topic: Bears

topic: Bears

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Nepal pushes for hydropower in protected areas through legal grey area
- Nepal’s government is allowing hydropower development inside protected areas, despite a January 2025 Supreme Court ruling that invalidates the legal provision for this activity.
- With the court’s full verdict still unpublished, the government has interpreted the ruling and continued to issue land-use and environmental permits.
- Mongabay’s investigation finds that 10 private hydropower projects, totaling more than 360 MW, have received permits since January 2026, affecting about 85 hectares across the Annapurna, Gaurishankar and Kanchanjunga protected areas, and the buffer zones of Makalu Barun and Langtang national parks.
- Officials say they are relying on 2023 guidelines and cabinet decisions covering projects licensed before July 2024, while the country’s wildlife department has continued approving feasibility studies, environmental assessments and transmission lines in protected-area buffer zones.

Prague zoo keeps polar bears cool with ice cubes as European summer heatwave hits
PRAGUE (AP) — Keepers at Prague Zoo used tons of ice on Thursday to give its animals some much-needed relief as yet another heat wave hit Europe. Polar bears Aleut and Gregor wasted no time and were rolling in the beds of ice cubes after entering their outside enclosure. The twins looked to have fun with the […]
How to stitch a massive wildlife corridor through the Rocky Mountains
- Across the world, roads, railways, towns and farms sever habitat, preventing wildlife from moving across the landscape. Cutting off animals’ ability to connect can limit genetic exchange and cause entire populations to decline — and ultimately, collapse.
- The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, or Y2Y, is trying to create a giant connected area stretching across the Rocky Mountains from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem in the U.S. to Canada’s Yukon Territory. It will allow animals to move, meet and mate.
- Across Canada, the U.S. and the world, countries are building wildlife crossings that reconnect habitat and keep motorists safe from costly, potentially deadly collisions with animals.

‘Bear-dar’ aims to give Arctic communities a heads-up on nearby polar bears
- An early-warning system, aided by radar and AI, aims to help mitigate human-polar bear encounters in the Arctic.
- Bear-dar scans the landscape for polar bears and alerts people if a bear is spotted approaching human settlements.
- In May, the system detected a polar bear family and helped people at a weather station guide them back onto sea ice.
- As sea ice rapidly melts due to global warming, polar bears are losing their habitats; as a result, they’re increasingly foraging for food on land, putting them in growing contact with humans.

Laos’s illegal wildlife shops keep growing despite enforcement, investigators find
- Illegal wildlife shopping sites targeting Chinese tour groups in Laos appear to have expanded despite recent law raids, with investigators identifying up to 35 suspected locations, nearly double the number Mongabay documented in 2025.
- Investigators say the shops, embedded in low-cost package tours, continue to pressure tourists into buying illegal wildlife products, while some restaurants are reportedly serving highly threatened pangolins to tour groups.
- Laotian authorities say they’ve seized illegal wildlife products and launched investigations, but conservation groups argue enforcement remains too limited to disrupt the broader network.
- Experts warn the trade could undermine Laos’s efforts to improve its standing under the global wildlife trade convention, and say a coordinated regional response is needed to prevent the business model from spreading elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The US government says habitat destruction no longer counts as ‘harm’ to endangered species
The U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently finalized a rule that narrows what qualifies as “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. Under the new definition of harm, only actions that directly harm or kill endangered species will be prohibited. Until recently, the definition of harm also included damaging the habitat endangered wildlife depend on for […]
27 Moon Bears rescued from illegal Laos bile farm
In what was described as the largest bear farm rescue in Southeast Asia, authorities in Laos in conjunction with the international NGO Free the Bears freed 27 Asiatic black bears from a foreign-owned illegal bear bile farm in Laos. All 27 rescued bears were transferred to the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, operated by Free the […]
Polar bears off the ice: Photo of the week
A polar bear, captured above, sits on a grassy expanse on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukotka district of far-eastern Russia. Several bears made themselves at home in the empty buildings of a Soviet-era research station, abandoned by humans in 1992. Photographer Vadim Makhorov took photos using a drone operated from an expedition vessel about 1 […]
Alaska wildlife agents can kill bears to protect caribou, judge rules
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A judge says Alaska wildlife agents can resume shooting and killing bears as part of a plan to help recover a herd of caribou that was once an important source of food for Alaska Native hunters. Two conservation groups sought to halt the program while they challenged its legality. They argue […]
George Schaller: The field biologist who helped redefine conservation
- Miriam Horn’s Homesick for a World Unknown traces the life of George B. Schaller, a field biologist whose work reshaped how animals are studied and understood.
- The book portrays a scientist defined by patience, close observation, and a disciplined effort to understand animals on their own terms, even as such an approach ran against prevailing scientific norms.
- Horn presents Schaller’s career across continents as both scientific and practical, showing how his research informed the creation of protected areas while gradually incorporating local knowledge and participation.
- Rather than probing for psychological insight, the biography mirrors its subject’s outward focus, offering a restrained account that raises broader questions about attention, conservation, and what it means to share a world with other species.

Two-month-old bear cubs rescued from Facebook sale in Laos
Two Asiatic black bear cubs posted for sale on Facebook have been rescued in Laos as part of an illegal wildlife trade sting. Free the Bears, an international conservation nonprofit, coordinated the operation with local authorities in Oudomxay province after discovering the Facebook post while monitoring online platforms for wildlife traders. The advertisement featured two […]
Pyrenees brown bear population climbs to an estimated 130 in latest census
The annual census of brown bears in the Pyrenees mountain range of Spain, France and Andorra estimated that 130 bears are now living in the region with an average annual population growth rate of more than 11% over the last 18 years. The subpopulation of Pyrenees brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) has been steadily increasing […]
Drought amplifies human-wildlife conflict, study finds
A recent study from the U.S. state of California finds that the public reported more encounters with wildlife in times of drought. Researchers say they expect such drought-driven human-wildlife interactions in other areas also facing water shortages — a growing problem amid climate change. The researchers analyzed more than 31,000 wildlife-related incidents reported by members […]
Saving polar bears and beluga whales: Interview with Alysa McCall
- Beluga Cam is a long-running initiative that aims to document the migration of almost 57,000 beluga whales through Hudson Bay in Canada.
- The project is run by the nonprofit Polar Bears International in a bid to collect more data about beluga migration as well as to create more awareness about the species.
- The initiative got an upgrade this year with a new boat that houses the cameras and other equipment deployed for the work.
- As the Arctic rapidly loses sea ice, species such as beluga whales and polar bears bear the brunt in terms of losing access to food and their habitats.

The forest guardians along Nepal-India border leading red panda conservation
- In eastern Nepal’s Taplejung district, Forest Guardians like Surya Bhattarai are on the frontlines of red panda conservation — monitoring habitat, deterring poaching and gathering scientific data to help protect the species.
- With fewer than 10,000 wild red pandas left globally and major threats from road construction, habitat fragmentation and stray dog attacks, conservation efforts have expanded beyond protected areas into community forests.
- To reduce pressure on forests and foster local stewardship, the nonprofit Red Panda Network combines habitat restoration, eco-tourism, education and alternative livelihoods such as nettle-based handicrafts and homestays.

Manage people more and bears less, say Indigenous elders in world’s ‘polar bear capital’
- Indigenous residents of Churchill in Canada’s Manitoba province have coexisted with polar bears for thousands of years, emphasizing respect for the animals and staying out of their way.
- The province-run Polar Bear Alert Program also aims to keep the community safe from overly curious or dangerous bears, but some of its practices have been called into question by locals.
- Churchill’s tourism industry drives the local economy and is also the source of most problematic human-bear interactions.
- As climate change causes bears to spend more time on land, Churchill leaders are working with local and regional stakeholders to improve human-polar bear coexistence.

Inside the human-bear conflict in northern India
INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR — Since the year 2000, the wildlife department in the Indian-administered part of the Kashmir region has recorded more than 2,300 bear attacks on humans, some of them deadly. The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is native to the region, but its increasing incursions into farms, orchards and residential areas has left many […]
Three moon bears rescued in first closure of Laos bile farm
The government of Laos has for the first time shut down a farm where live bears were harvested for their bile, after convincing the farm’s owner to voluntarily hand over three bears. The rescued Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), two males and one female, are now being quarantined at the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, operated […]
Coexistence with Europe’s carnivores is possible (commentary)
- The return of bears, wolverines, lynx and wolves to European landscapes from where they have been absent for decades, or even centuries, is a conservation success.
- But while this has also led to a resurgence of age-old conflicts, such as livestock depredation and fears for personal safety, the author of a new op-ed who leads a research project aimed at coexistence is optimistic.
- “The Co-creating Coexistence Project [will] provide valuable knowledge to guide policy as the focus shifts from ‘how do we prevent large carnivores from going extinct?’ to ‘how to live with a conservation success?’” he writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Rare polar bear cub footage offers crucial conservation insights
- Scientists have captured rare footage of female polar bears and their newborn cubs emerging from maternal dens in the Arctic.
- Using remote cameras and satellite collars, researchers were able to track down polar bear dens in Norway’s Svalbard region and get insights into their behavior.
- On analyzing the data, researchers found that the bears typically stayed in and around the dens for 12 days after first emerging from them; they were also found to abandon the dens earlier than previously thought.
- Polar bear denning and the subsequent den emergence is a crucial period during which cubs transition from the warm environment of the dens to the harsh environment outside; the amount of time cubs spend in the dens is believed to have implications for their survival.

Mysterious sloth bear deaths raise alarm at Sri Lanka’s largest national park
- Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka’s largest and a prime location for year-round sloth bear sightings, has sparked concern after the sudden deaths of three sloth bears (Melursus ursinus inornatus) occurred within a span of a few weeks.
- As sloth bears like to feed on carrion, there are often concerns about these animals contracting swine flu, which is generally present in wild boar populations due to consumption of carcasses, posing a risk of zoonotic transmission.
- Veterinary surgeons are awaiting laboratory analysis of the recently dead bear’s organ samples to finalize the autopsy report, but they indicate that tick fever is a likely cause of death due to heavy tick infestation.
- The sloth bear is an elusive and iconic species, recognized as a key wildlife attraction and a member of Sri Lanka’s “Big Five” wildlife species, alongside the elephant and leopard, making its conservation essential to the country’s nature-based tourism industry.

Camera traps reveal first jaguar in northwestern Ecuador forests in years
Two separate camera-trap surveys have captured videos and images of jaguars in two different forests in Ecuador’s northwest, where the animal hadn’t been spotted for several years. Subsequent analysis confirmed that it was the same individual moving between the two forests, according to a new study. The first camera-trap survey by researchers from the Central […]
New brown bear ‘stronghold’ in Nepal redraws species’ range map
- A population of brown bears has been discovered in western Nepal, extending the species’ known geographical range and suggesting a potential “contact zone” between the Himalayan and Tibetan brown bear subspecies.
- Researchers from the Himalayan Wolves Project discovered the bears during camera-trap studies in the Limi Valley, which is rich in biodiversity but has seen limited ecological research compared to other regions of Nepal.
- The bears exhibit physical traits associated with the Tibetan subspecies, but genetic analysis is necessary to confirm their subspecies classification and determine if they’re hybrids.
- Research indicates that habitat for brown bears in Nepal may shrink significantly due to climate change, with predictions showing up to 82% habitat loss by 2070 if global temperatures rise by 2.7°C (4.9°F) by end-century, emphasizing the urgent need for conservation efforts.

Local reps should lead Nepal’s conservation education: Interview with Anil Adhikari
- Author, journalist and conservationist Anil Adhikari focuses on grassroots conservation education by creating books for schoolchildren that feature local wildlife such as red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia), aiming to foster early environmental awareness and pride.
- Adhikari incorporates colorful illustrations and community-based stories in his books, making them more appealing and relevant for rural students whose traditional textbooks are often in black and white.
- He advocates for local governments to take responsibility for conservation education.

Polar bears are suffering paw injuries likely driven by the warming Arctic: Study
What’s new At least two populations of polar bears in the high Arctic are developing paw injuries, possibly because of shifting sea ice conditions in a warming environment, according to a new study. Such injuries have not been reported in these areas previously, the study’s authors write. What the study says Between 2012 and 2022, […]
Sweden’s ‘nature friendly’ reputation is being shot to pieces (commentary)
- Though Sweden has a reputation as being ecologically-minded and nature-friendly, the nation has also become a ‘trophy hunter’s paradise’ that routinely flouts the European Union’s Habitats Directive, according to a new op-ed.
- The government has allowed a politically powerful hunting lobby to steadily increase pressure on wildlife — such as the current hunt of nearly 500 bears, a fifth of total population — leading to the killing of hundreds of red-listed animals every year, including wolves, bears, wolverines, and lynxes, which are among the nation’s most adored creatures.
- “International support is desperately needed for Sweden’s wildlife, since this dysfunctional system cannot fix itself,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Patents can serve as early-warning system for wildlife trade trends
Patent applications can reveal emerging trends in wildlife trade, a new study has found. From rhinoceros horns to pangolin scales, trade in wildlife is a highly lucrative business. In 2019, the legal global trade in wildlife was estimated to be worth about $107 billion. The illegal trade is thought to fetch between $7 billion and […]
Nepal’s first community-based red panda conservation area sparks hope
- Nepal’s first community-based red panda conservation area has been established in the Puwamajhuwa area of Ilam Municipality, covering 116 hectares (287 acres) of temperate broad-leaved forests.
- The conservation area aims to protect the endangered red panda species (Ailurus fulgens), promote ecotourism and contribute to local community livelihoods.
- This initiative demonstrates the increased authority of local governments in Nepal following the 2015 Constitution, allowing for community-driven conservation efforts.

Sweden greenlights hunt of nearly 500 bears, a fifth of total population
Sweden has authorized the hunting of 486 brown bears in this year’s licensed hunting season that will run from Aug. 21 to Oct. 15. This quota represents 20% of the country’s bear population, officially estimated to be around 2,450 in 2023. By Aug. 22 afternoon, hunters had killed more than 150 bears, according to The […]
Innovative Nepali PSA seeks emotional connection to save red pandas
- A public service announcement video featuring actors in costumes resembling red pandas uses a poem and theatrical performance to create an emotional connection with the audience, rather than preaching at them.
- Red pandas, found in Nepal, India, Bhutan, and China, are endangered by habitat loss, poaching and accidental snaring.
- The PSA highlights the interconnectedness of human survival and red panda conservation, aiming to foster a deeper understanding and lasting impact on younger generations, the producers say.

In 2023, Nepal’s ‘uncelebrated’ wildlife continued wait for attention
- From hispid hares to otters and a critically endangered lizard, Nepal’s lesser-known wild animals live under the shadow of the iconic tiger.
- Officials and conservation stakeholders are yet to come up with concrete plans to save many of these species even as they face the threat of extinction due to habitat loss and fragmentation.
- Other flora and fauna deserve the government’s attention amid these myriad growing threats, researchers told Mongabay in 2023.

No safe space for Nepal’s sloth bears outside protected areas, study finds
- The exploitation of forest resources in Nepal’s Chure region is likely leading to a lack of food for sloth bears in their prime habitat, pushing them into protected areas.
- A camera trap study in the subtropical forests of the Chure region recorded just 46 detections of sloth bears across 30 sites in four months, highlighting the impact of resource extraction on their habitat.
- The study recommends implementing a conservation plan between Parsa National Park and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve to benefit sloth bears and other threatened species in Nepal’s lowlands.
- It also emphasized the need for action to conserve the eastern Chure forests and the establishment of corridors for sloth bear movement.

Conservationists look to defy gloomy outlook for Borneo’s sun bears
- Sun bears are keystone species, helping sustain healthy tropical forests. Yet they’re facing relentless challenges to their survival from deforestation, habitat degradation, poaching and indiscriminate snaring; fewer than 10,000 are thought to remain across the species’ entire global range.
- A bear rehabilitation program in Malaysian Borneo cares for 44 sun bears rescued from captivity and the pet trade and has been releasing bears back into the wild since 2015. But with threats in the wild continuing unabated, success has been mixed.
- A recent study indicates that as few as half of the released bears are still alive, demonstrating that rehabilitation alone will never be enough to tackle the enormous threats and conservation issues facing the bears in the wild.
- Preventing bears from being poached from the wild in the first place should be the top priority, experts say, calling for a holistic approach centered on livelihood support for local communities through ecotourism to encourage lifestyles that don’t involve setting snares that can kill bears.

Endangered Formosan black bears caught in Taiwanese ‘snaring crisis’ (commentary)
- The snaring of Formosan black bears is a much worse situation than many realize, a new op-ed says.
- This species is endemic to Taiwan and considered endangered, with about 200 to 600 of them left.
- “Do national park and forestry officials have a grasp on just how serious the snaring situation is in this country, of how many snares are out there, who is setting them, and how to combat it?” the op-ed asks.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Barely making it: A conversation with ‘Eight Bears’ author Gloria Dickie
- Gloria Dickie is an award-winning journalist who has documented the state of the world’s eight remaining bear species in a compelling new book, “Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future.”
- Despite the conservation gains made by iconic bear species like the giant panda and the brown bear, most bear species remain at risk.
- In this podcast conversation, the author shares the context behind why some bear species, such as the Andean bear and the polar bear, which face climate-related threats, are much harder to protect.
- “It’s quite tricky for bears threatened by climate change and not just habitat loss,” she says on this episode.

‘We will decide their future’: Q&A with “pro-bear” environmental journalist Gloria Dickie
- Gloria Dickie is an environmental journalist who describes herself as “obviously pro-bear.”
- Over the course of her career, she’s seen how human societies around the world interact differently with the bear species they live alongside, in what can sometimes seem like a “cruel juxtaposition.”
- In her debut book, “Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future,” Dickie explores how each of the world’s eight bear species is a microcosm of a much larger environmental issue.
- From the state-backed conservation of the giant panda to the “pretty much guaranteed” extinction of polar bears, Dickie tells Mongabay readers about these iconic yet so little understood animals.

Learning to live with — and love — bears and eagles in Colombia’s cloud forest
- Human-wildlife conflict is on the rise in the cloud forests of Colombia’s northern Andes, exacerbated by drivers such as deforestation due to the rapid expansion of agriculture.
- Retaliatory killing due to predation of livestock and crop raiding is a major driver of the decline of the black-and-chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori) and spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), both of which face their greatest risk of extinction in Colombia.
- In the Western Cordilleras of Colombia’s Antioquia department, a local NGO has been achieving remarkable success in reducing human-wildlife conflict at the local scale through promoting dialogue, inclusion and community participation in conservation efforts.

Montana cannot be trusted with grizzly bear & wolf management (commentary)
- The U.S. State of Montana’s legislature has recently proposed a litany of extreme anti-wildlife bills despite widespread and diverse opposition.
- Grizzly bears are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but Montana lawmakers and Gov. Greg Gianforte are pushing measures that would issue grizzly bear kill permits to ranchers using public lands, for example.
- The state has also opened up unlimited wolf hunting along Yellowstone National Park’s border, despite the fact that those wolves spend 96% of their time in the park.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Roads, human activity take a toll on red pandas: Q&A with researcher Damber Bista
- Damber Bista is a Nepali conservation scientist studying the country’s population of red pandas, an endangered species.
- He says there needs to be much more work done to protect the species, given that 70% of their habitat falls outside of protected areas.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Bista talks about the added stress that habitat fragmentation is putting on juvenile red pandas, the need for landscape-level conservation measures, and the importance of long-term studies.

Indigenous funding model is a win-win for ecosystems and local economies in Canada
- First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii of Canada, have successfully invested in conservation initiatives that have benefited ecosystems while also increasing communities’ well-being over the past 15 years, a recent report shows.
- Twenty-seven First Nations spent nearly C$109 million ($79 million) toward 439 environmental and economic development projects in their territories, including initiating research, habitat restoration, and guardian programs, that attracted returns worth C$296 million ($214 million).
- Funding has also set up 123 Indigenous-led business and was spent towards sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
- One of the world’s first project finance for permanence (PFP) models, this funding scheme is exemplary of how stable finance mechanisms can directly benefit Indigenous communities and the environment, say Indigenous leaders.

Of Yetis and extinct turtles: Top wildlife discoveries in Nepal in 2022
- Throughout 2022, Mongabay reported on new species discoveries in Nepal, some of them new to science and others spotted for the first time in the country.
- From busting the Yeti myth to highlighting important biodiversity hotspots in need of conservation, the stories helped bring the Himalayan country’s little-known wildlife to a wider audience.
- These are the top six stories related to important scientific discoveries in Nepal this past year.

Who let the dogs out? Feral canines pose a threat to Nepal’s wildlife
- Dogs in Nepal enjoy a special status during the Tihar festival, but for the rest of the year are often overlooked or even abandoned.
- The latter often turn feral and pose a threat to the country’s iconic wildlife — from tigers to snow leopards to dholes — through potential disease transmission and competition for prey.
- Studies show a high prevalence of diseases such as canine distemper and parvovirus among dogs near key protected areas. Conservationists say it’s up to humans to better manage their pets, including vaccinating them routinely, sterilizing them, and not abandoning them.

It’s no Yeti, but Tibetan brown bear’s presence in Nepal is no longer a myth
- A newly published study is the first to offer clear photographic evidence of the presence of Tibetan brown bears in Nepal.
- The camera-trap images were taken in 2013, but the study around them was only recently published because researcher Madhu Chetri was busy with other studies on snow leopards.
- For Chetri, the photos put to rest folklore he heard from villagers 20 years earlier about a Yeti-like creature prowling Nepal’s Himalayan region.
- Other studies have also shown, through genetic analysis, that hair and other samples attributed to the Yeti come from bears.

How bears “make” a forest (commentary)
- The Andean bear, or ukuku, is the only bear that lives in South America and despite being an elusive species, it has deep spiritual and cultural significance for Andean peoples.
- Enrique G. Ortiz of the Andes Amazon Fund writes about the bear and efforts to conserve it in Peru’s Kosñipata valley, including the recent establishment of the Andean Bear Interpretation Center at Wayqecha Biological Station to raise awareness and appreciation of the species.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Enigmatic binturong photographed in Nepal for the first time
- Residents in western Nepal’s Pokhara Valley have captured the first known photos of a binturong, or bearcat (Arctictis binturong), in the country.
- The small cat-like mammal is found across much of East and Southeast Asia, and while eastern Nepal is also considered part of its range, its presence in the country has never been confirmed until now.
- Conservation officials were unable to examine the animal in person because it was released back into the wild by local authorities.
- The binturong is categorized as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with its population thought to have declined by 30% over the past 18 years.

With sea ice melting, glacial ice could be a lifeline for polar bears
- Scientists recently discovered a new subpopulation of polar bears living in southeast Greenland that is genetically and behaviorally distinct.
- While most polar bears depend upon sea ice for survival, the polar bears in Southeast Greenland use pieces of glacial ice as habitat and hunting platforms.
- Large numbers of polar bears are expected to decline as climate change accelerates, but small populations may persist in places like this, where the pace of melting is expected to be slower, experts say.

First Nation reclaims territory by declaring Indigenous protected area in Canada
- The Mamalilikulla First Nation has declared part of its traditional territory on British Columbia’s Central Coast that it lost to colonialism to be an Indigenous protected and conserved area (IPCA).
- The Nation views the declaration to be a step toward sovereignty and is seeking “co-governance” with Canadian federal and provincial governments; the latter typically talk of “co-management,” which would retain settler authority.
- Canada and British Columbia have their own policies for protecting nature, but some conservationists and Indigenous groups argue that Indigenous peoples are better at sustainable management. The area of the IPCA has been degraded by logging and fishing.
- The Mamalilikulla have a plan to restore the land and sea and are calling for a five-year moratorium on logging and immediate protection of a marine area called Hoeya Sill, home to rare corals and sponges.

Lessons from panda conservation could help Asia’s other, overlooked, bears
- Asia is home to five bear species: giant pandas, Asian black bears, sun bears, sloth bears and brown bears.
- Giant pandas garner far more attention than the four other species, and this has paid off for the former: Millions of dollars are spent on its conservation every year, leading to an improvement in its conservation status in 2016.
- By contrast, the other species receive little funding, and conservation and monitoring efforts are limited even as populations dwindle.
- Experts say successful panda conservation efforts indicate that the other Asian bear species could also rebound — but that being charismatic helps.

Q&A with Whitley Award winner Sonam Tashi Lama
- Nepali conservationist Sonam Tashi Lama has been named one of six recipients of the Whitley Awards, known as the “Green Oscars,” for his grassroots work conserving the endangered red panda.
- He says the £40,000 cash prize will be invested in improving the animal’s habitat and increasing awareness about poaching.
- It’s estimated one red panda is killed every 10 days, mostly for its pelt, even though research shows there’s no market demand for it.

Tiger and bear rescue spotlights captive wildlife tourism woes in Thailand
- After two years of closed borders and little tourism revenue, many captive wildlife facilities around the world are struggling.
- Phuket Zoo in Thailand recently closed down permanently, but rehoming its 11 tigers and two bears has proved a challenge.
- A local nonprofit, Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, has stepped in to undertake the largest single rescue of tigers in the country’s history, and has so far transferred one female tiger to its rescue center.
- Animal welfare experts say the situation highlights the perils of overreliance on tourism and are calling on the government to place better controls on breeding animals in captivity.

Green groups call for scrapping of $300m loan offer for Borneo road project
- The Asian Development Bank is considering a $300 million loan proposal from the Indonesian government to fund a road project in Borneo.
- The 280-kilometer (170-mile) project across North and East Kalimantan provinces are designed to boost economic growth and further the integration of the Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil industries.
- Environmental groups around the world have urged the ADB to impose stricter environmental and social requirements for the project to reduce its expected impacts on the environment and the Indigenous communities living in the region.
- Indigenous peoples like the Dayak rely on the forests staying intact, as do critically endangered species such as Bornean orangutans.

Fate of Malaysian forests stripped of protection points to conservation stakes
- In the seven years since Jemaluang and Tenggaroh were struck from Malaysia’s list of permanent forest reserves, the two forests in Johor state have experienced large-scale deforestation.
- The clearance is reportedly happening on land privately owned by the sultan of Johor, the head of the state, calling into question the effectiveness of the Central Forest Spine (CFS) Master Plan, a nationwide conservation initiative the two reserves had originally been part of.
- The CFS Master Plan is currently being revised, with experts seeing the review as a chance to change what has been a largely toothless program, beset by conflicts of interest between federal and state authorities.
- As the revision nears completion, Jemaluang and Tenggaroh highlight how much has been lost, but also what’s at stake for Malaysia’s forests, wildlife and residents.

Keep polar bears and their extensive range safe from oil drilling (Commentary)
- In September 2021, a group of conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to challenge a regulation they allege would allow oil and gas operators to harass, harm and potentially kill polar bears on land and sea in Arctic Alaska.
- In this commentary Steve Blackledge and Dyani Chapman of Environment America argue the battle to save the polar bear can’t be limited to the boundaries of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
- “We hope the courts will examine the facts on the ground and force the government back to the drawing board, leading to a regulation that’s far less threatening and much more protective of the polar bear.”
- The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Highway cutting through Heart of Borneo poised to be ‘very, very bad’
- With Indonesia planning to shift its capital from Jakarta to the Bornean province of East Kalimantan, infrastructure development pressures on the island have intensified.
- Neighboring Malaysia is adding new stretches to the Pan Borneo Highway to capitalize on spillover economic benefits; within Indonesia, East Kalimantan’s developmental gains are also expected to trickle to other provinces through the transboundary highway.
- While the new roads could spur economic development in remote villages, they also carve into protected areas in the Heart of Borneo, opening them up for resource extraction.
- In particular, the roads could fast-track development of a new “oil palm belt,” with disastrous consequences for the wildlife and Indigenous peoples of Borneo, and for global climate, experts say.

Platform presents unpublished data on Brazilian biodiversity
- Partnership between scientists and journalists translates scientific data into visual information to warn of the importance of preserving Brazil’s biomes.
- Brazil alone accounts for 17% of the entire terrestrial territory of the tropics with a biodiversity that is more abundant than entire continents: over 20% of the freshwater fish on the planet and 17% of all birds are found in Brazil.
- One problem is the lack of investment in research to survey biodiversity, which usually comes at a slower pace than changes in ecosystems – animals and plants are at risk of disappearing before scientists are able to get to know them.

The secret bears of Bolivia’s lost dry forests
- Researchers have discovered a secret population of spectacled bears in a remnant, endangered forest in the highlands of Bolivia.
- The forest is one of the last surviving patches of the highly imperilled inter-Andean dry forest.
- While the spectacled bear population is small and has many threats, researchers say they hope to connect it with other populations.

Arctic biodiversity at risk as world overshoots climate planetary boundary
- The Arctic Ocean biome is changing rapidly, warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. In turn, multiyear sea ice is thinning and shrinking, upsetting the system’s natural equilibrium.
- Thinner sea ice has led to massive under-ice phytoplankton blooms, drawing southern species poleward; fish species from lower latitudes are moving into the peripheral seas of the Arctic Ocean, displacing and outcompeting native Arctic species.
- Predators at the top of the food chain, such as polar bears, are suffering the consequences of disappearing ice, forced onto land for longer periods of time where they cannot productively hunt.
- The Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement has been signed by 10 parties to prevent unregulated commercial fishing in the basin until the region and climate change impacts are better understood by scientists. International cooperation will be critical to protect what biodiversity remains.

As predators return to Sweden’s wild, ecotourism looks to change mindsets
- Top carnivores such as bears, wolves and lynxes are thriving in the wild in Sweden, where many of them were once extinct or nearly wiped out.
- Policies such as hunting restrictions and compensation for herders affected by livestock predation have allowed these species to recover.
- However, the growing presence of these animals, in particular the wolf, has been controversial, especially among farmers and hunters.
- Ecotourism operators, who expect the predator populations to hold steady over the long term, want locals to see that they can coexist with, and even profit from, the wildlife in their midst.

The vanishing trails of Sri Lanka’s sloth bears (Commentary)
- In Sri Lanka, the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus inoratus) is on the decline, its population dropping drastically over the years.
- It’s among the most feared and misunderstood creatures on the island, and this fear often results in humans attacking these animals first, leading to bear deaths but also grievous injury or death to humans.
- A threatened species, there are fewer than 1,000 sloth bears in Sri Lanka.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Are red pandas related to panda bears? Candid Animal Cam meets the furry red creature
- Every Tuesday, Mongabay brings you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.

‘Saving sun bears’: Q&A with book author Sarah Pye
- A new book, “Saving Sun Bears,” chronicles the efforts of Malaysian wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te to protect sun bears in Borneo.
- Author Sarah Pye tells Wong’s story, from his boyhood in peninsular Malaysia, to his studies of animal husbandry and wildlife around the world.
- Wong’s journey led him to return to Malaysia and start the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, the only facility of its kind in the world, in 2008.

What is a sun bear? Candid Animal Cam heads to Asia to meet this elusive bear
- Every Tuesday, Mongabay brings you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.

What is a brown bear? Candid Animal Cam explores the lives of some of the largest bears in the world
- Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting the second largest terrestrial carnivore on the planet: the brown bear.

On a mega reserve in Laos, rescued moon bears find a new home
- Animal charity Free the Bears has opened a mountain-top reserve in Laos for animals that have been saved from the illegal wildlife trade.
- The charity had a record year of rescues and now has 77 bears in its care.
- With the help of the Lao government it aims to close all bile farms in Laos by 2022.

Chinese government reportedly recommending bear bile injections to treat coronavirus
- The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reported today that a list of recommended treatments for the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 published by the Chinese government earlier this month includes injections of a traditional medicine called “Tan Re Qing,” which contains bear bile.
- Last month, China adopted a comprehensive ban on trade and consumption of wildlife in response to the growing COVID-19 outbreak, which scientists believe originated in a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan where wild animals and bushmeat are sold. But the ban does not prohibit the use of wildlife products in traditional Chinese medicine or as ornamental items.
- EIA wildlife campaigner and China specialist Aron White noted the irony in the country recommending a treatment that relies on trade in wildlife in response to a global disease pandemic born from the wildlife trade.

What is a spectacled bear? Candid Animal Cam takes us to the Andes
- Every Tuesday, Mongabay will bring you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our new show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.

Iran sentences eight conservationists convicted of spying
- A court in Tehran last week delivered a guilty verdict in the case of eight Iranian conservationists accused of spying, with sentences ranging from four to 10 years.
- The eight were all affiliated with the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, a Tehran-based conservation organization that works to save the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and other species. The charges appear to be related to allegations that the conservationists used wildlife camera traps for the purpose of espionage.
- The eight conservationists have been imprisoned since their arrests in January 2018. A colleague arrested at the same time died in custody.
- Rights groups and conservation organizations have condemned the verdict, alleging serious flaws in the judicial process.

Mischaracterizing the conservation benefits of trade (commentary)
- The authors of a Science paper on global wildlife trade respond to an editorial published on Mongabay that criticized their methodology.
- Brett R. Scheffers of the University of Florida/IFAS; Brunno F. Oliveira of the University of Florida/IFAS and Auburn University at Montgomery; and Leuan Lamb and David P. Edwards of the University of Sheffield say their paper ‘uses a rigorously assembled database to make the first global assessment of traded species—both legal and illegal, and from national to international scales—and to identify the global hotspots of trade diversity.’
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Camera trap study finds a threatened high-elevation mammal community in Peru
- A new camera trap study, the results of which were published in the journal Oryx last week, seeks to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the Cerros del Sira’s mammalian inhabitants.
- An international team of scientists from Peru and the UK led by Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, a biologist at Peru’s National University of Cusco, deployed 45 camera traps from 2015 to 2016 in the Sira Communal Reserve, part of the Oxapampa-Asháninka-Yánesha Biosphere Reserve.
- Aside from revealing the distribution of and threats to the Cerros del Sira’s mammal community, the results of the camera trap survey led to a number of other insights.

Peru: Get to know the diverse wildlife of the cloud forests of Pampa Hermosa | VIDEOS
- Biologist Sean McHugh, along with filmmaker and photographer Jasmina McKibben, recently traveled to the Colibri cloud forest in Peru’s Pampa Hermosa district in search of the spectacled bear.
- At least 25 different species of mammals were observed in a rarely-investigated area of the Junín region of Peru.
- Two spectacled bears and a new population of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys were captured on video.

Camera traps and customary wisdom help redefine bear conservation
- Camera traps set up around a Canadian artic research camp led to the first published documentation of all three North American bear species in the same locations.
- Although more than 90 percent of the 401 bear visits recorded by the cameras were of polar bears, the presence of grizzlies, which have been seen as threatening polar bears, has caused debate among scientists, conservation managers and local communities.
- The camera data did not document interactions among polar, grizzly and black bears, though the researchers say the spatial overlap of the species suggests potential for interspecies interactions to occur, raising questions about how they might affect bear conservation efforts in the future.
- Some conservation managers, aware that their values align with those of the region’s Indigenous communities, are increasingly marrying traditional wisdom to scientific methods to inform their work.

Study finds bears react, then habituate, to drones
- Small drones increasingly serve as tools to monitor wildlife, detect habitat change, or search for poachers, but their use may be stressing out the animals being studied or other species.
- A research team tested whether black bears would habituate to the repeated presence of drones flying overhead and, if so, whether they would remain habituated to additional flights conducted after a break.
- The bears showed an increased tolerance to drone flights in the short term, which they maintained after a nearly four-month pause.
- With the expanding use of drones in wildlife and habitat studies, the researchers expect their findings to help inform best practices that could reduce animal disturbance in the long run.

Camera traps find rich community of carnivores on Apostle Islands
- Some 160 camera traps deployed across the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior in Wisconsin, U.S., have revealed a diverse community of carnivores, including the American marten, black bear, bobcat, coyote, and gray wolf.
- The camera trap survey provided the first photographic evidence of the American marten in the islands in over 50 years. The marten is listed as endangered in Wisconsin.
- The study also found that islands that were larger or closer to the mainland, or both, held a greater number of carnivore species than islands that were small or more distant — patterns consistent with the concept of island biogeography.
- The movement of the carnivores, either through swimming or via ice bridges formed when parts of the lake freeze, could be under threat from climate change, the researchers warn.

Asiatic black bear cubs rescued from illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam
- Vietnamese authorities confiscated the two female bear cubs from wildlife smugglers in Hai Phong province on January 9, according to Vienna, Austria-based animal welfare NGO Four Paws.
- After spending a night in a hotel, the cubs were taken to a Four Paws bear sanctuary in Ninh Binh on January 10, where they are receiving intensive medical care.
- Authorities do not know who was meant to buy the bear cubs or where their ultimate destination was. It’s likely that the bears were imported from Laos, though they could also have come from a bear farm in Vietnam.

Bear-human conflict risks pinpointed amid resurgent bear population
- New research maps out the potential risk “hotspots” for black bear-human conflict based on an analysis of conditions that led to nearly 400 bear deaths between 1997 and 2013.
- The study area covered the Lake Tahoe Basin and the Great Basin Desert in western Nevada.
- The methods used to predict risks based on environmental variables could help wildlife managers identify and mitigate human-carnivore conflict in other parts of the world, the authors write.

Whales not enough sustenance for polar bears in fast-changing climate
- Scientists believe that whale carcasses may have helped polar bears survive past upswings in temperatures that melted the sea ice from which they usually hunt seals.
- As the current changing climate threatens to make the Arctic ice-free during the summer, this strategy may help some populations of polar bears to survive.
- But according to new study, whale carcasses won’t provide enough food for most bear populations because there are fewer whales than there once were, and human settlements, industry and shipping could affect the bears’ access to any carcasses that do wash ashore.

Poachers caught on video killing mother bear and cubs at den in Alaska
- Two hunters allegedly killed a female bear and her cubs at the animals’ den in April, in violation of hunting laws.
- The mother bear was part of a wildlife study and wore a tracking collar.
- As part of the study, a video camera had been set up near the den and captured the hunters’ alleged actions.
- The U.S. Humane Society says proposed changes to federal hunting laws that would make killing bears in their dens legal are “cruel and unsporting,” while several hunting groups argue that the law changes are necessary to stop the federal government’s overreach into Alaska’s wildlife management.

Vietnam’s bear bile farms are collapsing — but it may not be good news
- Consumer interest in farmed bear bile seems to be declining in Vietnam, according to a new study, but this raises concerns for both captive and wild bears.
- Farmers are now spending very little on food for the bears, for instance, and often kill the bears after seven to eight years of extensive bile extraction.
- Moreover, bear farming appears to be less lucrative than illegal hunting of wild bears because of both high consumer demand for wild-sourced products and underresourced law enforcement, the authors write.

Last Glimpses of a Cambodian Paradise? Documenting an area on the eve of its likely destruction (commentary)
- The sheer scale of the logging operations in Cambodia’s Virachey National Park makes it a wonder that there’s anything left of the forest, especially as the timber just keeps flowing into Vietnam unabated. In fact, Cambodia has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates.
- Yet there is still plenty of wildlife, at least in Virachey National Park, where I have been part of a team that has been conducting a wildlife survey for four years now.
- All hope could well be lost — man/progress must be served. But are the nails firmly placed in the biodiversity coffin and awaiting final pounding? Perhaps not.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Animals are becoming night owls to avoid humans
- By analyzing 76 studies and activity patterns of 62 mammal species, including bears, deer, coyotes and tigers, researchers have found that large mammals are 1.36 times more active at night in areas with high human presence compared to areas with low human presence.
- These results seemed to be consistent across species and continents.
- Animals seem to be becoming more nocturnal not only to avoid direct threats like hunting, but to avoid even recreational human activities like hiking and mountain biking.

Latam Eco Review: Paddington Bear Captured on Camera in Peru
Among the top articles from our Spanish language service, Mongabay Latam, for the week of June 4 – 10 was one about a golden spectacled bear named after Paddington Bear that was caught by a camera trap for the first time in Peru. In other news, the debate on hydroelectric plants intensifies in Colombia, and […]
Animal trainers are teaching wildlife to conserve themselves
- Positive training helps pets and their owners bond. But animal trainers working to conserve wildlife often have the opposite goal: teaching animals in the wild to avoid human beings — people often being the most dangerous creatures in the jungle.
- Wildlife kept in zoos have been trained with rewards to accept unnatural processes, procedures that previously might have required restraint or even anesthesia: allowing tooth brushing, hoof trimming, injections and blood draws — turning once alien actions into positive experiences for the captive animals.
- Animal trainers decades ago learned to train dolphins without having physical contact with the animals. More recently, a chimpanzee troop in Sierra Leone was taught to scream alarm in unison when poachers approached, alerting nearby rangers to come to the rescue — achieving an 80 percent decrease in poaching.
- Trainers have taught captive bred condors how to be more like wild condors, seeking food within their natural habitat and not congregating in towns. They’ve also taught polar bears to avoid anything associated with humans, preventing the bears from raiding trash cans and significantly decreasing wildlife conflicts.

Epic battle between tiger and sloth bear caught on film
- Footage of a fight between a male tiger and a mother sloth bear in an India wildlife reserve has gone viral on Facebook.
- The video, shot this week in Tadoba National Park, was captured by Akshay Kumar, the chief naturalist at Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge in Maharashtra.
- The video starts with the tiger chasing off a sloth bear that was headed with her cub toward a water body.
- The bear then charges the tiger and the fight ensues.

Mountain lions often lose to wolves and bears, study finds
- When the hunting grounds of pumas overlap with those of other top predators, such as wolves, bears and jaguars, pumas are often the losers, a new study has found.
- The findings from the study, a review of existing scientific literature, are especially important given how pumas are still being intensively hunted over much of their range in a bid to reduce conflicts with people and livestock, researchers say.
- In some puma habitats where wolves and brown bears are recolonizing and recovering, wildlife managers need to be cautious about hunting limits for pumas, the authors write.

Harnessing the power of camera trap bycatch data to monitor threatened species (commentary)
- Historically, due to a lack of data, estimates of sun bear population trends have been little more than educated guesses made by experts. A major obstacle to monitoring population trends is that there are only a handful of sun bear-focused studies that collect data on population dynamics.
- Satellite imagery of tree cover change through time is available globally, as are bycatch camera trap data. There are many camera trap studies going on within the sun bear’s range that collect huge volumes of bycatch data, which are data on species that are not the primary focus of the study.
- With these tools at our disposal, it seemed that a more objective, data-driven measure of sun bear population trends was possible, and we believe that the innovate approach we ended up using has broad potential.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

New research might finally establish true identity of the mysterious Yeti
- Bits of hair and old bones purported to belong to a Yeti have been collected throughout the years, and an untold number of people have claimed to have seen one of the creatures, or at least its footprints, firsthand. Yet documented proof of the Yeti and its species identity has remained elusive.
- New research might finally answer the question of what the Yeti really is, however. An international team of scientists led by Tianying Lan of the University at Buffalo in New York analyzed 24 samples of bone, feces, hair, and skin from the Tibetan Plateau-Himalaya region that either belonged to a bear or, allegedly, a Yeti.
- Researchers determined that all of the Yeti samples they collected for their study came from the bear species that call the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding Himalayan mountains home, except for one specimen collected from a stuffed exhibit in a museum that they determined had come from a dog

Top 10 most widely traded animals in the Golden Triangle identified in new report
- Recent surveys by WWF and TRAFFIC have identified 10 of the most widely trafficked animals in the Golden Triangle.
- These top 10 animals are: the tiger, elephant, pangolin, bear, rhinoceros, serow, helmeted hornbill, gaur, leopard, and turtles.
- The wildlife markets in the Golden Triangle cater mostly to tourists from China and Vietnam, the report noted.

Lemur species losing favorite food to climate change, new study says
- The greater bamboo lemur tends to feed on nutritious bamboo shoots, switching to the woody trunk of the plant only during the dry season.
- A longer dry season due to climate change could force them to subsist on this less-than-optimal food source for more of the year, potentially pushing this critically endangered species closer to extinction, according to a new study.
- This discovery could have implications for other threatened species, like the giant panda, that depend on one type of food.

Pandas losing ground to hungry livestock in Chinese nature reserve
- A new study finds that a 9-fold uptick in livestock near Wanglang National Nature Reserve has diminished giant panda habitat by more than a third.
- More than half of the panda’s range is protected in China, but overlap with grazing livestock, which eat bamboo leaves, maybe putting pressure on the country’s national symbol.
- The study’s authors call for investment in alternative livelihoods, in sectors such as tourism and forest management, to steer people away from livestock rearing.

China sends first pandas to Indonesia under captive-breeding agreement
- Two giant pandas from China arrived in Indonesia on a mission to increase the species’ population.
- The couple, a male and a female, will live in a special enclosure at a zoo outside Jakarta for the next decade.
- Zoo officials are open to trying every possible breeding technique to help the bears reproduce.

Wild Kratts episode up for film festival award teaches about rare white bear
- The film “Wild Kratts: Spirit Bear” is a finalist for Best Engaging Youth Film at the Jackson Hole Film Festival. The festival is considered to be the “Oscars of nature filmmaking” and received over 1,000 entries for 25 awards.
- Wild Kratts is a mixed live and animation youth conservation education cartoon series.
- The “Wild Kratts: Spirit Bear” episode highlights a special subspecies of the North American black bear that has white fur.

Photos: South America’s adorable Andean bear
- This photo essay comes via Mongabay’s partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Wild View blog.
- Once a month we’ll publish a contribution from Wild View that highlights an animal species.
- This month, Scott Silver writes about the only bear species from South America – the Andean bear.
- Sometimes called the spectacled bear due to its cream-colored facial markings that can look like eyeglasses, these bears are found in parts of southern Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and northern Argentina.

Spot the pattern: Whisker-prints and citizen science
- University of Manitoba researchers are pioneering the use of whisker pattern analysis software to identify and track polar bears in Canada.
- Whisker print identification can aid polar bear researchers in investigating bear behaviors and interactions, assessing and mitigating potential human-polar bear conflict, and evaluating the potential impacts of climate change on the bears.
- The integration of citizen science into the Whiskerprint Project has helped researchers to collect the bears’ images for identification and raise awareness of the importance of polar bear conservation, while enhancing STEM education for local students.

‘Tracking Gobi Grizzlies:’ Book excerpt and Q&A with Douglas Chadwick, wildlife biologist and author
- Gobi bears, or mazaalai in Mongolian, actually belong to the species Ursus arctos, more commonly known as brown bears or grizzly bears, though they’re the only bear of any species known to make their home exclusively in desert habitat.
- Due to the impacts of climate change in their already punishing environment, it’s believed that there may be just 30 or so Gobi bears left in the world.
- In this Q&A, Chadwick discusses why now was the right time for Tracking Gobi Grizzlies to be written, the conservation status of Gobi bears, and just how important the endangered bear’s survival is to the overall Gobi Desert ecosystem.

Latest death highlights plight of spectacled bear in Colombia
- The bear was killed in Colombia during the same week a farmer was convicted for a previous killing.
- One expert estimates that as many as 10 bears are killed per year by humans in Colombia.
- Despite a special investigator and a big bounty for information, the main drivers of bear losses persist.

Scientists ‘impressed and delighted’ by animals found in remnant forests
- A new study finds promising conservation value in forest corridors along rivers in Sumatra’s plantation-dominated landscape.
- But government regulations require areas of forest that border rivers — called “riparian” forests – be left standing to safeguard water quality for downstream communities.
- In the first study of its kind conducted in the tropics, researchers set camera traps in riparian forests through tree plantations near Tesso Nilo National Park. They found a significant mammal presence, including tapirs, tigers, bears, pangolins, and elephants.
- The researchers say their findings indicate Sumatra’s forest remnants could help keep wildlife populations afloat in areas with lots of habitat loss. However, they caution that these corridors are threatened by lax regulation enforcement, and can only work in tandem with larger forested areas.

‘Grandpa’ Pan Pan, world’s oldest male giant panda, dies in China
- Pan Pan, believes to be the world’s oldest male giant panda, died aged 31, on December 28.
- He was diagnosed with cancer in June 2016, and his health had been deteriorating.
- Giant pandas are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity, but Pan Pan sired over 130 children and grandchildren over his lifetime.

Illegal trade in bear bile persists in Vietnam despite ban
- Vietnam, where trade in bear bile is illegal but keeping bears in farms is not, is thought to hold some 1,250 animals.
- The unending demand for bear parts is driving two bear species — Sun Bear and Asiatic Black Bear — towards extinction.
- Bear farming is likely exacerbating the threats to wild bear populations, researchers say.

Romania announces ban on trophy hunting of bears, wolves and wildcats
- A loophole in the European law allows thousands of Romania’s wild animals to be hunted for sport every year.
- But following protests by environmental groups, the Ministry of Environment announced that it had cancelled an order that would have allowed trophy hunting of about 1,700 wild animals this year.
- Conflict animals can still be hunted, but only the ministry-approved Wildlife Emergency Service – SUAS, a newly created state agency, would be allowed to shoot the animals if necessary.

Based on available evidence, non-lethal predator control is more effective than lethal means
- Lethal methods for controlling predators include hunting, destroying litters of young, poisoning, live-trapping followed by killing, and the use of kill traps.
- Non-lethal methods include livestock-guarding animals, a visual deterrent known as “fladry” in addition to other types of deterrents and repellents, enclosures, diversionary feeding, and sterilization.
- But, the authors of the study say, these methods are often selected and deployed without first taking into consideration the experimental evidence of those methods’ effectiveness at curbing predation-related threats or avoiding ecological degradation.

Malayan Sun bear: bile trade threatens the World’s smallest bear
- The Malayan Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) is listed as Vulnerable to Extinction by the IUCN, and is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for traditional medicine. Its range once extended across mainland Southeast Asia, to Sumatra and Borneo, but the animal now occurs only patchily throughout.
- Sun bears are a keystone species, vitally important to seed dispersal, pest control and nutrient cycling, so their extinction would likely bring major, though largely unstudied, impacts to tropical forests.
- Killing Sun bears is prohibited under international and national wildlife protection laws, but these laws are often poorly enforced, while international trade in bear bile to serve the traditional medicine industry continues to boom.
- Conservationists in Indonesia and elsewhere are studying Sun bear behavior to improve rescue and restoration efforts. Others want to eliminate commercial bear farms where bear bile is extracted, and end trafficking by creating strong national legislation, improving enforcement, and raising public awareness.

Turkey’s wild bears migrate for food; but some bears prefer garbage dumps
- Scientists tracked 16 adult brown bears using GPS receivers around the city of Sarıkamış in Turkey, and observed that six of them migrated seasonally.
- Between the months of September and November each year, the bears moved from Sarıkamış Forest, a Scots pine forest with few nuts or fruits in the understory, to rich, oak forests located far away.
- But many wild bears are turning to city garbage dumps, instead of trekking long distances for food, the study found, increasing incidences of human-bear conflict.

Researchers say you get what you pay for when it comes to payments for ecosystem services
- Researchers at Michigan State University wanted to determine whether or not programs that compensate local communities monetarily for their active participation in conservation efforts really works.
- Their study focuses on China’s National Forest Conservation Program, which aims to restore forests and habitat for the endangered giant panda, an important “umbrella species.”
- The MSU researchers say their results show the power of engaging forest communities in payments for ecosystem services schemes.

‘Bear-moving’ revamped: a better way to reduce conflict in the Himalayas?
- Asiatic black bears are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and are under threat from habitat loss and poaching.
- In northern India, bears come into conflict with people when they enter human communities to look for food. These bears are often relocated — or “translocated” — to nearby Dachigam National Park.
- However, bear scientists say translocated bears frequently try to find their way back, running into trouble on the way. They recommend a more multifaceted approach to bear translocation.

South African ranchers propose controversial plan to save our rhinos
- The IUCN has reported that there is a “high probability” that the polar bear population will suffer a 30% decrease by 2050.
- Officials have stated that genetically modified salmon would not have to be labeled as such.
- On Tuesday, the Senate voted to block President Obama’s climate change regulations.

Personalizing climate change: spy cameras document polar bear behaviors on and off sea ice
- Polar bears are threatened by loss of Arctic sea ice that reduces their prey base and hunting options.
- Spycams and remote cameras take us into the lives of these animals as they face the amplified effects of climate change on the polar fringes of the planet.
- Cameras have also observed polar bears scavenging and changing their movement and feeding habits in response to ice distribution.

The great Arctic decline: another sea ice record broken
Polar bear and cub. Declining sea ice has made it more difficult for some polar bear populations to find enough food and rear cubs. Photo by: Scott Schliebe/USFWS. Every winter, sea ice in the Arctic expands, providing vital habitat for birthing seals, hunting polar bears, and foraging walruses. But as the Arctic has warmed faster […]
Giant panda population rises by nearly 17 percent
Giant panda at the Panda Breeding Centre in the Wolong Panda Reserve. Photo by: © Bernard de Wetter / WWF. One of the most iconic animals on the planet got good news this week. The world’s giant panda population has risen by 268 individuals over the last decade, hitting a total of 1,864 animals, according […]
Arctic upheaval: new book outlines challenges at the top of the world
Chukotkan dancers. Subsistence hunting will be increasingly difficult for the Inuit who depend on marine mammals in the Arctic to provide them with food and materials for clothing. Photo by: Edward Struzik. For most of us, the Arctic is not at the front of our minds. We view it as cold, stark, and, most importantly, […]
China’s recent forest tenure reforms threaten panda habitat
Since the 1950s, plantations and second-growth forests in China have been locally managed by village communities as collective forests, which today account for 58 percent of China’s forestland. Many of these collective forests lie within mountainous rural areas, some of which are also home to the 1,600 or so wild giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) that […]
New study: ‘Yeti’ hairs do not point to unknown bear species
Polar bear in Alaska. Polar bears are the world’s largest land carnivore. Photo by: Alan Wilson/Creative Commons 3.0. A new study casts doubt on findings from 2013 that hairs from a purported Yeti belonged to an unknown bear species or polar and brown bear hybrid. Instead, two researchers—who took a fresh look at the DNA […]
The only solution for polar bears: ‘stop the rise in CO2 and other greenhouse gases’
Steven Amstrup will be speaking at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo in San Francisco on October 11th, 2014. In 1773, an expedition headed by Constantine John Phipps, the Second Baron Mulgrave, embarked on a dangerous journey North—to see how far they could go before having to turn back. In his report at the end of […]
Why conservationists need a little hope: saving themselves from becoming the most depressing scientists on the planet
Have conservationists become too pessimistic for their own good—and the good of their cause? Tad Lo waterfalls in Laos. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Here’s a challenge: take a conservationist out for a drink and ask them about their work. Nine times out of ten—or possibly more—you’ll walk away feeling frustrated, despondent, and utterly hopeless. […]
Surprising habitat: camera traps reveal high mammal diversity in forest patches within oil palm plantations
Researchers urge collaboration between NGOs, corporations At first the forest seems still, with only the sounds of busy insects and slight movement of wind betraying activity in the patchy undergrowth. Then, curiously, a Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), an animal resembling half cat and half weasel, scampers out to claim its prize: a stick smeared with […]
Scientists can now accurately count polar bears…from space
Polar bears are big animals. As the world’s largest land predators, a single male can weigh over a staggering 700 kilograms (about 1,500 pounds). But as impressive as they are, it’s difficult to imagine counting polar bears from space. Still, this is exactly what scientists have done according to a new paper in the open-access […]
Bigfoot found? Nope, ‘sasquatch hairs’ come from cows, raccoons, and humans
‘Yeti hairs’ lead to a new mystery, however Some people believe there are large undescribed apes roaming North America and Asia. This male Sumatran orangutan is one of seven species (including humans) of great apes in the world today. Sumatran orangutans are currently considered Endangered by the IUCN Red List. All the great ape species […]
Bears, cats, and mystery mammals: camera traps in ‘paper park’ prove it’s worth protecting
Camera traps catch endangered species in remote park in Cambodia A rare Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) dashes past a camera trap in Virachey National Park. This species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Photo by: Habitat ID. Can a single photograph change the fate of a park? A new conservation group, […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Work locally, relentlessly, and, if necessary, ignore the government
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Gabriella Fredriksson Sun bears with tracking collars. Photo courtesy of Gabriella Fredriksson. In 1997, Gabriella Fredriksson, then a young PhD student, was studying sun bears in East Kalamantan, Indonesia, when massive forest fires broke out in the park. “It quickly became clear that there was no government […]
A sketch of the yeti: saving the Himalayan brown bear
Overall, the brown bear is one of the most widespread bear species in the world, found in much of Eurasia and North America, in quite large numbers. A subspecies called the Himalayan brown bear is not so fortunate. It occupies higher reaches of the Himalayas in remote, mountainous areas of Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet and India. […]
Chinese who eat endangered species could face over ten years in jail
It’s well known that much of the world’s massive illegal wildlife trade ends up in China, including poached tigers, pangolins, and bears. But now those who order pangolin fetuses, tiger blood, or bear bile at a restaurant or market may see significant jail time. According to a reinterpretation of Chinese law by the Standing Committee […]
From seals to starfish: polar bears radically shift diet as habitat melts
One of the most iconic species of the ongoing climate change drama, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have dropped in numbers as their habitat melts, with previous estimates forecasting a further 30 percent reduction within three generations. However, their situation may not be as dire as it seems. A new study, published in the journals Polar […]
Predator appreciation: how saving lions, tigers, and polar bears could rescue ourselves
Lioness feeding. Photo by: Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson. In the new book, In Predatory Light: Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears, authors Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, Sy Montgomery, and John Houston, and photographers Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson share with us an impassioned and detailed appeal to appreciate three of the world’s biggest predators: lions, […]
Over 75 percent of large predators declining
The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline […]
Curious bears take ‘selfies’ with camera traps
“Selfies” are all the rage this year, and even bears have jumped on the trend. Especially the shaggy-coated, termite-loving sloth bears (Melursus ursinus), who seem particularly fascinated by the cameras that scientists have put up in forests to secretly capture their stealthy moves. On November 26 at 7:30 PM, one curious sloth bear decided to […]
Journalists win environmental news reporting prizes
Mongabay announces its first annual top contributor prizes for 2013. Mongabay’s internship program has benefited from the hard work and great environmental reporting of more than 30 writing interns since the program’s inception in July 2012. This year, Mongabay asked this pool of contributing authors to submit their most compelling piece out of over 150 […]
New project works to raise the profile of the world’s littlest bear
The world’s least-known bear also happens to be the smallest: sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), so called for the yellowish horseshoe mark on its chest, are found across Southeast Asia. But despite their telltale markings, super-long tongues, and endearing cuteness, sun bears remain little-studied and little-known compared to many of the region’s other large mammals. Now, […]
The swan song of India’s dancing bears
India’s last dancing bear has retired. As the stars of their cruel little roadshows, sloth bears danced to the piercing sounds of the damru for hundreds of years. Orphaned by poachers and trained by the Qalandars, a nomadic Muslim community, these bears trudged through towns and villages to earn their masters a meager livelihood. “Kajal […]
Tiny algae signal big changes for warming Arctic lakes
A polar bear plods through summer mud in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Photo by: Jon Sweetman. The mighty polar bear has long been the poster child for the effects of global warming in the Arctic, but the microscopic diatom tells an equally powerful story. Diatoms are a type of algae that form the base of […]
Wolves boost food for Yellowstone’s threatened grizzlies
Wolves and grizzlies aren’t best buddies. Burly bears can barge in on a feasting pack, making off with the wolves’ fresh kill. Wolves have been known to dig into bear dens and snag a cub. But after gray wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, grizzly bears ate more berries in the summer for […]
Featured video: bears work together to take down camera traps
Scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have captured stunning images of Andean bear families taking down camera traps in Bolivia’s Apolobamba National Natural Area of Integrated Management. In one series of images a mother and her two cubs bite, claw, and whack one of the cameras. However even as they destroy one camera, the […]
Yeti may be undescribed bear species
The purported Yeti, an ape-like creature that walks upright and roams the remote Himalayas, may in fact be an ancient polar bear species, according to new DNA research by Bryan Sykes with Oxford University. Sykes subjected two hairs from what locals say belonged to the elusive Yeti only to discover that the genetics matched a […]
Not far from Rome, Italy’s distinct bear faces down extinction
The Marsican brown bear is on the brink of extinction. Despite authorities spending millions of Euros on its conservation, high human-caused mortality is menacing the survival of this distinct subspecies. The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is only found in the Italy’s Central Apennines, less than 200 kilometers from Rome. The last reliable research […]
The brown bears of Bulgaria – life after dancing
A rehabilitation center for retired dancing bears sounds like a typo. Yet this is exactly what the animal rights NGOs Four Paws and Foundation Brigitte Bardot created 13 years ago in Belitsa, Bulgaria. For many Bulgarians the first childhood contact with a forest animal is seeing a ‘dancing bear’ on the street in their city. […]
China’s growing wine industry threatening pandas and other endangered species
In 1985, Li Hua visited a valley in the foothills of the Tibetan plateau. The area was better known for its panda population, but the oenologist realized that its high altitude, hours of sunshine, sandy soil and low precipitation also offered ideal conditions for growing grapes. Li’s findings gave local authorities an idea, and over […]
First of its kind rescue and release for sloth bear in India
For a young wild sloth bear who found himself amidst a panic-stricken village in India, rescue was fortunately, and surprisingly, close at hand. In a one-of-a-kind heartwarming story, a team from Wildlife SOS (WSOS) India – a conservation and welfare NGO – successfully rescued, treated and subsequently released the sloth bear back into the wild, […]
Featured video: Rare Syrian Brown Bear caught on camera
New camera-trap footage from the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge in Armenia, has captured rare footage of a Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos syriacus), a subspecies of Brown Bear native to Eurasia. This is an important recording as there may be just one or two bears in this reserve and the animals are listed as vulnerable in […]
Overview of the CITES 16th Conference of Parties in Bangkok
Part 1 of 3PART 2: Elephant and Rhino issues to be debated at CITES 16th Conference of Parties This interview is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. “The WildLife” airs every Monday from 1-2 pm […]
Asian bear farming: breaking the cycle of exploitation (warning: graphic images)
Sun bear in a cage in Indonesia. Photo by: Chris R. Shepherd/TRAFFIC Southeast Asia. In the forests of Asia, bears are being captured. These captives will be sent to bear farms, most unregulated and illegal, where they will be kept alive in a small cage, locked away for life. Their bodies will be used as […]
Photos: emperor penguins take first place in renowned wildlife photo contest
This was the image Paul had been so hoping to get: a sunlit mass of emperor penguins charging upwards, leaving in their wake a crisscross of bubble trails. The location was near the emperor colony at the edge of the frozen area of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. It was into the only likely exit hole […]
Arctic sea ice is ‘toast’ as old record shattered
Sea ice extent hit a record low on August 26th, and then continued to decline another 700,000 square kilometers. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Some twenty days after breaking the record for the lowest sea ice extent, the Arctic sea ice has hit a new rock bottom and […]
Photos: camera traps capture wildlife bonanza in Borneo forest corridor
The Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis), a prospective subspecies of the Asian elephant, is the world’s smallest. Photo by: Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC). Camera traps placed in a corridor connecting two forest fragments have revealed (in stunning visuals) the importance of such linkages for Borneo’s imperiled mammals and […]
Sea ice falls to record low with over two weeks of melting left
Sea ice extent hits record low on August 26th. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). One of the most visible impacts of climate change—melting summer sea ice in the Arctic—just hit a new milestone. Scientists with the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have declared that this […]
Just how far can a polar bear swim?
Polar bear swimming in open water. Photo by: USGS. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are capable of swimming incredible distances, according to a new study published in Zoology, which recorded polar bears regularly swimming over 30 miles (48 kilometers) and, in one case, as far as 220 miles (354 kilometers). The researchers believe the ability of […]
Turkey’s rich biodiversity at risk
Turkey’s stunning landscapes and wildlife are under threat due to government ambivalence. Here, the sun sets outside Igdir, Turkey. Photo by: Cagan Sekercioglu. Turkey: the splendor of the Hagia Sophia, the ruins of Ephesus, and the bizarre caves of the Cappadocia. For foreign travelers, Turkey is a nation of cultural, religious, and historic wonders: a […]
87 marine mammals still eaten by people
Local fishers in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo with a butchered Atlantic humpback dolphin, a West African endemic that has been extirpated from much of its range as fisheries decline and people shift to other sources of protein. Photo by: Tim Collins. Threats to marine mammals usually include climate change, drowning as by-catch, pollution, […]
Mass walrus haul-outs, polar bear cub mortality linked to climate change
Walruses haul-out of the water en masse . Photo by: Baine Thorn/NOAA . Recent, unprecedented walrus haul-outs and increased instances of long-distance swims by polar bears show the direct impacts on wildlife of dwindling Arctic sea ice from climate change. These threatened species also face the prospect of offshore drilling in the Arctic after the […]
Mass walrus haul-outs, polar bear cub mortality linked to climate change
Walruses haul-out of the water en masse. Photo by Baine Thorn/NOAA. Recent, unprecedented walrus haul-outs and increased instances of long-distance swims by polar bears show the direct impacts on wildlife of dwindling Arctic sea ice from climate change. These threatened species also face the prospect of offshore drilling in the Arctic after the Obama Administration […]
‘Heatwave’ in Arctic decimating sea ice
Arctic sea ice could hit a record low by the end of the summer due to temperatures in the North Pole that are an astounding 11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (6 to 8 degrees Celsius) above average in the first half of July, reports the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Already the sea […]
The truth about polar bears and climate change
Polar bear beside a whale carcass. Taken with a remote camera. © National Geographic Entertainment. Photo by: Florian Schulz. Although scientists say innumerable species are threatened by climate change, polar bears have been the global symbol of the movement to rein-in greenhouse gas emissions. This is perhaps not surprising, since polar bears are well known […]
Bear bile trade, both legal and illegal, ubiquitous in Asia
Surveying 13 nations and territories in Asia, the wildlife trade organization TRAFFIC found that the bear bile trade remains practically ubiquitous in the region. In many cases the trade, which extracts bile from captive bears’ gall bladders for sale as a pharmaceutical, flouts both local and international law, including Appendix I of Convention on International […]
Pet trade, palm oil, and poaching: the challenges of saving the ‘forgotten bear’
This interview is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. “The WildLife” airs every Monday from 1-2 pm EST on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont. You can livestream it at theradiator.org or download the podcast […]
Ringed and bearded seals to be listed as Threatened
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed listing bearded and ringed seals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. NOAA highlights the disappearance of arctic sea ice and reduced snow cover as the major threats to the species. The bearded seal, also called the square flipper seal, is a species of earless seal that […]
Disappearance of arctic ice could create ‘grolar bears’, narlugas; trigger biodiversity loss
The melting of the Arctic Ocean may result in a loss of marine mammal biodiversity, reports a new study published in the journal Nature and conducted jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the University of Alaska, and the University of Massachusetts. The study is the first to project what might happen if […]
New hope for polar bears
Once thought of as a doomed species, new research published in the journal Nature and conducted by scientists from several institutions, including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey, finds that polar bears could be saved from extinction – if certain measures are taken. The species was listed as threatened in 2007 when […]
Conservation photography: on shooting and saving the world’s largest temperate rainforest, an interview with Amy Gulick
Most of the US’s large ecosystems are but shadows of their former selves. The old-growth deciduous forests that once covered nearly all of the east and mid-west continental US are gone, reduced to a few fragmented patches that are still being lost. The tall grassy plains that once stretched further than any eye could see […]
Photos: rescued sun bears in Borneo moved to new facility
Rescued sun bears in Sabah, Borneo are getting a new home this week. The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center (BSBCC) has finished Phase 1 of its construction of a new home for the bears. Eventually the center will include visitor facilities and observation gallery where tourists will have the chance to watch the bears. For […]
Polar bears are newcomers on the world stage
One of the most well-known animals, the polar bear, is a newcomer on the world stage, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By studying the DNA of an ancient polar bear jawbone uncovered in 2004 in Norway scientists have for the first time pinpointed the time when the […]
Grizzly bears move into polar bear territory, threatening polar cubs
Two of the world’s largest land carnivores are converging on the same territory, according to data recently published in Canadian Field Naturalist. Grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos horribilis) are moving into an area that has long been considered prime polar bear habitat in Manitoba, Canada. Although polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are bigger than their grizzly […]
Is a polar bear worth more than a lion?
For most environmentalists and animal rights activists it is an almost blasphemous idea to compare the value of one species with that of another, especially when that value is measured in terms of marketing potential for climate change awareness. In recent years, broad media coverage has turned the polar bear into a global symbol for […]
Video: rare footage of the sun bear, the world’s smallest, making a nest in the canopy
Sun bear expert, Siew Te Wong, has captured rare footage of the world’s smallest bear making a nest high in the canopy. The nest-building of a sun bear is behaviour rarely seen, let alone filmed. The sun bear in the video is a radio-collared individual that Wong is keeping tabs on in Borneo. “Sun bears […]
New reserve created in Cambodia with REDD in mind
Cambodia’s Royal Government’s Council of Ministers has declared the creation of the Seima Protection Forest, a 1,100 square miles (2,849 square kilometers) park home to tigers, elephants, and endangered primates. The park’s creation was developed in part by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) “Carbon for Conservation” program, which intends to protect high-biodiversity ecosystems while raising […]
U.S. to ban oil drilling in new Arctic reserves for polar bears
U.S. to ban oil drilling in new Arctic reserves for polar bears U.S. to ban oil drilling in new Arctic reserves for polar bears mongabay.com October 7, 2008
Urban black bears live recklessly compared to their forest counterparts
Urban black bears live recklessly compared to their forest counterparts Urban black bears live recklessly compared to their forest counterparts WCS September 30, 2008 Black bears that live around urban areas weigh more, get pregnant at a younger age, and are more likely to die violent deaths, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation […]
Logging, wildlife trade drive sun bears toward extinction
Habitat destruction, logging, wildlife trade drive sun bears toward extinction An Interview with sun bear expert Siew Te Wong:Habitat destruction, logging, wildlife trade drive sun bears toward extinction Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com September 25, 2008 Industrial logging, large-scale forest conversion for oil palm plantations, and the illegal wildlife trade have left sun bears the rarest […]
Researchers evacuated due to polar bear trapped on land by melting sea ice
Researchers evade polar bear displaced by melting sea ice Researchers evacuated due to polar bear trapped on land by melting sea ice WCS August 7, 2008 The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) evacuated five of its scientists from a remote camp in northern Alaska because of a new and unusual threat: a polar bear stuck on […]
U.S. lists the polar bear as threatened, but decision won’t affect emissions rules
U.S. lists the polar bear as threatened, but decision won’t affect emissions rules U.S. lists the polar bear as threatened, but decision won’t affect emissions rules mongabay.com May 14, 2008 The U.S. Interior Department has decided to list the polar bear as a threatened species due to declining sea ice cover in the Arctic. The […]
Endangered species status of the polar bear to be decided May 15
Endangered species status of the polar bear to be decided May 15 Endangered species status of the polar bear to be decided May 15 mongabay.com April 29, 2008 A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to stop delaying its decision on whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. Environmentalists say the […]
Bears pressured by development in the Canadian Rockies
Bears pressured by development in the Canadian Rockies Bears pressured by development in the Canadian Rockies WCS October 30, 2007 REPORT SAYS BOOMING DEVELOPMENT IN CANADIAN ROCKIES THREATENS TO SQUEEZE BEARS AND OTHER WILDLIFE The southern Canadian Rockies are still home to the most diverse assemblage of carnivores in North America, but a new report […]
Arctic sea ice thickness only half of 2001 level
Arctic sea ice thickness only half of 2001 level Arctic sea ice thickness only half of 2001 level mongabay.com September 14, 2007 Arctic sea is thinning and disappearing, report German researchers. An Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research expedition to the North Polar Sea found that large areas of the Arctic sea-ice are only one […]
Arctic sea ice melts to all-time record low
Arctic sea ice melts to all-time record low Arctic sea ice melts to all-time record low mongabay.com September 12, 2007 Sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is presently 20 percent below its all time lowest extent and may decline further before winter, said scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder […]
Environmentalists may use Endangered Species Act to pressure gov’t on global warming
Environmentalists may use Endangered Species Act to pressure gov’t on global warming Environmentalists may use Endangered Species Act to pressure gov’t on global warming mongabay.com September 7, 2007 The addition of elkhorn and staghorn corals to the Endangered Species Act due to threats from climbing ocean temperatures, may be environmentalists’ best weapon for levering the […]
Two-thirds of polar bears at risk of extinction by 2050
Two-thirds of polar bears at risk of extinction by 2050 Two-thirds of polar bears at risk of extinction by 2050 mongabay.com September 7, 2007 Two-thirds the world’s polar bears could be threatened with extinction by 2050 due to melting sea ice resulting from global warming, said U.S. government scientists Friday. U.S. Geological Survey biologists said […]
Experts forecast large decline in Arctic sea ice
Experts forecast large decline in Arctic sea ice Experts forecast large decline in Arctic sea ice mongabay.com September 7, 2007 Summer sea ice off Alaska’s north coast will likely shrink to nearly half the area it covered in the 1980s by 2050, report scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The loss of ice […]
Polar bears avoiding sea ice for cub dens
Polar bears avoiding sea ice for cub dens Polar bears avoiding sea ice for cub dens mongabay.com July 15, 2007 Polar bears in Alaska are increasingly setting up dens on sea on land because sea ice is thinning, reports a new study by U.S. Geological Survey (UCGS) researchers. Over a 20-year period, scientists used satellite […]
Sea ice forecasts to be used to save polar bears
Sea ice forecasts to be used to save polar bears Sea ice forecasts to be used to save polar bears Wildlife Conservation Society May 30, 2007 In the wake of the U.S. government’s watershed decision to propose listing the polar bear as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is launching […]
Bush administration issues gag order on polar bear discussions
Bush administration bans talk on polar bears Bush administration issues gag order on polar bear talk mongabay.com March 8, 2007 The Bush administration has banned discussion of polar bears, sea ice, and global warming among officials traveling overseas, according to environmental groups and the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “This is positively […]
Bush administration says polar bears under threat
Bush administration says polar bears under threat Bush administration says polar bears under threat mongabay.com December 27, 2006 Today the Bush Administration said polar bears are in need of protection. The reason? Global warming. The administration says that climate change is causing sea ice to melt, putting the polar bear in peril. “Polar bears are […]
Global warming reduces polar bear survival rate
Global warming reduces polar bear survival rate Global warming reduces polar bear survival rate mongabay.com November 16, 2006 Polar bear survival rates have dropped significantly in the past 20 years, probably due to melting sea ice caused by higher temperatures, according to a study released this week. The study, published by scientists from the U.S. […]
Polar bear may be listed as endangered species
Polar bear may be listed as endangered species Polar bear may be listed as endangered species Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com February 9, 2006 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that it is considering a petition to list the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Scientists believe polar bear […]
Is Global Warming Killing Polar Bears? — WSJ
Is Global Warming Killing Polar Bears? — WSJ Is Global Warming Killing Polar Bears? — WSJ Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com December 14, 2005 Today The Wall Street Journal ran an article asking “Is Global Warming Killing the Polar Bears?” The article cited several recent studies that suggest polar bears are increasingly under threat from receding […]

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