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By David Brown
The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), which was created to fund long-term conservation of tropical forests, recently received a $500-million pledge, over 10 years, from the Netherlands, a sign…
By Barry Christianson
An ambitious effort to eradicate invasive spotted bass from South Africa’s Breekkrans River has unfolded about two hours north of Cape Town. Removing the bass has helped give the critically endange…
By Peter Speetjens
- For more than two decades, field research by archaeological anthropologist Renzo Duin has documented densely saturated archaeological landscapes beneath forest canopies, usually classified as “untouched.”
- While illegal gold mining pollutes rivers with mercury and cyanide, mapping historical ecological sites in Suriname could leverage Indigenous guardianship to protect the forest’s rich biodiversity.
- Despite the nation’s high-profile pledge to permanently protect 90% of its forests, experts warn that neglecting the historical role of Indigenous stewardship leaves the ecosystem vulnerable to ongoing illegal deforestation.
By Claudia Geib
- Two recent studies out of the U.K. town of Guildford, which has been equipped with a suite of sensors to become a “living lab,” show that green spaces provide significant benefits to urban centers — and do so with more detail than many previous studies.
- The first study, focused on a large park, showed that the park made the surrounding area cooler and less noisy, and reduced air pollution, with the park’s effects decreasing with every 100 meters from its border; it also showed that different types of green spaces offer different cooling effects for people within them.
- The second study showed that the type of green space within Guildford mattered when it came to temperature reductions during extreme heat, with large green spaces like woodlands showing the lowest increase in temperature.
- Experts say that these fine-scale details could be helpful for researchers, planners and engineers who want to design urban green spaces to provide cities and towns with greater protections from the impacts of climate change.
By Bernie Krause
- Drawing on more than half a century of recording natural soundscapes, soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause reflects on how disappearing wildlife voices reveal ecological decline.
- Concerned about political threats to science, Krause transferred a copy of his extensive recording archive to a foundation in Paris to safeguard it for future generations.
- In this commentary, he argues that nature’s interdependence offers lessons for human societies about diversity, equity and inclusion, and calls for protecting both living ecosystems and the scientific records documenting their loss.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Bobby Bascomb
In his second term as the U.S. president, Donald Trump has taken actions to remove protections from at least 34.8 million hectares (86 million acres) of public lands, according to the advocacy group …
By Associated Press
KAKINADA, India (AP) — A powerful cyclone battered India ’s Andhra Pradesh state on Wednesday, killing at least three people and damaging homes and farmland after authorities evacuated tens of th…
By Anna Dulisse
- As climate change intensifies, bringing record drought and historic wildfires, scientific studies of fire-adapted organisms in British Columbia, Canada’s Interior, are shedding new light on how important fires are for renewing forest biodiversity.
- Fungi are pioneers in recovery from fire. Pyrophilous (Fire-loving) fungi, for example, can digest charcoal, help bind soil, and support nutrient cycling in the months after a blaze.
- Insects and birds also play a critical role. Heat-sensing beetles reproduce more successfully in freshly burned environments, while three-quarters of native B.C. land bird species respond positively, neutrally, or a combination of both ways to wildfire.
- Research shows mammals, including at-risk Canada lynx, can return to burned landscapes sooner than expected if sufficient forest structure remains. Today’s rapid increase in wildfire frequency and intensity can be devastating, but forests are resilient and can recover, especially when aided by fire-informed research.
By Kamran Reza Chowdhury
- A native Bangladeshi breed of dog, the Sarail or Bengal hound, is thought to have originated more than 200 years ago in the small town of Sarail.
- It’s origin story is fuzzy: that it claims lineage from the English grayhound is undisputed, but there’s debate about the rest of the mix, whether wolf or a local hunting dog known as pahari daal kutta.
- Currently, there are fewer than three dozen purebred Sarail sighthounds thought to exist across the country, with no plans by the government to protect this native breed.
- Artificial breeding, like artificial insemination, can save the Sarail hound from extinction, experts say.
By Mark Hillsdon
- At the 2026 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, discussions are underway to finalize the operations, governance, and modus operandi of the Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) — a group which would significantly boost the decision-making of Indigenous peoples and local communities at future biodiversity COPs.
- Mongabay spoke with Lucy Mulenkei, co-chair of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity who was among those who had worked to get the new body over the line.
- She discussed the Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j), barriers that still exist to stop it from becoming operational and hopes for the biodiversity conference.
- While barriers still exist for this historic body, such as finalizing the modus operandi and opposition by some parties, she is optimistic the COP will end positively.
By Izzy Sasada
Meet the Rhizanthes lowii, a rare parasitic flowering plant that has evolved its stink to attracting flies that help pollinate the flower. It blooms for only a few days, and is found in the jungles o…
By Amir Sadiq
- Every year, migratory birds arrive at the wetlands at Ayetoro, in southwestern Nigeria; some will remain here through the Northern Hemisphere winter, while others rest and refuel and continue on to other places.
- Increasingly powerful tides linked to rising sea levels are rapidly eroding the coastline here, damaging local community infrastructure as well as the wetlands that shorebirds rely on.
- A project run by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation has trained and equipped members of the local community to help gather data about bird populations.
- More funding is needed both to monitor this wetland and to address the severe coastal erosion, advocates say.
By Carolyn Cowan
- A civil lawsuit filed by an Indonesian NGO against individuals and companies accused of trafficking more than 3 metric tons of pangolin scales in Indonesia could mark a turning point in how wildlife criminals are held accountable for the harms they inflict on biodiversity and ecosystems, according to experts.
- The lawsuit, seeks to make the alleged traffickers pay to remedy the ecological harms caused by removing thousands of pangolins from their wild habitats, including funding forest restoration and pangolin monitoring.
- Experts say the legal approach, which uses civil and environmental liability laws that also exist in many other countries, can be used in conjunction with conventional criminal prosecutions to implement meaningful conservation remedies.
- To date, the East Jakarta District Court has successfully summoned all but one individual defendant, who remains wanted by police. The first mediation hearing is set for Nov. 5, after which, if no settlement is reached, the case will proceed to trial.
By Mongabay.com
In the urban landscape of Hong Kong, artificial nest boxes are providing shelter and research opportunities for one of the world’s most threatened parrot species. The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacat…
By Mongabay.com
At a government wildlife rescue center in Thailand, dozens of lost and injured baby leopard cats are receiving a second chance at life in the wild. Annual admission of leopard cats (Prionailurus beng…
By Carolyn Cowan
- As the world shifts to cleaner energy to address climate change, demand is soaring for transition minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, used in green technologies.
- Aerial photographer Tom Hegen has spent the past six years documenting where these critical minerals come from, exploring some of the world’s most significant mining regions.
- Hegen’s images reveal in meticulous and beautiful detail the wider landscapes impacted by mineral extraction, highlighting the environmental, social, and geopolitical costs.
- In this interview with Mongabay, Hegen says he hopes his images encourage viewers to look closer and consider how their actions and consumption habits can support greater responsibility, transparency, and accountability throughout global supply chains.
By Aimee Gabay
New mapping by Amazon Underworld finds that criminal networks or armed groups operate in nearly three-fifths of Amazon municipalities across the six countries surveyed, which include Bolivia, Brazil,…
By Hashim Quraishi
- Research in the Sindh Basin in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, in the northwestern Himalayas, has identified the elevations where many springs receive their water.
- The challenge now is whether conservation efforts will protect those landscapes, or continue focusing on the springs themselves.
- Experts say restoring Kashmir’s springs require protecting the landscapes that replenish groundwater, not just improving spring outlets.
By Mike DiGirolamo
There have been few sightings of the endangered Persian leopard in the Caucasus region over the past 20 years: just three in Georgia and 10 in Armenia. But scientists and conservationists are alert t…
By Spoorthy Raman
Negotiations are set to begin on the world’s first international protocol to fight environmental crime, including wildlife trafficking, illegal deforestation, and illicit waste smuggling. The proto…
By Muhammad Talal
- In Pakistan’s Punjab province, November typically brings a blanket of air pollution that exceeds global health guidelines and endangers both humans and wildlife.
- Experts call for more data and specialized monitoring equipment that would provide clearer information on the specific effects that air pollution has on the area’s wildlife.
- A veterinary surgeon notes that his animal patients — birds, cats, dogs and wildlife — suffer severe respiratory irritation, with sneezing, nasal discharge, lethargy and labored breathing.
- Such pollution can interfere with bird migration as well as the ability for predatory animals to hunt and herbivores to find adequate food.
By Claire Asher
- Research is ongoing into the health effects of the world’s roughly 350,000 synthetic chemicals, but what we know so far is cause for concern. Plastics, PFAS and other synthetic chemicals are linked to numerous health risks, and emerging research even suggests rising atmospheric CO2 levels may harm health.
- Specifically, there is growing evidence that plastics and their chemical additives pose threats to human health at every life stage. Five major classes of plastic additives have been linked with harm to the brain, kidneys and immune system; microplastics in the human body can affect fertility, development and ageing.
- Atmospheric CO2 is natural, but not at the levels to which humanity is pushing them — levels higher than any human ancestor ever experienced. Initial research finds elevated CO2 can cause changes to the lungs and alter growth patterns in mice. The effects of long-term exposure in humans are unknown.
- Emerging evidence for these and other novel entity health risks highlights the need to establish safe limits and monitor global and local exposures, experts say. A ‘planetary health framework’ could become a valuable tool for scientists and policymakers, but developing such a framework would be a Herculean task.
By Associated Press
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The discovery of five baby orangutans abandoned on a plantation in eastern India is highlighting the country’s growing role as a destination for trafficked apes. Experts say…
By Maverick Avila
- Environmental lawyer Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio joined a legal fight in 2007, representing the resident marine mammals in Philippines’ Tañon Strait as petitioners in a case to stop energy company JAPEX’s oil exploration.
- JAPEX withdrew from the strait before the court ruled on the petition.
- In 2015, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court set a precedent that people can represent nature as stewards and give it legal standing without proving personal injury, making it easier for citizens to file environmental cases.
- After the October 2025 ethanol spill in Bais Bay, Philippines, Oceana is working with communities and scientists to push for legal accountability — a long battle, Eisma-Osorio says, that must be fought together with the community.
By Liz Kimbrough
- Researchers have described five new-to-science freshwater mussel species from rivers in the Southeastern U.S.
- The mussels looked like known species, so the team used DNA to tell them apart.
- Freshwater mussels filter and clean river water, but are the most imperiled group of animals in North America.
- Several of the new species are rare, but only one has been proposed for federal protection.
By Gabrielle See
- Singapore became the first Asean country to pass a law allowing it to punish firms responsible for unhealthy air quality within its borders over a decade ago.
- But no charges have been brought to date, spurring legal experts and advocacy groups to call for updates to the act.
- Mongabay spoke with experts about what legal options regulators and civil society groups have against haze-causing companies.
By Julia LimaRomi Castagnino
In Chile’s Patagonia National Park, Mongabay meets a women-led team preparing to release to the wild 13 Darwin’s rheas, a bird that nearly went extinct in the region just 20 years ago. Mongabay f…
By David Akana
Roy Sesana, a 97-year-old Indigenous rights campaigner who opposed the Botswana government over the removal of San communities from their traditional lands in Central Kalahari, has received an honora…
By Alejandroprescottcornejo
As the EU’s deforestation regulation (EUDR) approaches enforcement after multiple delays, Mongabay’s Solutions Desk is examining how industries are working to comply, and where the shortfalls are…
By Fernanda Wenzel
By Aimee Gabay
- Construction of an access road for the controversial Potássio Autazes potash project in Brazil’s northwestern Amazonas state has caused springs used by the Mura Indigenous people to dry up, threatening a fish spawning ground and access to food and water, residents say.
- The company says it carried out an inspection on Oct. 8 but found no signs of the springs drying up or of road construction affecting its water flow.
- Residents say the springs’ disappearance threatens the Mura’s spiritual connection to their territory, as the waterway is home to ancestral spirits that flee when disrupted.
- Expert assessments commissioned by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office found the project’s environmental studies to be “incomplete and flawed”, while federal prosecutors told Mongabay that lawsuits challenging the project’s environmental licenses are still pending.
By Laura WaisbichMelina RissoRobert Muggah
- Governments voted 83 to 12 at the UN’s main forum on organized crime to negotiate the first global protocol against environmental crimes including timber, minerals, wildlife and waste tracking.
- Brazil, working with partners across Latin America and Africa, won the vote despite opposition from an unlikely coalition of the United States, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
- The protocol would close the legal gaps that let criminals launder illicit gold, timber and wildlife into legitimate markets, argue Laura Waisbich, Melina Risso, and Robert Muggah. However, it will bind only the states that ratify it, and a draft is unlikely before.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Shanna Hanbury
Incumbent Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was reelected on Oct. 25 in a surprise defeat of his far-right rival who had promised to remove “environmental obstacles” in the Amazon ra…
By Tiago da Mota e Silva
- Smoke from fires reaching up to 30 times the World Health Organization’s safe daily limit hits Manaus, Brazil’s largest Amazon city, prompting school closures and worsening respiratory crises.
- With the giant El Niño looming, environmental agencies and police authorities are investigating possible deliberately set fires in Amazonas, with 11 suspects arrested.
- Between Oct. 1 and 19, Brazil recorded 1,921 hotspots in the Amazonas state, up 202% from 2025.
- In the Manaus metropolitan area, a Mongabay analysis found hotspots in landscapes where forests and agriculture coexist.
By John Cannon
YEREVAN, Armenia — Like the dark spaces they often prefer, mushrooms, yeasts, and some 160,000 known species of fungi rest in the background of conservation efforts. But their crucial role as ecosy…
By David Akana
The Bezos Earth Fund and eight other organizations have pledged more than $500 million over five years to help rescue some of the world’s most threatened plants and animals, giving species recovery…
By Ashoka Mukpo
- At October’s COP17 summit in Yerevan, Armenia, delegates will assess progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 3 — better known as “30 by 30.”
- According to the Protected Planet database, 18.7% of the world’s land and inland waters, along with 10% of its oceans, are currently being protected.
- While more than a million square kilometers of land was added to the database since 2022, the figures fall well short of the framework’s goals.
- Some advocates want Indigenous and traditional territories to be the priority for reaching the goal.
By Yannick Kenné
- At least 300 young people affected by a civil war in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions are helping protect newborns in maternity wards they’ve equipped with solar energy.
- More than 100 maternity wards now benefit from solar power thanks to youths trained over the past three years by the Cameroonian company Solar Bright Future, a subsidiary of local NGO Action for Advancing Sustainable Development.
- The initiative, which creates an opportunity for young people displaced by the war, is a finalist for the “Heroes of Tomorrow: U.N. SDG Action Awards,” with the winners to be announced on Oct. 29.
By Ryan Truscott
- Scientists have made the first record of a rare bird in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo — inside a biosphere reserve that is severely threatened by deforestation.
- The grey-necked picathartes — a bird of the Lower Guinean rainforest — was not previously thought to live as far south as the DRC.
- But records of it there, as well as recent new records of the same species in the southwestern corner of the Republic of Congo and in Angola’s northern Cabinda province, lend impetus for the proposed Mayombe Forest Transfrontier Protected Area (TFPA) — home to other charismatic species like gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants.
By Sifayet Ullah
- Hornbills in Bangladesh are being targeted during breeding season, when females remain in the nest and chicks are still unable to fly.
- Rescue records from 2023 to 2026 show 26 hornbills, mostly chicks, were taken directly from the nest.
- The rescued birds feed an illegal trade in live hornbills and their body parts, with chicks reportedly sold for up to 100,000 taka ($800) after passing through multiple hands.
- Conservationists warn that the documented rescues may represent only a fraction of the hunting and trafficking taking place and call for stronger enforcement and greater awareness around habitats of hornbills.
By Aylin Ho
- Alishan, a mountain region in central Taiwan, is famous for producing the prized high-mountain tea, but its tea production has declined in recent years.
- Tea growers are facing threats not only from soil degradation but also from climate change, leading a handful of tea growers to adopt more environmentally friendly farming methods and nature-based solutions.
- Tea farmer Lin Kuang-lin credits his nature-based approach for enabling his plants to weather the ecological challenges.
- Tea growers Yeh Hsin-wen and Chang Chih-tsung have chosen an even more radical approach with their tea farm, with their yefang, or wild-grown, method.
By Edward Carver
- A recent study found 25 contaminants, including from cosmetic products, medicines and agricultural runoff, in coral tissues from reef sites in Hawaii. Contaminant levels were higher at sites subject to greater human influence.
- The study is among the first to use metabolomics — the study of small molecules in tissues and organisms — to monitor chronic human-caused stress on corals in the wild.
- While a water sample of a coral reef site provides a snapshot of what contaminants are present, coral tissue can reveal those that have accumulated over time.
- The researchers also found that the sites with healthier coral metabolomes seemed to have maintained more coral cover during a 2015-2016 marine heat wave; this suggests that local threats like pollution may leave reefs less resilient to global ones, like rising temperatures, they write.
By Naina Rao
A 1,000-year ecological reconstruction reveals that Australia’s ongoing wildfire crisis stems from the colonial disruption of Indigenous fire management rather than climate change alone, according …
By Ini Ekott
- Nigeria has spent more than a decade trying to shift households away from traditional cooking fuels and has made impressive gains, yet the overall picture shows progress is “uneven.”
- Between 2020 and 2024, the country recorded Africa’s third-fastest growth in clean-cooking access, behind Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya. The number gaining clean cooking access each year averaged 5.4 million in the same time period.
- Yet 168 million Nigerians — more than two-thirds of the population — still cook with polluting fuels such as firewood, charcoal and kerosene.
- Nigeria is home to the world’s second-largest biomass-dependent population after India, according to a U.N.-World Bank assessment, and data show that household fuelwood consumption has risen almost every year between 2019 and 2023.
By Mongabay
Twenty species of gibbons swing through the tropical forests of Asia, all are threatened by human activities like deforestation, hunting and trafficking baby gibbons for the exotic pet trade. In reco…
By Malaka Rodrigo
- The death of Kavantissa, one of Sri Lanka’s most iconic wild tuskers, sparked widespread public grief, political attention and criticism of wildlife authorities over elephant protection and veterinary care.
- Questions over the treatment provided before his death have prompted calls for an independent, evidence-based investigation, with experts cautioning against drawing conclusions before clinical findings are assessed.
- Sri Lanka recorded 455 wild elephant deaths in 2025, including 79 from gunshot injuries as the primary cause, highlighting the continuing threat posed by human-elephant conflict.
- Kavantissa’s head was separated and buried securely to protect his tusks, but conservationists argued that cremating the entire body would send a stronger message that a living tusker is worth more than its ivory.
By Sandy Watt
In Poland’s ancient Białowieża Forest, scientists say wetlands and dense forests could act as natural military defences. At the same time it could be the lifeline the forest needs.
By Andy BallMarta KasztelanSandy Watt
POLAND — Białowieża Forest. Białowieża Forest, one of Europe’s last remaining primeval forests, straddles the border between Poland and Belarus. Its wetlands and ancient trees support a dazzl…
By Cooper Williams
- World Kangaroo Day celebrates the iconic Australian animal and the special place it has in the country’s environment and First Nations cultures.
- Kangaroos, and the broader macropod family, are losing habitat from worsening drought and bushfires in Australia. Critically endangered species, including Gilbert’s potoroo and the mala, face extinction amid added pressures from climate change.
- There are growing concerns over super El Niño, expected to bring increased droughts, extreme heatwaves and severe bushfires in 2026-2027.
- Balancing urban development and prioritizing conservation will be critical to protecting species from worsening climate events.
By David Akana
YEREVAN, Armenia — A Mozambican safari operator credited with helping restore wildlife populations in Mozambique’s Zambezi Delta, has won the 2026 Markhor Award, which recognizes contributions to…
By Usraat Fahmidah
- Climate migration is often considered an adaptation strategy, as it moves people out of harm’s way from the immediate shocks of climate change.
- But a new study involving climate migrants in informal settlements in southwest Bangladesh finds that relocation can create new forms of vulnerabilities.
- As climate migration increases, Bangladesh’s secondary cities lack policy implementations that ensure migrants can access safe housing, services and stable livelihoods after they arrive.
By Karla Mendes
- Federal employees in the environmental and Indigenous affairs sectors fear a return to the institutional harassment and dismantling of institutions they faced during the Jair Bolsonaro administration if his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, wins the runoff election Sunday, Oct. 25.
- Complaints of harassment and violence filed with the Federal District Labor Prosecutor’s Office nearly tripled during Jair Bolsonaro’s four-year term.
- The weakening of regulatory agencies has led to record levels of deforestation in the Amazon and intensified violence against Indigenous groups that protect the forest.
- Environmental officials and Indigenous experts have launched campaigns and open letters to mobilize the public to vote for incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and defend them and regulatory agencies.
By Maxwell Radwin
- A road through Mexico’s Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, on the Caribbean coast, threatens mangroves and forest ecosystems, environmental groups say.
- Local communities have filed an injunction to permanently cancel the project and restore areas that have been damaged by construction.
- In early October, the country’s environment ministry published a statement about minimizing infrastructure inside the reserve — but environmental groups say they want more information about the future of the road project specifically.
- They argue the courts should address an ongoing injunction request against the road, saying it would guarantee protections for the reserve.
By Vanessa Romo
- An investigation analyzed 722 micro watersheds that feed the Beni River in Bolivia, the Caquetá River in Colombia, the Madre de Dios River in Peru, and the Caroní River in Venezuela. These areas are home to 74 Indigenous groups spread across 202 territories.
- In all four river basins, natural water resources are under pressure. Mining activity has left behind large pools of artificial or anthropogenic (human-made) water, and where livestock ranching has taken hold, the water has disappeared.
- Over the 25 years analyzed, the four catchment areas lost nearly 33,000 hectares (81,500 acres) of natural water, an area more than double the size of Colombia’s Tayrona National Park. The greatest loss occurred in the Colombian Caquetá catchment area, which crosses a department where extensive livestock ranching has long been the main economic activity.
- In the three basins with mining activity — the Madre de Dios, Beni, and Caroní — artificial water sources appeared: four in every five hectares of these water sources are on Indigenous territory.
By Philip M. Fearnside
- If Flávio Bolonaro wins Brazil’s 25 October runoff election the consequences for the environment will be enormous, especially in the Amazon but also for the world, argues Philip Fearnside, a researcher who has worked in the Brazilian Amazon for 50 years.
- Flávio, son of Brazil’s anti-environmental former president Jair Bolsonaro, is slightly ahead of incumbent President Lula in the polls, but the difference is within the margin of error. Flávio, who denies anthropogenic climate change and has supported a series of anti-environmental bills as senator, plans to follow in his father’s footsteps.
- The Amazon rainforest is near a series of tipping points, beyond which risk of the forest collapsing rises sharply. If the forest collapses, the emission of greenhouse gases would push global climate past the point where warming escapes from human control. Flávio’s policies would increase this risk.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By David Brown
Nearly every shallow-water coral reef ecosystem on Earth is at high risk of ecological collapse by 2075, according to the first coral reef assessment of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE). The R…
By David Akana
YEREVAN, Armenia — More than 80 conservation, Indigenous and civil society organizations have called on governments meeting at the COP17 U.N. biodiversity summit in Armenia to keep mining, oil and …
By Associated Press
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan shut down schools and offices and grounded hundreds of flights as Typhoon Champi brushed by the island Friday, packing strong winds and torrential rains. Champi peaked …
By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe
- Kavantissa was a much-loved elephant among residents in Galgamuwa in north western Sri Lanka and, despite a worsening human-elephant conflict in the area, had no record of attacking humans.
- Considered the tallest elephant in the island, Kavantissa died on Oct. 16 owing to gunshot injuries.
- As public outrage escalates over the elephant’s death and the alleged mismanagement of the keystone species, authorities say that daily raids to confiscate illegal firearms and curb wildlife crimes will be launched to ensure protected areas and elephant habitats remain safe for all the species.
- Following tusker Kavantissa’s death, Thailand-based animal rights groups are pressuring their government to repatriate two elephants donated by Thailand to Sri Lanka.
By Winda Charmila
- Indonesian social media users, from celebrities, civil society organizations and public officials, say that their accounts and posts have been restricted or even taken down after posting about Indonesia’s wildfires and haze.
- The Indonesian government is under criticism for its handling of months-long wildfires and haze, which has spread to neighboring countries.
- Many internet users suspect the communications ministry is responsible for taking down and limiting accounts and posts related to the wildfires or critical of the government.
- Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid has denied the accusation, saying there had been “no content takedowns or takedown requests from the ministry to limit information related to wildfires.”