increase the toxicity of the chemical compound.
- This research adds to other studies that attest to the harmful effects of oil on vertebrates, aquatic insects and plants in the Amazon, given the pressure for greater exploration in the region.

South African sharks threatened by fisheries, weak enforcement
- The only permit holder in South Africa’s demersal shark longline fishery has been reported breaching permit regulations, raising questions about the sustainability of the fishery.
- The fishery targets critically endangered and endangered shark species with no catch limits in place to prevent overfishing.
- Target species are already depleted, according to scientific assessments, while little is known about bycatch of other protected and endangered species.

Mining the deep-sea could further threaten endangered sharks and rays
- A new study indicates that deep-sea mining could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, many of which are already at risk of extinction.
- The authors found that seabed sediment plumes and midwater discharges of wastewater from mining activities could cause a range of impacts on shark, ray and chimaera species, including, but not limited to, disruptions to breeding and foraging, alterations in vertical migration, and exposure to metal contamination.
- The authors recommend precautionary measures, including improved baseline monitoring, the development of protected zones, and discharging wastewater below below 2,000 m (about 6,600 ft).
- With companies planning to begin deep-sea mining in international waters as early as 2027, the authors say more research is urgently needed to understand the full ecological impact of this emerging industry on biodiversity.

The slender-billed curlew, a migratory waterbird, is officially extinct: IUCN
The last known photo of the slender-billed curlew, a grayish-brown migratory waterbird, was taken in February 1995 at Merja Zerga, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. There will likely never be another one. The species, Numenius tenuirostris, has officially been declared extinct by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. “The extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew is […]
West Africa’s leopards now officially endangered after 50% population crash
There are only about 350 mature leopards left in West Africa, according to the latest regional assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Leopards (Panthera pardus) in West Africa are thought to be genetically isolated from those in Central Africa, with little or no interbreeding between populations. They’re found in 11 countries: Benin, […]
New cluster of Tapanuli orangutans discovered in Sumatra peat swamp
- Researchers have confirmed that the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan, previously thought to live only in Sumatra’s Batang Toru forest, also inhabits a peat swamp forest 32 kilometers (20 miles) away in the Lumut Maju village forest.
- DNA analysis of fecal samples verified the Lumut Maju apes as Tapanuli orangutans, marking the first confirmed record of the species outside Batang Toru.
- The discovery highlights the conservation value of nonprotected peat swamps, which are rapidly being cleared for oil palm plantations, threatening the orangutans’ survival.
- Conservationists warn that the isolated Lumut Maju population, likely fewer than 100 individuals, may not be viable long term unless habitat protection or relocation strategies are implemented.

As wolves roam California, livestock losses remain low, yet ranchers’ fears grow
- In California, as wolf numbers grow — a remarkable return after a century — livestock producers are increasingly worried as these predators occasionally take down cattle.
- Gray wolves are an endangered species, protected under both federal and state laws, complicating the balance between conservation and economic losses, though livestock kills remain low.
- California introduced a compensation program that pays ranchers for direct and indirect losses from wolves as a way to mitigate conflicts, but ranchers say this program isn’t scalable with expanding wolf numbers. The livestock industry also receives substantial taxpayer-funded subsidies.
- Wolves were extirpated from California a century ago, so ranchers haven’t lived alongside them for generations and are pushing to remove all protections for the species. Conservationists argue coexistence is the only way forward.

Indonesia falls short in bid to increase its share of southern bluefin tuna catch
- The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), a multilateral body that manages the stock of southern bluefin tuna, held its annual meeting Oct. 6-9 in Bali, Indonesia.
- Indonesia pushed for a larger share of the global catch, which is currently dominated by Australia and Japan, but CCSBT members instead kept each nation’s share unchanged.
- Members also agreed to once again fully fund a key stock monitoring program, and to set up a future meeting for discussion of seabird protection in the fishery, amid criticism from conservationists that the commission hasn’t done enough to protect seabirds.

Bangladesh plans to rehabilitate captive elephants in the wild
- Bangladesh is one of the Asian elephant’s habitats, with a presence of 268 giant mammals in its wild; the IUCN declared the species critically endangered in Bangladesh, with the animals living in the southeastern hilly forests and the northeastern part of the country.
- Data show that apart from populations in the wild, the country is home to 96 elephants living in captivity for different purposes, including for hauling logs and circuses.
- The government planned to withdraw captive elephants from their current owners and rehabilitate them in the wild and therefore took a project in this regard.

‘We can have abundant rivers and wildlife’: Director of ‘The American Southwest’ on new film
- “The American Southwest” is a new film that explores the importance of the Colorado River in western North America to people and to wildlife.
- Part natural history film, part social documentary, it explores the challenges the Colorado faces as its resources are stretched thin by the demands for cities, energy and agriculture.
- Negotiations over the river’s water after a current agreement expires at the end of 2026 offer an opportunity for more equitable sharing that includes the river itself and long-marginalized representation from the Native tribes who live along the river’s length.
- The film appeared in theaters beginning Sept. 5 and on streaming platforms Oct. 10.

An invite to the tapir toilet buffet (cartoon)
The tapir’s role as a keystone species includes seed dispersal, ecosystem engineering, and … feeding the forest with its poop! Tapirs have been found to defecate regularly in shared toilet spaces called “communal latrines”, which become important feeding sites for a myriad species like squirrel, tinamou, thrushes and wood quails.
Losing Nemo: In the Red Sea, clownfish vanish as anemones bleach
- A 2023 marine heat wave in the central Red Sea caused 100% of monitored sea anemones to bleach, followed by the death of 94-100% of clownfish and 66-94% of the anemones across three surveyed reefs.
- The findings challenge the belief that Red Sea marine life, already adapted to naturally hot water, would be protected from climate change, showing instead that rising temperatures are pushing even these heat-adapted organisms past their survival limits
- While six other Indo-Pacific regions experienced similar bleaching events with anemone deaths below 3%, the Red Sea’s 78% mortality rate reveals that 22 degree heating weeks marks a critical breaking point where these ancient partnerships fall apart.
- Researchers are calling for more monitoring of anemones worldwide while Saudi Arabia responds with expanded conservation efforts, including the world’s largest coral nursery and experimental probiotics to help reef organisms survive heat stress.

Migrating elephants get room to roam via community conservation efforts
- Years of elephant movement data reveal distinct routes the animals take to access food and water, but road building and new rail lines, towns, cities and fences are increasingly cutting off their ability to move across the landscape.
- In response, conservationists are working with communities across hundreds of miles of northern Kenya to delineate these corridors, so that any future development will protect their pathways, which are also dwindling due to severe erosion of some areas from heavy grazing followed by rain events.
- In an excerpt from her new book “ROAM: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World,” author Hillary Rosner discusses these issues and how local communities are partnering with NGOs to ensure the future free movement of these iconic animals.

World’s 1,500th known bat species confirmed from Equatorial Guinea
From Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, researchers have described what is officially recognized as the 1,500th bat species known to science, according to a recent study. The newly described bat is a species of pipistrelle, a group of tiny insect-eating bats, and scientists have named it Pipistrellus etula, with etula meaning “island” or “nation” in […]
First oarfish sighting in Sri Lanka highlights citizen science in marine protection
- Scientists have documented the first-ever record of an oarfish (Regalecus russellii) in Sri Lanka, a 2.6-meter (8.5-foot) specimen caught off the country’s western coast.
- The find expands the known distribution of oarfish into the Indian Ocean, offering a new baseline for studying this rarely seen deep-sea species.
- Meanwhile, another oarfish was recorded in India’s Tamil Nadu this year, while within 20 days, three oarfish have been recorded from Australia and New Zealand, puzzling naturalists.
- The importance of promoting citizen science and raising awareness among fishers is needed.

The bias in saving nature: How conservation funding favors the familiar
With the World Conservation Congress meeting this week, I thought it was useful to revisit a study published earlier this year on conservation funding. For decades, conservationists have warned that the planet’s attention—and its purse—are skewed toward the charismatic few. A sweeping analysis of some 14,600 conservation projects over 25 years confirms that bias […]
Uphill battle to save California’s endangered mountain yellow-legged frog
- Conservation organizations released 350 mountain yellow-legged frogs earlier this year, marking another step in an intensive, long-running reintroduction project for this highly endangered species in Southern California.
- Once abundant across its range, populations have declined drastically because of invasive fish species, climate change impacts, and the deadly chytrid fungus that is wiping out amphibians worldwide.
- Conservationists are testing out new ways to boost survival rates of released frogs. Though it’s hoped the species may one day recover, today they are locked in a fight against extinction.

IUCN downgrades guiña threat status, prompting conservation warning
- The guiña, a small wildcat, has been moved to least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Found only in Chile and Argentina, this small cat was previously listed as vulnerable.
- But the threat downgrade isn’t a sign of conservation success, researchers say. Rather, it reflects more in-depth knowledge of the species. Three out of six recognized subpopulations remain highly in danger of localized extinction and need special attention and urgent conservation action.
- Some conservationists see the downgrade in status as concerning (especially considering the daunting range of threats and number of imperiled populations) and they fear the improved listing may take attention away from the species and result in a decline in conservation funding.

Will California’s marine mammal conservation success come undone?
- With protection, many of California’s marine mammals — including whales, sea lions and seals — have made remarkable recoveries over the last half-century since bipartisan passage of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.
- However, climate-linked changes have now pushed the gray whale population into a state of collapse.
- Despite comebacks, marine mammals face a plethora of threats from pathogens, pollutants — including oil and plastic — disappearing food and more.
- In California, people and institutions are fighting for marine mammals and ocean biodiversity, but federal protections could be substantially weakened if proposed amendments to the Act move ahead.

Study busts big bad myth that wolves are growing fearless of humans
- As wolves return to parts of their historical ranges in Europe and North America, there’s growing concern that the predators are becoming less fearful of people.
- But a recent study from Poland shows that wolves still fully fear people, a finding that extends to other top predators and wildlife elsewhere around the world, where the fear of humans is “ingrained.”
- In May, wolves were moved to a lesser protected status in the EU, partly based on the argument that the canids are becoming fearless of humans.
- However, the study’s authors say that safety from wolves requires behavioral change on the part of humans, including keeping food and livestock secure and away from the canids.

Authorities in Vietnam bust wildlife smugglers with tons of rare animal parts
Vietnam’s border guard command has seized more than 7 metric tons of rare wildlife body parts from two wooden fishing boats moving goods from Indonesia to the southern Vietnamese province of Vinh Long. The boats were found on Oct. 3 and contained 4.2 metric tons of suspected pangolin scales, nearly 1.6 metric tons of fish […]
Research aims to link Hansen’s disease & illegal armadillo hunting in Brazil
- There are more cases of Hansen’s disease reported in Brazil than any other nation besides India. Even though the disease is highly prevalent, scientists are developing new studies to map out its occurrence with greater precision.
- One of the main objectives of the new studies is to prove that Hansen’s disease is zoonotic and can be transmitted to humans who illegally hunt wild armadillos and handle their meat for consumption.
- A study carried out by Brazilian researchers and published in May revealed a strong association in Brazil between direct contact with armadillos and a high risk of contracting Hansen’s disease.
- The study led to a new multinational project financed by the Leprosy Research Initiative in the Netherlands. It also emphasizes the role that conservation plays in containing the dissemination of zoonotic diseases and calls for new environmental and sanitation policies in Brazil.

Octopus farming is a dangerous detour for marine conservation (commentary)
- Proponents of octopus farming claim it can reduce fishing pressure on wild octopus populations by supplying the seafood industry, and even suggest that these efforts could contribute to restocking wild populations in the future.
- In reality, they have a poor feed conversion rate, requiring a large amount of wild-caught marine protein to produce a relatively small amount of octopus, which risks exacerbating, rather than easing, pressure on wild fish populations and marine ecosystems that depend on them, the author of a new op-ed argues.
- “Octopus farming is a dead end masquerading as a solution. It does not address the root causes of wild population declines — it compounds them. The global community must resist the temptation to exploit another wild species under the guise of sustainability,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Marine life are thriving on Nazi missile debris in the Baltic Sea: Study
As Germany demilitarized after World War II, it dumped massive amounts of its leftover munitions into the Baltic Sea. A recent study has found that some of those submerged weapons, which are still releasing toxic compounds, now host more marine organisms than the sediments around them. In October 2024, researchers used a remotely operated vehicle […]
Indochinese leopards face ‘bleak’ future, but hope persists
- The Indochinese leopard, a subspecies native to mainland Southeast Asia, has been driven to the edge of extinction by snaring and the wildlife trade.
- Population estimates for the species range from 77 to 766 individuals, highlighting both the cat’s rarity and the difficulty of studying it.
- Conservationists are working to safeguard the leopard’s last remaining strongholds in Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.

New global guidelines needed to rein in the wildlife pet trade (commentary)
- A key motion under consideration at the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress would create guidelines for managing the wildlife pet trade, and that’s key because across the world, millions of live animals — mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians — are taken from the wild every year.
- The illegal and unsustainable wildlife pet trade depends on the appeal of live animals whose capture leaves forests and grasslands silent, stripped of the pollinators, seed dispersers and predators that keep ecosystems functioning.
- “The IUCN congress offers a crucial chance to turn global attention toward the pet trade, and its illegality and unsustainability. If we fail to act, this commerce will continue hollowing out ecosystems, spreading invasive species, and endangering health,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Fears of major locust swarms wane in the Sahel but agencies step up monitoring
- Fears of major desert locust swarms in the Sahel in 2025 are receding, as authorities in the region continue to monitor breeding sites.
- The FAO says control measures were carried out by teams in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria in response to earlier alerts.
- While field reporting has been hampered by limited resources and insecurity in many key parts of the region, improved remote surveillance and information-sharing tools have been strengthened.

Scientists rethink Serengeti migration numbers with satellite, AI tools
- An AI-powered satellite survey has found that the number of wildebeests migrating across Kenya and Tanzania annually might be less than half of the million-plus figure that’s widely touted.
- The authors of the study said their findings underscore the need to calibrate the findings from different surveying methods in order to accurately estimate wildebeest numbers.
- The wildebeest migration is one of the largest mammal migrations in the world, with the animals migrating 800 kilometers (500 miles) in search of better grass.
- Estimating accurate numbers of migrating wildebeests is essential to keep track of the population in the face of habitat loss and increased human presence.

Mozambique reserve found to host rare Taita falcon’s largest refuge
The world’s largest-known population of Taita falcons has been recorded in Mozambique’s Niassa Special Reserve, where researchers estimate up to 76 breeding pairs live among its isolated island of rocky hills and woodlands, Mongabay contributor Ryan Truscott reported. The vulnerable Taita falcon (Falco fasciinucha) is smaller than a pigeon and has been called a “stunningly […]
Study warns up to a quarter of Philippine vertebrates risk extinction
- A new study warns that 15-23% of the Philippines’ 1,294 terrestrial vertebrates face extinction, with amphibians and mammals at highest risk.
- Endemic species are most vulnerable, yet many lesser-known taxa like flying foxes, Cebu flowerpeckers and island frogs receive little research or funding compared to charismatic species such as the Philippine eagle and tamaraw dwarf buffalo.
- Habitat loss, overhunting and the wildlife trade remain the leading threats, while research gaps and bureaucratic hurdles hinder effective conservation planning.
- Experts say the findings should guide the updated Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, prioritizing poorly studied species and high-risk sites not yet covered by protected areas.

Indigenous-led protections spark Bali starling’s recovery in the wild
- An Indonesian songbird once nearly extinct in the wild, the Bali starling, is making a comeback through community-led conservation on Nusa Penida and beyond.
- Strict law enforcement and captive breeding failed to reverse the bird’s decline; poaching and habitat loss continued despite decades of formal protections.
- In the early 2000s, conservationists changed tactics, working with communities on Nusa Penida to establish the island as a sanctuary for Bali starlings.
- Villages embraced traditional awig-awig regulations to protect the starling, creating powerful cultural, social and financial deterrents to poaching.

There’s far less land available for reforestation than we think, study finds
- In recent years, policymakers have made pledges for huge tree-planting projects a cornerstone for meeting national carbon reduction goals, while doing little to seriously cut fossil fuel emissions. But a new study shows the carbon sequestration estimates made for those forestation projects may be wildly optimistic.
- The new research determined that land found suitable for forestation in past studies — an area about the size of India — shrank by as much as two-thirds when adverse impacts on biodiversity, food security and water resources were taken into account.
- When the new study figured in environmental and social constraints, the potential for existing tree-planting pledges to store a promised 40 gigatons of carbon by 2050, was reduced to just 12.5 gigatons — a significant sum, but far from what’s needed to offset continued fossil fuel use.
- The new study urges policymakers to be more pragmatic in their planting strategies, and prioritize lands best slated for permanent reforestation. Other researchers urge decision-makers to put more effort and money into protecting already existing biodiverse forests, which hold high carbon storage potential.

Biodiversity is our most sophisticated information network and must be protected (commentary)
- Each species represents a unique library of evolutionary wisdom, encoded in DNA and refined over millions of years.
- In a new commentary prior to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) quadrennial conference this month, IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak argues that biodiversity represents the most ancient and sophisticated information network our planet has ever known.
- “As the world gathers in Abu Dhabi for the IUCN World Conservation Congress, let us safeguard this living network with vigilance, investment and care — ensuring that nature’s silent information exchange endures as our shared inheritance for generations to come,” she writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Urban appetite for lemur meat piles pressure on iconic primates
- Thousands of threatened lemurs are killed by specialist hunters every year to feed a lucrative urban market for their meat in cities across Madagascar.
- While rural subsistence hunting is seasonal and opportunistic, the year-round urban luxury trade for lemur meat threatens large-bodied species, including during key reproductive periods.
- Primatologists recently issued a statement calling for strategies aimed at different actors involved in lemur meat hunting, including stricter gun regulations and enforcement directed at the urban trade, and the development of economic alternatives for rural subsistence hunters.

Jaguar in Brazil swims 2.3 km in longest recorded distance for the species
Biologists in Brazil have documented a jaguar swimming an estimated 2.3 kilometers, or 1.4 miles, across an artificial reservoir in the Cerrado savanna, the longest confirmed swim by the species to date. The previous scientific record, published in 1932, was of a jaguar swimming 200 m (660 ft). “We knew that jaguars might have this […]
Consider the scorpions
- Scorpions have survived for more than 400 million years and endured five mass extinctions, but habitat destruction, climate change and overharvesting now pose significant threats to their survival.
- Scorpions give birth to live young that cling to their backs, the young of some species live with the mother for years, and only about 25 to 30 out of nearly 2,900 known species have venom potent enough to be dangerous to humans.
- Only five scorpion species have international trade protection, despite 350 being sold in the pet trade.
- Scientists are calling for improved conservation assessments, stricter trade regulations, and increased local community involvement to protect scorpions and harness their potential medical benefits.

From South America to Asia, seahorses vanish into trafficking pipeline
- In June 2025, Ecuadorian police seized a package containing almost 3,000 seahorses that were likely destined for Colombia.
- Most seahorses are caught in industrial and artisanal trawl nets as bycatch, but they are then funneled into a lucrative illegal trade.
- Researchers have identified the busiest trafficking routes: Peru to China, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
- Seahorses are in high demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine, and are also sold as trinkets and as exotic additions to aquariums.

Northern Cameroon’s lions are reproducing, but concerns remain
- GPS tracking of 10 collared lions in Bouba Ndjida National Park has confirmed multiple lionesses with cubs, indicating successful reproduction of Cameroon’s highly threatened northern lion subspecies.
- Conservationists warn many cubs may not reach adulthood because dispersing young lions are exposed to snares, retaliatory killings, and other human pressures along the park’s edges.
- With only about 60-80 lions in Bouba Ndjida and fewer than 1,000 northern lions left in Central Africa, the park is seen as crucial to the subspecies’ survival and recovery.
- Uncontrolled livestock grazing, poaching, insecurity, and weak connectivity with neighboring parks hamper conservation; experts call for larger safe areas, community involvement, and coordinated management to ensure long-term survival.

To track a unicorn: Laos team goes all out to find the last saolas
- An intensive search is underway in Laos to find perhaps the most threatened large mammal on the planet: the saola ox.
- Sniffer dogs, local and international wildlife tracking experts, and a state-of-the-art DNA kit have all been deployed to try to home in on any unknown individuals of the species so elusive conservationists once dubbed it the “Asian unicorn.”
- Last documented in 2013, when a camera trap photographed an adult in central Vietnam, previous attempts to study the saola have been stymied by a lack of sightings.
- Conservationists are aware of the ever-ticking clock, however, and warn that extinction is “inevitable” without a dedicated and intensive push to study remaining individuals and safely bring them into captivity to start a conservation breeding program to revive the species.

New deal pushes Amazon’s controversial ‘tipping point road’ ahead
- Brazil’s President Lula has personally cemented his support for the project and set his cabinet to work out a deal to renew the BR-319 highway, which passes through one of the most preserved areas of the Amazon.
- Scientists warn the highway will create a “fishbone effect” of illegal side roads, fueling deforestation that could push the Amazon past a critical tipping point and trigger its irreversible conversion into a savanna.
- A recent congressional reform, labeled the “Devastation Bill” by activists, allows strategic projects like BR-319 to bypass full environmental reviews and shifts approval authority to a politically appointed council.

Hope for the iconic Yangtze sturgeon (cartoon)
After losing two of the Yangtze River’s native wildlife icons — the baiji (a river dolphin) and the Chinese paddlefish — to dams and overfishing, and almost losing the Yangtze sturgeon, China seems to be taking measures to correct the course. The demolition of dams along the Chishui He, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, […]
Rare photos capture fishing cat preying on monitor lizard in the Sundarbans
In July, naturalist Soumyadip Santra was on a trip to the Indian Sundarbans, part of the world’s largest mangrove forest, when he witnessed an unusual scene: a fishing cat jumped on an adult monitor lizard and dragged it away toward some bushes. Santra’s photographs of the fishing cat in action captured a rare bit of […]
Counting kings: How annual lion surveys reveal the health of Africa’s protected areas (commentary)
- Lions are more than charismatic megafauna shaping the balance of species in the savannah food web. As such, their presence or absence can tell us a lot about the health of an ecosystem.
- Annual lion surveys offer a disciplined way to pair concern with action, writes Jon Ayers, board chair of wild cat conservation group Panthera and major supporter of lion conservation.
- Such surveys do not guarantee recovery. They make it possible to know, sooner and more accurately, whether recovery is under way.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Long-lost white shark tag traces remarkable journey from South Africa to SE Asia
- The discovery of a satellite tag from a subadult female white shark in Indonesia marks the first recorded connectivity of white shark movement between South Africa and Southeast Asia.
- The white sharks found in South Africa and Australia belong to different genetic pools, which makes the two populations distinct from one another, even though they share the same migratory route.
- The biggest threats facing white sharks in South Africa and Indonesia are unsustainable fishing, where the sharks become both the bycatch and main catch.
- While there are attempts to support local fishers to pioneer shark conservation instead of hunting them, such efforts are thwarted by lack of funding.

How we probed a maze of websites to tally Brazilian government shark meat orders
- A recent Mongabay investigation found widespread government purchases of shark meat in Brazil to serve in thousands of public institutions.
- The series has generated public debate, with a lawmaker calling for a parliamentary hearing to discuss the findings.
- Here, Mongabay’s Philip Jacobson and the Pulitzer Center’s Kuang Keng Kuek Ser explain how we built a database of shark meat procurements.

Grue jay or Bleen jay? Researchers confirm hybrid between blue and green jays
Researchers have for the first time confirmed that a blue jay and a green jay have mated in the wild to produce a rare hybrid with mixed features. Spotted by a birder named Donna in her backyard in San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas, this hybrid may have resulted from the two jay […]
Turning camera traps into real-time sentinels: Interview with Conservation X Lab’s Dante Wasmuht
- Wildlife technology nonprofit Conservation X Labs has developed and deployed an AI-powered device to make real-time monitoring of camera-trap images easier and more seamless.
- The Sentinel device can be attached to camera traps and serves as a minicomputer with built-in AI models.
- The device has been deployed around the world, and has found applications in detecting invasive species in New Zealand and in the Florida Everglades.
- While camera traps are widely used in conservation, it’s often a challenge to retrieve the data from remote locations, often leading to a delay in conservation action and management.

A dancing lemur could help save one of Madagascar’s most endangered ecosystems
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Madagascar’s rainforests often steal the spotlight, with their flamboyant biodiversity and familiar lemur mascots. Less noticed are the country’s dry forests in the west and southwest, which shelter equally remarkable life yet have been steadily eroded by agriculture, […]
New species of gecko described from Madagascar’s sacred forests
- An international team of biologists has discovered a new species of gecko in small forest fragments in southeastern Madagascar.
- Due to its extremely limited range, researchers say it should be classified as critically endangered.
- The management of these forests by local communities offers a significant advantage for the species’ conservation, according to the research team.

World Gorilla Day: What imperils our powerful cousins, and what brings hope
They’re powerful, intelligent and majestic, yet increasingly imperiled. Today, on World Gorilla Day, we recap recent Mongabay reporting that highlights both the threats facing gorillas, our great ape cousins, and some signs of hope. Emerging threats The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) continues to be one of the world’s top 25 most endangered primates, […]
When does beaver reintroduction make sense?
- California has recently relocated beavers from spots where they were causing problems, like flooding, to tribal lands in Northern and Southern California.
- Many advocates say that relocating beavers to areas where they once existed brings back “ecosystem engineering” benefits to the landscapes they live in.
- But experts also caution that while beavers can help with fire resilience and improve water quality, they are only part of broader solutions to climate change and watershed restoration.
- Beaver advocates also note that learning to coexist peacefully with beavers is critical, both for the recovery of the species and for the ecosystem services they provide.

Mongabay shark investigation cited in motion to ban Brazil fin exports
Brazil’s top environment council cited a recent Mongabay investigation as it weighed a ban on shark fin exports and the use of wire leaders, a type of industrial fishing gear, within marine protected areas, Mongabay staff writer Karla Mendes reported. Brazil’s National Environmental Council, known as CONAMA, voted in favor of recommending a ban for […]
DRC finally moves to protect African gray parrots from unsustainable trade
- Over the past decade, thousands of African gray parrots have been exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo despite a ban on their international trade.
- The endangered species, Psittacus erithacus, was listed under Appendix I of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, in 2016, which would have prohibited its commercial trade, but the DRC government resisted the move.
- Kinshasa was asked to conduct a comprehensive species’ population survey to justify continued trade of the birds, but to date still hasn’t carried one out.
- Meanwhile, the wholesale capture and export of birds has continued, and the DRC government has finally taken action to prohibit the capture and sale of this iconic species.

Protecting rhinos more urgent than ever this World Rhino Day
To mark World Rhino Day on Sept. 22, we look back at some of Mongabay’s rhino reporting from this year. All five rhino species face threats The Sumatran (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), both native to Indonesia, are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. The greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) in […]
The rhinoceros, under siege but not lost
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For millennia, the rhinoceros stood as one of Earth’s great survivors, armored and immense, its bulk anchoring the landscapes of Africa and Asia. Today, it’s perilously close to vanishing. A recent report by wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC and […]
Timing, not traits, helps California’s jewelflowers adapt to diverse landscapes
- California’s native jewelflowers, a group of plants that belong to the mustard family, grow in widely diverse landscapes and microclimates across the state. But until now, scientists didn’t understand what allowed their wide distribution.
- To understand this, researchers analyzed information from nearly 2,000 specimens; dug into climate and geological databases; and amassed field observations to understand the climatic conditions that 14 species of jewelflowers need to grow and reproduce.
- Their study found that, despite living in different landscapes, from desert to valleys and mountains, jewelflowers prefer hotter and drier climates, timing their sprouting and flowering accordingly. Even those species growing in colder regions adjust their life cycle to flower later in the summer and seek drought-prone soils.
- The research shows how plants distributed across vast geographies may require specific microclimates and habitats to survive, which are potentially at risk in a warming world.

Animals that spread seeds are critical for climate solutions
- New research analyzing more than 3,000 tropical forest sites reveals that areas with fewer seed-dispersing animals store up to four times less carbon than forests with healthy wildlife populations.
- The study found that 81% of tropical trees rely on animals to disperse their seeds, establishing an ancient partnership now threatened by human activities such as deforestation, road construction, and hunting.
- Researchers mapped global “seed dispersal disruption” and found it explains a 57% reduction in carbon storage potential across proposed forest restoration areas.
- The findings demonstrate that protecting wildlife and addressing climate change are interconnected challenges, with conservation strategies like wildlife corridors and species reintroduction offering approaches that serve both biodiversity and climate stability.

Most Caribbean coral reefs to stop growing by 2040, study warns
Most coral reefs in the Caribbean could stop growing, and even start eroding away, by 2040 if global warming continues unchecked, a new study finds. Coral reefs, especially those near shores, protect valuable coastlines from flooding during cyclones and storm surges by breaking up wave energy. For the reefs to continue to act as natural […]
Pet sharks have become cool, but is owning them ethical?
- Owning a shark and keeping it in a home aquarium has become cool — and it’s no longer just the province of tech bros and celebrities.
- But experts note that most home aquariums are inadequate and can lead to stunted growth, deformities and early death.
- Yet sharks are often easy to buy, with some selling for as little as $90 online; zebra sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum), which are endangered, go for around $6,000.

Funding is needed to save Samoa’s ‘little dodo’ from extinction (commentary)
- Since 2014, Samoa’s “little dodo” has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List: related to the extinct dodo, an adult manumea, as it’s called locally, has not been photographed well in the wild, and its song has rarely been recorded.
- But an underfunded conservation effort led by the Samoa Conservation Society and the nation’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) could still snatch this fascinating species from the extinction list, a new commentary argues.
- “In my view, a large-scale, multiyear forest conservation project funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the MNRE is essential,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Mass vulture poisonings expose need for cross-border action in Southern Africa
- A cluster of mass vulture poisonings in May and June 2025 has drawn attention to an ongoing problem in the transfrontier conservation area that straddles South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
- The field response to the poisonings involved teams of veterinarians, rapid response teams, and stepped-up monitoring of the area, saving the lives of more than 80 vultures.
- The series of incidents triggered meetings involving South Africa National Parks, conservation NGOs and other authorities to assess where systems were lacking and could be improved.
- Experts say national strategies to address poisoning and strengthen vulture conservation need to be complemented by regional action.

Mozambican reserve harbors largest documented breeding population of rare falcon
- A new study estimates Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique hosts 68–76 breeding pairs of Taita falcons, likely the world’s biggest population of the rare raptor.
- Niassa’s granite inselbergs provide hunting advantages over larger falcons, allowing the Taitas to thrive.
- Woodland clearance, charcoal production, agriculture and domestic fowl could shift the balance in favor of peregrines and lanners, but conservation measures and the resilience of miombo woodlands offer hope.
- Once-healthy populations in South Africa and Zimbabwe have collapsed, underscoring Niassa’s importance for the species’ survival.

Nepal’s Himalayan biodiversity struggles with new herds and highways (commentary)
- Nepal’s Limi Valley near the Tibetan border is a high-altitude landscape with immense cultural and natural value, providing both pasture for traditional yak herders and habitat for wildlife ranging from snow leopards to lynx, bears, and a range of wild grazing animals like Tibetan gazelles and blue sheep.
- Recently, though, the building of a road coupled with outmigration and depopulation have led to an influx of herders and hunters that threaten to reduce the area’s high biodiversity richness.
- “Limi Valley and its high alpine pasturelands represent a unique high-altitude ecosystem where rich biodiversity intersects with centuries-old cultural traditions. Yet, the rapid introduction of large goat and sheep herds, coupled with the expansion of roads into previously undisturbed wildlife habitats, places the ecosystem under unprecedented strain,” a new op-ed warns.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Satellite images reveal oil project surge in Ugandan park and wetland
New satellite analysis shows that wells and roads for a project in Uganda feeding Africa’s longest heated oil pipeline have progressed significantly within a protected area and near a critical wetland. The Tilenga oil field marks the starting point of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, currently under construction by the French multinational TotalEnergies. The […]
The return of the axolotl (cartoon)
Axolotls may enjoy celebrity status among pet owners, but their wild populations have been dealt huge blows by habitat loss, water pollution, invasive species and the pet trade. Now, the success of reintroduction programs in their native ranges in Mexico — where they have tremendous cultural significance — brings new hope for their comeback.
Poisoning crisis could drive vulture extinction in South Africa’s Kruger region
- More than 400 vultures died in a spate of poisoning events in and near South Africa’s Kruger National Park in May and June this year.
- André Botha, co-chair of the Vulture Specialist Group at the IUCN, says more than 2,000 vultures have been poisoned in the wider Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) since 2015, and other raptors and predators have also died.
- Observers have noted an increase in hunting and snaring of species such as impala for the bushmeat trade, with poachers frequently leaving poison-laced carcasses behind to deliberately kill carnivores or vultures.
- Botha and others stress that urgent action is needed to rein in poisoning and wildlife crime in the GLTFCA, particularly preventative engagement with communities.

A nest with a chick brings rare hope for hooded vultures in South Africa
In rare good news for vultures in Africa, conservationists have confirmed the first-ever nest of a hooded vulture containing a chick in KwaZulu-Natal, a province in southeast South Africa. That marks the southernmost recorded nesting site of the critically endangered vulture species, according to KwaZulu-Natal-based nonprofit Wildlife ACT. “It gives us as conservationists some new […]
How AI helps conservationists better understand and protect giraffes
- Scientists have deployed artificial intelligence models to identify and re-identify endangered giraffes in Tanzania.
- The Wild Nature Institute partnered with Microsoft’s AI For Good Lab to launch Project GIRAFFE which uses open-source AI tools to identify and re-identify individual giraffes based on spot patterns on their bodies.
- The data has helped scientists come up with estimates on survival and reproduction rates, movements, and behavior of the animals.

Meet the DJs of nature, inspired by biodiversity
- Technology has allowed electronic music artists endless possibilities for mixing and creating sounds.
- Some of these artists draw inspiration from nature and biodiversity, incorporating birdsong, rainforest soundscapes and the sounds of plant and animal species into their work.
- From Frankfurt, Germany, to the Peruvian Amazon, musicians are creating music that raises awareness about the beauty of biodiversity and how it is nowadays threatened.

Beavers restored to tribal lands in California benefit ecosystems
- In 2023, California relocated beavers for the first time in more than seven decades.
- The state’s wildlife agency partnered with Native American tribes to move beavers from places where they were causing problems, such as flooding, to parts of their former range.
- The moves and the state’s broader beaver restoration program are the result of decades of advocacy to change an adversarial relationship to one focused on beaver conservation and the benefits beavers can provide, from increased fire resilience to more consistent water supplies.
- The change in mindset involved education and coexistence campaigns, as well as correcting long-held misconceptions about the limited extent of the beaver’s former range in California.

Madagascar’s dry forests need attention, and Verreaux’s sifakas could help
- Western Madagascar is home to some of the country’s poorest communities and its most endangered wildlife, presenting intertwined challenges for conservation.
- The region’s characteristic dry forests have been badly damaged by clearing of land for shifting agriculture — and for mining, plantations and timber harvesting — over the past 50 years: Across Madagascar, nearly 60% of dry forest species are classed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.
- NGO leaders, scientists and government representatives are forming a dry forest alliance to better coordinate efforts to protect this valuable biome.
- Among the new alliance’s first actions was pushing for the inclusion of the critically-endangered Verreaux’s sifaka on the latest list of the World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, which alliance members hope will attract greater attention to this primate’s threatened habitat.

Hyped reports of soaring Sri Lanka elephant deaths don’t match data
Claims of a spike in elephant deaths in Sri Lanka this year — amplified by social media and public officials — don’t add up, reports Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo. In fact, analysis of the existing data shows a slight decrease from recent years. The claims are fueled by several headline-grabbing elephant deaths in Sri Lanka […]
How to smuggle a wild Galápagos iguana? Pretend it was bred in Africa
At least 60 wild iguanas have been captured, sold and exported from the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador under permits that shouldn’t have been recognized since Ecuador doesn’t allow the export of live iguanas, Mongabay’s Ana Cristina Alvarado reported. Researchers behind a recent study found that traffickers smuggle the iguanas out of the archipelago, then declare […]
Overcrowding threatens sustainability of jaguar ecotourism in Brazil’s Pantanal
The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat But the boom in tourism has created new problems, Mongabay contributor Francesco Schneider-Eicke reported from Porto Jofre, a jaguar hotspot in the northern Pantanal. […]
On World Dolphin Day, spotlight falls on threats to dolphins worldwide
September 12 is World Dolphin Day. Marine conservation and advocacy nonprofit Sea Shepherd created the day in 2022 to remember that dolphins, among the most intelligent animals on Earth, are under threat and need protection. That date, Sept. 12, was chosen to memorialize the massacre of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Leucopleurus acutus) on the Faroe […]
Photos: Indigenous elders push for comeback of the revered Philippine crocodile
- The critically endangered Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis) embodies strength and protective spirits for Indigenous Agta elders who are involved in efforts to rebrand the image of the predator.
- Thanks to conservation efforts led by the Mabuwaya Foundation in partnership with local and Indigenous communities, the wild crocodile population in a region of the northern Philippines increased from one adult in 1999 to 125 individuals by 2024.
- Community sanctuary guards, known as Bantay Sanktuwaryo, play a significant role in safeguarding the crocodiles and their habitat despite ongoing challenges posed by illegal fishing, agricultural encroachment and inadequate law enforcement.
- Conservationists warn that without stable funding and stronger government support, even successful grassroots efforts may not ensure the species’ long-term survival.

Largest turtle nest in the world revealed in drone study
Scientists studying the world’s largest river turtles, a South American species that grows to a length of nearly a meter, or 3 feet, have found the largest nesting aggregation ever recorded. Using drones to conduct a population survey in the western Brazilian Amazon, researchers recorded a nesting area of the endangered giant South American river […]
An elusive deer species clings to survival in Sri Lanka’s south
- The hog deer (Axis porcinus), Sri Lanka’s most threatened deer species, is classified as critically endangered in the country and survives only in fragmented habitats in the island’s southwest.
- A year-long survey recorded 306 adults and 22 fawns, showing a modest increase in their numbers, but an array of threats continues to put pressure on the species’ survival.
- Conservationists warn against major threats including attacks by feral dogs and water monitors, road accidents and habitat loss, while garbage dumping alters predator dynamics, adding a fresh threat.
- Debate continues over whether Sri Lanka’s hog deer is native or introduced, with fossil evidence hinting at an ancient presence but some theories indicating colonial-era introductions.

Researchers describe three new-to-science snailfish species off California coast
In 2019, researchers surveying the seafloor off the coast of California came upon three unusual species of small fishes with large heads: one with bumpy pink skin, and the other two both black in color. The team collected the fish using underwater research vehicles and later analyzed their DNA and bodies. Their analysis showed that […]
Controlling wildlife crime saves more than species (commentary)
- The illegal wildlife trade threatens many species worldwide but also jeopardizes local communities’ well-being and livelihoods, breaks down law and order in society, compromises people’s safety and security, and promotes corruption, a new op-ed argues.
- Organized criminal networks typically depend on vulnerable, cash-poor people in local communities to capture and transport wildlife across borders, but even when they’re not caught, the damage to their families and communities can be great.
- That’s because this trade can be utilized for any form of illegal activity, not just wildlife crime, according to the writer: “People involved in the illegal wildlife chain are often found involved in other crimes as well, such as drugs, arms and gold smuggling, and money laundering. All these activities promote various forms of corruption, harming societal development and entrenching the cycle of poverty.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

In southeast Nigeria, pangolins hunted for meat, not scales, study finds
- African pangolins are heavily hunted to meet the international demand for scales as well as for their meat in the local bushmeat trade. But how much each contributes to the hunting of these beleaguered mammals in various parts of Nigeria, a trafficking hub, is unclear.
- For a recent study, researchers interviewed more than 800 hunters and meat vendors in southeast Nigeria, a poaching hotspot, and found that hunters almost always hunt pangolins opportunistically, mostly for their meat rather than their scales.
- Hunters ranked pangolin meat highly for its palatability, and told researchers they ate most of it themselves, or sold it. Because local demand for scales is limited, nearly 70% of the scales are simply discarded.
- Conservationists say understanding the local drivers of demand helps design targeted conservation strategies, such as providing alternative livelihoods and food security.

African wildlife conservation is local communities’ burden (commentary)
- Africa is home to a large portion of the world’s biodiversity, and while much is known about its wildlife, the human dimensions of conservation are still not well understood or appreciated.
- In many places, African people have been excluded from their traditional lands by protected areas, often by force, and yet these same people carry the burden of conservation on multiple fronts.
- “Instead of investing more money in militarization, we must invest resources into reconciliation with African peoples across time and scale to build new visions of conservation that are anchored in their diversity and knowledge,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Fear & uncertainty grip Nigerian community after fatal elephant attack
- A 50-year-old farmer, Yaya Musa, popularly known as Kala, was attacked and killed by an elephant in the Itasin-Imobi community, in Nigeria’s Ogun state, in late July.
- Villagers say they live in constant fear of elephant attacks, with two previous incidents reported in recent years, including an assault on Badmus Kazeem, a chainsaw operator in 2024, who spent seven months in the hospital recovering from injuries.
- The Ogun state commissioner for forestry reportedly says the incident occurred in a designated wildlife area, but community members reject this claim, insisting their ancestral lands predate the elephant reserve and that their livelihoods depend on farming and fishing in the area.

Yellow fever deaths reported among threatened captive monkeys in Colombia
An ongoing outbreak of yellow fever in Colombia is sickening and killing rare and threatened monkey species in captivity, a new study shows. Between February and May 2025, authorities reported eight deaths among four monkey species in southern Colombia’s Putumayo department, researchers note. Six of the individuals were in captivity: one white-fronted capuchin (Cebus albifrons), […]
Americans’ love of RVs tied to destruction of orangutan habitat: Investigation
- Investigations by the NGOs Earthsight, Auriga Nusantara and Mighty Earth have found that plywood from forests cleared in Indonesian Borneo — including critical orangutan habitat — is ending up in U.S. RVs made by brands like Jayco, Winnebago and Forest River.
- Logs from a concession held by PT Indosubur Sukses Makmur were traced to plywood giant KLAM, then exported via U.S. intermediaries (MJB Wood, Tumac Lumber and Patrick Industries) into RV manufacturing supply chains.
- Indonesia allows legal clearing of natural forests, while the U.S. bans only illegal logging under the Lacey Act — creating a loophole that lets deforestation-linked wood enter supply chains unchecked.
- FSC-certified sustainable alternatives exist and would add as little as $20 to an RV’s price, but RV makers prioritize low costs, critics say; experts call for stronger Indonesian protections and U.S. deforestation-free import laws.

Collaboration key to lemur survival: Interview with primatologist Jonah Ratsimbazafy
- Primatologist Jonah Ratsimbazafy has warned that primate conservation is at critical juncture, and success will depends on collective effort.
- As he concluded his term as president of the International Primatological Society, he urged its members to work collaboratively and inclusively.
- Mongabay interviewed Ratsimbazafy about the state of research and protection for the Madagascar’s iconic lemurs on the sidelines of the 30th congress of the IPS in Antananarivo in July.

Sri Lanka monkey survey sparks skepticism & oddball ideas for deterring crop raiders
- In March, an islandwide five-minute rapid visual census conducted in Sri Lanka estimated populations of crop-damaging wildlife at about 6.5 million monkeys, 2.7 million giant squirrels, and 4.7 million peafowl.
- While the accuracy of the survey has been strongly questioned, there is broad agreement on the urgent need for solutions, as these species cause considerable damage to crops.
- Several solutions have been proposed, one of them is to use predatory scents, particularly leopard urine, as a natural repellent to deter monkeys citing successful use of predator scents like coyote and wolf elsewhere.
- This idea has drawn mixed reactions, with some citing practical challenges in implementation, while others recommend further study and testing of the method to address the problem of crop raiders.

Tropical bird numbers plummet due to more days of extreme heat, study finds
Tropical bird populations are crashing as temperatures soar. That’s according to a new study that found abundances of tropical birds were 25-38% lower than they would be without human-driven climate change and the rising temperatures it has caused. This temperature impact on birds is greater than declines attributed to deforestation. “It’s a staggering decrease. Birds […]
How do we perceive biodiversity? We can see it & hear it
- A recent study shows that people are able to perceive biodiversity through sights and sounds, and those perceptions correlate with the actual biodiversity of a natural place.
- Indigenous community members in the Democratic Republic of Congo share their experiences that affirm what the researchers found.
- The study adds to a growing body of research on biodiversity perception and its connections to human mental health and well-being.

New gecko species findings highlight threats to Cambodia’s limestone hills
- Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies.
- The region’s limestone karst landscape is a biodiversity hotspot that could harbor many species yet unknown to science.
- These areas are also threatened by the growing demand for cement, made from limestone.

Elephant culling plan in South Africa faces backlash over welfare concerns
Animal welfare groups in South Africa are pushing back against a local government plan to allow culling and trophy hunting to reduce elephant numbers in Madikwe Game Reserve. According to the North West Parks and Tourism Board, which oversees the 75,000-hectare (185,000-acre) wildlife conservation area in the country’s north, the elephant herd has grown […]
Latest rhino assessment finds two species recovering, but three continue to decline
- Rhino poaching persists despite a slight decrease worldwide over the last three years, driven by relentless demand for their horns in East Asia, according to a recent report by TRAFFIC and the IUCN.
- Three of the world’s five rhino species are still in decline, the report finds, with white rhinos in Africa dwindling to an almost two-decade low.
- Greater one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal are recovering well, while Indonesia’s Javan and Sumatran rhinos — both critically endangered species — continue to teeter on the brink of extinction.
- Experts say increased intelligence and cross-border cooperation, stronger community programs and enforcement, and stricter sentences for traffickers are needed to save these megaherbivores.

Philippines protects huge coral hotspot off the coast of Panaon Island
The corals around Panaon Island in the southeastern Philippines form some of the healthiest and most climate-resilient reefs in the world, and they’re now a legally protected seascape. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the Panaon Island Protected Seascape law on Aug. 29. It creates a 61,204-hectare (151,200-acre) marine protected area within the Pacific Coral […]
Last chance to save Europe’s greatest old-growth forest? (commentary)
- You don’t need to travel to the Amazon to experience the essence of a primeval forest, a new op-ed argues: Poland’s Białowieża Forest harbors the best-preserved fragments of lowland deciduous and mixed forests in the European Lowlands, where natural processes have unfolded undisturbed for more than 12,000 years.
- But the forest’s location on the Polish-Belarusian border, coupled with the ongoing geopolitical crisis and attitudes of populist politicians towards nature conservation, poses a significant threat to its survival.
- The current Polish government has a unique opportunity to place the Białowieża Forest under permanent protection, with consultations now underway regarding an Integrated Management Plan for this UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the key question is whether the government will seize this opportunity or bow to commercial interests, again.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Discovery of dazzling blue butterfly underscores peril facing Angola’s forests
- Scientists have described a new butterfly species, Francis’s gorgeous sapphire (Iolaus francisi), from Angola’s Namba Mountains, where its survival depends on mistletoe plants.
- High-altitude evergreen forests, known as Afromontane and covering about 590 hectares (1,460 acres) in the Namba Mountains, are the largest of their kind in Angola but remain without legal protection.
- Researchers warn that fires, timber harvesting, and especially unregulated farming could devastate the forests, as has happened at Kumbira, another Angolan Afromontane forest.
- Conservationists say community-led initiatives are key to protecting Namba, as Angola’s parliament moves to consider protected status for nearby Mount Moco, another Afromontane oasis.

Leopards and wild dogs are thriving in Zambia’s Kafue National Park
Camera-trap images from a section of Kafue National Park in Zambia show conservation efforts are paying off: Populations of leopards, wild dogs and lions are all growing, Mongabay contributor Ryan Truscott reported in July. Truscott interviewed Chisomo M’hango, trainee field ecologist at Musekese Conservation (MC), a nonprofit monitoring wildlife in the Musekese-Lumbeya section of the park. […]
Sparrow Top Gun (cartoon)
Considered one of the most endangered birds in all of North America, the Florida grasshopper sparrow has found a rather unlikely ally in its uphill battle for existence—the US Air Force. Prairies maintained by the force in its Avon Park range have proven to be a critical breeding habitat for the bird, with the air […]
New model reveals hidden dynamics of Indonesia’s booming songbird trade
- Researchers have built the first model mapping supply and demand in Indonesia’s vast songbird trade, finding that species traits like mimicry and rarity drive demand more than species identity.
- The study identified 332 species from trade data from 2015-2022, and grouped them into three demand clusters: competition birds, vulnerable species at risk from poaching, and household pets kept for status or rarity.
- Findings show substitution fuels the trade, with sellers offering similar species at different price points, quickly expanding pressure to new species and compounding conservation risks.
- The model offers a blueprint for conservation strategies, highlighting the need for market monitoring and community engagement to address cultural drivers behind the trade without triggering backlash.

Scientists reconfirm rare shark sightings after 50 years in PNG
In 1973, researchers scientifically described a species of shark based on a single specimen: a pregnant female caught a few years earlier by a fisherman near the mouth of the Gogol River in Astrolabe Bay, Papua New Guinea. They named this new-to-science species the sailback houndshark (Gogolia filewoodi). And then, for the next half-century, they […]
Restoring the Páramo: How Ecuador healed its degraded high-Andean ecosystem
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Ecuador’s Antisana páramo, southeast of Quito, offers a striking example of ecological restoration, turning back the clock on centuries of degradation caused by livestock grazing, reports contributor Ana Cristina Alvarado for Mongabay. Once dominated by sprawling cattle ranches, […]
New bat species described from Western Himalayas
Researchers reviewing the diversity of bats in the Western Himalayas in India recently confirmed a new-to-science species from Uttarakhand state. Named the Himalayan long-tailed myotis (Myotis himalaicus) in a new study, the bat boasts a tail nearly as long as its body. Rohit Chakravarty, a bat researcher and conservationist with the nonprofit Nature Conservation Foundation, […]
On Java’s Mount Slamet, two former trappers find new calling as bird protectors
- Ari and Junianto began hunting birds as children in the foothills of Java’s Mount Slamet, near their home in Sambirata village.
- Trapping birds for the illegal wildlife trade became their main livelihood over time, with much of the trade shifting from local markets to social media as the pair came of age and internet access proliferated.
- Ari and Junianto’s view of their vocation shifted in their 20s, and they began to work with conservation organizations to help map bird nests and protect forest areas. Today the pair are active conservationists in Banyumas district, giving talks in schools on the district’s birdlife and working with local charities.
- Banyumas, and the wider Central Java province, is home to numerous endangered and critically endangered species of birds owing to the trade in caged birds, according to the conservation authorities.

Cruise industry expansion collides with Cozumel’s coral reef
- Mexico’s Cozumel Island is one of the most popular cruise ship destinations in the world, hosting more than 4.5 million tourists every year.
- A plan to build a new pier for cruise ships has attracted concern from Cozumel residents and conservationists, who say it will damage the surrounding reef and block public access to the sea.
- The company behind the project, Muelles del Caribe, maintains the pier will bring financial benefits to the community.
- Conservationists assert that the project’s environmental impact assessment was insufficient; in July, a court ordered a temporary suspension of the project to allow for a more thorough environmental assessment.

Cape Town faces backlash over proposal to kill baboons
In Cape Town, South Africa, an ongoing conflict between people and baboons has escalated to the point that local authorities are considering culling 117 animals from four troops, roughly a quarter of the local population. The 45-kilogram (100-pound) primates sometimes raid homes for food and, very rarely, have injured people, but local conservationists argue killing […]
Tracking rhino horn trade: Interview with International Rhino Foundation’s Nina Fascione
- A new report has found that the population of Javan rhinos has decreased since 2021 as a result of poaching.
- The report by the IUCN also found that the population of black rhinos saw an increase in Africa.
- Nonprofit International Rhino Foundation, which synthesized the data in the report, has now helped fund a tool to monitor and visualize illegal rhino horn trade globally.
- The tool aims to aid conservationists, NGOs and governments in informing and enforcing stricter policies.

As forest elephants plummet, ebony trees decline in Central Africa’s rainforests
- In the past three decades, poaching has decimated Africa’s now-critically endangered forest elephants, and as a result, their vital role as seed dispersers of many forest plants has been disrupted.
- A new study from Cameroon provides the first direct evidence that without forest elephants, there are fewer ebony saplings; on average, as few as 68%, in Central African rainforests.
- Researchers found that seeds pooped out in elephant dung have a better chance of surviving and sprouting as they are protected from hungry rodents and other herbivores that chew and destroy the seeds.
- The findings show that losing key ecosystem engineers and seed dispersers has far-reaching ecological and economic impacts, potentially altering entire ecosystems.

Data debunks spike in Sri Lanka’s elephant killings, points at media hype
- With 238 elephant deaths reported between January and end of July this year, including several iconic tuskers that were found dead, there is increasing concerns about possible organized crime network behind the elephant killings in Sri Lanka.
- The country’s environment minister has filed a complaint with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and plans are afoot to deploy the Civil Defence Force to combat wildlife crime and support the severely understaffed Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) to address human-elephant conflict.
- Meanwhile, the government’s attempt to distribute more guns among the farming community has angered environmentalists who warn that these guns would increase elephant deaths.
- While various theories are being suggested by some regarding the recent spike in elephant deaths, including ivory poaching, hunting for meat and organized killings, data analysis by Mongabay shows there’s no significant rise, but instead points to a well-meaning media hype, with far greater coverage than before on elephant deaths.

Brunei built Southeast Asia’s longest bridge. What does this mean for wildlife?
- The 26-kilometer (16-mile) Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien (SOAS) Bridge, the longest bridge in Southeast Asia, connects remote eastern areas to the country’s urban capital, while facilitating access to forests teeming with unique biodiversity and protected species.
- Authors of a recent study spoke with locals to examine whether easier access to wildlife trade markets is influencing traditional hunting behaviors and practices.
- They found that hunting is still primarily driven by cultural and traditional purposes for consumption rather than to sell at markets, although these motivations are gradually declining.
- Locals noted that while the bridge offers better job prospects and income opportunities, they have also observed unusual wildlife movements and migration patterns since its construction.

Rewilding project aims to restore resilience to fire-prone Spain via wildlife
- A project in Spain is bringing Przewalski’s horse to a sparsely populated region to help stem out-of-control fires and boost the local economy.
- Rewilding Spain is attempting to rebuild ecological roles in the region to boost biodiversity and mitigate fire outbreaks.
- The project is helping the local economy by employing locals and working with tourist operators.

Small islands offer big hope for conservation of endemic species, study shows
- New research in Indonesia shows that small islands, often considered extinction hotspots, can act as crucial refuges for rare mammals like the anoa and babirusa, which face severe threats from deforestation and poaching on larger land masses.
- Genetic analyses of more than 110 individuals revealed that while small-island populations have lower genetic diversity and higher inbreeding, they also carry fewer harmful mutations — likely because long-term isolation allowed natural selection to purge them.
- Smaller islands were also found to host higher-quality, better-protected forest habitats, suggesting that conserving these areas may be more effective than attempting “genetic rescue” by moving animals from mainland populations, which could introduce harmful mutations.
- The study highlights the need to refine taxonomy, prioritize protection of small-island habitats, and integrate these overlooked areas into conservation planning, as they may hold the key to the long-term survival of iconic and endemic small-island mammals.

Giraffe is now officially four species
The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, now officially recognizes four distinct giraffe species, it announced on Aug. 21. Until recently, giraffes across Africa were classified as a single species with eight to 11 subspecies. However, since 2016, when the giraffe’s threat status was last assessed for the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, several studies […]
Bangladesh retreating from development activities planned in forest lands
- In a recent move, the government has canceled allocation of more than 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of forest land planned for different development activities.
- This encompasses more than 3,830 hectares (9,467 acres) of biodiversity-rich Sonadia Island and about 293 hectares (725 acres) of coastal hill forest in Cox’s Bazar district.
- The move raised hope for the conservationists who criticized earlier decisions taken by the previous government, which neglected the importance of protecting forest lands as well as biodiversity.

The slow demise of turtles and tortoises
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Turtles and tortoises have outlived dinosaurs, endured ice ages, and survived the shuffling of continents. Yet despite their evolutionary stamina, these ancient mariners and land dwellers now find themselves in peril. A sweeping global assessment published in Nature […]
Sharks risk losing their bite as oceans turn acidic: Study
Sharks continually shed and regrow teeth throughout their lives, replacing worn or lost teeth with new ones. That makes them particularly good at catching prey. However, these top marine predators could lose their literal edge as ocean acidification damages their teeth and makes it harder to keep and replace them, a new study says. “Shark […]
In Brazil, invaders set fires in Karipuna Indigenous land, leaders say
Indigenous leaders say land-grabbers are setting fires inside the Karipuna Indigenous Territory in Brazil’s Rondônia state, in the northwest Amazon. The fires come less than one month after Indigenous leaders warned authorities about renewed invasions. Satellite monitoring detected more than 90 fire alerts in the territory between Aug. 14 and Aug. 25, according to an […]
Mongabay shark meat exposé sparks call for hearing and industry debate
- A Brazilian lawmaker said he would call for a parliamentary hearing after Mongabay’s shark meat investigation.
- Experts reacted to the investigation, saying the uncovered public tenders show greater extinction risk for sharks and urging stronger global protection.
- Industry groups called Mongabay’s investigation “alarmist,” defending shark meat’s safety and sustainability, despite warnings from scientists.

The safari industry’s ‘conservation-washing’ is a growing problem (commentary)
- Though many tour operators focus on protecting the wildlife, environment, and local community their clients are immersed in during safaris, greenwashing — or more accurately, “conservation-washing” — is a growing problem.
- In this commentary, a safari operator with more than 35 years of experience shares his reflections and offers red flags to watch out for before hiring a company.
- “We each hold the power to influence the safari industry by choosing operators that build their tours around true conservation while uplifting local communities. Being vigilant for conservation-washing is ultimately our responsibility, and it’s one we should all take very seriously,” he argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Réunion’s ‘rarest’ gecko vanishing from natural areas but appearing in gardens
The critically endangered Manapany day gecko has long been known only from a small part of Réunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A recent study finds the bright green lizard no longer appears in 28% of its previous habitat, but has cropped up in newer, more urban areas where it hasn’t been […]
African gray parrots get complete protection in DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned the capture and trade of African gray parrots nationally, protecting one of the world’s most trafficked birds, according to a national decree signed Aug. 13. Gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus), known for their intelligence and mimicry skills, are widely trapped from the wild for the international pet trade. This […]
Shrinking Mekong megafish underlines risks to the river, study finds
- A new study has found that the Mekong River’s largest freshwater fish are shrinking in size, with critically endangered species like the giant catfish and giant barb now averaging less than half their historical size.
- Researchers analyzed more than 397,000 samples of 257 species across Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, finding that fish longer than 60 centimeters (2 feet) are shrinking fastest, while smaller species show little change.
- Overfishing, habitat loss, dam construction, sand mining, pollution and climate change are driving the decline, raising fears of collapse in one of the world’s most important inland fisheries.
- Scientists warn the trend mirrors global declines in large freshwater species, such as in the Amazon and Nile basins, but recent discoveries of massive fish like a 300-kg stingray show it’s not too late for recovery if urgent action is taken.

Can we undo extinction? A growing effort to restore lost sharks
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the turquoise shallows of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, a conservation experiment is attempting the rewilding of an endangered shark. The initiative, known as ReShark, seeks to restore populations of the Indo-Pacific leopard shark (Stegostoma tigrinum), also called the […]
How can we make nature’s wellbeing impossible to ignore? For Natalie Kyriacou, it is the defining challenge
- Natalie Kyriacou’s path to conservation began not in academia or government, but in childhood curiosity and persistence, leading her to found My Green World, a nonprofit that uses education and technology to engage people in protecting nature.
- From backyard expeditions in Australia to fieldwork in Borneo and Sri Lanka, her experiences shaped both her frustration at nature’s marginal place in politics and her belief that conservation needs new narratives that connect ecological systems to everyday life.
- In her new book, Nature’s Last Dance, Kyriacou blends humor and human-centered stories—from New Zealand’s kākāpō to India’s vanishing vultures—to show that nature is not ornamental but essential, and that collective effort is key to its survival.
- Kyriacou spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in August 2025.

In eastern Congo’s war-torn forests, Augustin Basabose gave hope to gorillas and people
- Dr. Augustin Kanyunyi Basabose, who died on August 18th, 2025, was a pioneering Congolese primatologist whose optimism and energy inspired colleagues and communities alike.
- He founded Primate Expertise (PEx), which combined science with community-led conservation, including the innovative “Ape Trees” project that restored forests while supporting livelihoods.
- Central to his work was the protection of Grauer’s gorillas, alongside training hundreds of students and urging international partners to prioritize local leadership.
- His influence is evident in eastern Congo’s forests, where gorilla populations are recovering and communities have become vital allies in conservation.

To save a rare South African ecosystem, conservationists bought the land
Three conservation trusts have together purchased an area of a severely threatened vegetation type found in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province. Known as the renosterveld, this unique habitat characterized by shrubs and grasses is also a breeding ground for endangered black harriers, the three groups announced in a joint press release. […]
Rare Javan leopard sighting renews focus on conservation, monitoring efforts
- A rare Javan leopard was recorded on camera in Mount Lawu forest, Central Java, after officials installed camera traps following a hiker’s report.
- The endangered big cat’s presence highlights Mount Lawu’s ecological importance, where Tahura Mangkunagoro park conserves diverse plants, birds and mammals.
- With only around 350 Javan leopards left in the wild, the sighting underscores urgent threats to the species from habitat loss, hunting and human pressure.
- Authorities and conservation groups are expanding camera-trap surveys and preparing a 2026–2031 action plan to safeguard the species through better monitoring, habitat protection and community engagement.

Suspected rise in targeted leopard killings worries conservationists in Sri Lanka
After a series of alleged leopard poaching incidents in Sri Lanka, conservationists warn that the big cats are likely being deliberately targeted for their skin, teeth, claws and meat at a higher rate than previously believed, reports contributor Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. “Sri Lanka may not be part of an international trafficking chain for leopard […]
Indonesia’s Bajau fishers lament nickel mining’s marine pollution
For many members of the nomadic Bajau sea tribe on Indonesia’s Kabaena Island, growing up meant swimming and fishing in clear waters, just outside their homes built on stilts. However, in 2010, the water turned red, which the villagers blame on runoff from nearby nickel mining, Mongabay’s Hans Nicholas Jong reported in July. “Now, I […]
Climate change tests the resilience of people and desert-adapted wildlife in Namibia
- Since Namibia’s independence in 1990, the country has become a model of wildlife recovery, and is now famed for its free-roaming herds of megafauna and emblematic national parks.
- A key to this recovery is the model of community-based natural resource management, which places much of the responsibility and benefits of wildlife conservation in the hands of rural communities, enabling people to earn income from small-scale hunting and tourism and thus motivating them to conserve wildlife.
- A recent 11-year dry spell has tested the resilience of the model and the people and natural systems that depend on it — but it also serves as an opportunity to build a more climate-resilient future for desert-adapted megafauna in habitats projected to become hotter and drier.
- Namibian conservation experts maintain that the key to wildlife survival is to cement their economic value in policies: if the people in the areas they roam can benefit from wildlife, they will stand a better chance in a more inhospitable future.

Study uncovers laundering of Galápagos iguanas through wildlife export permits
- All four species of Galápagos iguanas are categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List and require permits for international trade — something the Ecuadorian government doesn’t issue for live specimens.
- Despite this, 60 Galápagos iguanas are known to have been shipped across the globe under supposedly legal permits, according to a new study.
- The study authors suggest the trafficked species have been “laundered” — reported as captive-bred specimens — to make their international trade appear legal.
- Ecuador is working on a proposal to strengthen the protection of the four iguana species.

Invasive ants get a warm welcome as global temperatures rise: Study
As people move plants, soil and goods around the world, insects including ants often hitch a ride, making themselves at home in new regions. A recent study finds that some of these nonnative ants, currently restricted to warmer indoor environments like buildings or greenhouses, could easily spread outdoors as global temperatures rise, raising concerns for […]
NGOs launch novel community projects to conserve Mexico’s ocelots
- The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is often overlooked because it shares much of its American range with its more charismatic larger cousin, the jaguar. Recently, scientists discovered some surprising behaviors in this versatile small feline — including a tendency to hang out with opossums.
- In Mexico, the ocelot is classified as an endangered species due to habitat loss and hunting. A relatively new threat is climate change, as longer dry periods force the small cat to approach human settlements in search of water.
- NGOs in Mexico are working to end community-wildlife conflicts and promote peaceful coexistence between humans and ocelots. Projects conducted with beekeepers, farmers, schoolchildren and pet owners help achieve that goal.
- One lesson learned: There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each community needs a tailored approach, ranging from building specially designed water troughs, painting school murals with kids, helping farmers construct ocelot-proof chicken cages, to free vaccination and sterilization programs for dogs and cats.

Argentina’s elephant seals face 100-year recovery after avian flu devastation: Study
- At the end of 2023, an outbreak of avian flu devastated a colony of southern elephant seals in Argentina’s Valdés Peninsula.
- It may take a century for the population to return to the 18,000 breeding females it had in 2022, according to projections from a new study.
- Researchers estimate that 17,500 pups and an undetermined number of breeding adults died as a result of the outbreak, which also killed seabirds in the area.
- The previously healthy population is now vulnerable and faces an uncertain future.

Community efforts yield new marine protected area in the Philippines
The Philippines has officially designated a new marine protected area after an 18-year campaign by local communities, fisher associations, civil society organizations and government agencies, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced Aug. 13. The newly created Bitaug Marine Protected Area (MPA), which covers nearly 150 hectares (about 370 acres), is the largest MPA in Siquijor province […]
Goliath versus Goliath (cartoon)
The largest insects in the world, Africa’s Goliath beetles, are up against a much bigger behemoth—the cocoa industry. Indiscriminate deforestation for cocoa in West Africa is wiping out their home range, as well as their populations.
Respite, for now, for bird migration hotspot at heart of Sri Lanka’s wind power dispute
- Amid mounting protests from locals and environmentalists, Sri Lanka’s president has suspended a proposed wind farm in Mannar, in the island’s north for a month, pending a review of ecological concerns.
- Scientists warn additional wind farms in the area could further fragment habitats of the fragile Mannar Island ecosystem, an important stopover point for migratory birds on the Central Asian Flyway.
- The country’s energy minister has referred to Mannar as “stale land,” dismissing its biodiversity value, but environmentalists have countered this with research that shows more than 500 plant and animal species recorded there, including dozens found nowhere else on Earth.
- Activists urge the government to pursue sustainable development that protects Mannar’s globally important ecosystems while expanding clean energy following a balanced development pathway.

John Landsiedel, Alaska wildlife biologist and pilot, died on July 25, aged 33
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. To work in Alaska as a wildlife biologist is to accept hardship as part of the job: blizzards, isolation, and a daily intimacy with life, death, and the difficult questions in between. For John Landsiedel, it was not […]
Are crows really street smart? Science confirms the genius of corvids (commentary)
- Crows and other corvids exhibit remarkable intelligence — including tool use, problem-solving, memory and even social awareness — challenging long-held assumptions that such cognitive abilities are exclusive to humans or primates.
- Scientific research and experiments, some inspired by popular fables about clever crows, show that these birds understand cause and effect, plan for the future, and adapt their behavior based on context, environment and who’s watching.
- Urban crows thrive due to cognitive flexibility, as shown in an ongoing experimental project in India, which highlights their strategic foraging, memory and ability to learn and adapt in human-dominated environments.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

World Orangutan Day: Ongoing threats & habitat loss haunt these great apes
Despite years of research into their complex behavior and intelligence, orangutans remain critically endangered on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, where they’re endemic. Mongabay has extensively covered the threats they face from habitat degradation and what studies say about how human activities affect them. This World Orangutan Day, on Aug. 19, we take a […]
Deadly Nordic heat wave made 10 times worse by climate change: Study
A deadly heat wave in July that left people and wildlife struggling in Norway, Sweden and Finland was made at least 10 times more likely because of human-induced climate change, a rapid analysis has found. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global research network analyzing extreme weather events, said in their latest analysis […]
Sniffer dogs may have rediscovered a lost population of Sumatran rhinos
- Conservationists and experts had thought Sumatran rhinos extinct in Way Kambas National Park in southern Sumatra.
- But dogs from the NGO Working Dogs for Conservation have detected what’s believed to be several specimens of rhino scat in the park.
- If confirmed, this could lead to deploying dogs in other parks where the critically endangered rhinos may still be hiding out.

US proposes zero new protections for traded wildlife at upcoming CITES CoP
- The 20th Conference of the Parties (CoP) of signatories to CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement involving 185 nations will be held in late November in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where they will discuss 51 proposals to regulate wildlife trade.
- This year, the U.S. has sponsored only four proposals — the lowest in the last 25 years — with none of them supporting increased protections for unsustainably traded flora or fauna.
- Historically, the U.S. has held a leadership role at CITES discussions backed by strong science, but conservationists expressed disappointment at this missed opportunity to help species that urgently need protection in this year’s conference.
- The hope is that the U.S., under its current administration, leaves politics aside, listens to science and supports efforts put forth by other countries to further regulate trade in threatened and overexploited species.

Argentina pushes pipeline exports through protected Patagonian waters
- In Argentina, the construction of an oil port and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for ships threatens one of the most biodiverse areas in the southwestern Atlantic.
- The law that protected the area from these types of projects was amended without prior consultation in 2022.
- Oil spills, rising water temperatures, and ship strikes on the thriving whale population are among the greatest threats highlighted by critics.

US proposes threatened listing for widely trafficked Borneo earless monitor
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently proposed listing the Borneo earless monitor, an elusive lizard endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Borneo earless monitors (Lanthanotus borneensis) are illegally trafficked for the international pet trade. Finalizing the threatened listing would prohibit the import, export and […]
Old forests, new fires, and a scientific standoff over active management
- Humans have altered the forests of western North America markedly over the past several centuries.
- We’ve suppressed fire, harvested much of the old-growth trees, and built homes and communities within these landscapes, all while anthropogenic climate change has led to hotter and drier conditions.
- Many scientists and forest managers say a set of tools such as prescribed burning and thinning boosts the chances that these forests will survive in a changing landscape.
- But others call for a more hands-off approach, arguing that our “active management” of forests will be detrimental to them and the ecosystems they support in the long run.

Lioness sighting in Central African Republic a ‘hopeful sign’ for northern subspecies
An adult lioness has been photographed for the first time in six years in Bamingui-Bangoran National Park in the Central African Republic. The photo, taken in April by a camera trap installed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, shows a lactating female, possibly with cubs nearby, wandering the forest at night — the first evidence of […]
New report warns 54% of turtles and tortoises are at risk of extinction
- More than half of the world’s 359 turtle and tortoise species now face extinction, with the crisis worsening despite global conservation efforts.
- Asia is the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for 32 of the 66 most threatened species due to intense harvesting, illegal trade and habitat destruction.
- The economics of extinction create a vicious cycle, where rarer species become more valuable to collectors, incentivizing further hunting of the few remaining individuals.
- Successful conservation projects include habitat protection, captive breeding, community engagement and adaptive management, with local communities playing a crucial role.

Seized corals find safe harbor in New York Aquarium
In May this year, wildlife inspectors for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seized a shipment of 232 live stony corals at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The corals are now being kept at New York Aquarium for rehabilitation and propagation, in the hopes of helping raise awareness about corals, the Wildlife […]
Learning to live with lions: Interview with Claw Conservancy’s Andrew Stein
- An automated, real-time alert system is helping local communities in Botswana protect their cattle from approaching lions.
- A team at the nonprofit Claws Conservancy is also working with communities to name individual lions in order to help them build a connection with the animals.
- The initiative was launched to mitigate human-lion conflict, which often led to loss of livestock and the retaliatory poisoning of the lions.
- The lack of vehicles and torches, however, continue to be hurdles when it comes to effectively responding to alerts, which tend to come at night, when the lions are most active.

It’s time to update the language of human-wildlife interactions (commentary)
- A new op-ed explains how language shapes the way we view wildlife and their conservation, as even subtle word choices can drive perceptions of species or situations.
- Some terms commonly used to describe peoples’ interactions with wildlife like “human-wildlife conflict,” “crop-raiding” and “pest” are detrimental to the understanding of animals and their conservation.
- “There’s no denying that there will be situations when human and wildlife interests collide, but we can take a step back, consider the power differential between ourselves and other animals, and take a more sympathetic view of these problems,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Seed-dispersing animals are in decline, impacting forests and the climate: Study
A lot of attention has been paid to the decrease in bee populations and other pollinators, but a recent review article makes the case that we should be equally alarmed by the declining numbers of seed-dispersing animals, which are crucial for growing healthy forests. “Both are important and should be taken into account in restoration […]
New charges added in Argentina’s largest-ever wildlife case as key defendant attempts to flee the country
- With 8,000 animal parts discovered during raids, the Caza & Safaris wildlife trafficking case may be the largest in Argentina’s history and is the first environmental case linked to organized crime.
- The seven defendants in this case have been charged with criminal conspiracy, animal abuse, and illegal provision of firearms and weapons of war.
- Carlos Pablo Escontrela, allegedly one of the kingpins, attempted to flee the country to avoid prosecution and has been slapped with additional charges.

Third manta ray species confirmed in western Atlantic
There’s a third species of manta ray gracefully gliding through the seas, a recent study has confirmed. Researchers have named the newly described species, found in the western Atlantic, Mobula yarae after Yara, a water spirit from Indigenous Brazilian mythology. For a long time, manta rays were considered a single species, Manta birostris. In 1868, […]
Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua, water bearer to Tsavo’s wild, died June 18, 2024, aged 51
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. It began with a buffalo. The animal lay slumped beside a dry waterhole in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park, its great ribs rising and falling slowly in the dust. No rain had come. No relief was in sight. […]
Fixing forests or fueling fires? Scientists split over active management
- After years of questionable policies, climate change and growing populations, wildfires have gotten worse in the western U.S., and around the world. That’s driven a push to use tools like thinning and controlled burns to reduce risk and restore natural fire patterns.
- Many researchers argue that the damage inflicted means we need to apply these “active management” tools thoughtfully and tailored to each forest’s conditions.
- But some scientists warn that too much intervention can harm ecosystems, especially old-growth forests.
- The debate has led to scientific and legal battles, ultimately centering on questions about the role people can play in helping forests recover in the face of increasing fire risk.

Goldman Prize winner’s shift from engineer to activist in Tenerife, Canary Islands
Carlos Mallo Molina grew up inspired by his engineer father who led port construction projects across Spain. But while working on a highway project in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, Molina realized that a related plan to build a port in a marine protected area threatened the marine ecosystem that he had come to […]
In India, humans & leopards meet near major cities; preserving habitat is crucial
- Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) sits on the edge of Bengaluru, one of India’s largest cities, putting humans and wildlife — such as leopards — in close proximity.
- A recent study estimates 80-85 leopards live in and around BNP, surpassing the leopard count around Mumbai, previously named as the city with the most leopards.
- The study recommends community outreach to increase awareness and acceptance of leopards as well as protecting key habitats in the area.
- Local residents who are accustomed to living among leopards share their stories of leopard interactions, noting their presence as “normal” and not “scary.”

Javan rhino numbers plunge; Sumatran rhinos remain near extinction: Report
- After a poaching crisis, Javan rhino numbers have dropped by a third.
- Sumatran rhino estimates remain the same — on the edge of extinction.
- Still, recent developments provide a little good news for both species: recent births for Javan rhinos and a potential surviving population in southern Sumatra for Sumatran rhinos.

A critical stopover for shorebirds awaits protection in Malaysia
- Malaysia’s Teluk Air Tawar-Kuala Muda (TAT-KM) mudflats host tens of thousands of migratory birds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, including at one point the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper, yet remain outside formal protection despite global population declines from habitat loss.
- A recent study found only 15% of the sandpiper’s suitable non-breeding habitat is protected, with threats from coastal reclamation, invasive plants and sea-level rise; scientists call for prioritizing high-threat wintering areas, especially in Thailand and Myanmar.
- Malaysian authorities plan to nominate TAT-KM as an East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) site, which would be a first for Peninsular Malaysia, but the process requires local stakeholder support and faces lingering concerns over past proposals for aquaculture development in the area.
- Local fishers, NGOs and conservation groups are raising awareness, restoring habitats and promoting bird-watching to safeguard TAT-KM, amid fears that without formal recognition, development pressures could threaten the ecosystem’s integrity.

Conservationists warn of targeted poaching behind Sri Lanka’s leopard killings
- The recent arrest of suspected poachers with a skinned leopard carcass inside a national park in Sri Lanka has raised alarm over possible targeted poaching for meat or body parts.
- Conservationists warn that leopards may no longer be just accidental victims of snares, but are increasingly being hunted with intent.
- Historical echoes of colonial-era leopard hunting and modern superstitions may be quietly fueling an underground trade, experts say.
- With fewer than 1,000 mature individuals left, every leopard death pushes Sri Lanka’s iconic apex predator closer to extinction.

Brazil’s shark meat problem
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The country best known for samba and soybeans has quietly become the world’s largest importer of shark meat. A recent investigation by Mongabay’s Philip Jacobson, Karla Mendes and Kuang Keng Kuek Ser reveals the extent to which this […]
Can we undo extinction? A growing effort to restore lost sharks
- ReShark is the world’s first shark rewilding program, aiming to restore Indo-Pacific leopard sharks to reefs where they’ve disappeared, starting in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
- The initiative repurposes surplus eggs from aquariums, transporting them across oceans and rearing them in locally managed hatcheries before releasing them into the wild.
- A growing community of Indonesian conservationists—including trained “shark nannies,” students, and villagers—is central to the project’s success and sustainability.
- With global collaboration and scientific rigor, ReShark aims to produce a model for reversing extinction—one grounded in genetics, local stewardship, and public engagement.

Eswatini’s young honey-hunters sustain a rare bond with wild birds
In Eswatini, the Southern African country formerly known as Swaziland, people still commonly hunt for honey with the help of wild birds, a new study finds. This rare form of human-wildlife cooperation, which has disappeared from much of Africa, is expected to endure in Eswatini, sustained by tradition and peer-to-peer learning, researchers say. Only in […]
England’s rewilding movement is gaining steam, Ben Goldsmith says
Rewilding advocate, financier and host of the popular podcast Rewilding the World, Ben Goldsmith, joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss nature restoration in his home country of England, where a significant cultural change is taking hold toward reviving biodiversity, such as beavers. Once seen as a nuisance there, many farmers and planners now embrace the rebound […]
The man fighting to keep vultures and planes safe from each other in Nepal’s Pokhara
The new international airport in Nepal’s tourism capital of Pokhara lies close to prime vulture sites, raising risks for the already severely threatened birds. But 40-year-old Hemanta Dhakal keeps vigil, monitoring the interaction of vultures with aircraft from his rooftop daily, and working with airport staff to better manage their presence, reports Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj […]
The case for hope in environmental journalism
I often return to this image, which I took in 2022 in Jambi, Indonesia. At first glance, it seems to capture something hopeful: a full-circle rainbow arcing over a lush green landscape. But look closer, and you’ll see what lies beneath the beauty: a vast oil palm plantation, carved out of what was once native […]
Wolves’ continued spread in California brings joy, controversy & conflicts
- After nearly a century’s absence, gray wolves continue to recolonize California, bringing changes and challenges to the state and its inhabitants.
- Ongoing research and monitoring programs are helping scientists understand growing wolf populations and their impact on prey species, other predators and alterations to the landscape.
- Gray wolves in California are protected under both federal and state laws. But balancing conservation, livestock predation and public safety concerns is complicated.
- The state has formulated a management plan for wolves: a compensation program for ranchers who lose livestock to wolves and efforts to mitigate conflicts.

World lion day: Why is the king of the savanna declining?
The lion, with its majestic mane and the loudest growl of all the big cats, is today a vulnerable species with decreasing populations in extremely fragmented habitats. It once ranged widely throughout Africa and Eurasia; today, it’s restricted to parts of sub-Saharan Africa and one small area in western India. For World Lion Day on […]
How a gecko species defied extinction on a Galápagos island
- Mares’s leaf-toed gecko has been rediscovered on Rábida Island in the Galápagos after being thought extinct for more than a century, with only ancient bones as previous evidence of its existence.
- Invasive brown rats introduced by ships in the 17th and 18th centuries caused the gecko’s decline; feeding on their eggs and disrupting their nesting sites.
- A 2011 rat eradication program successfully removed all invasive rodents, and geckos were spotted just one year later — the first living sighting in recorded history.
- Genetic analysis revealed the surviving geckos are genetically distinct from populations on other Galápagos islands, suggesting they survived in hiding during the rat invasion rather than recolonizing from other islands.

What we can learn from the Nuer people and their sacred birds
For the pastoralist Nuer people who migrate with the seasons between western Ethiopia’s Gambella region and Africa’s largest wetland, the Sudd, in South Sudan, birds are gaatkuoth or “sacred children of God.” The community has identified at least 71 bird species that are culturally important to them and useful in traditional medicine, as well as […]
Scientists identify the bacterium behind billions of sea star deaths
More than a decade ago, a mysterious illness killed billions of sea stars, particularly along the North American Pacific coast. The sea star wasting disease caused the stars to develop lesions, their arms to fall off and their bodies to disintegrate. Now, researchers in a recent study say they have zeroed in on the cause: […]
Jaguar cub born in Argentina’s Gran Chaco after three decades
A 5-month-old jaguar cub has been spotted along the Bermejo River in northern Argentina’s Gran Chaco region — the first wild-born cub in the region following a rewilding program at El Impenetrable National Park led by conservation nonprofit Rewilding Argentina. Researchers had suspected a birth several months prior, finding paw prints and other indirect signs, […]
Edward McNabb, pioneer of conservation bioacoustics died on May 7, aged 81
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For most people, the bush falls silent after dark. For Edward McNabb, it came alive. In the folds of night across the forests in the Australian state of Victoria, he attuned himself to sounds few others could name: […]
Restoration brings back fresh water, wildlife to degraded páramos in Ecuador
- Ecuador’s Antisana páramo, southeast of Quito, was degraded for centuries by cattle ranches.
- In 2010, the Quito Water Conservation Fund and the Quito’s water utility secured funding to buy one of the most heavily impacted properties.
- The Quito Water Conservation Fund, funded by contributions from drinking water users, is a sustainable initiative that protects vital water sources.
- Once non-native livestock were removed and restoration began, native vegetation, wetlands and species like deer, rabbits and foxes returned.

Cross-border operation cracks down on environmental crimes in the Amazon
- Between June 23 and July 6, 2025, police forces from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru joined forces in a cross-border law enforcement initiative targeting environmental crimes like illegal mining, wildlife trafficking and illegal logging.
- Coordinated by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior, Operation Green Shield led to more than 90 arrests and the seizure of assets worth more than $64 million. Authorities also rescued more than 2,100 live animals and recovered 6,350 dead specimens.
- Reactions among local communities were mixed. While some locals were involved in illicit activities, others condemned the environmental destruction and feared reprisals from armed criminal groups operating in their territories.
- Although the operation disrupted environmental crimes, experts warn the offenses may shift to other areas. They stress the urgent need for sustainable development alternatives to address the root causes driving illegal activities in the Amazon.

Ethiopia’s iconic Walia ibex faces extinction once again
The Walia ibex, an iconic wild goat species found only on the steep, ragged cliffs of the Simien Mountains in northern Ethiopia, has sharply declined in number over the past decade, according to a recent study. This puts the Walia ibex (Capra walie), now largely confined to Simien Mountains National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage […]
Invasion intensifies on Karipuna Indigenous land in the Brazilian Amazon
Illegal invasions in the Karipuna Indigenous Territory in the northwest of the Brazilian Amazon have started to advance again, Karipuna leaders told Mongabay following an alert by global nonprofit Survival International. “This year has been very difficult because there are a lot of people on our territory,” André Karipuna, the chief of the Karipuna people, […]
Power poop saves the day (cartoon)
The infamous stench of a penguin’s projectile poop isn’t its only superpower. New research suggests that the nitrogen in the droppings of Adélie penguins can react with atmospheric compounds to form thermoregulating clouds, which could potentially regulate the impacts of climate change!
Jayantha Jayewardene, Sri Lanka’s elephant advocate, died July 30, aged 81
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Few men have stood so squarely in the crosshairs of development and conservation in Sri Lanka as Jayantha Jayewardene. A former rugby forward with a spine of steel, he spent decades grappling with a quieter, more consequential struggle: […]
New list of primates in peril aims to focus attention and inspire action
- A new list of the 25 most threatened primates has been published by the International Primatological Society, which held its 30th congress in Madagascar in July.
- More than 40% of primate species are classed as endangered or worse, and the biannual listing of the most threatened species aims to draw attention to species at particularly high risk, and inspire action to protect them.
- The 2025 list includes species from Asia, Africa and the Neotropics.
- Some species are absent from the latest list thanks to an improved outlook, but others have been displaced only because of the deteriorating situation for others.

Bhutan’s new farm fencing program could be costly for wildlife (commentary)
- The tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan is known for embracing nature as part of its philosophy of Gross National Happiness, but this is increasingly at odds with a new drive to boost food self-sufficiency, due to conflict with wildlife like elephants intent upon eating farmers’ produce.
- The government recently announced an initiative to erect 3,400 kilometers (2,100 miles) of fencing to keep wildlife away from the country’s key crops, but a new commentary argues that this will lessen wildlife’s freedom of movement, reducing the effectiveness of migration corridors while shifting conflict with wildlife to unfenced farms.
- “Addressing human-wildlife conflict requires more than structural barriers [while] integrated strategies that combine wildlife population management, habitat enrichment, diversified deterrents, insurance mechanisms, and community stewardship offer a sustainable path forward,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Cocoa boom fuels new wave of deforestation in Cameroon
Once threatened by palm oil and loggers, Cameroon’s forests now face a new driver of deforestation: booming cacao production to supply the European market. A new report by the environmental advocacy group Mighty Earth finds deforestation in Cameroon has accelerated, with the country losing around 782,000 hectares (1.9 million acres), or 4.2% of its forest […]
Nepal’s forest guardians monitor the elusive red panda
In eastern Nepal, local communities are leading the effort to monitor the elusive and endangered red panda, contributor Deepak Adhikari reports for Mongabay. Fewer than 10,000 red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) now remain in the rapidly disappearing bamboo forests of the eastern Himalayas across India, Bhutan, China and Nepal. To help monitor them in Nepal, the […]
Requiem for the nearly lost
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. They are not yet gone. But for thousands of species, the Earth is already holding its breath. A new review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment confirms what conservationists have long suspected: more than 10,000 species now […]
Devils Hole pupfish hit by micro-tsunami from 8.8-magnitude Russian earthquake
A powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 29 sent ripples nearly 4,000 miles across the Pacific, disturbing one of the most fragile ecosystems in the United States: Devils Hole in Nevada’s Mojave Desert, according to park officials. The quake generated 10-inch waves inside the narrow, water-filled cavern—a dramatic but […]
UN meeting closes with no moratorium on deep-sea mining; groups lament
Civil groups expressed dismay as the 30th International Seabed Authority (ISA) session recently ended in Jamaica without a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a process of extracting minerals from the seafloor, which experts say can damage marine ecosystems. The ISA Council finished the second reading of the draft regulations for the commercial exploitation of deep-sea minerals. However, the […]
DNA research changes the fate of the most trafficked parrots in Colombia
- Colombian law demands that, after rehabilitation, trafficked wildlife must be released in their original home range. But that is often difficult to determine.
- Researchers sequenced the DNA of Colombia’s six Amazona parrot species, building a genetic database to help identify trafficked birds.
- With this tool, Colombian authorities will be able to compare the DNA of the rescued birds to trace their heritage and release them into their home habitat.
- This will prevent “unscientific” release of these birds, which could affect their survival, the ecosystem and the species’ evolutionary processes.

Indonesian farmers plant hope for isolated Javan gibbons
In Indonesia’s Central Java province, two groups of Javan gibbons have become isolated in two small forest patches. To help the gibbons make their way to larger forest areas, a local NGO, SwaraOwa, is working with farmers in the region to restore and build “corridors” that would connect the fragmented forest blocks, Mongabay reported in […]
Community patrolling reduced environmental crime by 80% in the Amazon
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the Brazilian Amazon, where enforcement agents are spread thin across vast territories, an unlikely success story has emerged — not from drones or satellites, but from flip-flop-wearing locals paddling through forest rivers. A study examining 11 years […]
First record of Cape clawless otter preying on African penguins: Study
The critically endangered African penguin has several predators to fear, including gulls, seals and sharks at sea, and leopards, caracals, domestic dogs and mongoose on land. A recent study has now documented the first confirmed case of yet another predator: a Cape clawless otter was observed preying on the African penguins of a mainland colony. […]
Malaysia’s turtle egg buyback scheme saved thousands — but is it sustainable?
- A recent study assessed the effectiveness of Malaysia’s decades-old sea turtle egg buyback scheme, which aims to prevent eggs from entering the illegal wildlife trade by purchasing them from licensed collectors and relocating them to hatcheries.
- Between 2016 and 2021, more than 71,000 green turtle eggs were purchased and relocated, resulting in high hatching (77.6%) and emergence (74.1%) success rates — highlighting the scheme’s biological effectiveness despite covering only a small fraction of total nests.
- The study flagged significant financial and logistical challenges, including rising costs, seasonal erosion, inconsistent cooperation from collectors, and limited capacity to purchase all available eggs, prompting concerns about long-term sustainability.
- With a statewide ban on turtle egg trade now in place, researchers and experts question whether the buyback model should continue, suggesting alternative strategies like nonextractive income opportunities and stronger enforcement against illegal trade.

Arboreal camera traps reveal wildlife feasting on Borneo’s fruiting fig trees
Camera traps installed high in the rainforest canopy in Malaysian Borneo have filmed a bounty of threatened primates, hornbills and a host of tree-dwelling animals feasting on figs. Biologists from Malaysia-based nonprofit 1StopBorneo Wildlife, along with Sabah Parks and local conservationists, scaled two enormous fig trees in Tawau Hills National Park in Sabah state to […]
More than 10,000 species on brink of extinction need urgent action: Study
- New research identifies 10,443 critically endangered species worldwide, with effective protection strategies available if funding and political will follow.
- More than 1,500 species, or 15% of the critically endangered species, are estimated to have fewer than 50 mature individuals remaining in the wild.
- Just 16 countries hold more than half of all critically endangered species, with concentrations across the Caribbean islands, Atlantic coastal regions of South America, the Mediterranean, Cameroon, Lake Victoria, Madagascar and Southeast Asia.
- Improving the status of critically endangered species would cost between an estimated $1 billion and $2 billion annually, a small fraction of global economic activity and less than 2% of the net worth of billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg.

Ambitious Denmark project starts farm-to-forest conversion
In December 2024, Denmark embarked on an ambitious plan to cut carbon emissions and restore 250,000 hectares (617,763 acres) or almost 6% of the country into forested area. One local initiative is afforesting agricultural land in Aarhus municipality, home to the country’s second-largest city, where nature is being allowed to take its course — with […]
Rising heat threatens female-male ratio of India’s unique gharial crocs
For India’s critically endangered gharial, a fish-eating crocodile with a slender snout that ends in a bulbous growth, heat is emerging as a major threat, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. Nest temperatures are rising, researchers wrote in a new study, which could be skewing the sex ratio of hatchling gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) more […]
Domestic cats pose interbreeding threat to little known wildcat ancestor
Domestic cats are hugely popular as pets, yet little is known about their ancestor, the Afro-Asiatic wildcat. This species, Felis lybica, is the most widely distributed wildcat in the world, but experts still don’t know its exact population. The wildcat faces several threats to its survival, including interbreeding with domestic cats and the diseases they […]
That ‘fish’ on the menu? In Brazil’s schools and prisons, it’s often shark
Brazil, the world’s top importer of shark meat, is feeding much of it to preschoolers, hospital patients, military staff, public workers and more via government procurements, Mongabay has found. This influx of shark meat into public buildings is exposing infants and other vulnerable groups to high levels of heavy metals like mercury and arsenic, which […]
Scientists & communities rush to save rare, diverse Brazilian grassland ecosystem
- Rupestrian grasslands form an ecosystem of extremes: covering a mere 0.8% of Brazil’s territory, they are home to 15% of the nation’s flora. Of the 5,700 plant species catalogued, 40% can only be found there, giving the ecosystem one of the world’s highest endemic rates.
- The list of threats to this mountaintop ecosystem is long and includes the invasion of exotic species, urban growth and climate change. But mining poses the greatest threat: A single vein of ore could mean the extinction of dozens of native species.
- Community efforts to protect rupestrian grasslands have led to the creation of conservation units, while universities are forming partnerships with mining companies to drive restoration projects. At one time, restoration was thought to be impossible because of the inhospitable zones in which rupestrian grasslands grow, but a recent article has proven the contrary.

Golden oyster mushrooms are crowding out native fungi in North America
Golden oyster mushrooms, known for their bright yellow caps and earthy flavors, are native to Asia. However, these prized edible mushrooms have gained popularity throughout North America, where they’re spreading across forests and displacing native fungal species, a recent study has found. Aishwarya Veerabahu, lead author and a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, […]
International Tiger Day: 3 stories of hope
The tiger, once wide-ranging across Asia, has disappeared from much of its historic range. But thanks to concerted conservation efforts and communities willing to coexist with them, the majestic predator is making a comeback in some parts of the continent despite threats including habitat loss and poaching. South Asia continues to be a stronghold for […]
Coral restoration after devasting Deepwater Horizon spill shows promise
When BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2011, it led to the largest oil spill in U.S. history, severely damaging marine ecosystems. Part of the settlement money that BP agreed to pay has since been used for a deep-sea restoration project that has achieved significant milestones in spawning corals […]
To save pangolins, we need to change the narrative (commentary)
- A new Netflix documentary about pangolins, the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal, is a powerful example of what can happen when media companies highlight the plight of lesser-known species.
- Most conservation dollars are directed at animals that already get attention and funding, like lions or elephants, while species like pangolins — which also have important ecological roles — receive comparatively little, so the narrative needs to change, a new op-ed argues.
- “We need to promote the visibility of lesser-known threatened species as part of their protection [and] broaden the conservation narrative beyond the most recognizable animals and give the same care and attention to the ones that are less familiar, but still at risk,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

World Nature Conservation Day: How a large, flightless parrot rebounded from the verge of extinction
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the mid-1990s, the kākāpō seemed destined for extinction. Only 51 individuals of the flightless, nocturnal parrot remained, all of them descended from a shrinking gene pool and spread across remote corners of New Zealand. A victim of […]
Photos: Mangrove photography awards showcase a diverse & fragile ecosystem
The winners of the 11th annual Mangrove Photography Awards (MPA) have been announced. The contest, hosted by the U.S.-based Mangrove Action Project, showcases powerful photographic narratives highlighting the importance of one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems. This year, a record-breaking 3,300 entries from 78 countries entered to win in one of six categories: wildlife, […]
US NGO signs deal to manage huge nature reserve in Chad
The government of Chad has signed a 10-year deal with the U.S.-based NGO Sahara Conservation to manage the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve (OROAFR), the group announced July 11. The OROAFR is the largest protected area in Chad, at nearly 80,000 square kilometers (almost 31,000 square miles), around three times the size of Rwanda. “It’s […]
Saving polar bears and beluga whales: Interview with Alysa McCall
- Beluga Cam is a long-running initiative that aims to document the migration of almost 57,000 beluga whales through Hudson Bay in Canada.
- The project is run by the nonprofit Polar Bears International in a bid to collect more data about beluga migration as well as to create more awareness about the species.
- The initiative got an upgrade this year with a new boat that houses the cameras and other equipment deployed for the work.
- As the Arctic rapidly loses sea ice, species such as beluga whales and polar bears bear the brunt in terms of losing access to food and their habitats.

Sharon Haussmann, guardian of rhinos, died on May 31, aged 51
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the final months of her life, Sharon Haussmann could still be found walking fence lines, coordinating antipoaching patrols, and debating the finer points of dehorning protocol with field rangers and policymakers alike. The work was unrelenting, the […]
Orangutans make up for lost sleep with daytime naps, study finds
- New research based on more than a decade of field observations indicates that wild Sumatran orangutans balance their sleep needs much like humans do, by napping during the day.
- The team found the shorter an individual’s sleep period overnight, the longer was its cumulative nap period the next day.
- Orangutan sleep also varied with temperature, activity levels and proximity of others, indicating the great apes have to trade off between foraging, socializing, traveling and sleep.
- Deforestation, habitat fragmentation and climate change are all likely to influence the capacity of orangutans to manage their sleep needs, with clear consequences for their overall health and survival.

World’s smallest snake spotted by scientists in Barbados after 20-year absence
- Scientists rediscovered the world’s smallest snake, the Barbados threadsnake, after it had been missing from scientific observation for 20 years.
- The tiny blind snake required microscopic examination to distinguish it from an invasive look-alike species before being confirmed and returned to the wild.
- The finding represents a rare success story on an island where 98% of primary forests have been cleared and many endemic species have gone extinct.
- Researchers plan continued surveys to map the snake’s range and develop habitat protection strategies for this critically endangered species.

Nepal launches action plan to boost endangered dhole conservation
Once widespread throughout much of Asia, the wild dog known as the dhole has disappeared from more than 75% of its historical range, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. In Nepal, there are an estimated 500 dholes (Cuon alpinus) remaining, but recent sightings suggest they may be making a comeback. This has […]
Study highlights dangers of declaring conservation success too soon
The IUCN Red List has long been the globally recognized gauge for assessing how close to extinction a given species is. An improvement in the species’ conservation status from a higher to a lower threat category, known as downlisting, can signal conservation success. But a recent study says this must be done cautiously to avoid […]
Pasture and agricultural expansion in Gran Chaco drive biodiversity loss: Study
A recent study has identified how cattle pasture and agricultural expansion, driven by global demand for beef and soy, is causing biodiversity loss in the Gran Chaco region of Argentina and Paraguay. The Gran Chaco, the second-largest forested region in South America, after the Amazon, is spread across Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. Over the […]
Blue-and-yellow macaws return to São Paulo skies after 50 years, thanks to flying lessons
Six blue-and-yellow macaws are gracing the skies of São Simão, in Brazil’s southeastern São Paulo state, after more than five decades of local extinction, Mongabay contributor Suzana Camargo reported. Conservationists used a new technique to train captive-born macaw chicks (Ara ararauna), encouraging them to fly in the wild as early as 3 months of age. […]
An aging leopard’s suffering sparks ethical debate in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, the fate of an aging, injured leopard, well-loved by tourists, has triggered a debate. Wildlife enthusiasts are urging authorities to help the leopard, named Neluma, in Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka’s largest protected area. However, wildlife officials and conservationists are against intervening and providing veterinary support, Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo reported in […]
AI’s contributions to wildlife conservation (cartoon)
While AI has faced a lot of rightful flak for its environmental impacts, it has also become a tool for wildlife conservation around the world. From monitoring deforestation, impacts of climate change and enhancing wildlife population counts to combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade, AI is revolutionising conservation worldwide.
Singapore’s regreening is a model for cities everywhere
Singapore has come a long way since the 1880s, when only roughly 7% of its native forests remained. Since the 1960s, when the city-state gained independence, it has implemented a number of urban regreening initiatives, and today, nearly 47% of the city is considered green space, providing numerous benefits to human residents and wildlife, like […]
How much does it cost to restore a mangrove forest?
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Mangroves, the amphibious forests that fringe tropical and subtropical coastlines, are ecological powerhouses. They buffer communities against storm surges, support fisheries, and sequester carbon at rates that rival their terrestrial counterparts. Yet despite growing recognition of their value, […]
Large-scale illegal wildlife shops in Laos found scamming Chinese tourists
- Secretive shops posing as cafés, museums and cultural experiences are selling illegal wildlife products such as ivory, rhino horn, bear bile, pangolin scales and tiger bones in Laos, often at inflated prices, specifically targeting elderly Chinese tourists.
- Since 2024, these shops have proliferated across the cities of Luang Prabang and Vientiane, many are guarded by armed men in military uniform, but access is reserved for Chinese tourists on pre-arranged package tours.
- This new business model for the illegal wildlife trade in Laos is estimated to be making tens of millions of dollars from the sale of products made from endangered species, but following Mongabay and NGO GI-TOC’s investigation, Laotian authorities have agreed to inspect.

In rare triumph, camera traps snap endangered wildcats in Pakistan
- Conservationists in Pakistan have snapped incredibly rare images of two small cat species: the Asiatic caracal (Caracal caracal schmitzi) and the sand cat (Felis margarita).
- The 2025 caracal image comes after two other sightings in the country were captured on camera phones.
- Very little is known about caracal and sand cat populations in the country. Though both species are of least concern at the global level, they’re highly endangered in Pakistan.
- Conservationists say they’re hopeful these sightings will spur interest in small cat species in Pakistan and encourage greater protection and targeted conservation measures.

Darkest-ever dwarfgoby fish gets named after Darth Vader
From the volcanic fjords of Tufi in Papua New Guinea, researchers have described a new-to-science species of a coral reef fish called a dwarfgoby with an unusual purplish-black color. The tiny fish is the “darkest of all described dwarfgobies,” the researchers say in the study, naming it Eviota vader after the Star Wars villain Darth […]
Conservation’s silent strain: Nature’s protectors face a mental health crisis
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Amid the calls of gibbons and the whir of drones scanning forest canopies, a quieter crisis is unfolding within the ranks of those trying to save nature. Conservationists, often seen as tireless stewards of the planet’s dwindling biodiversity, […]
Conservationists raise sharks to restore reefs in waters around Thailand
- A new rewilding program aims to boost the local population of bamboo sharks in the waters of Khao Lak, Thailand.
- The species, classified as near threatened on the IUCN Red List, used to be abundant in the area, but has declined as a result of overfishing and habitat destruction.
- Since the project launched in 2018, with the support of luxury resorts in the area, it has released 200 bamboo sharks into the wild.
- A separate program that started in May 2025, is breeding leopard sharks, which are listed as endangered. They will be released in the waters off Phuket, and eventually the Gulf of Thailand.

Study finds worrying uptick in proboscis monkey trade in Indonesia
- Proboscis monkeys, endemic to Borneo, are threatened by habitat destruction, forest fires and hunting. But until two decades ago, trade wasn’t a threat to the CITES-listed species, which is challenging to keep in captivity.
- A recent study, analyzing 25-year seizure and trade data involving proboscis monkey trade, finds nearly 100 individuals in trade in Indonesia, with an alarming rise in online trade and zoo exchanges in recent years, many of which are likely acquired from the wild.
- Conservationists say this uptick in trade poses a threat to the endangered species and urge Indonesian authorities to enforce existing legislation to protect proboscis monkeys from trade. They also say social media platforms must do more to curb wildlife trade on their platforms, which is also a concern for proboscis monkeys.

Honey bees in Bangladesh suffer from indiscriminate pesticide use
Experts warn the indiscriminate use of insecticides by farmers in Bangladesh to protect their crops is harming beneficial honey bees, Mongabay contributor Sadiqur Rahman reported in March. Beekeeper Pavel Hossen, who set up an apiary on land next to a black cumin farm, hoped his honey bees (Apis mellifera) would feed on the flowers of the […]
Small Australian carnivorous marsupial reclassified as 3 species: Study
Researchers describe the kultarr as “Australia’s cutest mammal”: It’s eyes are quite large for its mouse-like head, it’s ears are perky and it has long, thin legs that allow it to run so fast that it looks like it’s hopping. A recent study has now confirmed that the insect-eating marsupial is not one, but three […]
Study finds two-thirds of India’s snow leopards are in Ladakh region
Snow leopards are often called “ghosts of the mountains,” and for good reason: They’re notoriously difficult to spot. But researchers behind a recent study used a comprehensive set of methods — from following the cats’ tracks and droppings, to deploying camera traps over vast areas — to find that the region of Ladakh in the […]
Deforestation in the Philippines may have caused infertile hybrids of endemic frogs, study finds
- The truncate-toed chorus frog is a widely distributed species in the Philippines archipelago, with four distinct subspecies. One of them, the Leyte chorus frog, first described around 80 years ago, is considered a rare, enigmatic and morphologically distinct subspecies that has not been seen for nearly half a century since its first sighting.
- In a recent study, scientists used genetic analysis to find that the subspecies is, in fact, a hybrid between another subspecies of the truncate-toed chorus frog and a ground-dwelling, closely related slender-digit chorus frog.
- Researchers say this infertile hybrid is a result of large-scale deforestation in the Philippines, which forced tree-dwelling frogs to come on land, where ground-dwelling frogs “ambushed” and mated with them, creating the hybrid.
- Conservationists say this hybrid shows how human-caused disturbances impact biodiversity in the Philippines, where deforestation is rampant due to mining, logging and expanding agriculture.

Global tracking study reveals marine megafauna hotspots lie largely unprotected
- A global study tracking nearly 13,000 marine animals representing 111 species reveals they spend 80% of their time in just 63% of their range, yet only about 5% of these high-use ocean areas are currently protected.
- The research identifies Important Marine Megafauna Areas (IMMegAs) as ecological hotspots that span national waters and the high seas, where governance and protection are often lacking.
- Findings show that the global target of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 is insufficient to safeguard migratory species unless paired with additional mitigation measures outside protected areas, like bycatch reduction and ship speed regulations.
- Researchers call for stronger international coordination and more dynamic, movement-informed conservation strategies to effectively protect wide-ranging ocean wildlife.

‘Shock and alarm’ as Malawi pardons wildlife trafficker Lin Yunhua
LILONGWE — Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has granted a presidential pardon to Lin Yunhua, a Chinese national sentenced to 14 years in prison for wildlife trafficking. Lin was among 37 inmates who received a presidential pardon as part of Malawi’s 61st independence anniversary celebrations on July 6. Conservationists have since expressed their disappointment, warning that […]
Bicolored waterberry: The overlooked tree shaping Zambia’s rivers
- The bicolored waterberry (Syzygium guineense subsp. barotsense) is a dominant tree along the Kafue and other major Zambian rivers, where it plays a vital structural and ecological role.
- Though capable of self-pollination, the tree’s flowers attract bees, birds and moths, creating vibrant micro-ecosystems in its canopy.
- While not currently threatened, riparian clearing poses local risks, and the trees’ value to pollinators may offer a path to conservation.

River of giants: Canoe team tracks hippos in one of Africa’s last strongholds
- A team from The Wilderness Project has conducted a survey of hippos along Zambia’s Kafue River, one of the last strongholds of the species in Southern Africa.
- The expedition faced regular close encounters with hippos, which are highly territorial and can be dangerous to people, especially when traveling by boat.
- The team counted nearly 2,400 hippos, most of them along a 350-kilometer (217-mile) stretch of the Kafue within the Kafue National Park and adjoining protected areas, underscoring the park’s conservation importance.
- Despite their ecological significance as ecosystem engineers, hippos remain understudied and increasingly vulnerable to habitat loss and pollution, including upstream mining spills.

‘Hopeful sign’ as Eurasian otter reappears in Malaysia after a decade
Camera traps in Tangkulap Forest Reserve in Malaysia’s Sabah state have photographed a Eurasian otter — a grainy image of an individual ambling next to a waterbody. This is the first confirmed sighting of the species in Malaysia in more than a decade, bringing cheer to conservationists. The last confirmed Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) sighting […]
Wildlife & tourists on the up in Zambia’s Kafue Park: Q&A with manager Craig Reid
- Zambia’s Kafue National Park, co-managed by Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and conservation NGO African Parks, is home to up to 22 different species of antelopes, the highest diversity in Africa, more than 500 species of birds and at least 2,400 hippos in the river from which the park takes its name.
- Park manager Craig Reid says the nine game management areas that provide a buffer zone around the park have been modified in one way or another — including by climate-affected farmers and livestock herders — and illegal hunting also poses a threat to the core zone’s ecological integrity, as does pollution from mining and large settlements upstream.
- But, he says, around 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of the GMA buffer remains completely unsettled, and the park and the stretch of the Kafue that runs through it are doing well – more than $4 million worth of fish is sustainably caught within its boundaries every year.
- African Parks plans to introduce as many as 60 black rhinos to Kafue NP in the coming years and has already reestablished a thriving population of Kafue lechwe, a wetlands antelope unique to this landscape.

Vatsala, Asia’s oldest known elephant, died on July 8th, 2025, aged around 100
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For more than a century, Vatsala stood. Through wars and heatwaves, bureaucracies and monsoons, she moved through India’s forests with a gait that outlasted the institutions around her. She died where she had lived for decades, in the […]
‘Revolutionary technology’ uses scanners for easier species detection in the wild
Researchers in Brazil’s Amazonas state are testing easy-to-use scanners that can help them identify animal species they come across in the wild, Mongabay contributor Miguel Monteiro reported in June. The scanners use a technology called near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which currently has many applications, from measuring food quality to monitoring blood oxygen levels in the medical […]

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