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By Naina Rao
The World Health Organization has officially recognized Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies as a public health problem — in time for World Rabies Day on Sept. 28. According to the…
By Rhett Ayers Butler
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In 2022, poachers had taken 14 white rhinos from private farms in…
By Gerald Flynn
- Over the course of 2025, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined 746,168 hectares of tree cover (1.8 million acres), including more than 154,000 hectares (380,000 acres) of primary forest, according to Mongabay’s analysis of data published by the University of Maryland and Global Nature Watch.
- However, the rate of deforestation in each country dropped when compared to 2024, continuing a decline that data show started in 2023.
- Experts say fewer wildfires, stricter enforcement and lower market rates for commodities could explain the drop.
- Mongabay’s analysis also found almost 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of forest loss occurred within protected areas, where deforestation risks should be lower.
By David Brown
Plastic pollution could disrupt the bioluminescent light produced by deep-sea organisms, researchers warn in a letter in the journal Cambridge Prisms: Plastics. When deep-sea organisms ingest plastic…
By Elodie Toto
Lulingu, a Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei), was reintroduced to Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2024. In May 2026, Lulingu gave birth to a new baby, bringing …
By Naina Rao
A giant octopus devouring a jellyfish. An ultra-fast gossamer worm. These are just a couple of the 31 new species scientists discovered on a recent expedition off the coast of Brazil. They explored t…
By Malaka Rodrigo
- In Sri Lanka, the traditional snake charming culture is fast fading as changing livelihoods, modern entertainment and attitudes toward wildlife reshape the island’s nomadic community, the Ahikuntika tribe.
- During the act of snake charming, cobras do not respond to the music itself, but to the movement of the charmer and instrument, which they perceive as a potential threat, herpetologists say.
- Breaking a cobra’s venom fangs, which the snake charmers do, does not necessarily prevent it from developing replacement fangs, while deliberate fang removal can cause injury and raise animal-welfare concerns, conservationists say.
- Researchers recommend using the existing traditional knowledge of snakes to be redirected toward conservation action, as harmful practices associated with wildlife performances are disappearing.
By Edward Carver
- Yellow-eyed penguins, found only in Aotearoa New Zealand, are at risk of extinction.
- The “mainland” population is down to 117 breeding pairs, having declined more than 80% since the 2008-2009 breeding season; the only other population, which lives on New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, is believed to be larger but isn’t well surveyed.
- Set-net fishing, a type of gillnet fishing, has been one of several factors in the population decline.
- Following pressure from conservationists but over the objections of fishers, New Zealand’s government recently banned set-net fishing around the Otago Peninsula and established an annual fishing-related mortality limit of four yellow-eyed penguins.
By Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) — Rain eased in Thailand ’s capital on Sunday, but flooding persisted in several low-lying areas, with thousands forced to move into temporary shelters. At least eight people were re…
By Rhett Ayers Butler
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. A mountain lion in front of the Hollywood sign sounds almost too …
By Abhishyant Kidangoor
- Biodiversity banking is the collection and preservation of genetic samples of plants and animals.
- At the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the biodiversity bank includes a plant gene bank, a tissue and DNA bank, along with their popular Frozen Zoo where genetic samples are cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen.
- Preserving genetic samples is crucial for species recovery in the future as well to preserve genetic diversity and for research purposes, Katie Heineman, conservation program leader for biodiversity banking, tells Mongabay.
- The alliance is now helping build capacity for sample collection by collaborating with governments and partner organizations in Kenya, Vietnam, Peru, and Hawai‘i.
By Hans Nicholas Jong
- Indonesia’s long-debated Agrarian Reform Regulation Law was approved on Sept. 22.
- The legislation establishes a framework for resolving agrarian land disputes, restoring land rights and redistributing land, but details of how the law will operate remain unclear.
- A coalition of civil society groups have raised concerns about the final draft of the bill, saying it could limit land redistribution and make it difficult to resolve conflicts involving state-controlled land.
- The test of the new legislation will be whether it changes conditions for farmers, Indigenous communities, fisherfolk and other groups affected by land conflicts, says the coalition.
By Cooper Williams
- Kangaroo populations are surging across Australia, driven partly by large-scale deforestation and few natural predators.
- This year, a controversial government cull program in the Australian Capital Territory logged one of its highest numbers of kills.
- Scientists and conservationists say there’s no easy way to control the species’ growing numbers.
- Other possible solutions include reforestation efforts and reintroducing native predators like dingoes.
By Naina Rao
The Philippines remains the deadliest country in Asia for land and environmental defenders, according to a new report by the non-profit Global Witness. In its report, Global Witness says it could ver…
By Robin Hicks
- Singapore’s prime minister recently announced plans to merge several islands into a new “western island” to support “a new generation of industries.”
- The mega-project could bury up to 60% of Singapore’s remaining reefs, many of which are “mother” reefs and of regional ecological significance, conservationists say.
- The reefs are traditional fishing grounds for the Indigenous Orang Laut, who say the project would restrict their access to an area of cultural significance.
- The project raises awkward questions about the volume and source of sand needed to construct the island.
By Rafael Spuldar
- Tropical forests hold up to $714 billion in potential drug value, with the Amazon accounting for $215 billion of the total, according to a new analysis.
- Ongoing deforestation threatens to permanently erase undiscovered plant species and lifesaving medicinal compounds before scientists can study them.
- While pricing nature highlights its economic value to counter clearing, experts warn it risks repeating past extraction and resource grabs unless paired with strict benefit-sharing and local scientific leadership.
By Rizky Maulana YanuarSam Lee
Fireflies are disappearing from the Indonesian island of Bali… but local Wayan Wardika is trying to bring them back. Fireflies in Southeast Asia are vanishing due to habitat loss, light pollution, …
By Rizky Maulana YanuarSam Lee
BALI — Indonesia. Wayan Wardika used to see “clouds of fireflies” as a child growing up among the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. But 40 years later, he realized that the fireflies in his villa…
By Shanna Hanbury
Scientists have described a species of tiger cat that was previously unknown to science. From Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests, it is the first discovery of a living novel cat species in more than 10…
By Spoorthy Raman
- In a letter, 27 leading global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations have urged Vantara, a private zoo in India funded by Reliance Industries’ nonprofit, to permanently end all wild animal imports into its facilities.
- The letter comes after Vantara announced a self-imposed one-year moratorium, which runs through June 2027, on all animal imports to its facilities as it improves its “due diligence” by appointing a governing council and stricter oversight.
- The announcement came amid allegations of illegal wildlife trade linked to Vantara — and a CITES Secretariat investigation into its 60,000 live animal imports over the past two years.
- The coalition of NGOs call for Vantara to address compliance concerns of animals already under its care, be transparent about future acquisitions and prioritize conservation of wildlife in their native habitats.
By Ilona Szabó de CarvalhoRobert Muggah
- The world has spent a decade trying to put a price on nature, yet the criminal economy has been putting a price on it for much longer.
- Land grabbing, illegal logging, illicit gold mining and wildlife trafficking are extremely lucrative and have become a serious drag on both sustainable development and climate action, a new op-ed argues, and its drivers must be addressed from where extraction begins all the way to corporate offices.
- “The world is still working out how much a standing forest is worth. Criminal markets settled on a price for a felled one long ago,” the authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Bernard Chiguvare
- In South Africa’s Malala Drift, near Musina in Limpopo province, farmers say rainfall has become increasingly unreliable, forcing some to abandon their crops.
- New research also documents increased rainfall variability in recent years, along with rising temperatures, drought, crop failures, livestock deaths and food insecurity.
- Some farmers say that when the river level falls, they hire an excavation company to dig into the riverbed.
By Associated Press
PRAGUE (AP) — Five cheetah cubs had to survive a weather scare and the illness of their mother after their birth at the Prague Zoo. But they are doing well now, the zoo said on Friday. The zoo said…
By Ryan Truscott
- Researchers at gene banks scattered across Southern Africa have spent decades collecting and duplicating specimens of valuable wild fruit trees.
- Among the species cloned by researchers from the Landscape Alliance is the wild loquat — an evergreen tree that produces large quantities of highly sought-after berries that provide income and nourishment for millions of people.
- Alice Muchugi and her colleagues are skilled practitioners of “air layering,” which ingeniously spurs a branch to produce roots, hugely reducing the time needed to establish a new, mature, fruit-bearing tree.
- Planting and preserving prolific indigenous fruit trees protects both the biodiversity of miombo woodlands and an important alternative food source for communities who live in them.
By Keith Anthony Fabro
- The largest global coral reef assessment finds that average hard coral cover has declined 9.5% relative to a three-decade reference period spanning 1980-2009.
- A fourth global bleaching event in 2023-2025 drove a record 8.9% one-year loss, though its full effects are not captured in this analysis, which ends in 2024.
- Reefs can recover after bleaching events, but increasingly frequent marine heat waves are shortening their recovery window.
- Scientists say local management can strengthen reef resilience, but rapid greenhouse gas emission cuts remain essential to prevent further widespread losses.
By Sadiqur Rahman
- Amid recurring landslides, a growing number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are being forced to adapt to increasingly limited camp space.
- The refugee management authorities warn that expansions of Rohingya camps will accelerate further destruction of forests and biodiversity.
- A study recommends protection of the vulnerable hill slopes, but authorities cite fund shortages as a major obstacle.
By Shreya Dasgupta
Plastic waste has been found in the most remote places — including, now, a deep-sea canyon off the coast of Argentina, according to a recent study. “The very first item spotted was a plastic bag …
By David Brown
In an editorial in Science, U.S.-based energy policy experts Paasha Mahdavi and Michael Ross argue that governments creating consumer fossil fuel subsidies in response to rising energy prices is the …
By Naina Rao
Food conglomerate Mondelēz International, the owner of chocolate brands Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Oreo, has allegedly engaged in an extensive lobbying campaign to weaken and delay enforcement of…
By Muhammad Talal
- Pakistan has established the Punjnad Indus River Dolphin Sanctuary in Punjab, which connects with an existing reserve in Sindh to form a continuous 400-kilometer protected river corridor.
- A 2025 abundance study reveals the endangered Indus River dolphin metapopulation has rebounded to an estimated 1,987 individuals, marking a 19.4% increase between 2011 and 2017.
- Despite this encouraging recovery, nearly 99% of the population is confined to a 690-kilometer stretch of the river and remains highly vulnerable to fatal gillnet entanglements and habitat fragmentation from irrigation barrages.
- Wildlife officials and conservationists stress that long-term survival for the endemic bhulan, as it is locally known, will require cross-provincial coordination, ecological modifications to barrage operations and community-led sustainable fishing practices.
By Rhett Ayers Butler
- The recent description of the tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) from Bolivia comes amid a broader reassessment of wild cat taxonomy, with genetic research suggesting that several additional species may be waiting to be recognized
- Brazilian biologist Tadeu Gomes de Oliveira says the number of recognized tiger-cat species could increase from three to six or even seven, while new research is also raising questions about the taxonomy of margays and other small cats.
- These distinctions can have direct conservation consequences: Oliveira estimates that no more than about 200 munoai pampas cats remain and argues that recognizing the population as a distinct species could help unlock targeted protection and funding.
- In September 2026, Panthera board chair Jon Ayers interviewed Oliveira about the changing taxonomy of small cats, emerging genetic research, threatened populations, and plans for a global monitoring program for small wild cats.
By Victoria Schneider
Zambia is investigating wildlife deaths and human exposure linked to an anthrax outbreak in the northern province of Muchinga, where several hippos have died since the outbreak was reported on Aug. 3…
By Maxwell Radwin
A public hearing this week by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will assess claims that the Peruvian state violated the rights of the Indigenous Mashco Piro, Yora, and Amahuaca peoples, who li…
By Associated Press
BWINDI, Uganda (AP) — In the tangled greenery of a Ugandan national park, mountain gorillas sit among the leaves, calmly carrying on as tourists trek into their forest home. Many gorilla families a…
By Carla Ruas
- The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) aims to reach $10 billion in sponsor capital by the end of 2026, a step toward a larger $25 billion fundraising goal.
- If the target is not reached, the initiative could lose a $3 billion pledge made by Norway.
- Reports state that some countries are waiting for the results of the Brazilian presidential elections in October before pledging funds.
By Mongabay.com
Gorillas are among humans’ closest relatives, with a common ancestor dating back around 8 to 10 million years. Both species of gorilla alive today are on the edge of extinction: The eastern gorilla…
By Haven Sager
- In Nepal, the law has eliminated gender discrimination when it comes to property rights, but cultural norms still interfere with land ownership.
- Many of the country’s agricultural workers are women, yet they do not own the land they work.
- Research shows that globally, women’s access to secure land tenure is linked to higher agricultural productivity, lower food insecurity, reduced poverty and slower environmental degradation.
- While some women in Nepal say the lack of land ownership is not a problem for them, others do not recognize the legal rights they have; experts say education is key.
By Ashoka Mukpo
- The consultancy firm One Earth Partners has published an analysis of the environmental consequences of USAID’s closure.
- One Earth Partners was founded by Monica Bansal and Hadas Kushnir, two former senior employees at the U.S. international development agency.
- The report is based on interviews with 150 people in five countries who were familiar with USAID’s conservation and environmental work.
- It finds that a large number of projects in fragile ecosystems have stalled or collapsed, and is accompanied by a list of 100 that are looking for new funders.
By John Cannon
- In June, a team of researchers working in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park spotted a Ghana cuckooshrike, a bird that hadn’t been seen in 13 years.
- The bird’s home range in West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest has been whittled away by logging and agriculture, leaving a patchwork of disconnected forests.
- The ‘rediscovery’ shows the value of conserving places like Taï, where mining and illegal hunting also pose threats.
- The finding relied on close collaboration with West African researchers, the experience and knowledge of the team, and the Ghana cuckooshrike’s listing by the Search for Lost Birds partnership.
By Sean Mowbray
- planetary boundaries — vital for preserving the safe operating space for humanity — are transgressed and heading further into the danger zone.
- Mounting pressures on land carbon sinks, the seafloor, and escalating releases of novel entities (various forms of synthetic pollution) risk increased destabilization of Earth’s life support systems.
- Large-scale and urgent action is needed to return as swiftly as possible to the safe zone, scientists say.
By Jubanayan Saikia
- The biodiversity credit market should stop trying to copy the carbon market’s method of reducing everything to one tradable unit, a new op-ed argues.
- Instead, these credits should be measured by how continuously and independently a claim can be verified, since their benefit cannot be expressed as simply as carbon credits can.
- “A hectare of mangrove forest is not interchangeable with a hectare of grassland: pretending otherwise is closer to a category error than a measurement gap, and I suspect it is the real reason estimates of this market vary by a factor of 80,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Triyo Handoko
- Indonesia’s push to expand geothermal power is facing resistance from communities around Mount Ungaran in Central Java province, where a long-running dispute over the proposed project has resurfaced.
- The government says further exploration is needed to determine whether the area can support a commercially viable power plant, with electricity generation targeted for 2031.
- Residents and civil society groups have raised concerns about potential impacts on water resources, farming livelihoods, the environment, and cultural heritage.
- Questions over public consultation and differing estimates of the area’s potential electricity output have added to the debate over the project’s future.
By Charles Mpaka
A mass of floating weeds at Chia Lagoon, Malawi’s largest, is choking out waterways and livelihoods as farmers and fishers struggle to access fields and fishing areas. Seven months after the rainy …
By Michael Beltran
- The Philippines is a key location for the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, a global pact to establish a semiconductor and AI supply chain not reliant on China.
- Pax Silica, and a related national initiative called the Luzon Economic Corridor, have been met with opposition from civil society and Indigenous groups.
- Land for the planned Pax Silica hub overlaps with land thousands of Indigenous Aeta claim as their ancestral domain.
- Protesters also cite concerns about water, energy use, and waste management plans for the planned hub.
By Mongabay
Brazilian tin-producing company, White Solder, has been accused of acquiring a mineral illegally mined in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon. White Solder has supplied hundre…
By Alex Megerle
- With decades of civil war, habitat loss and targeted poaching, the Angolan giraffe disappeared from much of its historic range in Angola.
- July marked their return to the country’s Bicuar National Park after a 25-year absence, as part of a broader national development plan.
- The Angolan government and a conservation nonprofit transported 12 giraffes from Namibia to rewild them.
- So far, the giraffes are doing well and, if they thrive in their new habitat, more relocations are planned for Bicuar and other Angolan parks over the next decade.
By Associated Press
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A reptile believed to be struggling in sand at a Southern California beach was simply making history: a sea turtle laying eggs on the U.S. West Coast. And three days…
By Danielle Keeton-Olsen
- Indigenous communities in Malaysia’s Upper Baram Forest Area say a planned conservation area is being eroded by the existence of an active timber concession within the forest area.
- A new report by civil society groups questions the legality of how the concession was granted, and presents evidence of ongoing logging of primary forest.
- The Sarawak forest department says the Upper Baram Forest Area was intended from its outset to allow areas for both conservation and timber harvesting, and that the concession was granted legally.
By Abhaya Raj Joshi
- In September 2006, a helicopter crash killed 24 people, including then forest minister and senior officials from Nepal’s government and WWF — a day after they handed over a conservation area to resident communities.
- Since the crash, some conservationists say individual roles were replaced, but what was lost was never truly recovered, with visionary leadership growing scarcer since the accident.
- Nepal’s tiger population has more than tripled and forest cover has grown beyond 46%, built on the community forestry model the “lost generation”, but human-wildlife conflict and the emptying of hill villages remain as unresolved conservation issues.
- Devolving control of buffer zones to local communities remains incomplete two decades on, and even the crash’s own commemoration has largely lapsed, leaving current leaders to decide whether to keep running the old conservation model or build a new one.
By Izzy Sasada
The green transition is crucial to tackling climate change. But around the world, the same question keeps cropping up: who pays the price? In Malaysian Borneo, hydroelectric dams are playing an incre…
By Euan Wallace
- In Peru’s high Andes, water security is under threat as glaciers retreat and changing weather patterns threaten natural reservoirs.
- At 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) altitude, in the community of Villa de Arma, Huancavelica, a conservation initiative that started in 2025 aims to secure water resources in the Chincha watershed, helping to supply water to the arid coast below.
- The project uses nature-based solutions such as wetland conservation and native forest regeneration to combat water security issues in the region.
- Some scientists caution that the benefits of nature-based solutions are hard to predict and that they are “not a panacea”.
By David Brown
A new atlas of biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands highlights the unique evolutionary and ecological diversity of life in the famed archipelago that helped Charles Darwin develop the theory of nat…
By Shreya Dasgupta
The Arctic is dotted with millions of lakes that sit on persistently frozen soil called permafrost. These lakes are crucial for the region’s wildlife and local communities. However, as temperatures…
By Naina Rao
Botanists in Thailand have identified a new-to-science species of “fairy lantern” — plants that live almost entirely buried under leaf litter, emerging aboveground only occasionally to flower. …
By Hans Nicholas Jong
- Fires are spreading across Bornean orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor.
- Conservationists said losing forest in the national park would be devastating for its large orangutan population and long-running research program.
- More than 40 people, including field assistants, staff and local villagers, have been working around the clock to protect a research station from the fires.
- Geopix detected 17,865 fire hotspots in mapped orangutan habitat across Kalimantan between June 1 and Aug. 28, while conservationists warn that fires are shrinking the forest available for orangutans to escape.
By Johan Augustin
- Australian authorities disrupted an alleged wildlife trafficking ring in Sydney, seizing 36 reptiles and about AU$300,000 (more than $215,000) in cash and gold bullion.
- The animals included 28 native Australian reptiles, including shingleback lizards, spiny-tailed skinks and lace monitors.
- This bust was the first major wildlife crime operation conducted by the National Environmental Protection Agency (National EPA), Australia’s new federal environmental regulator.
- The National EPA alleges native reptiles were supplied to foreign nationals for illegal export.
By Mike DiGirolamo
This week on the Newscast, we’re joined by Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, the founder of the Home Planet Fund, an independent, Indigenous-led nonprofit that provides funding for local and Indigenous commun…
By Shanna Hanbury
Cigarette butts account for roughly 12% of the litter found in rivers, lakes and beaches surveyed for a recent global review. Researchers pooled data from 130 studies conducted in 55 countries betwee…
By Liz Kimbrough
- The U.S. state of California has returned 55 hectares (136 acres) of Northern California coastline, including Blues Beach and the village site of K’etim, to three Coastal Yuki tribes.
- It is the first land Caltrans, the state transportation department, has ever returned to Indigenous ownership.
- Tribes first asked for the site in 2005, after learning looters were digging into archaeological sites and uncovering ancestral remains.
- The tribe hopes to use the land for education and gatherings, but the beach will remain open to the public.
By Matthew Burkhart
- A recent study documented 98 northern pygmy slow lorises living in the wild in Guangxi, China, roughly doubling the country’s known population of the endangered species.
- The species was previously thought to live almost exclusively in Vietnam and Laos.
- The northern pygmy slow loris was only identified as a separate species in 2023; physically, it’s plumper, fuzzier, and has a flatter nose than the southern species.
- Like all lorises, northern pygmy lorises are threatened by habitat loss and hunting for the wildlife trade and for use in traditional medicine.