location: North America

location: North America

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Plastic industry bookkeeping plans hide chemical recycling harms, critics say
- As scientists and dozens of nations call for major reductions in plastic production, the plastics industry continues to push pyrolysis — dubbed chemical or advanced recycling — as a primary solution to the global plastic waste crisis.
- Critics say pyrolysis is not a viable solution, but rather an attempt by the industry to rebrand incineration as an environmentally sound recycling process. Pyrolysis uses high temperatures and pressure to convert waste into molecular building blocks which can then be used to make small amounts of recycled plastic.
- Pyrolysis facilities, analysts say, emit a toxic cocktail of harmful pollutants, while also using large amounts of energy and storing considerable amounts of hazardous chemicals onsite, putting local communities at risk. The facilities also create very little, if any, recycled plastic.
- But the industry hopes to use what little new plastic pyrolysis facilities do make to count toward recycling credits that can then be applied to new plastic products containing minimal recycled content. NGOs want transparency and strong industry regulation to protect health and the environment.

As US states cull recently restored wolf populations, here’s what we stand to lose (commentary)
- After decades of effort to restore gray wolves to portions of their former range, some U.S. states are once again pursuing aggressive policies to radically reduce their numbers.
- Two Emmy Award-winning filmmakers who’ve lived among wolves argue in a new commentary that these actions are misguided.
- “Coexistence begins with the understanding that wolves have a rightful place in the wild. It asks us to prevent conflict where we can, adapt where we must, and resist the idea that killing should be the first response when wolves and people share the same space,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Belize looks to the deep sea to complete its 30% ocean protection pledge
- In 2021, Belize made a series of time-bound marine conservation commitments as part of a landmark debt-for-nature deal known as the Belize Blue Bond.
- To complete milestone 6 of the deal, out of eight milestones in total, Belize is finalizing a national marine spatial plan that proposes three new marine protected areas in its deep offshore waters.
- Officials say the zones were chosen after a gap analysis showed Belize’s nearshore coral reef and seagrass habitats are already well represented in its protected-area network, while deepwater features are not.
- Many local fishers welcome the new protected areas, which sit well beyond the waters where they work. However, experts say they are unlikely to yield the conservation benefits Belize urgently needs to revive its declining commercial fish stocks.

From paper parks to lasting protection, here’s what works in marine conservation
- Marine conservation has attracted ambitious commitments, including vast new protected areas and international agreements. But declaring an area protected does not necessarily mean marine life is recovering.
- Fully protected marine reserves can produce substantial biodiversity gains when fishing restrictions are enforced. Adequate staffing, funding, and political support are often what separate effective reserves from “paper parks.”
- Conservation can also succeed outside protected areas. Secure fishing rights, community-led management, and practical changes to fishing gear can reduce pressure on marine species while supporting local livelihoods.
- Restoration projects face similar challenges. Replanting mangroves or corals achieves little if the conditions that damaged the ecosystems remain. Across marine conservation, lasting gains depend on sustained management and addressing the underlying causes of biodiversity loss.

“Stunningly short-sighted.” NOAA grant cuts threaten US climate resilience
After Donald Trump began his second term as president of the U.S. in 2025, his administration moved to dramatically cut federal funding for agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which administers grants for community-based projects that often focus on climate resilience. The nonprofit Grant Witness has created a database of those awards […]
Supreme Court declines to hear the case of a lobster fisherman who opposes boat tracking
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a lobster fisherman who alleged the government requiring commercial fishing boats to use electronic tracking devices amounts to unreasonable search and seizure. Maine lobster fisherman Frank Thompson sued after his state began requiring all federally permitted lobstermen to install GPS trackers […]
Chinook salmon return to historical habitat following removal of four US dams
The Klamath River in the U.S. was heavily dammed over the 20th century, blocking spawning Chinook salmon. As a result, the population of salmon that spawned in the river, which runs through Southern Oregon and Northern California, declined by roughly 90%. However, a recent study found that removing the dams resulted in a quick return […]
Indigenous women bring leadership, creativity & joy to clean water action (commentary)
- “On Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s honor the leadership and contributions of Indigenous women in water,” a new op-ed says.
- Women bring people together, build partnerships, solve problems, and move important work forward every day, the author writes, and Indigenous women in particular exhibit the kinds of community knowledge and relationship-building skills that lead to greater health outcomes, like access to clean water.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

First Nation-led effort replants kelp forests in Clayoquot Sound
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In Clayoquot Sound, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, a partnership between the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, the Redd Fish Restoration Society, and West Coast Kelp is helping rebuild degraded kelp forests, reports contributor Jennifer Cole for Mongabay. […]
A lifetime studying and advocating for cetaceans: Interview with Paul Spong
- Scientist Paul Spong, whose career has been entwined with cetaceans for nearly six decades, advocates for a hands-off approach to studying orcas, using land-based hydrophones and cameras, rather than tracking the orcas by boat and physically tagging them.
- Spong is the founder and co-director of OrcaLab, a whale-research facility on Hanson Island in British Columbia, Canada.
- In addition to his cetacean research, Spong has long campaigned against whaling and the captivity of orcas.
- Mongabay interviewed Spong shortly after the 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) finished in Hobart, Australia. We discussed his work with orcas, his experiences at the IWC, and what needs to change for cetaceans to thrive in the future.

Activists cite ecological, social connections in blocking US border wall construction (commentary)
- The San Rafael Valley in the U.S. state of Arizona is an important wildlife corridor, but these migrations will soon be blocked by a wall being constructed by the U.S. government to prevent passage of human migrants.
- Activists had been staging tree sits in a group of old cottonwoods adjacent to the construction until they were cut down this week, including a very large one dubbed “Grandmother Tree,” whose felling has caused furor on social media.
- “The movement that formed around it demonstrates why protecting biodiversity in the borderlands requires recognizing both ecological and social connectivity across the region,” the author of a new commentary argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Tropical Storm Isaias forms, is forecast to become a hurricane and hit US Gulf Coast this week
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Isaias formed Wednesday in the warm waters off eastern Mexico and forecasters said it was expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week. The rapidly strengthening storm was on track to tie or break a 121-year-old record […]
Invading the globe: Bird flu now threatens Australia and Oceania
- A deadly strain of avian flu, H5N1, has spread across the globe since it emerged in Europe in 2020, infecting hundreds of species and decimating domestic poultry, seabird and marine mammal populations.
- In June, bird flu breached the last uninfected continent, Australia, and has since infected numerous bird species — and spilled over into mammals, including critically endangered Australian sea lions.
- Wildlife disease tracking and data collection are guiding current mitigations, such as carcass removal. The New South Wales government launched an immunization trial for vulnerable captive birds in August and began vaccinating little penguins in the wild on Sept. 18. But little can be done to stop the spread.
- A comprehensive One Health perspective that incorporates human, wildlife and livestock health could aid efforts to prevent outbreaks of zoonotic disease that pass between them all.

Science, Indigenous knowledge team up to restore Canada’s kelp. (Sea otters help, too.)
- In Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, a partnership between the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Redd Fish Restoration Society and West Coast Kelp grows kelp at scale to support an ecosystem in decline.
- The fur trade eradicated sea otters; their return enables kelp to thrive.
- Underwater cameras are monitoring the newly formed kelp forest.
- The success of the project will be measured by science and the return of ecological abundance.

Helping 100,000 amphibians safely cross the road
Every year, thousands of salamanders and frogs try to cross from their wooded winter homes in the U.S. state of New Hampshire to the swamps they breed in. But the road is a dangerous place — unless you have the help of New Hampshire’s Salamander Brigades.
In Panama’s Darién forest, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation
With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status, reports Mongabay contributor María Paula Rubiano A. Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened […]
Isle Royale wolves inbred but likely to survive, study says
Researchers have found that wolves brought to Isle Royale in 2018 are likely to survive but face challenges from inbreeding and isolation. The island had only two inbred wolves in 2016, so officials introduced 19 new wolves between 2018 and 2019. A study published in Conservation Science and Practice shows the wolf population has over […]
New releases a leap forward for endangered frog in southern California
- In August, conservation organizations released another 650 southern mountain yellow-legged frogs into the San Gabriel Mountains, another step forward in reintroduction efforts for this highly endangered species in Southern California in the U.S.
- Once abundant across its range, the species has seen dramatic declines from invasive fish species, climate change impacts, and the deadly chytrid fungus that is wiping out amphibians worldwide.
- The August releases involved the Aquarium of the Pacific, Los Angeles Zoo and the U.S. Geological Society. Other institutions and agencies also released captive-bred frogs and tadpoles in 2026, at other sites.
- With researchers actively exploring ways to manage or mitigate the impact of chytrid fungus, a major obstacle to recovery for this species, reintroductions remain a key tool to keep frogs on the landscape, experts say.

Illegal wildlife continues to slip through Canada’s borders. Experts explain how
- The global wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry that mixes legal business and illegal transactions. It’s a major driver of biodiversity loss, and even legal trade is often unsustainable.
- Canada is a significant player but struggles to enforce a key law that bans the import of wildlife taken illegally in other countries.
- This gap allows various protected species to be brought into Canada illegally, sold and sometimes bred.

Hurricane Polo makes landfall in Baja California, flooding coastal communities and toppling trees
PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Polo has made landfall in Baja California, Mexico, with powerful winds and flash flooding. The Category 2 hurricane struck early Tuesday near Las Barrancas, bringing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports Polo is crossing the Gulf of California and could bring heavy […]
The mountain lion photo that helped change Los Angeles
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 convenient. When photographer Steve Winter proposed the picture, National Park Service biologist Jeff Sikich thought he was crazy. There were, as far as Sikich knew, no […]
US contractors reportedly purchase tin from company accused of illegal Amazon mining
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 hundreds of metric tons of tin to companies with U.S. Department of Defense contracts, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil. White Solder, which describes itself as one […]
Agency says sea turtle eggs laid on California beaches are a first for the US West Coast
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 later, there were more. An olive ridley turtle — maybe the same one — laid eggs on Sept. 19, a […]
California Tribes receive beach and ancestral village site back from transportation authority
- 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.

Critics question oil and gas spending in Mexico’s proposed climate budget
- Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has presented a draft fiscal budget for 2027, outlining the national government’s plans for the coming year for everything from tax rates and health care to infrastructure and education.
- When it comes to the budget’s climate policies, Sheinbaum has increased spending for a national energy transition strategy but decreased it for climate change adaptation efforts.
- Critics also pointed out that the budget for the national energy transition strategy includes billions of pesos for railroad projects and Petróleos Mexicanos , the state-owned oil company.
- Watchdogs called for lawmakers to redistribute resources toward forest conservation, sustainable water management, protected areas and the prevention of natural disasters.

Fat Bear Week opens for Alaska’s heavyweight crown. Can Chunk, the 1,200-pound champ, win again?
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After a summer spent packing away sockeye salmon, Alaska’s heftiest brown bears are ready to throw their weight around. Online voting began Tuesday for Fat Bear Week, the annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine. […]
‘Don’t shoot. Listen’: The AI-aided quest to understand Yellowstone’s wolves
- Wolf howls have mystified listeners for ages, prompting a range of questions. For more than three decades, wildlife biologists, using traditional research methods, have sought answers from the wolf packs of Yellowstone National Park, among the most studied on Earth.
- Jeff Reed, a native Montanan, linguist and computer engineer, has joined the Yellowstone researchers in a quest to decode what he calls “wolfish” by deploying the latest technology. Reed’s bioacoustic listening devices collect massive amounts of ambient sound annually from the vast Yellowstone soundscape.
- Using large-language models and artificial intelligence, Reed has isolated more than 8,000 hours of continuous wolf vocalizations, the largest database of its kind in the world. Through repetitive analysis, Reed has identified a range of distinct wolf calls, possibly signifying specific meanings or emotions.
- Reed’s pioneering technology is already in use to eavesdrop on wolf packs in Italy, and it has potential utility for wildlife research and conservation worldwide. Longtime Mongabay contributor Justin Catanoso field-reported this story from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Emigrant, Montana.

‘Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals’ celebrates species with song
Once upon a time, flocks of passenger pigeons were so dense they blocked the sun like great gray thunderclouds flying overhead. Composer Stephanie Ann Boyd imagines this with music. “You will feel this movement before you hear it: a deep rumble in the low voices of the orchestra suddenly crescendo and explode into a grand, […]
EPA eliminates rule that limits planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action the agency said would remove more than $300 billion in costs for the industry and help “unleash” American energy. The rule change, first proposed last year, represents a […]
Panama looks to science, fishers, and the law to protect its sharks and rays
- In Panama, various initiatives are underway to reduce bycatch of sharks and rays, led by biologists, NGOs, politicians, and local restaurants.
- Many industrial fishing boats carry biologists with them to help train the crew on how to free marine animals accidentally caught in their nets.
- A bill is also currently in discussion in the legislature that proposes measures to restore and conserve shark and ray populations.
- According to local experts, the bill would mark a major step forward for shark conservation, but still has significant weaknesses because the country lacks data on shark and ray populations, especially on breeding sites.

Federal court rejects Trump order keeping Michigan coal plant open
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell plant was needed to ensure […]
Court rules residents of a US city don’t have a constitutional right to lead-free water
A U.S. federal court recently ruled that residents of Jackson, Mississippi, don’t have a constitutional right to truthful information from public officials, nor the right to municipal drinking water that is free of lead, a neurotoxin. “The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the U.S. Court of […]
In North Carolina, a race is on to restore critical peatland before it dries up or is destroyed
BELHAVEN, N.C. (AP) — Scientists and investors are restoring a 23-square-mile tract of peatland in North Carolina to help curb climate-warming emissions and restore native habitat. Ditches have drained water from thousands of years of accumulated peat, leaving the site vulnerable to drought and wildfire and unleashing huge volumes of carbon dioxide. One-third of global […]
Vantara works with lobbyist tied to Trump Jr. and pro-hunting groups
- Vantara, the controversial billionaire-run Indian zoo, has worked with lobbyists in the U.K. with ties to pro-hunting organizations and the Trump administration, sources told Mongabay.
- Tristan Breijer, a U.K.-based lobbyist at Checkmate Government Relations, invited at least one wildlife conservation organization to a roundtable hosted by Vantara on the sidelines of the CITES Animals Committee in July 2026, according to sources.
- Checkmate was founded by Charles ‘Ches’ McDowell, a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr. Its long list of clients includes Reliance Industries, the petrochemical giant owned by the Ambani family, which includes Anant Ambani, who started Vantara.
- Conservationists say Vantara’s lobbying efforts at CITES meetings before a key November meeting raises questions about its intentions. India is expected to respond to a CITES report on the origins of some endangered and protected species imported by Vantara. They also question the Indian zoo’s association with lobbyists tied to pro-hunting organizations, when it claims to be rescuing animals from around the world.

‘Plastic pollution hotspots’ spawn a public health crisis across Latin America
- Since 2018, when China banned the import of plastic waste, many countries in Latin America have been struggling to manage a huge increase in the amount of plastic waste imported into the region, some of them becoming “plastic pollution hotspots,” according to a recent study.
- Overstretched waste management infrastructure and a glut of hard-to-recycle plastics mean that thousands of tons of plastic are leaking out into the environment every day, experts say, with major health implications for communities already facing poor sanitary conditions.
- With talks for a global plastics treaty set to resume next year, campaigners say only a reduction in plastic production can solve the problem but warn against the influence of the powerful petrochemical lobby.

In Panama’s Darién, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation
- With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status.
- Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened forest.
- They’re now using the data as a baseline for joining the biodiversity credits market — a nascent arm of the nature finance industry that’s being touted as a way to help pay for conservation.
- Although biodiversity credit advocates say this market has learned from the mistakes of the carbon credit markets, observers say it’s still too soon to evaluate if it will deliver on its promises.

Why are they killing this beautiful fish?
Lionfish are beautiful, venomous and devastating Caribbean reefs. In Honduras, divers are fighting back with homemade spears, hunting competitions and by putting lionfish on restaurant menus. Watch the full film to meet the community fighting back against one of the Caribbean’s most destructive invasive species.
Cherokee youth win legal rights for waterway in first all-female U.S. effort
- On Jan. 8, 2026, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the inherent legal rights of the Longperson (Ganvhidv Asgaya), an interconnected waterway system whose headwaters rise in the Great Smoky Mountains and end in the sea.
- The resolution was brought forward by the NAIWA Daughters, a group of Indigenous girls aged 10 to 17, making it the first all-female-led rights-of-nature effort in the U.S., and only the second such youth-led resolution passed by a Tribal nation.
- The effort followed 18 months of grassroots organizing and built on the foundations of the rights-of-nature movement, which holds that ecosystems and natural entities should have legal standing to exist and flourish.
- The Longperson resolution grants the waterway five inherent rights and has already spurred related action, including a separate tribal resolution to raise funds for removing the Ela Dam.

Repeal of US Roadless Rule could threaten drinking water for 25 million people
- On Aug. 18, the Trump administration proposed fully rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, which bars new road construction and commercial logging on about 45 million acres of national forest, opening a public comment period that closes Sept. 21.
- A study published in July in PLOS Water found that about 25 million Americans draw drinking water from watersheds fed by roadless areas, where roads and logging raise erosion and turbidity and drive up treatment costs.
- The USDA says the repeal will reduce wildfire risk, but research shows most U.S. wildfires are started by people and ignition density is roughly four times higher near roads than in roadless country.
- Roadless areas cover just 2% of the land in the lower 48 states yet provide habitat for 57% of the country’s vulnerable terrestrial species, and USDA’s own summary acknowledges that most Tribes it consulted oppose the repeal.

Mexico-Brazil oil deal raises concern for ecosystems and energy transition
- This June, Pemex and Petrobras, the state fossil fuel companies of Mexico and Brazil respectively, announced a two-year partnership to jointly explore mature and deepwater oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Details of the exact arrangement have not been released, despite both companies being state-run and campaigners’ calls for greater transparency, but subsequent reports suggest that exploration could focus on the Bay of Campeche, near the Gulf’s largest marine protected area and several vulnerable reef habitats.
- Both companies have downplayed the significance of the deal as a preliminary step, but environmental campaigners said it risks tying both nations to decades of fossil fuel emissions and pollution.
- Supporters hope the partnership will help staunch a recent run of safety incidents at Mexican petrochemical sites.

As British Columbia mulls continued wolf-killing to save caribou, critics say habitat loss is the real threat
- The provincial government of British Columbia, Canada, has proposed extending its decade-long wolf cull program by five more years in areas that are home to 15 declining woodland caribou herds.
- The province has killed 200-300 wolves each year since 2015 to help endangered caribou populations recover, spending nearly $10 million to date, but caribou numbers have increased only marginally.
- Scientists argue that old-growth forests cut for logging, mining and oil and gas extraction — and not wolves — is the main driver of caribou declines, making the province’s focus on wolf culls a short-sighted approach that will ultimately not save caribou and could have unintended consequences on the ecosystem.
- Conservationists call on the B.C. government to stop issuing new logging permits in areas where caribou live; stop building roads through forest and invest in forest restoration projects; and design long-term strategies for caribou conservation to address habitat loss.

Climate change parches Puerto Rico and Jamaica in rare early wet season drought
A severe drought that has parched the Caribbean since May 2026 was fueled by human-induced climate change, according to a recent study. The rapid analysis was released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers who analyze the influence of climate change in extreme weather events. In the Caribbean, the wet season runs […]
Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn’t become a carbon dump (commentary)
- Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, an ecosystem exists in water so salty and lacking in oxygen that its marine life is unique and virtually unstudied.
- Called the Orca Basin, it’s now the focus of a corporate effort to profit from fighting climate change by dumping tons of organic waste into its depths, a deep-sea biologist explains in a new op-ed.
- “The Orca Basin is not a waste repository waiting for a use. It is a living system that has been developing for thousands of years, hosting organisms we have barely begun to characterize, preserving a chemical and biological record we have barely begun to read,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Coastal Texas and Louisiana warned of tropical storm as a potential hurricane moves toward Hawaii
MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning on Monday for the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Galveston and Houston, Texas, area to the western parishes of Louisiana. As of late Monday morning, the potential tropical cyclone was centered about 120 miles (195 kilometers) south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 230 miles […]
Turning the tables on invasive lionfish: How Honduran divers are fighting back
TELA, Honduras — Mario never set out to become a lionfish hunter. An engineer by training and founder of the local dive center Tela Divers, he simply wanted to do something about the growing number of invasive lionfish appearing on the reef where he learned to dive. Native to the Indo-Pacific and thought to have […]
First Nations in Canada call for emergency order to protect southern mountain caribou
- Southern mountain caribou are a type of caribou found in mature forests of western Canada, where they subsist on lichen as a winter food.
- Habitat loss — primarily driven by logging — has transformed their mature forest habitat, upsetting the predator-prey balance and leading to caribou declines.
- In the past 20 years, 15 of 40 southern mountain caribou herds in British Columbia and Alberta have winked out, including a transboundary herd that once ranged into the U.S. states of Idaho and Washington.
- In June, the Syilx Okanagan Nation asked the Canadian government to issue an emergency order to protect caribou, with a spokesperson calling provincial efforts insufficient to stop logging of caribou habitat within Syilx Okanagan traditional territory; the Xatśūll First Nation joined the petition in July.

Costa Rica to require wildlife crossings for roads when they impact fauna
Costa Rican lawmakers unanimously voted to require wildlife crossings for new and existing road infrastructure when evidence shows the infrastructure interrupts natural connectivity and threatens wildlife safety. The measure, approved in August 2026, will help wildlife avoid being struck by cars while crossing roads and connect habitat, the regulation notes. Once signed into law by […]
13 peccaries sail home to heal a Costa Rican forest
- Costa Rica’s Osa Conservation moved 13 white-lipped peccaries by truck and boat across the Golfo Dulce to reintroduce the threatened species to Piedras Blancas National Park, where hunters had wiped it out roughly 18 years ago.
- The peccaries function as ecosystem engineers, churning soil, dispersing seeds, and digging wallows that become microhabitats, and serve as key prey for jaguars, which had also vanished from the park.
- The translocation followed more than a decade of population study, community outreach, and patient corral-baiting, culminating in a 16-hour, 20-person relay to capture, transport, and soft-release the herd, which now appears healthy and cohesive based on tracking data and camera-trap monitoring.
- The herd’s long-term safety still hinges on curbing poaching and sustaining local support, and Osa Conservation plans further translocations this year toward a target of 25-30 peccaries in the park.

US environmental groups plan to sue to relist gray whales under Endangered Species Act
A group of environmental organizations announced their intent to sue the United States National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) for failing to consider protections for Eastern Pacific gray whales under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation […]
US proposes rescinding Roadless Rule protections for national forests
Aug. 25 is a National Day of Action to support U.S. national parks and public lands. One focus of the event is the U.S. government’s intention to rescind a rule that bans road construction and industrial logging across more than 23 million hectares (57 million acres) of national forest land. The 2001 Roadless Rule, has […]
Daniel Janzen and the long work of bringing back a forest
- Daniel Janzen’s scientific work helped reshape ecologists’ understanding of tropical forests, especially the relationships among plants, insects, pathogens, predators, and seeds.
- With Winnie Hallwachs and Costa Rican partners, he helped turn degraded ranchlands in Guanacaste into a protected, working landscape that now connects ecosystems from the Pacific coast to cloud forest and Caribbean rainforest.
- ACG’s parataxonomists, educators, field staff, directors, and neighboring communities have made the project durable through their day-to-day work, linking conservation to local employment, education, and scientific expertise.
- Janzen and Hallwachs’s more recent work on DNA barcoding and bioliteracy aims to help Costa Rica identify, study, and value the extraordinary diversity of life within its borders.

Move over bears. Fat Marmot Week puts a spotlight on the alpine rodents
GOTHIC, Colo. (AP) — Fat Marmot Week is coming soon. Last winter was tough for the groundhog-like rodents living in the Colorado mountains. Researchers say there wasn’t enough snow to keep marmots’ burrows warm while they hibernated, causing many of the animals to freeze to death. The marmots that survived are doing well. They’ve fattened […]
Criminal probe clears Sloth World of criminal neglect in deaths of 57 animals
Authorities in the U.S. state of Florida have cleared a controversial startup of criminal neglect after dozens of wild-caught sloths that it imported from South America for tourism purposes died. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) opened an investigation following the closure of the Sloth World facility in April this year. On Aug. 19, it […]
Cougars cut deadly vehicle-deer collisions in the US by up to 76%, study shows
- When cougars are present in a landscape, roads are safer, according to a new study.
- In area where the cats were highly active, the expected number of deer-vehicle collisions fell by 76% over five years, with the probability of a collision falling by 67%.
- Researchers found that fear changes deer behavior: Rather than simply reducing deer numbers by eating them, pumas appear to create a “landscape of fear” that pushes deer away from developed areas and shifts their active hours from nighttime into daylight.
- Large carnivores, including cougars, keep fast-reproducing prey species in check, while also reducing dangerous and costly wildlife collisions — another reason why coexistence with them is important, experts say.

Mobile queen conch hatcheries strive to help the species, engage Caribbean communities
- International demand for queen conch meat and shells has led to severe overharvesting, while habitat degradation, pollution and warming waters add further threats.
- In a bid to slow the decline of the queen conch, researchers are partnering with local conservation organizations across the Caribbean to establish a network of mobile hatcheries aimed at protecting the giant marine snail through its vulnerable early life stages.
- The goal is not only to nurture developing conch, but to create community spaces where local people can learn about the queen conch life cycle and participate in restoration efforts.
- However, some researchers have doubts about whether aquaculture alone can restore wild conch fisheries.

Texas activist’s claims of Indigenous ancestry face scrutiny
A recent investigation from Grist, a U.S.-based nonprofit media organization, raises questions about environmental activist Juan Mancias’ Indigenous claim to the land he works to protect in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2017, Mancias traveled to France and helped pressure French banks to withdraw support for oil and gas projects that he said threatened […]
Lake Powell hits record low, threatening key water and electricity supply for millions
The water level at Lake Powell, the United States’ second-largest reservoir, has fallen to a record low, heightening concerns about the ongoing crisis in the Colorado River system. The alarming milestone at Lake Powell, reached Saturday, comes about a week after the river’s other major reservoir, Lake Mead, also hit a historic low. Plummeting water levels […]
Increasingly rare: Jaguarundi moves up a notch on the endangered species list
- The jaguarundi needs more attention, researchers say. This small cat, ranging from Mexico to Argentina, was recently recategorized from least concern to near threatened on the IUCN Red List.
- Despite the species’ large territory, monitoring data suggests it’s rare, now among the least abundant felids across its range. Conservationists also warn some populations are in decline due to human-wildlife conflict, dangerous roadways, attacks by dogs and infectious disease.
- With relatively little field study or funding for research, there are huge gaps in researchers’ understanding of this cat, but conservationists hope this change in conservation status will spark greater attention.

Big Bear Valley’s beloved bald eagle Jackie is dead
- A popular bald eagle from California’s Big Bear Valley, watched by millions around the world through a livestream nest camera, has died.
- Jackie, as the bird was known, was admitted to the Ojai Raptor Center after rescuers found her grounded and fighting with two juvenile bald eagles in the Big Bear Valley.
- Dehydrated and anemic when she was found, Jackie developed blood clots in her wing and kidney, leading to her declining health and eventual death despite three weeks of intensive veterinary care.
- Jackie’s and her mate Shadow’s popularity spurred a $10 million donation for a land trust to purchase parts of their habitat slated for a luxury housing development.

Wildlife in the eastern US are making a comeback
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The best-known wildlife recoveries in the U.S. are often associated with the West. Yet some important gains have occurred east of the Mississippi, among cities, roads, farms, and landscapes altered over several centuries. Andrew Moore’s new book, Beasts […]

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