topic: Cats

topic: Cats

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Study analyzes danger of parasites to Bengal tigers in South Asia
- Researchers analyzing parasite infections of Bengal tigers and their prey population in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh have raised concerns about the critically endangered species’ conservation.
- Researchers in South Asia warn that parasitic infections can act as silent killers to stressed tigers and cubs.
- Human settlements near habitat elevate the risk of parasite transmission between wild and domestic animals, the research suggests.
- Experts recommend reducing human-wildlife contact and adopting integrated and long-term wildlife disease prevention.

From seizure to sentence: Weak prosecution leaves tigers vulnerable to trafficking in Southeast Asia: Report
- Prosecution of tiger crime — trafficking and sales of tiger skins, bones, and other body parts — is poor in Southeast Asia, according to a recent report.
- Fewer than half of arrests were prosecuted: Of 259 cases examined, only 110 resulted in fines or jail sentences, with outcomes varying widely between countries.
- The authors propose concrete actions to strengthen enforcement to deter tiger poaching and trafficking: improving domestic and international coordination, better training for law enforcement, and intelligence-driven investigations.

Vietnam seizes 1.2 tons of ivory, plus big cat bones, hidden in timber shipment
Authorities in Vietnam have intercepted more than a ton of elephant ivory along with big-cat bones in a shipment from the Republic of Congo. Gia Lai provincial authorities announced that the haul of 1,193 kilograms (2,630 pounds) of ivory and 79.3 kg (175 lb) of bones was uncovered at Quy Nhon Port in early August. […]
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- With the court’s full verdict still unpublished, the government has interpreted the ruling and continued to issue land-use and environmental permits.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.

Cougars cut deadly vehicle-deer collisions in the US by up to 76%, study shows
- When cougars are present in a landscape, roads are safer, according to a new study.
- In area where the cats were highly active, the expected number of deer-vehicle collisions fell by 76% over five years, with the probability of a collision falling by 67%.
- Researchers found that fear changes deer behavior: Rather than simply reducing deer numbers by eating them, pumas appear to create a “landscape of fear” that pushes deer away from developed areas and shifts their active hours from nighttime into daylight.
- Large carnivores, including cougars, keep fast-reproducing prey species in check, while also reducing dangerous and costly wildlife collisions — another reason why coexistence with them is important, experts say.

Nepal’s newest national parks drive tiger recovery, but emerging concerns threaten progress
In the last four years, Nepal’s wild tiger population has experienced a historic increase. In 2022, the tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) population was numbered at 355 individuals. Now, it has reached an estimated 429 individuals — nearly a four-fold jump from 16 years ago, reports Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi. Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the […]
Increasingly rare: Jaguarundi moves up a notch on the endangered species list
- The jaguarundi needs more attention, researchers say. This small cat, ranging from Mexico to Argentina, was recently recategorized from least concern to near threatened on the IUCN Red List.
- Despite the species’ large territory, monitoring data suggests it’s rare, now among the least abundant felids across its range. Conservationists also warn some populations are in decline due to human-wildlife conflict, dangerous roadways, attacks by dogs and infectious disease.
- With relatively little field study or funding for research, there are huge gaps in researchers’ understanding of this cat, but conservationists hope this change in conservation status will spark greater attention.

Safeguarding passageways is the next step for India’s growing tiger populations
As Bengal tiger numbers rebound in India and increasingly disperse into human-dominated areas, conservationists are urging the government to prioritize protecting ecological corridors that connect vital habitats and tiger populations. But they also warn that corridors shouldn’t become sticking plasters for compromised core habitats, reports contributor Nirmal Ghosh for Mongabay. India is home to roughly […]
Caught on camera: Sand cats may have a ‘sizable population’ in Qatar
- The tiny, seldom-studied sand cat is the only feline adapted to survive in harsh deserts: It lives across Southwest and Central Asia, northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
- Because of its large geographic range, this cat isn’t classified as threatened by the IUCN, but data is difficult to come by. Some scientists want to uplist the species to near-threatened status.
- The sand cat is difficult to see, day or night. After scattered anecdotal reports, scientists used camera traps to document the first systematic record of the sand cat in Qatar. Their findings offer valuable glimpses into this elusive species’ distribution and preferred habitat.

Brazil’s wildcats face multiple diseases due to habitat fragmentation
- Throughout Brazil, the contact between domestic cats and wild felines has been exposing threatened, biologically vulnerable feral species to diseases, which can reduce their populations.
- According to experts, habitat fragmentation is a common denominator of this crisis, from the Amazon to the Pampa, where felines are forced to leave the boundaries of their native areas and approach sites modified by human action.
- From the imposing jaguar to one of the smallest and rarest, the pampas cat, no Brazilian feline escapes the risks of contracting fungi, bacteria, parasites, and known viral diseases, such as feline leukemia and others.
- Studies and veterinarians warn that mass vaccination of domestic animals and the preservation of natural areas are key pieces to address this problem.

Kazakhstan releases first tiger into the wild in 70 years
Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild more than seven decades since the last confirmed sighting of the big cat in the country. On July 31, 2026, an adult female Amur tiger called Umit, which means “hope” in Kazakh, leapt from her cage on the back of a pickup truck, as she was […]
World Lion Day: The communities living with lions
Numbering fewer than 25,000, lions remain vulnerable to extinction. These big cats have suffered catastrophic declines and today occupy roughly 6% of their historical range. Living with lions (Panthera leo) is not easy. Outside of protected areas, lions kill livestock and, infrequently, people. In response, the cats are poisoned, shot and speared. But across Africa, […]
From small cats to pangolins: Detection dogs help track elusive species
- Dogs trained to detect scat are helping conservationists detect and research hard-to-study species in South Africa’s Karoo region.
- From the black-footed cat and Temminck’s pangolin to riverine rabbits, the scat samples contain ‘nuggets of genetic data’, according to scientists.
- The research and fieldwork has also helped uncover evidence of wildlife crimes and identify habitats in need of protection from development.

On the frontlines of conservation in Sumatra: Rangers safeguard Batutegi forest
- In southern Sumatra, a small team of forest rangers is racing to protect Batutegi forest, an important watershed and refuge for endangered wildlife such as tigers and slow lorises.
- Batutegi faces persistent pressures from forest encroachment and the need to balance conservation with local livelihoods.
- Experts say protecting Batutegi will require sustained collaboration with local communities, alongside long-term conservation and forest management efforts.

Some free-roaming cats in New York City are parasite ‘super-shedders,’ study shows
- New York City has a large population of free-roaming cats, which can harbor and transmit zoonotic parasites.
- Some parasites shed by cats remain in the environment for long periods and infect pets, wildlife and humans.
- Researchers recently tested cats that were captured during a trap-neuter-return program in New York City and found that more than half were infected with at least one type of parasite; young male cats shed large numbers of parasite eggs into the environment.
- The study’s authors suggest that trap-neuter-return programs incorporate disease management and surveillance to better monitor and mitigate zoonotic health risks.

Nepal’s newest national parks drive tiger recovery, but new concerns arise
- Nepal’s tiger count hit a record 429, but growth is concentrated almost entirely in the country’s newer national parks. Meanwhile Bardiya, the second-oldest park, declined 10%.
- Researchers point to three drivers behind the split: drought pushing tigers toward parks with better water infrastructure, cross-border habitat connectivity with India, and invasive weeds degrading grazing land in the older parks.
- Prey density doesn’t track with tiger growth the way expected — Bardiya’s prey density actually rose 74% (the largest gain of any park) even as its tiger numbers fell, suggesting water management, not food scarcity, is driving movement across park boundaries.
- Amid ongoing protests over human-wildlife conflict, some Bardiya residents suspect the government undercounted tigers there, while researchers flag a related emerging concern tigers displacing leopards into human settlements.

Investigation exposes Cambodia’s illegal wildlife trade linked to transnational crime
There’s a thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia that caters to high-ranking government officials and wealthy Chinese nationals, according to a report on a yearlong undercover investigation by the U.S.-based NGO Earth League International (ELI). The report, titled “Sandokan,” identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking, […]
International Tiger Day: A complex landscape of recovery, conflict, and empty forests
July 29 is International Tiger Day. Few species have benefitted from global conservation attention and funding like the tiger. Its numbers have seen a hopeful increase in recent years, yet the big cat continues to face localized pressures. Recent Mongabay coverage highlights three starkly different realities for tigers (Panthera tigris) across Asia. India’s corridors under […]
India’s tiger numbers are rising. Protecting their pathways is next
- India has made progress in conserving its Bengal tigers, but now it must accommodate growing numbers as they disperse from protected habitats into human-dominated areas — even as poaching is on the rise and destruction of forested land continues.
- Protected forest corridors are crucial to restoring lost or tenuous connectivity between key habitats, enabling genetic exchange between tiger populations that otherwise risk isolation and inbreeding.
- India has built more mitigation structures than any other country in Asia, including the world’s 10 largest wildlife underpasses and overpasses.
- But even as the country is reconnecting habitat, it’s also rapidly expanding road infrastructure, and even protected forests remain under threat.

Africa’s smallest wildcat found using abandoned rodent burrows to raise kittens
Africa’s smallest wildcat uses abandoned springhare burrows to raise its kittens, according to new research. There are fewer than 10,000 black-footed cats (Felis nigripes) left in the wild and studies on these nocturnal animals are rare. To learn more about them, a team of researchers tracked five female black-footed cats (Felis nigripes) with radio collars […]
Cheetahs reintroduced to Zambia’s Greater Luangwa Ecosystem
Cheetahs are back in Zambia’s Greater Luangwa Ecosystem, nearly 30 years after the big cats’ last recorded presence in the massive landscape. Six cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), three males and three females, were earlier in July moved by Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and several conservation groups, including the South Africa-based Endangered Wildlife […]
Conservationists got delayed access to court-ordered inspection of Nairobi National Park
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been accused of harassing co-petitioners in a case challenging the relocation of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage to make it part of the larger Bomas International Conference Complex. The proposal would carve out between 76 and 89 acres inside Nairobi National Park for upgrades to wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facilities. […]
Report reveals Cambodia’s appetite for tigers, rhinos and other endangered wildlife
- Illegal wildlife trade, primarily catering to Chinese nationals, is thriving in Cambodia, according to a new undercover investigation by Earth League International, a U.S.-based NGO fighting environmental crime.
- Investigators identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks in Cambodia that are involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking and operate scam centers that defraud targets of money. ELI also mapped trade networks and gathered information on what species are sold and who buys them.
- The report found many endangered animals and their parts, including tigers, elephants, rhinos and pangolins, openly sold mostly to high-ranking government officials, Chinese expats, wealthy businessmen and Chinese tourists.
- The report urges China to act against Chinese scam center owners and corrupt officials who facilitate illegal activity and wildlife trade, along with reducing demand for endangered species within its borders.

Scientific & traditional knowledge are key for effective & community-centered conservation (commentary)
- Both scientific and traditional knowledge are indispensable to effective, ethical, and community-centered conservation, the director of Snow Leopard Trust argues in a new op-ed.
- “When communities, scientists, and conservation practitioners become co-producers of knowledge, science and stewardship become stronger, and so does the future of nature,” he writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

South Africa’s free-roaming cheetahs in steep decline, first national census finds
- The first thorough census of free-roaming cheetahs in South Africa finds less than 100 mature adult individuals, much less than previous estimates.
- The researchers confirmed cheetahs in less than half of what is currently defined as suitable habitat by the IUCN and called for the adjustment of habitat maps based on current field data.
- The biggest threats are habitat fragmentation due to development and infrastructure, and persecution by landowners who perceive cheetahs as threats to their livestock.

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.

Gus Mills, hyena expert and ‘the cheerful pessimist of the Kalahari’, has died
- Gus Mills spent more than four decades studying hyenas, wild dogs, cheetahs, and other African carnivores.
- After struggling in school, he found his vocation in field biology and began long-term research in the Kalahari in 1972.
- His work challenged common misconceptions about hyenas and showed the value of patient observation, public participation, and ecosystem-based management.
- Even after retiring from SANParks, he returned to the Kalahari for a six-year cheetah study that involved 7,000 hours of observation.

Meme-face Pallas’s cat traverses a complex conservation landscape
- Pallas’s cats are long-time social media sensations, notorious for their thick, fluffy appearance and grumpy-looking face.
- They roam 16 countries covering Central Asia’s steppe regions, mountains and semi-arid deserts.
- Relatively little is known of this elusive small cat. Glaring knowledge gaps exist about populations in large parts of its expansive range. Like many other small cats, researchers often rely on “bycatch” data — images captured during studies of snow leopards.
- This cat’s conservation status is considered “least concern,” but populations are fragmented and numbers are declining in some countries. Conservationists are working to preserve Pallas’s cats, also known as manul, in core habitats, but say that more work is needed rangewide.

Bangladesh gets ready for its first release of tiger rescued from poachers’ trap
- In early 2026, the Bangladesh Forest Department rescued an adult female Bengal tiger from the Sundarbans from a poachers’ trap set for deer.
- The critically injured tiger was taken to the Khulna Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. After receiving the treatment, she is now ready to be released back into the mangrove forest.
- Since this is the first release of its kind in the country, the authority is struggling to decide on the best process, including whether the tiger should be fitted with a satellite collar or monitored with camera traps after release.
- Since last year, the Forest Department has taken strict action against deer poachers by conducting raids and seizing large amounts of netting and other traps. The tiger’s rescue from a snare and the increased deer population are results of these efforts.

Iran rearrests prominent conservationists freed just two years ago
Iranian security forces in Tehran arrested wildlife conservationists Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani, alongside Sepideh’s sister, Sima Kashani, on July 1, 2026, according to reports from multiple Iranian news sources. Jowkar and Sepideh, who are married, are experts on the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and were previously arrested in 2018 on espionage […]
Endangered West African leopards show signs of recovery, despite odds. ‘It’s a win’
- Researchers working in Benin’s Pendjari National Park reported some promising news for West African leopards: Density rose from 2017 to 2023.
- West Africa’ leopards are regionally endangered, with just 354 remaining across the region.
- Pendjari National Park sits within the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, a large transboundary conservation landscape encompassing national parks, hunting reserves and buffer zones that in recent years has been infiltrated by non-state armed groups operating in the Sahel. While conservation efforts in the national park are working, the security crisis remains a major threat.

Wildlife’s unpredictable movements make climate-change planning difficult
- Ecologists expected many species to shift northward or upslope in response to warming temperatures, but only about half of observed range shifts so far align with their projections.
- Species responses are likely shaped by multiple factors — changing habitat, rainfall and food availability — not just temperature. Some species may be unable to move, trapped within a fragmented habitat.
- Research shows animals that move toward higher latitudes don’t necessarily fare better.
- These mismatches between predictions and reality create more uncertainty for conservation planning and how best to support species adaptation through corridors.

What’s jimbu? The herb that bolsters an iconic Nepali dish could also help save snow leopards
- Communities in the remote Himalayan Phu Valley in Nepal have begun farming jimbu, an aromatic chive central to a staple food, dal bhat. Some 37 households are involved in the pilot project.
- This herb offers a potential conservation dividend: Its pungent smell deters blue sheep from raiding crops. Since they’re snow leopards’ main prey, it may reduce the cats’ visits to human settlements and lower livestock predation.
- Growing jimbu, with three yearly harvests, could generate about 12 million rupees ($79,500) in communities where potato farming offers little cash income.
- Experts caution that the model is not universally replicable and warn against blanket adoption across other snow leopard habitats, emphasizing site-specific conservation needs.

One mountain lion changed the food web in a California suburb, study finds
- The presence of a mountain lion in a small biological preserve near Stanford University in California transformed the local food web.
- A recent study drew on nine years of camera trap data from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and found that when a puma began to visit, coyotes, deer, gray foxes and brush rabbits changed their behavior and native plant density increased.
- About 82% of protected areas in the United States are smaller than 5 square kilometers, roughly 2 square miles, making small suburban preserves increasingly important for wildlife as urban development expands.
- Jasper Ridge is far too small to support its own population of mountain lions, but is linked to the Santa Cruz Mountains, underscoring the importance of wilderness corridors in supporting wildlife.

Telling one guiña from another: It’s all about the angle
- Guiña are small cats found in Chile and Argentina. Though in 2025 the IUCN downlisted the species to least concern, not enough is known about populations under threat from habitat loss, persecution and forest fires.
- To help fill those gaps, researchers switched the angle of the camera traps used for surverying the species to film guiña individuals from above rather than at ground level. That enabled them to identify individual cats during camera trapping between February 2019 and November 2020 in a protected area in Reñihué Valley, Chile.
- If used more widely in camera trap surveys, this technique could help accurately estimate guiña populations in the wild.
- The researchers also say this technique could be applied to other small cat species.

Mel Sunquist, field biologist and mentor to generations of conservationists
- Mel Sunquist helped pioneer the use of radio telemetry to study wild tigers, jaguars, and other elusive carnivores, transforming how scientists understood their behavior and ecology.
- His research in Nepal provided some of the first detailed evidence of tiger movements, territories, and social organization, laying foundations for modern tiger conservation.
- As a professor at the University of Florida, he trained generations of wildlife biologists, many of whom went on to lead conservation programs and research around the world.
- Remembered for his humility, patience, and deep respect for animals, Sunquist taught that careful observation, sound science, and thoughtful mentorship were as important to conservation as the discoveries themselves.

How snow leopards, wolves and leopards share the same Himalayan valley, study
- Three apex predators (snow leopards, common leopards, and Himalayan wolves) coexist in a remote valley in Nepal’s central Himalayas by relying on different food sources.
- Researchers analyzed six years of camera-trap footage and fecal DNA from the Lapchi Valley to discover that snow leopards eat mainly wild ungulates, leopards feed on livestock and animals near human settlements, and wolves eat a mix of both.
- All three predators are mostly nocturnal and use overlapping terrain, but their specialized diets prevent direct conflict among these similarly sized apex predators.
- Protecting abundant wild prey is the most effective way to keep all three predators away from livestock and reduce retaliatory killings that threaten their survival.

Nepal’s Central Zoo faces questions over its bird flu response
- At least 40 animals have died at Nepal’s Central Zoo since a bird flu outbreak began in mid-June, most of them raptors and carnivores including a common leopard, though the zoo has refused to officially confirm the toll.
- Officials gave conflicting dates for when the first dead birds were found, and the zoo stayed open until June 19 despite a positive rapid test on June 14, a five-day gap that allowed the virus to spread through the facility.
- Investigators suspect feral crows were the likely vector, with a nest found near the barn owl enclosure and droppings possibly contaminating the owl’s water supply; contaminated raw chicken fed to carnivores is also being examined.
- The inquiry into the response is being led by the same spokesperson who has publicly defended the zoo’s handling of the outbreak.

How leopards and wolves share the same Himalayan valley: Study
Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published […]
Rodent-killing baits threaten small wild cats and other wildlife
- Anticoagulant rodenticides — used to control rodent populations — pose a little-recognized threat to a host of wildlife species, including wild cats.
- Many small cat species hunt rodents and live in areas where rat poison is commonly used, including agricultural lands. These anticoagulant poisons accumulate in the liver and can prove lethal: It takes days for animals to die from internal bleeding.
- Widespread exposure in bobcats and caracals is well-documented, however research on other small cat species is limited — but concerning.
- Wildlife biologists say that greater controls limiting the use and availability of rodenticides are needed to protect wildlife.

Community more crucial than snow leopard counting: Interview with Rodney Jackson
- Rodney Jackson, a pioneering snow leopard researcher, has worked across the species’ range — the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia.
- In 2000, he founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Conservancy, focused on community-based conservation in Asia’s high mountain landscapes, and is one of the field’s most cited researchers. Since retiring in 2022, he serves as the president of the Conservancy’s board, focusing on strategy, mentorship and special projects.
- Jackson recently spoke to Mongabay about the big cat’s population monitoring technology, human-wildlife conflict in mountain communities, failure to center herding communities’ needs, and limited collaboration between major snow leopard organizations.

Community-led initiatives safeguard marbled cats in northeast India
In India’s northeast, local communities are leading the charge for the protection of the marbled cat, one of Asia’s most poorly studied small wild cat species, reports contributor Barasha Das for Mongabay India. The marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. However, not much is known about its population and […]
Sri Lanka leopard deaths prevalent in region where humans and big cats overlap
- A recent analysis of 164 leopard deaths recorded between 2008 and 2024 shows that nearly 40% of deaths occurred in the central Nuwara Eliya district, which represents only 4.4% of the species’ estimated range in Sri Lanka.
- Wire snares accounted for more than 60% of known leopard deaths, with most incidents occurring in plantation landscapes in the Central Highlands.
- A separate study found that leopards living in Sri Lanka’s tea country rely primarily on wild prey rather than livestock, indicating these human-modified landscapes remain important habitat for the leopards.
- As Sri Lanka joins the International Big Cat Alliance, scientists say conservation efforts must extend beyond national parks and address growing threats in plantation landscapes where many leopards now live and die.

Cambodia wants its tigers back. So it plans to import Bengal tigers from India
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Cambodia is preparing to reintroduce tigers after nearly two decades without a confirmed wild population. The plan is ambitious, and many of its basic assumptions remain contested, report Mongabay India’s Arathi Menon and Mongabay contributor Andy Ball. The […]
Genetic study reveals extinction risk for unique mangrove-adapted pampas cat
- The San Pedro de Vice dry mangrove habitat on the northwest coast of Peru hosts a very small population of desert pampas cats (Leopardus garleppi). It’s part of a population unlike any other across the species’ Latin American range, which stretches from southern Colombia to northern Argentina.
- While the desert pampas cat is normally found in arid deserts, dry forests or grasslands, this small coastal population is one of a kind in that it is uniquely adapted to a dry mangrove habitat bordered by desert.
- While camera-trap data initially suggested a healthy population in San Pedro de Vice, a recent genetic study performed on scat determined there are just nine cats in this isolated area, all of them related, with just two actively breeding — raising concerns this unique population can’t survival without conservation intervention.
- Researchers say this population’s story is a warning to conservationists that other small cat species worldwide thought to be thriving may be facing isolation and genetic bottlenecks in fragmented ecosystems, risking multiple local extinctions. But expensive genetic studies of hard-to-find scat make assessments difficult.

Bengal tigers in Cambodia? Reintroduction plan raises questions
- Cambodia’s plan to reintroduce tigers to the Cardamom Mountains, decades after their local extinction, has sparked debate over ecological readiness, governance, and community impact.
- The tigers are expected to be brought from India, prompting questions about their ability to adapt to different prey and landscapes, with experts warning that prey density in the Cardamom Mountains may simply be too low to support tigers in the long term.
- Snaring, targeted hunting, deforestation and infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams continue to threaten wildlife and tiger habitat in Cambodia.
- Residents of rural villages near the planned tiger release area say they have not been informed of plans to bring tigers into the forests that they rely on for their livelihoods.

The European wildcat is back. In some places.
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The European wildcat is not one conservation story, but several. In the Czech Republic’s Lusatian Mountains, the signs are encouraging. Conservationists have found a male and female wildcat, which they named Jonáš and Tonka, the first recorded in […]
Asia’s overlooked leopard cat
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Asia’s mainland leopard cat is easy to overlook. It’s small, nocturnal, and often mistaken for a domestic cat or a leopard cub. On paper, it appears secure. The species ranges from India to the Russian Far East, and […]
In Kyrgyzstan, a climate-ready corridor gives snow leopards and herders room to roam
- A stretch of high-altitude terrain in central Kyrgyzstan has been officially designated as the Ak Ilbirs ecological corridor, connecting protected areas to give snow leopards and other wildlife room to move as climate change alters their habitat.
- Unlike typical protected areas, the corridor allows herding, forestry and other land uses to continue under a monitoring system that tracks compliance with grazing rules and other requirements.
- Designed using climate models projected through 2070, the corridor captures more than 60% of suitable habitat for snow leopards, argali sheep, Asiatic ibex and gray wolves.
- To ease pressure on pastures, local NGOs are training herders in alternative livelihoods, such as beekeeping and fruit and vegetable cultivation, while volunteer rangers monitor wildlife and watch for illegal activity.

Rural women at increasing risk of human-wildlife conflict in Nepal
While Nepal celebrates tripling its wild tiger population, rural women in forest-edge communities face escalating danger. A demographic shift driven by large-scale migration of men abroad has in part forced women to take on nearly all agricultural and household responsibilities. Described as the “feminization of agriculture,” the shift has pushed women into high-risk forest edges […]
Nepal proposes park for ‘problem’ tigers amid rising conflicts
The Nepal government has proposed the creation of a park to house “problem” tigers – individuals involved in human fatalities. The big cats would be moved from current overcrowded holding centers to a 50-hectare (124-acre) facility, planned for the Durganar–Tikauli forest near Chitwan National Park, according to authorities, reports Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi and contributor […]
Three baby pumas born in Minnesota, US, is a first in more than 100 years
A female puma with her three kittens spotted on a trail camera in Minnesota marked a historic moment, according to scientists. The sighting in March was the first time in more than a century that pumas have been observed breeding in the state. The recording was the result of an unrelated project with deer. Scientists […]
War on Iran may threaten conservation of the world’s rarest big cat
The Asiatic cheetah, the world’s most endangered big cat, faces an increasingly precarious future as ongoing conflict in Iran disrupts critical conservation efforts, reports Mongabay contributor Kayleigh Long. Once ranging from the Arabian Peninsula to India, the cheetah subspecies (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is now confined to just 16% of its former territory, with fewer than […]
In Thailand, burned sugarcane plantations become traps for leopard cat cubs
- Every crop burning season, dozens of leopard cat cubs are admitted to a wildlife rescue center in northeastern Thailand as fires tear through the sugarcane plantations where the cats shelter and hunt.
- Since 2023, admissions have risen sharply, from around 10 per year to between 40 and 65, likely driven by a combination of habitat fragmentation, high fire activity and a higher number of rescues due to a wildlife hotline introduced in 2019.
- This season’s survival rate was around 80% — markedly higher than in previous years. Fewer cubs arrived with severe burns, possibly linked to recent government regulations on agricultural burning.
- But researchers say fires reflect a deeper problem: Habitat fragmentation and climate change are pushing leopard cats into agricultural landscapes where they face compounding threats, including not just fires but also human-wildlife conflict, disease and the illegal wildlife trade.

Light pollution reshapes predator-prey dynamics at California’s urban edge, study finds
- A new study finds that bright lights at night change wildlife behavior at the edge of cities more than noise does, based on more than 35,000 days of camera footage in California’s San Mateo and Orange counties.
- Pumas and bobcats showed up less often in brightly lit areas, while mule deer spent more time in those areas at night, using the light as shield from predators.
- Artificial light shrinks pumas’ hunting grounds and pushes them into riskier places where they may encounter people, cars or pets, with potential long-term effects on body condition, reproduction and survival.
- The authors suggest addressing light pollution through shielded fixtures, motion sensors, dark-sky ordinances and connected, unlit corridors that allow wildlife to move through cities.

Endangered Persian leopards persist across borders, despite hunters and landmines
- There are fewer than 1,100 Persian leopards left in the wild, with 80% — perhaps 732 individuals — concentrated in Iran. A handful remain in Russia, the Caucasus and countries across Central Asia.
- This leopard subspecies is endangered and declining, driven to the brink of extinction in habitats across its range across southwestern and Central Asia.
- More than half of all recorded leopard deaths are from retaliatory killings by local communities, who poison, trap or shoot leopards in response to livestock predation. They can also be maimed or killed by snares and traps intended for other, smaller prey.
- The Persian leopard now occupies around one-quarter of its historical range. Their habitat is fragmented and crisscrossed by dangerous roadways and broken by international borders that are fenced or laced with landmines.

Honduran authorities seize jaguar kept as pet, put spotlight on local trafficking
- Honduran authorities seized a live jaguar being kept as a pet, along with other wildlife, from the home of a businessman in the country’s east.
- Investigators say the jaguar is a young female, about a year old, likely captured in the Mosquitia region and traded on the black market.
- It’s illegal to trap jaguars or keep them as pets under Honduran law. However, with fines only amounting to around $6,500, the practice is common among the powerful, wealthy and those involved in drug and arms trafficking.
- The rescued jaguar has been sent to a rehabilitation center for possible release back into the wild, although rewilding a jaguar isn’t always possible or successful.

New study explores how reforestation could help Java’s leopards survive
- A new study finds that strategically restoring degraded forests could help reconnect fragmented habitat for the endangered Javan leopard, giving the species more room to move across densely populated Java.
- Researchers created the first islandwide model of habitat connectivity for the species, showing how targeted reforestation could help offset some of the barriers created by roads, railways and urban development.
- Conservationists say isolated leopard populations face increasing risks from habitat loss, human conflict, disease and inbreeding, with only an estimated 320 Javan leopards remaining in the wild.
- Experts caution that the model still needs to be tested with real-world tracking data, but say reconnecting forests will be essential for the long-term survival of Java’s last apex predator.

Asia’s mainland leopard cat is abundant but still cloaked in mystery
- Widespread, adaptable, and classified globally as a species of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List, the mainland leopard cat can be found across much of Asia. However, research on the species remains relatively limited.
- Despite its global status, local populations face serious threats — including habitat loss, hunting, vehicle collisions, and genetic isolation — and in some cases are considered locally critically endangered. Global assessments can mask these regional declines due to how conservation status is assessed.
- Researchers highlight knowledge gaps caused by underfunding, language and geopolitical barriers, along with unshared data. They stress that more focused studies, genetic research, and conservation initiatives that involve local communities are essential to protecting this ecologically important species.

The European wildcat hovers between recovery and local extinction
- European wildcats are making a comeback in the Czech Republic, where they’re critically endangered. Conservationists found evidence of this species breeding in the Lusatian Mountains.
- Though these wildcats, similar in size to large domestic cats, aren’t at risk range-wide, some populations face local extinction.
- Experts note that positive recovery in Central European countries is countered by declines and a lack of basic population data elsewhere.

Overtourism threatens Sri Lanka’s leopards
Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife destination, is facing a conservation crisis as overcrowding and speeding safari jeeps increasingly threaten its wildlife, particularly its famed leopards, reports Mongabay contributor Kamanthi Wickramasinghe. Block I of the park, which boasts of one of the world’s highest leopard densities at one animal per square kilometer (2.6 […]
Facebook is a hub for illegal wildlife trade, and that’s by design, report says
- Online sales of wildlife products from protected species are booming on Facebook. The platform hosted more than three-fourths of the 22,000 wild animals and their parts known to be sold online between April 2024 and March 2026, valued at $65 million, according to a recent report.
- Researchers found that about 84% of animals for sale on Facebook are banned from commercial cross-border trade under an international treaty. More than half of them were endangered or critically endangered species.
- Facebook’s architecture — its closed groups, anonymous users, content monetization and algorithms that push related content to users — makes it a go-to platform for traffickers, researchers say. The platform’s official policy bars the sale of wildlife, but the volume of animals offered for sale point to poor moderation.
- To combat this massive online trade, experts call for stricter regulation of content on Facebook and other platforms, as well as better oversight and increased collaboration between online platforms and law enforcement.

International Leopard Day: A spotty outlook for the spotted cat
Leopards are the most widespread of the big cats, but their range across Asia and Africa is shrinking. In many places, so are their numbers. Recent Mongabay coverage of leopards (Panthera pardus) revealed a global trade in leopard trophies and body parts, but also more hopeful signs, such as leopards persisting on the edge of […]
The value of South Africa’s wildlife shouldn’t be in the hands of wealthy foreign hunters (commentary)
- The latest statistics on South Africa’s professional (“trophy”) hunting industry reveal a large increase in animals hunted, with numbers set to rise in coming years, under the logic that the revenue generated is necessary for managing wildlife.
- But should the conservation of the nation’s wildlife, which have their own roles in natural ecosystems, depend on their ability to generate an enormous income for a select group of wealthy farmers and professional hunters, a new op-ed asks.
- “When conservation is built on the premise that wildlife must pay its way to exist, we should ask not only who benefits, but what is being lost, and at whose expense,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Conservationist wins top award to protect lions and people in Zimbabwe
- A Zimbabwean conservationist working to reduce conflict between lions and livestock farmers is a winner of one of this year’s Whitley Awards, better known as the “Green Oscars.”
- The prize money will fund the expansion of the work led by Moreangels Mbizah and her NGO, Wildlife Conservation Action, in a region that is a hotspot for human-carnivore conflict.
- Community guardians employed by WCA warn farmers when lions enter their farming areas; promote the use of secure animal enclosures for cattle, goats and sheep, and oversee the installation of solar-powered flashing lights to deter nocturnal raids by lions.
- These interventions have reduced conflict by up to 98% in at least two rural wards, but habitat loss through the expansion of farms into wildlife migration corridors worries Mbizah and her team.

As global 30×30 goal lags, Colombia shows how progress can be made
- In 2022, nearly 200 nations pledged to protect and conserve 30% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030 under Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Currently, 18% of land and inland waters, and 10% of marine and coastal areas are protected and conserved.
- Colombia, one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, has exceeded the global average, protecting and conserving 47% of marine and 26% of terrestrial areas.
- This has been achieved through new and expanded public and private protected areas, other area-based effective conservation measures (OECMs), and other means, including Heritage Colombia, an innovative “project for finance permanence” initiative.

Rare, high-altitude jaguar sighting in Honduras raises hope for conservation
- For the first time in a decade, camera traps set up high in the Sierra del Merendón mountain range in Honduras captured images of a male jaguar.
- The cat was documented at an altitude of 2,200 meters (about 7,200 feet), much higher than their normal range. Jaguars typically live below 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
- These mountains can act as a high-elevation corridor for animals to move between landscapes in Honduras, Guatemala and beyond.
- Jaguars, like all big cats, continue to lose habitat and are targeted by poachers. But this cat moving back into its former territory shows that conservation efforts, such as anti-poaching patrols, land protection and the introduction of prey species, may be working.

Nepal plans park for ‘problem’ tigers as attacks raise concerns
- Nepal has proposed a 50-hectare tiger park near Chitwan National Park to house “problem” tigers in semi-natural enclosures and fund their upkeep through tourism.
- Rising tiger populations and increasing human-tiger encounters have led to fatalities, costly captivity, and overcrowded, often inadequate holding centers.
- Research shows only a small fraction of tigers cause conflicts, typically injured or old individuals, while most rely on wild prey.
- Critics warn the park may be ethically flawed, financially unstable, and ecologically ineffective, and have suggested alternatives like better conflict management, improved identification protocols, or even euthanasia of high-risk tigers.

In Sri Lanka, animals pay the price for overcrowding and speeding jeeps
- Yala National Park in southern Sri Lanka attracted more than 380,000 visitors in the first half of 2025, generating an income of more than $5 million.
- Among the most popular national parks, overcrowding at Yala Block I is a recurring problem, intensified since the social media boom, conservationists say.
- Most leopards at Block I have become acclimatized to humans and safari jeeps, creating more interest among visitors.
- Despite regular training programs, speeding jeeps have become a serious challenge to animals there, and authorities now plan to limit the number of jeeps and open other blocks to reduce the pressure on Block I.

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.

War on Iran disrupts efforts to save the Asiatic cheetah, world’s rarest big cat
- The Asiatic cheetah once roamed from the Arabian Peninsula to India, but today is found only in Iran, and fewer than 30 remain. With the country embroiled in war, the future of this subspecies’ is uncertain.
- The Iranian government gave the cheetah protected status in 1959 and created a number of protected areas and national parks. But the relative success of these early conservation efforts was undone in the turmoil that followed the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and later, the Iran-Iraq war.
- Complex geopolitics have hampered conservation efforts, and sweeping Western sanctions have prevented donor funding from reaching local conservation groups.
- While poaching and human-wildlife conflict are relatively rare, depleted prey stocks, fragmented habitats, dangerous roads and low genetic diversity threaten their fragile existence.

Loss of prey could drive Atlantic Forest jaguars to extinction
- There’s little prey left for jaguars in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, which is driving the big cat’s decline there, according to new research.
- Hunting is wiping out species like deer and peccaries that sustain jaguars, which could spell localized extinctions for the fewer than 300 jaguars thought to remain there.
- To save these last jaguars, enforcement is needed to reduce hunting, the study authors and conservationists say.
- It may be necessary to translocate prey species to rewild this forest, experts say, and fragmented habitat must be reconnected to allow safe movement for jaguars and other wildlife.

Mongabay launches Solutions Desk to track what works for the planet
- Mongabay has launched a dedicated Solutions Desk to expand reporting on how people and institutions respond to problems about nature, rather than spotlighting solely the problems themselves.
- The desk reflects a strategic shift toward solutions journalism, emphasizing evidence-based analysis of outcomes, trade-offs and lessons learned from real-world interventions.
- Mongabay’s solutions journalism has already contributed to tangible outcomes, including influencing Microsoft agroecology investment decisions in Latin America, supporting community-led wildcat conservation initiatives in Peru, and informing policy and accountability in the biomass industry.
- The Solutions Desk strengthens Mongabay’s capacity to deliver rigorous, independent journalism that helps audiences better understand effective responses to environmental challenges and supports more informed decision-making globally.

Lab-made jaguar: Is cloning a solution to extinction?
Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil — What if the first-ever cloned jaguar were born within the next few years? Sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie? Not to the scientists at Reprocon research group, based at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. They are collecting genetic material, like blood and […]
Poop pills and gut microbes: Wildlife microbiome studies aid conservation
- Recent research into the human microbiome is revealing how closely connected it is to our health. Similarly, scientists are exploring how the microbiome in wildlife species can aid conservation efforts.
- Studies show that human action (including climate change and close proximity to people) is altering the microbiomes of multiple wildlife species. The implications of how these changes may be impacting wildlife survival and health remain unclear.
- Researchers are also exploring how supporting a diverse wildlife microbiome can improve animal health in captivity, aid recovery during rehabilitation, and even boost reintroduction success. Microbiome studies are underway on numerous species, ranging from Australian koalas to African meerkats and cheetahs.
- Though still an emerging field, fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs) are just one possible tool that researchers and conservationists are exploring in trials to see how the restoration of a healthy diverse microbiome can support wildlife conservation.

Nepal’s rural women at increasing risk of human-wildlife conflict
- Women in forest-edge communities around Bardiya National Park are increasingly exposed to human-wildlife conflict, as daily subsistence work brings them into forests where encounters with tigers and other wildlife occur.
- Labor migration has shifted agricultural and household responsibilities onto women, pushing many to collect fodder, firewood and other forest resources in high-risk areas.
- Most fatal wildlife encounters occur during routine livelihood activities, such as cutting grass or grazing livestock in forests and buffer zones where people and wildlife share space.
- Nepal’s widely celebrated tiger conservation success is unfolding alongside growing risks for rural communities, particularly women who depend on forests for daily survival; meanwhile, women remain largely absent from the institutions that shape conservation policy.

By protecting tigers ‘we save so much more,’ says Debbie Banks
Tiger populations have risen in some countries, such as Bhutan, Nepal and India, but the global population of the big cat species remains critically endangered, says Debbie Banks, campaign lead for tigers and wildlife crime at the Environmental Investigation Agency. The global tiger population was recorded at roughly 5,574 in 2022, with the species having […]
Study finds livestock pushing lions away from shared rangeland in Kenya
- A new study in Kenya’s Mara conservancies finds lions increasingly avoiding areas used by Maasai livestock, even after the animals have moved on.
- Researchers suggest lions are responding not just to immediate encounters with herders but to past grazing pressure and perceived long-term risk.
- The findings raise questions about how livestock grazing may reshape predator behavior and wildlife use of shared landscapes.
- Experts say any grazing limits must balance conservation goals with Maasai livelihoods that depend heavily on livestock.

Outlook for migratory species worsens amid habitat loss & avian flu, report finds
- A U.N.-backed report finds that nearly half of the world’s migratory species protected under a global treaty are now decreasing — and about one in four now faces extinction.
- Habitat loss and degradation as well as hunting and fishing are driving these declines, but a deadly virus, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, is also taking a heavy toll on bird populations.
- Wildlife corridors and protected ocean networks can play a pivotal role in conserving imperiled species: Animals need to move to find food, a mate and migrate.

DNA fingerprinting convicts Zimbabwe lion poachers in landmark case
- Prosecutors in Zimbabwe used lion DNA forensics for the first time to successfully convict two people for poaching and trafficking a male lion near Hwange National Park.
- Investigators analyzed DNA from confiscated lion parts and were able to match it to a radio-collared lion in their database that was killed in 2024.
- Proving that the seized parts came from a poached wild lion provided the evidence that sent the two poachers to prison for two years.
- Experts say DNA forensics provide invaluable proof in hard-to-prosecute wildlife crimes, and this recent conviction sets a precedent for bringing poachers to justice in court using the forensic technology.

Mummified cheetahs found in Saudi caves could shape rewilding plans
- Researchers discovered seven naturally mummified cheetahs and 54 skeletal remains preserved for up to 4,000 years in caves in northern Saudi Arabia.
- Ancient DNA analysis, performed on naturally mummified big cats for the first time, showed that two subspecies historically inhabited the region, not one as previously assumed.
- The Asiatic cheetah, long considered the only candidate for reintroduction, has fewer than 30 individuals left in the wild, making the genetic evidence for a second subspecies significant for rewilding planners.
- Saudi Arabia has already successfully reintroduced several ungulate species, setting a foundation for a potential future cheetah reintroduction.

Big cats get the press, but small wildcats are being poached and trafficked in silence
- While black market sale of jaguars, tigers and other big cats has been carefully tracked for decades, trade in small and medium-sized felines has gone largely undocumented. Many are threatened or endangered species.
- Researchers in Colombia discovered that a substantial number of smaller wild cats were seized by or surrendered to wildlife officials from 2015 to 2021.
- The cats are mostly sold alive as pets, though some skins, teeth and other parts were also confiscated.
- Seizures of illegally traded wildlife represent just a small percentage of those that are poached and trafficked. The smaller cats are, the more they seem to be traded, researchers say, and globally, there needs to be greater monitoring of international trade in small and mid-sized felines.

Botswana shows how smarter cattle herding can save lions, reopen ancient wildlife pathways
- Restoring traditional herding practices in northern Botswana has led to a huge decrease in cattle predation and retaliatory lion poisonings in the Okavango Delta region.
- More lion cubs are now surviving, with the lion population in northern Botswana up 50% over the past four years.
- Experts say bringing back traditional herding practices is the key to restoring migration routes for wildebeest, zebra and many other species.
- If herding expands, government officials may consider removing some veterinary cordon fences that have blocked wildlife corridors for decades.

Researchers eye jaguar conservation wins under Brazil Indigenous stewardship project
- The jaguar is listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List due to threats such as habitat loss and overhunting, but finds a safe haven in Brazil within protected areas and Indigenous lands.
- A pioneering new Brazilian initiative seeks to strengthen the protection of 15 Indigenous territories and their biodiversity through land sovereignty, environmental restoration and monitoring.
- The initiative may benefit jaguar conservation in one of the big cat’s last remaining strongholds.
- The initiative is still in its early stages, and so far there are little to no links between the project and jaguar conservation programs. But researchers say they hope conservation efforts, even if not explicitly aimed at jaguars, can have a ripple effect on protecting the species.

In Peru’s Andes, Quechua women turn human-wildcat conflict into coexistence
- In Peru’s Andean highlands, Quechua women who once killed pumas in retaliation for livestock losses are now leading efforts to protect them.
- Through a women-led conservation group, communities used camera traps and monitoring to reframe pumas and other wildcats as part of a shared ecosystem.
- Practical measures such as improved corrals, nonlethal deterrents and forest protection have sharply reduced conflict and ended retaliatory wildcat killings.
- An alpaca wool textile cooperative links conservation with women’s economic empowerment, strengthening both livelihoods and wildlife protection.

Rodent burrows offer unusual sanctuary to Africa’s smallest wildcat
- New research shows female black-footed cats rely heavily on abandoned springhare burrows to shelter themselves and raise their kittens, using a constantly shifting network of underground dens to survive Southern Africa’s harsh, semiarid landscape.
- Mothers rotate frequently among multiple dens — sometimes almost daily once kittens begin to move — a strategy likely aimed at avoiding predators and minimizing scent trails.
- Despite weighing as little as 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), black-footed cats are among the most active and efficient hunters of any feline, ranging over large territories at night and retreating underground by day.
- With low reproductive rates, disease pressure and a population of around 10,000, the species’ survival depends on protecting both springhares and the working landscapes of livestock farms, where burrow loss, overgrazing and predator control can indirectly threaten the cats.

Five detained over alleged hunting in Javan leopard habitat
- Indonesian authorities have detained five people following allegations of illegal hunting inside West Java’s Gunung Sanggabuana conservation forest.
- The case drew national attention after camera trap footage revealed an injured Javan leopard and suspected armed hunters operating in the protected area.
- Conservationists say the incident exposes deeper weaknesses in wildlife protection and raises urgent questions about how Indonesia safeguards its last remaining big cats.

Poaching African lions for black market could pose existential threat
African lions are increasingly targeted for trade in their bones, skin, teeth and claws, according to a newly published study. Without urgent action, the authors warn, poaching may pose an existential threat to Panthera leo, which once numbered in the hundreds of thousands across Africa. Today, about 25,000 are relegated to just 6% of their […]
Camera traps in China capture first-ever footage of Amur tigress with five cubs
Camera traps installed in the world’s largest tiger reserve, in China, have captured footage of an Amur tigress and her five cubs for the first time. Recorded in November 2025, the footage from Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park shows an adult tigress ambling along a dirt road, and four young cubs tootling behind […]
Year-end ‘good news’ as flat-headed cats reappear in Thailand after 29-year absence
- Camera traps in Thailand’s Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary picked up 13 flat-headed cat records in 2024 and 16 more earlier this year.
- The last confirmed sighting of the species in Thailand was in 1995; across its range, which includes Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra, about 2,500 flat-headed cats are thought to survive.
- Elusive, nocturnal and semiaquatic, flat-headed cats are notoriously difficult to study, but conservationists say they hope their rediscovery in Thailand will galvanize interest in the species.
- Conservationists also call for increased protection of the peat swamp forest where the population has been found, noting the risk of trafficking that might accompany the announcement of the rediscovery.

Fishing cats need hotspot-based conservation in Bangladesh, research shows
- Fishing cats in Bangladesh are facing near-extinction as they struggle to adapt to living alongside humans in Bangladesh.
- Wildlife experts recommend hotspot-based, short-term conservation strategies to immediately halt killings of the small carnivores.
- They also urge long-term solutions, as the interim measures are insufficient.

Hope for tigers grows as Thailand safeguards a key link in their habitat
- Tiger conservation in Thailand is a rare success story, bucking the trend of regional declines of the Indochinese subspecies across Southeast Asia.
- Thailand’s Western Forest Complex is at the core of the country’s success, with its tiger population growing from about 40 in 2007 to more than 140 today.
- Conservation nonprofits are working to protect a network of corridors that will help usher younger tigers into the southern part of the complex, chiefly through the Si Sawat Corridor, a designated non-hunting area.
- Scientists have recently discovered tigers reproducing in the southern WEFCOM for the first time.

Small cat conservationists hail Uganda’s new Echuya Forest National Park
- Uganda’s Echuya Forest Reserve will become a national park, alongside five other forest areas. That news is being heralded by small cat conservationists as a win for the threatened African golden cat (Caracal aurata) and other wildlife that dwell in the forest.
- African golden cats are forest dependent and considered vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. They’re especially threatened by snaring across their range. It’s unknown exactly how Echuya’s population is faring, but camera-trapping efforts in 2015 required 90 days to record just one of these elusive cats.
- Data coming out of Uganda suggest that national parks can act as strongholds for the felid, raising hopes that Echuya’s population can recover and possibly thrive.
- Wildcat conservationists have also developed programs to build engagement and benefit communities near the new park, initiating goat and sheep “seed banks” as alternatives to bushmeat, setting up savings and loan associations to improve quality of life, and arranging community soccer matches to build goodwill.

To save jaguars from extinction, scientists in Brazil are trying IVF and cloning
- In Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the Reprocon research group, which specializes in assisted wildlife reproduction, has been investing in cloning methods and protocols for jaguars since 2023.
- Fragmented habitat has isolated jaguar populations, causing them to cross with members of the same gene pool. Today, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and cloning techniques have been improving the genetics of groups to avoid eventual extinction of the species because of inbreeding.
- Cloning is used together with other endangered wildlife conservation strategies like creating, expanding and connecting preserved habitat. Reprocon expects to transfer its first cloned embryos to female cats in 2026.

International Cheetah Day: Survival still at stake for the world’s fastest cat
Dec. 4 is International Cheetah Day. It was established in 2010 by the Cheetah Conservation Fund to raise awareness about the dwindling populations and shrinking habitats of the fastest land animal on Earth. The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is one of the most endangered big cats in the world, with a severely fragmented population of around […]
International Jaguar Day: A year of wins for the big cat
Every Nov. 29 is International Jaguar Day, created to raise awareness about threats the jaguar (Panthera onca) faces, including habitat loss and poaching. While the Amazon and Brazil’s Pantanal biomes are strongholds for the jaguar, hosting a high density of the animals, the species has lost most of its historic range, a reality that conservationists […]
Global tiger trafficking crisis worsens with nine big cats seized monthly
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysa (AP) — Authorities have seized an average of nine tigers each month over the past five years, highlighting a worsening trafficking crisis. A report by TRAFFIC warns that criminal networks are evolving faster than conservation efforts can respond. The global wild tiger population has plummeted to an estimated 3,700-5,500. Despite international protection, […]
Asian golden cat range expands, but declines continue amid rising threats
- The Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) is a medium-sized cat species that was once abundant across Asia, ranging from India to China. Today its population is undergoing a significant decline.
- That’s resulted in it now being declared a threatened species as its habitat is lost or fragmented, and indiscriminate snaring removes it from forests, particularly in Southeast Asia.
- Targeted research, conservation and funding are rare for this species, resulting in significant knowledge gaps about its basic ecology and threats. That uncertainty is causing some conservationists to say it could warrant endangered status.
- It’s hoped that increasing threat levels imperiling the Asian golden cat will spur donor funding, giving researchers the tools to shine a light on the needs of this lesser-known felid. Nepal has so far led the way in conservation efforts.

Women can help rebuild our relationship with lions: Voices from the land (commentary)
- The inclusion of women in Africa’s lion conservation efforts is essential to not only to protect the species, but to do so sustainably with the buy-in of nearby communities — which at times can have a tense and challenging relationship with the predatory species, say members of the Mama Simba, a program within Ewaso Lions made up of Samburu women in Kenya.
- The women say they remember how, when they were young, wildlife was in abundance, that their parents and grandparents lived alongside wildlife in harmony and that lions held a powerful place in their culture, identity and daily lives.
- “Everything changes when women are not asked to sit on the sidelines but invited to lead,” they say in this opinion piece.
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

In search of a real wild date (cartoon)
Despite being one of the most wide-ranging wildcat species, the Afro-Asian wildcat faces a threat from its own evolutionary successor—the domestic cat. Interbreeding leads to hybridization and genetic dilution for the species, adding yet another conservation challenge as it already faces threats from habitat loss across most of its range.
Researchers fear Chile copper project may threaten rare Andean cat population
- In Chile’s Valparaíso region, researchers say a proposed large-scale open-pit copper mine threatens a recently recorded Andean cat population and its habitat.
- The Vizcachitas project, owned by Los Andes Copper Ltd., is located on a rich copper deposit and has been presented by the company as a solution to help meet the demands of the global green energy transition.
- Government officials and courts have decided the project is compatible with the presence of the Andean cat, while community members and conservationists raise concerns about the potential impacts on this rare feline species.
- The Putaendo municipality and local organizations have requested that the Ministry of Environment in Chile declare the affected area a protected area to safeguard the Andean cat and other endemic species.

International Snow Leopard Day: Conservation and coexistence in India and Nepal
They’re known as the “ghost of the mountains,” so it makes sense that snow leopards can be extremely difficult to spot. Yet, these majestic, thick-furred cats, living in the high mountains of Asia, are also disappearing from much of their range due to declines in prey, retaliatory killing for livestock predation, the illegal wildlife trade, […]
Study reveals overlooked cultural threat to wildcats across Africa
- The role that cultural demand plays in driving hunting and trade of many species of wildcats is poorly understood.
- Research commissioned by the wildcat conservation NGO Panthera found widespread use across Africa by traditional leaders, healers and participants in cultural ceremonies. Leopards were the most commonly identified species, followed by lions, servals and cheetahs.
- The researchers say recognizing the cultural contexts in which carnivores are used can help conservationists design interventions that are culturally sensitive and locally relevant.

West Africa’s leopards now officially endangered after 50% population crash
There are only about 350 mature leopards left in West Africa, according to the latest regional assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Leopards (Panthera pardus) in West Africa are thought to be genetically isolated from those in Central Africa, with little or no interbreeding between populations. They’re found in 11 countries: Benin, […]
IUCN downgrades guiña threat status, prompting conservation warning
- The guiña, a small wildcat, has been moved to least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Found only in Chile and Argentina, this small cat was previously listed as vulnerable.
- But the threat downgrade isn’t a sign of conservation success, researchers say. Rather, it reflects more in-depth knowledge of the species. Three out of six recognized subpopulations remain highly in danger of localized extinction and need special attention and urgent conservation action.
- Some conservationists see the downgrade in status as concerning (especially considering the daunting range of threats and number of imperiled populations) and they fear the improved listing may take attention away from the species and result in a decline in conservation funding.

Indochinese leopards face ‘bleak’ future, but hope persists
- The Indochinese leopard, a subspecies native to mainland Southeast Asia, has been driven to the edge of extinction by snaring and the wildlife trade.
- Population estimates for the species range from 77 to 766 individuals, highlighting both the cat’s rarity and the difficulty of studying it.
- Conservationists are working to safeguard the leopard’s last remaining strongholds in Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.

Jaguar in Brazil swims 2.3 km in longest recorded distance for the species
Biologists in Brazil have documented a jaguar swimming an estimated 2.3 kilometers, or 1.4 miles, across an artificial reservoir in the Cerrado savanna, the longest confirmed swim by the species to date. The previous scientific record, published in 1932, was of a jaguar swimming 200 m (660 ft). “We knew that jaguars might have this […]
Amid challenges, Nepal plans its latest tiger & rhino counts
- Nepal looks forward to its tiger and rhino counts beginning at the end of this year and in early 2026, amid delays and challenges.
- The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, in coordination with funding organizations, plans to conduct the counts in five tiger-bearing and four rhino-bearing national parks of Nepal.
- Although concerns over rhino counting methods remain, sources say they plan to explore more scientific methods for future use.

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

The Indigenous tradition sustaining Nepal’s alpine pastures amid climate change
- The Gurung people of Nepal’s Himalayas manage fragile alpine pastures through the ‘thiti’ system, which sets annual guidelines for rotational grazing, forest use and herb collection.
- Livestock owners pay small per-animal fees that finance habitat protection and support herders, ensuring resources are used fairly.
- Conservationists view thiti as a proven Indigenous approach to protecting high-altitude grasslands threatened by climate change.
- Out-migration, shrinking pasturelands, tourism growth and lack of legal recognition are weakening the tradition.

Indonesia aims to redraw UNESCO site boundaries to allow geothermal projects
- Indonesia is proposing to redraw the boundaries of a UNESCO World Heritage rainforest, excluding two degraded areas, in order to free up geothermal potential in the region.
- Geothermal, which draws from the country’s volcanic geography, is an energy technology the government is aggressively promoting as the country moves away from fossil fuels.
- The area was declared a World Heritage Site in 2004 for its immense biodiversity: more than 10,000 plant species, 200 mammals and 580 birds, including critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants.
- The site is already on UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list due to deforestation, illegal logging, encroachment and road building; environmentalists warn that geothermal development risks worsening pressures on a forest ecosystem already in decline.

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

Overcrowding threatens sustainability of jaguar ecotourism in Brazil’s Pantanal
The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat But the boom in tourism has created new problems, Mongabay contributor Francesco Schneider-Eicke reported from Porto Jofre, a jaguar hotspot in the northern Pantanal. […]
In Brazil’s Pantanal, too many tourists may be the jaguar’s new predator
- Once rare, jaguar sightings in the Pantanal now number more than 1,000 a year, drawing tourists from around the world.
- Ecotourism has transformed jaguars from hunted predators into valuable attractions, boosting local livelihoods.
- But overcrowding, with up to 30 boats surrounding a single animal, risks stressing wildlife and eroding visitor experiences.
- As safaris become increasingly popular, jaguars are getting more habituated to humans, drawing them closer to ranches, where conflicts arise.

Local forest governance helps jaguars and forests flourish in Guatemala
- Thirteen communities with concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve are working with Guatemala’s protected areas authorities to conserve the forests and wildlife on their lands.
- Community members use drones, camera traps, phone apps and satellite data analysis to track changes in the ecosystem and the movements of species.
- Their involvement has helped conserve the local jaguar population by drastically reducing forest loss in the central zone of the reserve.
- Further north, on the border with Mexico, jaguars are under threat from drug trafficking, illegal ranching and hunting, timber and wildlife trafficking, and illegal encroachments to build new villages.

Rare Javan leopard sighting renews focus on conservation, monitoring efforts
- A rare Javan leopard was recorded on camera in Mount Lawu forest, Central Java, after officials installed camera traps following a hiker’s report.
- The endangered big cat’s presence highlights Mount Lawu’s ecological importance, where Tahura Mangkunagoro park conserves diverse plants, birds and mammals.
- With only around 350 Javan leopards left in the wild, the sighting underscores urgent threats to the species from habitat loss, hunting and human pressure.
- Authorities and conservation groups are expanding camera-trap surveys and preparing a 2026–2031 action plan to safeguard the species through better monitoring, habitat protection and community engagement.

Suspected rise in targeted leopard killings worries conservationists in Sri Lanka
After a series of alleged leopard poaching incidents in Sri Lanka, conservationists warn that the big cats are likely being deliberately targeted for their skin, teeth, claws and meat at a higher rate than previously believed, reports contributor Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. “Sri Lanka may not be part of an international trafficking chain for leopard […]
NGOs launch novel community projects to conserve Mexico’s ocelots
- The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is often overlooked because it shares much of its American range with its more charismatic larger cousin, the jaguar. Recently, scientists discovered some surprising behaviors in this versatile small feline — including a tendency to hang out with opossums.
- In Mexico, the ocelot is classified as an endangered species due to habitat loss and hunting. A relatively new threat is climate change, as longer dry periods force the small cat to approach human settlements in search of water.
- NGOs in Mexico are working to end community-wildlife conflicts and promote peaceful coexistence between humans and ocelots. Projects conducted with beekeepers, farmers, schoolchildren and pet owners help achieve that goal.
- One lesson learned: There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each community needs a tailored approach, ranging from building specially designed water troughs, painting school murals with kids, helping farmers construct ocelot-proof chicken cages, to free vaccination and sterilization programs for dogs and cats.

Lioness sighting in Central African Republic a ‘hopeful sign’ for northern subspecies
An adult lioness has been photographed for the first time in six years in Bamingui-Bangoran National Park in the Central African Republic. The photo, taken in April by a camera trap installed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, shows a lactating female, possibly with cubs nearby, wandering the forest at night — the first evidence of […]
Learning to live with lions: Interview with Claw Conservancy’s Andrew Stein
- An automated, real-time alert system is helping local communities in Botswana protect their cattle from approaching lions.
- A team at the nonprofit Claws Conservancy is also working with communities to name individual lions in order to help them build a connection with the animals.
- The initiative was launched to mitigate human-lion conflict, which often led to loss of livestock and the retaliatory poisoning of the lions.
- The lack of vehicles and torches, however, continue to be hurdles when it comes to effectively responding to alerts, which tend to come at night, when the lions are most active.

In India, humans & leopards meet near major cities; preserving habitat is crucial
- Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) sits on the edge of Bengaluru, one of India’s largest cities, putting humans and wildlife — such as leopards — in close proximity.
- A recent study estimates 80-85 leopards live in and around BNP, surpassing the leopard count around Mumbai, previously named as the city with the most leopards.
- The study recommends community outreach to increase awareness and acceptance of leopards as well as protecting key habitats in the area.
- Local residents who are accustomed to living among leopards share their stories of leopard interactions, noting their presence as “normal” and not “scary.”

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

Fences, tech and trust help save jaguars in Panama’s Darién
- In Panama’s Darién province, jaguar predation on cattle is one of the top reasons for people killing the locally endangered felines, and a top threat to their populations.
- To reduce jaguar killings, the nonprofit Yaguará Panamá Foundation is working on conservation measures directly with livestock farmers and Indigenous families.
- A recent study documents jaguars’ movements through once-forested landscapes for the first time, providing biologists with better information for how humans and jaguars can avoid conflict.
- Using GPS and observational data, the organization helps create land management plans, such as installing electric fences to help keep jaguars away, while improving overall environmental conditions.

World lion day: Why is the king of the savanna declining?
The lion, with its majestic mane and the loudest growl of all the big cats, is today a vulnerable species with decreasing populations in extremely fragmented habitats. It once ranged widely throughout Africa and Eurasia; today, it’s restricted to parts of sub-Saharan Africa and one small area in western India. For World Lion Day on […]
Jaguar cub born in Argentina’s Gran Chaco after three decades
A 5-month-old jaguar cub has been spotted along the Bermejo River in northern Argentina’s Gran Chaco region — the first wild-born cub in the region following a rewilding program at El Impenetrable National Park led by conservation nonprofit Rewilding Argentina. Researchers had suspected a birth several months prior, finding paw prints and other indirect signs, […]
Czech zoo welcomes 4 rare Barbary lion cubs whose population is extinct in the wild
DVUR KRALOVE, Czech Republic (AP) — Four Barbary lion cubs were born recently in a Czech zoo, a vital contribution for a small surviving population of the rare lion that is extinct in the wild. The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvůr Králové Safari Park on Wednesday, enjoying themselves […]
Domestic cats pose interbreeding threat to little known wildcat ancestor
Domestic cats are hugely popular as pets, yet little is known about their ancestor, the Afro-Asiatic wildcat. This species, Felis lybica, is the most widely distributed wildcat in the world, but experts still don’t know its exact population. The wildcat faces several threats to its survival, including interbreeding with domestic cats and the diseases they […]
International Tiger Day: 3 stories of hope
The tiger, once wide-ranging across Asia, has disappeared from much of its historic range. But thanks to concerted conservation efforts and communities willing to coexist with them, the majestic predator is making a comeback in some parts of the continent despite threats including habitat loss and poaching. South Asia continues to be a stronghold for […]
An aging leopard’s suffering sparks ethical debate in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, the fate of an aging, injured leopard, well-loved by tourists, has triggered a debate. Wildlife enthusiasts are urging authorities to help the leopard, named Neluma, in Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka’s largest protected area. However, wildlife officials and conservationists are against intervening and providing veterinary support, Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo reported in […]
Amur leopards, once nearly extinct, are making a comeback in Far East Asia
The Amur leopard lives in isolation in the freezing forests of southeast Russia and northeast China. It’s one of the most endangered of eight leopard subspecies in the world. Today, its population is on the upswing. In the 20th century, poaching for its spotted fur, forest fires and conversion of land for farming caused the […]
In rare triumph, camera traps snap endangered wildcats in Pakistan
- Conservationists in Pakistan have snapped incredibly rare images of two small cat species: the Asiatic caracal (Caracal caracal schmitzi) and the sand cat (Felis margarita).
- The 2025 caracal image comes after two other sightings in the country were captured on camera phones.
- Very little is known about caracal and sand cat populations in the country. Though both species are of least concern at the global level, they’re highly endangered in Pakistan.
- Conservationists say they’re hopeful these sightings will spur interest in small cat species in Pakistan and encourage greater protection and targeted conservation measures.

Videos capture an unlikely alliance between ocelots and opossums in the Amazon
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the Peruvian Amazon, a series of curious encounters has left biologists scratching their heads. Camera traps have captured an unexpected partnership: solitary, nocturnal ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) strolling alongside common opossums (Didelphis marsupialis). Not once, but four times, […]
Study finds two-thirds of India’s snow leopards are in Ladakh region
Snow leopards are often called “ghosts of the mountains,” and for good reason: They’re notoriously difficult to spot. But researchers behind a recent study used a comprehensive set of methods — from following the cats’ tracks and droppings, to deploying camera traps over vast areas — to find that the region of Ladakh in the […]
A success story at Zambia’s leopard hotspot: Interview with ecologist Chisomo M’hango
- At the Musekese Conservation research station, deep in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, trainee field ecologist Chisomo M’hango analyzes camera trap images of leopards, lions and wild dogs.
- M’hango and colleagues have identified 95 individual leopards, one of the highest densities of this vulnerable species anywhere in Southern Africa.
- The camera traps have caught relatively few lions, likely due to lack of prey in an area where widespread hunting of large antelopes has taken place for decades; M’hango says lion numbers are starting to rise, signaling renewed efforts to prevent poaching in the park and its buffer areas is bearing fruit.
- There are also encouraging signs that populations of wild dogs are recovering, with the single pair monitored soon after Musekese’s research began in 2020 multiplying into three healthy packs of this gregarious endangered carnivore.

Endangered Andean cat is imperiled by climate change and its solutions
- The Andean cat is an endangered and elusive wildcat species found in the high Andes Mountain regions of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
- The species is exceedingly rare across its entire range and researchers must endure high altitudes, reduced oxygen levels and adverse weather conditions to study and monitor widely scattered populations.
- Climate change and our attempts to curb it both put this small cat at risk. As the world warms, the Andean cat’s cold mountain habitat shrinks ever smaller. Global warming is also driving up demand for lithium and other rare metals for electric vehicles, with extractive industries pushing ever deeper into alpine zones.
- With low numbers and low density, addressing local threats is vital to protecting felid populations, making every single Andean cat important for species survival, researchers say. Innovative local community programs have contributed to conserving this small Latin American cat.

As Thailand’s fishing cats face habitat loss & conflict, experts seek resolution
- Fishing cats have lost vast swathes of their former range in Thailand, where decades of wetland conversion to fish farms, shrimp ponds and plantations have decimated their numbers.
- With habitats shrinking, these wild cats have been driven to living in human-dominated landscapes, where conflicts often arise.
- Fishing cats perceived as competing with farmers for fish and chickens are sometimes killed in retaliation.
- Activists and NGOs are working to reduce these conflicts and encourage landowners to preserve patches of remaining habitat suitable for the cats.

Jaguar population doubles around Brazil’s Iguaçu Falls
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Once vanishing from view in the dense Atlantic Forest, jaguars are again stalking the undergrowth of Iguaçu National Park in Brazil. Their comeback — numbers have more than doubled in the region since 2010 — is a rare success […]
‘Forgotten’ leopards being driven to silent extinction by poaching and trade
- Leopards are the second-most traded wildcat in the world, despite their international commercial trade being prohibited under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement.
- Trophies and body parts — primarily skins, claws, bones and teeth — are the most traded, according to CITES data. However, other data indicate that illegal trade in skins and body parts is widespread in Asia and Africa.
- Southern African countries, particularly South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are major exporters of leopard parts, while the U.S. is the largest importer, according to data from CITES. But China remains a hotspot for trafficked leopard parts, including skin and claws.
- The legal and illegal trade, coupled with losses to habitat and prey, has caused widespread declines in leopard populations across their ranges in Asia and Africa.

Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park emerges as a leopard hotspot
Sri Lanka’s lesser-known Kumana National Park, on the country’s southeastern coast, has emerged as a leopard stronghold, according to a recent study, contributor Malaka Rodrigo reports for Mongabay. Using camera traps and statistical models, researchers from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and the Department of Wildlife Conservation estimated there’s a leopard density of around 41 […]
Snow leopards frequently cross Nepal, India, China borders, study finds
- Snow leopards in the Kangchenjunga region regularly cross the borders of Nepal, India, and China in search of suitable habitat, ignoring human-drawn boundaries.
- Their home ranges are significantly larger than previously thought, with some individuals spending up to a third of their time in neighboring countries.
- Experts emphasize the need for cross-border conservation, standardized monitoring, and ecological corridors to ensure healthy snow leopard populations.

Jaguar recovery unites Brazil and Argentina in conservation effort
- Once on the brink of local extinction, jaguar numbers across the Brazil-Argentina Iguaçu-Iguazú border have more than doubled since 2010 thanks to coordinated conservation efforts.
- The cross-border collaboration between groups in both countries has been crucial to restoring jaguar populations across the Atlantic Forest Green Corridor.
- Women-led economic initiatives and formal institutional support, like “Jaguar Friendly” certification for the local airport, are strengthening human-wildlife connections.
- The long-term survival of jaguars in Iguaçu-Iguazú, a population considered critically endangered, depends on political will and habitat connectivity, as the big cats remain isolated from other jaguar groups.

Clouded leopard seen preying on Bengal slow loris in rare photograph
In December 2024, a camera trap installed in Dehing Patkai National Park in northeast India’s Assam state captured a rare scene: a clouded leopard with a Bengal slow loris in its mouth. Both species are extremely elusive, so the photograph is rare confirmation that the medium-sized wildcat preys on the small, endangered primate, reports contributor […]
Ecological crisis in Brazil’s Pantanal fuels human-jaguar conflict
- The recent death of a man by a jaguar in Brazil’s Pantanal wetland has drawn public attention to the challenges of local coexistence between humans and the largest felines in the Americas.
- People are not typical prey for jaguars, but more frequent fires and natural prey scarcity have driven the big cats to encroach on ranches and farms, where domestic animals make for easy pickings — but also where confrontation with humans can erupt.
- Pantanal communities complain about the lack of security to which they are exposed, arguing that protection of jaguars by environmental agencies should also include balanced coexistence with the human population.

Valmik Thapar, India’s tiger man, died on May 31st, aged 73
- Valmik Thapar, who died at 73, was a fierce and lifelong advocate for India’s wild tigers, dedicating five decades to their protection.
- He combined impassioned storytelling with field observation, helping reveal previously unknown aspects of tiger behavior and ecology in Ranthambhore.
- Thapar was a vocal critic of India’s forest bureaucracy, arguing that real conservation required political will, public pressure, and protected spaces free from human interference.
- Despite setbacks, his efforts contributed to a rebound in India’s tiger population, securing a lasting legacy for both the species and the man who championed it.

Tabby’s likely ancestor & Earth’s most widespread wildcat is an enigma
- The Afro-Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica) is the world’s most widely distributed small wildcat, but it’s also one of the least studied. The cat’s conservation status is listed as “of least concern” by the IUCN. But due to a lack of data, population trends are unknown, and the species, or subspecies, could vanish before humanity realizes it.
- One of the only long-term studies on the cat’s behavior and population genetics occurred in South Africa’s Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It sheds light on a species that is vital to the ecosystems it inhabits and possesses remarkable adaptability.
- At some point, thousands of years ago, F. lybica was domesticated, making it the ancestor of the common house cat (F. catus), which, in evolutionary terms, has become one of the most successful mammal species on Earth.
- Inbreeding with domestic cats has become a serious threat to Afro-Asiatic wildcat conservation. Wildcat experts urge pet owners to spay their house cats. Feral cats should also be spayed, especially in areas bordering preserves where F. lybica lives. Education about this small wildcat could also help with its conservation.

How Costa Rica’s ranchers contribute to jaguar and puma conservation
Ranches in Costa Rica occasionally overlap with jaguar and puma hunting areas, creating conflict that can sometimes be unavoidable. But with the help of conservationists, ranchers are now able to prevent both cattle and predator deaths, Mongabay contributor Darío Chinchilla reported for Mongabay Latam. In communities like Lomas Azules, when a jaguar (Panthera onca) or […]
Report links meat giant JBS to massive destruction of jaguar habitat
- Agricultural expansion in Brazil’s Pará and Mato Grosso states has destroyed 27 million hectares (67 million acres) of jaguar habitat — an area the size of the U.K. — with 5 million hectares (12 million acres) cleared between 2014 and 2023, most of it illegally.
- A report by Global Witness links some of this deforestation to indirect suppliers of JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, which has failed to fully uphold its pledge to eliminate illegal deforestation from its supply chain by 2025.
- The report highlights weak enforcement of environmental laws and recent attempts by local governments to reverse antideforestation policies, as agribusiness continues to wield major political and economic power.
- With Brazil hosting the COP30 climate summit later this year, campaigners are urging governments and corporations to fulfill deforestation pledges, improve supply chain traceability, and address agriculture’s growing role in greenhouse gas emissions.

Wildlife crime crackdown in jeopardy worldwide after US funding cuts
- In 2019, Malawi dismantled the Chinese-led Lin-Zhang wildlife trafficking syndicate, a major win in its fight against the illegal wildlife trade, thanks in part to funding from the U.S. government.
- The Trump administration’s recent slashing of international development funds, however, threatens these gains, leaving frontline enforcers and conservation programs without critical support.
- NGOs across Africa and Southeast Asia, running initiatives from sniffer rat programs to antipoaching patrols, tell Mongabay they’re struggling to fill the funding gap.
- Experts warn that without urgent alternative, and sustainable, sources of funding, heavily trafficked species like elephants, rhinos and tigers could face accelerated declines.

Scat-sampling DNA tool shows potential in African carnivore conservation
Researchers have developed a noninvasive DNA tool to help monitor hard-to-trace African carnivores, including caracals and leopards, making it potentially useful in the conservation of elusive and increasingly threatened species. “Carnivores are really difficult to study/observe in the wild, and even if a fecal sample is found, it is often difficult to determine which species […]
Sumatran tiger protection needs more patrols, tougher penalties, study finds
- A new study on Sumatran tiger conservation in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park underscores that poaching remains the top threat, despite extensive patrols and antitrafficking efforts over the past decade.
- Researchers found that while patrols removed hundreds of snares and law enforcement increasingly pursued criminal charges, poaching rates remained high and tiger populations continued to decline in some areas.
- Despite stricter conservation laws and improved prosecution rates, the financial rewards of poaching still outweigh the penalties, limiting the deterrent effect on poachers and traffickers.
- The study recommends increasing patrols in high-risk areas, improving community engagement in law enforcement, and providing alternative livelihoods to reduce the economic lure of poaching.

New research sheds light on Canada lynx-snowshoe hare cycle, human impacts
- It’s long been known that snowshoe hare numbers in North American forests rise and fall dramatically in a predictable 10-year cycle. A year or two later, Canada lynx populations follow the same pattern.
- After decades of research, the dominant view is that the hare cycle is largely driven by predation, though there are still many mysteries to uncover.
- New research is shedding light on the lynx’s hunting behaviors and the asynchronicity of population cycles from region to region.
- Researchers are also looking at how human causes, including forestry practices, climate change and escalating wildfires, may be impacting lynx-hare cycles.

A rare jaguar rewilding story highlights obstacles to the big cat’s conservation in Brazil
- The successful reintroduction of a young male jaguar into the Amazon Rainforest last year, following his rescue from wildfires, has highlighted the persistent threats to the species across its range.
- While there have been other successful jaguar reintroductions in Brazil, especially in the Pantanal wetlands, the species faces challenges in all Brazilian biomes—from wildfires and vehicle strikes, to retaliatory killings and poaching for body parts coveted in the Asian market.
- Jaguar reintroduction programs also face challenges, including governmental bureaucracy and the high costs involved from rescue to release, which can run as high as $180,000 per animal.

Trophies, body parts & live animals dominate global lion trade, data show
- Lions are the most-traded wildcat in the world, and the only big cat whose commercial trade is permitted under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement.
- Lion body parts, including bones, skins, claws and teeth, trophies and live individuals are traded across the world, both legally and illegally.
- South Africa stands out as a hotspot for the trade due to the flourishing captive lion industry, which also supplies body parts and engages in canned hunting.
- Unsustainable trade in lion bones and other body parts, including from poached lions, poses a threat to the already declining wild lion populations across the world.

Kumana, a historic national park in eastern Sri Lanka, emerges as leopard stronghold
- A new study reports a notably high density of Sri Lankan leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) in eastern Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park, highlighting the park as a significant habitat for the leopards.
- Using camera traps, the study recorded more than 90 leopard encounters, including 34 identified individual leopards, captured on film across a 16-month survey period.
- Since 2017, a citizen science program also has recorded 80 individual leopards in Kumana, using a naming system to identify each individual.
- Kumana, famed for its wetland birdlife, is now emerging as a key leopard habitat, offering potential for leopard tourism and easing visitor pressure in congested parks like Yala in the island’s south.

‘Puma detectives’ highlight wildlife where Brazil’s Cerrado meets the Atlantic Forest
- A project in the Brazilian state of Goiás is monitoring the routes and distances traveled by pumas, known locally as suçuaranas, to understand how the species lives in environments that have been modified by human activities.
- The mapping is fundamental for strengthening the research carried out inside the ecological corridor stretching between two important state parks in Goiás, one in the Cerrado savanna biome and the other in the coastal Atlantic Forest.
- The project, called Suçuaranas Detetives (Puma Detectives) is part of a broader project involving education and awareness-building programs on peaceful coexistence between rural communities and the ecosystems in Brazil’s central regions.

Study reveals untold, and unprotected, wildlife wealth of Nepal’s Madhesh province
- The first comprehensive vertebrate survey in Nepal’s Madhesh province has documented 163 fish, 24 amphibian, 578 bird and 90 mammal species, highlighting the region’s ecological significance despite a lack of protected areas.
- Infrastructure expansion and human-wildlife conflict pose challenges to the province’s biodiversity, fueled by rapid development of roads and railway lines.
- Researchers call for multilevel conservation strategies, including stronger wildlife laws, school-based awareness programs, establishing ecological corridors, and translocating conflict-prone species to tiger habitats.

International Leopard Day celebrates the resilient, yet often-overlooked, big cat
Shy, solitary leopards might lose out to tigers and lions in the game of charisma, but the rosette-patterned big cats are incredibly adaptable — they can survive in the densest of cities just as easily as in forests, grasslands and high mountains. While highly adaptable, leopards (Panthera pardus), listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red […]
Study suggests there are more jaguars in the Amazon than previously thought
Jaguar numbers in the Amazon Rainforest may be higher than previous estimates, according to a new large-scale study that offers the most comprehensive population snapshot to date. Using camera-trap images of jaguars (Panthera onca) across the Brazilian, Colombian, Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon, researchers calculated an average density of three jaguars per 100 square kilometers (about […]
Fishing cats misunderstood, misidentified in Nepal’s Kapilvastu
- Fishing cats in Nepal are often misunderstood and mistaken for leopards or blamed for fish losses, leading to retaliation and conflict with fish farmers.
- Surveillance measures like CCTV and myths have fueled fear and misinformation, despite little evidence showing fishing cats as major threats to aquaculture.
- A conservation initiative called “fish banks” tried to reduce conflict by compensating farmers with fish instead of money but had mixed results and eventually lost funding.
- Experts emphasize the need for science-based conservation, better population data and public education to protect fishing cats and promote coexistence in human-altered landscapes.

Nepal announces its snow leopard population after first-of-its-kind assessment
- Nepal has released its first consolidated national estimate of snow leopards, placing the population at 397 individuals, after synthesizing multiple studies conducted between 2015 and 2024.
- Despite covering just 2% of global snow leopard habitat, Nepal hosts nearly 10% of the global population, making it the fourth largest population of the species.
- The estimate contributes to the Population Assessment of the World’s Snow Leopards (PAWS), a global initiative aiming for standardized and robust population assessments across all 12 snow leopard range countries.
- While the estimate is a milestone, it’s based on just 43% of Nepal’s potential snow leopard habitat, with key areas like Dhorpatan and Api-Nampa still under-surveyed.

Indonesia court hands down ‘heaviest sentence’ yet for tiger poacher in Sumatra
A court in Indonesia has sentenced a man to five years in prison for the killing of a critically endangered Sumatran tiger in September last year in North Sumatra province. “As far as I know, it’s the heaviest sentence ever imposed for crimes involving protected wildlife in Indonesia,” Iding Achmad Haidir, chair of the Sumatran […]
Indigenous women in Peru lead wildcat conservation initiative
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The queuña forests in Peru, once covering vast stretches of the mountains, have dwindled to a mere fraction of their former glory, leaving behind a landscape where biodiversity and water security hang in the balance. This ecological collapse […]
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.

Snared, skinned, sold: Brutal March for Indonesia’s Sumatran tigers
- Police in Indonesia charged at least 11 people in the month of March with wildlife crimes after a tiger was butchered in Riau province and alleged traffickers were found with body parts in the semiautonomous province of Aceh.
- In West Sumatra province, conservation officials successfully trapped a young female tiger whose leg had previously been amputated, likely in a snare trap.
- Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered subspecies of tiger and fewer than 400 are believed to remain in the wild.

Photos: The volunteers standing guard at one of Nepal’s human-wildlife frontiers
- CBAPU, a dedicated volunteer group, is actively working to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts in Nepal’s Bardiya National Park by preventing wildlife incursions and protecting local communities.
- The region experiences frequent human-wildlife conflict incidents, mostly involving elephants and tigers, leading to fatalities and injuries among both communities and wildlife.
- CBAPU’s initiatives combine local ecological knowledge with modern techniques like firecrackers, laser lights and drones to safely deter wildlife.
- Despite its successes, CBAPU faces challenges due to the lack of legal recognition, financial support and safety measures for volunteers, threatening the sustainability of their efforts.

Thailand’s ‘second’ tiger population stable, but barriers to expansion persist
Populations of the critically endangered Indochinese tigers in eastern Thailand’s forest reserves remained stable between 2018 and 2021, but a shortage of prey and the presence of highways prevented their expansion to promising habitat, a recent study has found. Scientists have been monitoring Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) populations across the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) […]
Jaguar tourism in Brazil’s Pantanal needs new rules to avoid collapse: Study
Jaguar tourism in Porto Jofre, a remote outpost in the Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil, has become so successful that researchers now say it needs new rules to survive. Brazil’s Pantanal is home to the second-largest population of jaguars (Panthera onca) in the world (after the Brazilian Amazon). An estimated 4,000-6,000 of the big cats […]
How cultural and religious beliefs combine for snow leopard conservation (commentary)
- “Deep-rooted cultural beliefs and legal protections continue to play a crucial role in safeguarding snow leopards, supported by awareness campaigns that reinforce traditional practices and conservation,” a new commentary explains.
- In many areas across their range where livestock are killed by the rare predators, farmers’ religious customs often dictate that they must not harmed in retaliation.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

What do CITES data tell us about the legal wildcat trade?
- All 40 species of wildcats are traded globally, both legally and illegally, posing conservation concerns for big and small cats.
- Wildcats are listed on CITES, the global international wildlife trade agreement, and analysis of data on wildcats for the last 25 years shows that most trade permits are issued for lions, followed by leopards, bobcats, Canada lynx and tigers.
- Although drivers of the trade vary for each species, data show a demand for body parts such as skin, claws and bones, and live animal trade is common for the most-traded wildcat species.

Fishing cats in India struggle to survive outside protected areas
The wetlands of West Bengal in eastern India are one of the country’s best habitats for the fishing cat, a species vulnerable to extinction. But a significant population of these fish-eating, mid-sized wildcats lives outside protected areas, putting them at high risk of road accidents and retaliatory killing, reports contributor Nabarun Guha for Mongabay India. […]
Smuggling networks exploit migrant debt to fuel tiger poaching in Malaysia, study shows
- Fewer than 150 critically endangered Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) remain in the wild, and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade poses a major threat to their survival.
- A new study links human trafficking to Malayan tiger poaching, tracing how indebted Vietnamese migrant workers in Malaysia enter the illegal wildlife trade, and how network managers and fishing boat captains smuggle tiger parts to Vietnam by boat.
- Unlike a single kingpin-controlled network, Malayan tiger trafficking is driven by interconnected, nonhierarchical and small Malaysia-based groups that adaptively cooperate to maintain a seamless supply chain, according to the study.
- To slow the illegal Malayan tiger trade, the authors call for increasing penalties for traffickers, deterring poachers through clear messaging, and prioritizing key coastal communities in both countries for interventions aimed at disrupting transboundary crime and diverting economically vulnerable people from joining the trade.

Chain-link fencing protects livestock from big cat attacks in Tanzania: Study
- Livestock farmers in the environs of Ruaha National Park in Tanzania have to remain vigilant at night to protect their animals from lion and leopard attacks in an area hosting 10% of the world’s wild lions.
- But a study reveals that fortified enclosures in neighborhoods can protect livestock from carnivore attacks, benefiting both the owners and their neighbors.
- Researchers discovered that predators avoid neighborhoods when pastoralists construct corrals using chain-link fencing, a more effective method than traditional African boma fences made of thorny bushes.
- Carnivores in neighborhoods with multiple enclosures face “more work,” making it difficult to pull animals out. The fences reduce availability and attractiveness, leading carnivores to avoid neighborhoods with high-density fortifications, according to Jonathan Salerno, the study’s lead author.

Vincent van der Merwe (1983-2025), champion of the cheetah
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay’s founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives, and story summaries. Vincent van der Merwe, champion of the cheetah, died March 16, aged 42. For a species built for speed, cheetahs have run out of room. In their native Africa, they are marooned on islands of fragmented habitat, hemmed […]
Nepal collaborates with neighbors to gain wildlife crime intel but struggles with enforcement
- Nepal collaborates with India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka through networks like South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), which have helped uncover major wildlife trafficking rackets.
- Overlapping jurisdictions, lack of expertise, and limited coordination between police, forest offices and the paramilitary security forces hinder effective prosecution of wildlife crimes in Nepal.
- While Nepal police have increased arrests and training, experts stress the need for better crime scene documentation, inter-agency coordination, and stricter enforcement of wildlife laws.

How bobcats protect us from diseases, Mongabay podcast explores
“Bobcats are disease defenders,” Zara McDonald, founder of the U.S.-based conservation nonprofit Felidae Conservation Fund, tells host Mike DiGirolamo on Mongabay’s weekly podcast Newscast in February. Today, bobcats (Lynx rufus) are North America’s most common small wildcat. But this wasn’t always the case: At the start of the 20th century, the bobcat population was close to […]
In Malawi reserve, contraceptives help balance lion and prey populations
- African Parks, a conservation nonprofit, introduced lions to Malawi’s Majete Wildlife Reserve in 2012, and since then, their number has grown to between 80 and 100, increasing the risk of prey depletion and human-wildlife conflict.
- To minimize risks and ensure balance in the ecosystem, African Parks introduced contraceptives in 2022 to manage the population in the 700-square-kilometer (270-square-mile) wildlife reserve and lower the productiveness of some lionesses.
- For contraception, only particular lions were chosen. About 80% of the population received the treatment, with adult females of breeding age serving as the main candidates, Craig Thomas, a conservation manager at Majete Wildlife Reserve, informs Mongabay.
- Contraception can potentially decrease birth rates in African lions by increasing the age of first reproduction or the intervals between births, an expert not associated with the project says.

Fishing cat home range far bigger than previously thought, Nepal study suggests
- A GPS-collaring study in southeastern Nepal found that fishing cats could have much larger home ranges than previously recorded.
- Contrary to popular belief among local communities, some fishing cats were found to inhabit human-dominated landscapes, rather than only visiting them at night.
- Researchers suggest that low prey density in Nepal’s Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve and more accurate GPS tracking may explain the larger home ranges observed.
- The study highlights the need for community engagement in conservation, as fishing cats help control rodent populations and face threats from habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict.

Chitwan city using Indo-Nepal wildlife corridor for waste dump
- Bharatpur Metropolitan City has been dumping waste in the Barandabhar corridor, an international wildlife passage, based on an initial environmental examination (IEE) that falsely claimed the site was barren and ignored the presence of more than 2,000 trees, including ecologically significant species like sal (Shorea robusta), a Mongabay investigation reveals.
- The landfill site disrupts a key corridor for species such as tigers (Panthera tigris) and rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), jeopardizing their movement and habitat. The federal government’s investment in an elevated road for safe wildlife passage may be undermined by ongoing waste disposal.
- Despite legal requirements for a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) for landfills in forest areas, the city relied on an outdated and misleading initial environmental assessment (IEE). The Department of Forests has not approved tree felling, yet local officials persist in waste dumping, citing lack of alternatives.

Ugandan researcher wins ‘Emerging Conservationist’ award for work on golden cats
- Ugandan conservationist Mwezi Badru Mugerwa has been awarded the Indianapolis Prize’s Emerging Conservationist Award for 2025.
- Mugerwa has dedicated the past 15 years working with local communities to stop the poaching of the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), a species endemic to West and Central Africa.
- He and his team at conservation organization Embaka are also using camera traps and artificial intelligence tools to monitor and survey the population of the species, and to gauge the impact of their work.

In a seasonally flooded Amazon forest, jaguars take to the trees
- A recent study has confirmed that Amazon jaguars have developed a fascinating strategy to face seasonal river flooding: when the waters rise and flood the forests, these felines begin to live up in the trees.
- The finding, made in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in Brazil’s western Amazon, surprised researchers who initially thought the animals would migrate to dry lands in search of prey.
- The research monitored 14 jaguars fitted with GPS collars between 2011 and 2020; the data showed the home range of these animals during floods remained virtually unchanged from during the dry season.
- While this adaptation is unique to Amazon jaguars, experts warn that variation in rain and flood cycles, aggravated by climate change, may pose yet another threat to this already near-threatened species.

Sweden to kill 87 Eurasian lynx despite complaints to EU Commission
Sweden has issued licenses to hunters to kill 87 Eurasian lynx between March 1 and Apr. 15. Conservation organizations say the annual hunts of the medium-sized wildcat violate environmental legislation of the European Union, of which Sweden is a part. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is categorized as vulnerable on Sweden’s red list, but the […]
Elusive wildlife shows up for photographer’s camera traps in Congo
- Photographer Will Burrard-Lucas deployed high-definition cameras at four sites in the Republic of Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park throughout 2023.
- The cameras captured a selection of beautiful photographs of seldom-seen wildlife.
- Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is home to significant populations of endangered mammals, including gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants.

Study links African lion survival to prey availability
- A recent study finds that African lion populations are declining as their herbivore prey are as well, prompting a need to protect these prey species to reverse the trend.
- Preventing prey depletion can help improve lion reproduction and population growth in areas prone to poaching for bushmeat, a leading cause of the species’ decline, the study notes.
- “In areas with high protection, the annual probability of [lion] population growth was 89.3%, but in areas with low protection the probability of growth was only 30.2%,” the study reads.
- The study underscores the importance of conservation programs that consider surrounding communities as crucial allies in species protection, says an expert.

Getting rewilding right with the reintroduction of small wildcats
- Four lynx were illegally released in Scotland earlier this year by an unknown party, sparking condemnation. One of the cats died shortly after capture. That release comes amid long-running discussions of a possible reintroduction of this wildcat to the United Kingdom.
- Conservationists are working to reintroduce small cats across the globe. There are about 40 recognized species of wildcats, including a handful of charismatic big cats and at least 33 small wildcat species — with some of the most threatened felid species numbering among them.
- Mongabay spoke to experts working on small cat recovery projects in various stages of progress to understand what can make small cat reintroductions successful.
- Small wildcat reintroductions are presently underway or under consideration on the Iberian Peninsula, in Scotland, Argentina, Taiwan, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand and elsewhere.

Volunteer radio station brings old media to remote Sumatran tiger habitat
- A volunteer radio station established by environmental nonprofits and staffed by local community members is bringing news and entertainment to villages around Bukit Rimbang Baling Wildlife Sanctuary, a Sumatran tiger habitat in Indonesia’s Riau province.
- Young volunteers at the station interned at a radio station on Java Island, where they learned to broadcast and repair transmitters in the remote Sumatran forest, which is inaccessible by road and has almost no cellphone service.
- The radio station offers a means for young people in disparate communities to share ideas and information on the economy and environment.

Bobcats benefit both human and ecological health, but their growing populations are often misunderstood
The bobcat population has rebounded over the past 125 years, making it North America’s most common wildcat: as of 2011, there were an estimated 3.5 million bobcats in the United States alone, a significant increase from the late 1990s. These intelligent felids, Lynx rufus, have benefited from conservation efforts that have increased their natural habitat. […]
Agriculture, illegal ranching and roads threaten the jaguar in Mesoamerica
- Jaguar habitats in the Mesoamerica region, spanning Mexico and Central America, are under severe threat from deforestation, illegal ranching, monoculture plantations, forest fires, and hunting, which disrupt connectivity between populations.
- Conservation efforts have focused on maintaining wildlife corridors, particularly in Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, to preserve genetic diversity and prevent population fragmentation.
- Local and international initiatives, such as the Jaguar Corridor Initiative and Jaguar 2030 plan, aim to protect Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs) and promote sustainable land-use alternatives to deforestation.
- Collaboration between governments, NGOs and Indigenous communities is crucial to securing jaguar populations, as well as the broader ecosystems they help regulate, experts say.

Leopards’ unique ‘sawing’ sounds could aid conservation efforts
- Leopards frequently make a distinctive, deep, guttural roar that is sometimes called “sawing” because it sounds like someone manually cutting wood.
- In a study published in the journal of Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, researchers discovered that by examining these sounds using a method called bioacoustics, they can monitor far wider areas.
- In Tanzania’s Nyerere National Park, the team used a camera trap and autonomous recordings to survey large African carnivores. They were able to identify individual leopards by their vocalizations with up to 93% accuracy.
- According to a specialist who was not involved in the study, identifying and tracking leopards by their roars demonstrates how cutting-edge concepts and tools can be used to unearth intriguing new information about the natural world.

Uganda’s tree-climbing lions grow scarce amid nationwide decline of the big cat
- Lion populations in six protected areas across Uganda have declined markedly over the past decade, a recent survey shows.
- The researchers attribute this decline, in some cases of nearly 50%, to poisoning of the big cats by livestock farmers, snaring by poachers, and habitat loss.
- They’ve called for greater community engagement in conservation efforts, including monitoring lion populations; for their survey, they trained more than 100 lodge guides, trophy hunters, university students and government rangers to help with monitoring.
- Another potential solution could be the adoption of AI to boost monitoring, not just of lions but also other large African carnivores, and understanding of the challenges faced by animals and people across a landscape.

Vietnam grapples with ‘alarming popularity’ of online illegal wildlife trade
- Illegal wildlife trade in threatened and protected species and their parts is occurring in plain sight online in Vietnam, according to a recent assessment by monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC.
- Items openly advertised for sale online in the country included products made from rhinos, tigers, elephants, pangolins and multiple other species protected by international and national wildlife laws, the study found.
- The rise of the online wildlife trade is a menace globally: The enhanced anonymity, ease of online transactions and range of evasive tactics deployed by online traffickers typically hampers investigation and prosecution efforts.
- The authors call on social media and e-commerce platforms to help curb the trade by improving their practices and collaborating closely with authorities to clamp down on illegal traders.

Do cheetahs scavenge? Yes, research says, but also not really
- Recently published research finds that cheetahs aren’t above scavenging other predators’ kills, contrary to the conventional wisdom that they only eat what they kill.
- Direct observations and by-catch data from carnivore research projects in three locations in South Africa and Malawi were used to gather information on cheetah scavenging.
- The researchers say that understanding these behavioral shifts is crucial for cheetah conservation, as successful reintroduction efforts depend on the ability of cheetahs to adapt to new environments and food acquisition strategies.
- However, other cheetah experts question how common this phenomenon is, given that the researchers only recorded three scavenging events between 2019 and 2023.

Helicopters slash the trek to Earth’s highest peak, but leave Sherpas grounded
- “Helicopter tourism” that brings trekkers to Base Camp of Sagarmatha (Everest) in Nepal and bypasses the long trek there is taking a toll on local Sherpa communities.
- By cutting short visitors’ time in the region, it reduces the earnings of porters, lodge owners and other small local businesses, as well as diminishes bonds with the community, according to residents living in the lap of Earth’s tallest mountain.
- Increasingly frequent helicopter flights have also brought noise pollution that impacts both wildlife and domestic livestock, while potentially exacerbating environmental risks like avalanches, landslides and glacial floods in the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.
- Local leaders and youth groups are advocating for stricter regulations to limit helicopter flights, reroute them from sensitive areas, and promote ecotourism practices that balance development with conservation.

1 lynx dead, 3 quarantined after suspected illegal release in Scotland
What started out as a reported sighting of a pair of Eurasian lynx in the Scottish Highlands has turned out to be an alleged case of “guerrilla rewilding” or, at the very least, illegal release of four individuals of a species long extinct in the area, media reports say. A pair of Eurasian lynx (Lynx […]
The paradox of balancing conservation efforts for Himalayan wolves and snow leopards (commentary)
- Although snow leopards cause greater livestock losses than Himalayan wolves, human communities generally show greater tolerance and acceptance toward snow leopards.
- This ‘predator paradox,’ where the more damaging predator is more tolerated, leads to less conservation support for wolves and more for snow leopards.
- “Both snow leopards and wolves are crucial to the Himalayan ecosystem, but conservation has overwhelmingly favored snow leopards. This disparity in attention and resources amplifies the challenges faced by wolves, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to conserve both species effectively,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Conservation corridors provide hope for Latin America’s felines
- Latin America’s feline species are losing their habitat and becoming trapped in small patches.
- Scientists are concerned about isolated populations and trapped individuals that are unable to migrate. This isn’t the only threat: reprisal hunting, vehicle collisions and the incursion of feral and undomesticated dogs into wild areas means that many cats could be on the path to extinction.
- Researchers say biological corridors are vital for their conservation.

Meet Africa’s most lethal cat: the black-footed cat
In this episode of Candid Animal Cam meet the African black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), one of the continent’s rarest and most lethal predators. Found only in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana, this tiny feline is known for its remarkable hunting accuracy—striking its prey 60% of the time, far outpacing even tigers. However, despite her prowess, […]
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 […]
A deadly parasite turns jaguar conservation into a human health priority
- Analysis of jaguar droppings in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands have uncovered the presence of Spirometra tapeworms, a parasite with significant ecological and public health implications that can be dangerous to people in its larval form.
- Pantanal ranchers typically see jaguars as pests because they prey on livestock; however, conservationists aim to reframe these big cats as allies in ecological balance, as they control parasite-carrying prey and serve as vital bioindicators of the biome’s health.
- The underreporting of parasitical infections in humans caused by Spirometra reveals a gap in public health awareness in Brazil, making the discovery of the parasite in jaguars a key breakthrough toward protecting communities.
- Educational workshops and practical measures, such as electric fencing, have significantly reduced jaguar-livestock conflicts while improving community practices and promoting coexistence between humans and the big cats.

Nepal PM sums up 2024 shift away from conservation: ‘Fewer tigers, less forest’
- Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli recently made remarks downplaying the significance of conservation efforts, suggesting reduced targets for tiger populations and forest cover, contradicting international commitments and national priorities.
- The comments come on the heels of the government introducing measures allowing large-scale infrastructure, including hydropower projects and hotels, in previously protected areas, raising concerns among conservationists, lawyers and Indigenous communities.
- The Supreme Court is reviewing a petition against these proposed changes, with a final ruling pending due to delays in court proceedings.

Still no sweet spot in 2024 for Nepal in balancing conservation & development
- Nepal faces ongoing challenges in balancing the development of infrastructure such as roads, railways and hydropower dams, with the need to conserve its rich biodiversity, forests and rivers.
- Infrastructure projects continue to raise ecological concerns, including habitat fragmentation, pollution, and risks to wildlife.
- Plans like the rerouting of the East-West Railway and buffer zones around rivers in Kathmandu have sparked protests due to fears of displacement, loss of property and economic hardships.
- These conflicts underline the challenges of aligning development with community and environmental needs.

Jaguar tracks still stained with blood in Bolivia
- In Ixiamas, an Amazonian town in Bolivia, community members are fighting to prevent jaguars from continuing to be victims of wildlife trafficking. Several jaguar deaths have been recorded between 2023 and 2024 but very little has been done to clarify the facts.
- Despite the increase in trafficking in jaguars and jaguar parts in Bolivia, there has been just one conviction, which was for the death of a jaguar in Santa Cruzand involved a Chinese citizen who was exporting fangs back to China.
- The Bolivian government has developed a jaguar conservation plan, which it plans to update next year. However, the project has not achieved the expected results.

In 2024, Nepal faced old & new challenges after tripling its tiger population
- Nepal successfully increased its wild tiger population, tripling numbers since 2010, but this achievement brings challenges like human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss and balancing conservation with development.
- Growing tiger populations in areas with dense human settlements have intensified conflicts, creating hardships for communities living near protected areas and raising concerns about fair compensation for losses.
- Expanding infrastructure, such as highways through tiger habitats, poses risks like habitat fragmentation and increased wildlife-vehicle collisions, with budget constraints limiting necessary safeguards.
- Local communities relying on forest resources, especially wild edibles, face dangers from tiger encounters, highlighting the need for safer practices and improved community management.

In 2024, Nepal’s elusive snow leopards pounce into spotlight
- The year 2024 marks significant milestones for snow leopard conservation in Nepal, one of the animal’s 12 range countries.
- A snow leopard was found roaming the country’s plains and provided a home in the country’s central zoo.
- With the launch of a new conservation action plan, the government has initiated a shift in its approach to save the animal.
- Snow leopards also found their way into the popular imagination of filmmakers and even cricket enthusiasts.

Clouded leopard sighting raises questions about conservation and research in Bangladesh
- Clouded leopards occur in some South and Southeast Asian countries, but have fast been losing their habitat and, in 2021, IUCN declared the carnivore a vulnerable species.
- In Bangladesh, where there is no official record of the species, wildlife researchers studying other wildlife recently spotted clouded leopards in their camera trap footage, raising hope for their habitat conservation.
- Researchers have expressed concern about the lack of intensive research and conservation strategies for endangered species in Bangladesh.

‘Missing’ tigers in India: Tracking gaps or oversight?
A curious case of missing tigers in India’s Ranthambore National Park has raised concerns about how authorities monitor and update fluctuating tiger numbers, and how they define “missing,” contributor Deshdeep Saxena reports for Mongabay India. In early November, Pavan Kumar Upadhyay, the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden of the state of […]
Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Tesso Nilo National Park was created to protect one of the largest remaining tracts of lowland forest on the island of Sumatra, and as a refuge for threatened wildlife such as critically endangered Sumatran tigers and elephants.
- Despite being declared a National Park in 2004 and expanded in 2009, Tesso Nilo has experienced continued deforestation in recent years, largely driven by the proliferation of oil palm plantations.
- Satellite data show Tesso Nilo lost 78% of its old growth rainforest between 2009 and 2023.
- Preliminary data for 2024, coupled with satellite imagery, show continued forest loss this year.

Nepal’s top court to rule next month on law allowing development in protected areas
- Nepal’s Supreme Court has completed hearings on a petition challenging changes to conservation laws and permitting infrastructure development in protected areas. A ruling is expected by Dec. 20.
- The law being challenged allows the government to designate areas within national parks as falling outside “highly sensitive zones” and thus opening them up to development projects like roads and hydropower.
- Conservationists argue this new definition threatens habitats and undermines decades of conservation progress.
- Conservationists fear that the law could exploit natural resources, displace local communities, and shrink critical habitats, jeopardizing Nepal’s protected area system and wildlife.

Camera traps reveal little-known Sumatran tiger forests need better protection
- A new camera-trapping study in Indonesia’s Aceh province has identified an ample but struggling population of Sumatran tigers, lending fresh urgency to calls from conservationists for greater protection efforts in the critically endangered subspecies’ northernmost stronghold forests.
- The study focused on the Ulu Masen Ecosystem, an expanse of unprotected and little-studied forest connected to the better-known Leuser Ecosystem, the only place on Earth that houses rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutans.
- The big cat population and its prey likely contend with intense poaching pressure, the study concludes; their forest home is also under threat from development pressure, illegal logging, rampant mining and agricultural encroachment.
- As a key part of the Leuser–Ulu Masen Tiger Conservation Landscape, experts say Ulu Masen merits more conservation focus to protect the tigers, their prey populations and their habitats.

Easy to catch, yet little known: Meet the Chinese mountain cat
- The Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti) is a little-known felid found only on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in northwestern China.
- The species was first photographed in the wild in 2007, and until recently, very little has been known about its distribution and basic ecology.
- Researchers collected vital data on an active Chinese mountain cat den in 2018, while a recent study in Menyuan county, Qinghai province, managed to GPS-collar Chinese mountain cats for the first time.
- Recent genetic research highlights the growing threat posed by hybridization with domestic cats.

Bobcats are back, and they’re helping protect people from zoonotic disease
- In the last 125 years, bobcats have recovered significantly from extremely low numbers, with several million individuals found throughout North America today.
- Living at the interface of urban and rural environments, bobcats face many human-caused dangers, including loss of habitat to roam, automobiles, and rodent poisons.
- Bobcats help reduce the spread of diseases from animals to humans partly because they and other large mammals are poor disease vectors. Bobcats also prey on the small rodents that easily transmit pathogens.
- It’s legal to hunt bobcats in most of the United States. California, which has for five years closed the bobcat season, may reinstate hunting in 2025. Some researchers suggest that regulators should more carefully consider the role thriving wildcat populations play in protecting human communities from zoonotic diseases before expanding hunting.

Killing of jaguar pushes species’ survival in Argentina’s Gran Chaco to the brink
- The recent killing of a jaguar by hunters increases the species’ risk of extinction in Argentina’s Gran Chaco landscape, where no more than 10 of the big cats are thought remain.
- Images of this particular jaguar were captured by camera trap twice this year as it traveled through a biological corridor; the next time it was photographed was on social media, where hunters posed with its carcass and its pelt.
- A tradition of hunting, lack of public awareness, persistent deforestation, and absence of female jaguars — there’s only one, recently rewilded into the area — are the biggest obstacles to the jaguar’s survival in the Argentine Gran Chaco.

Paraguay’s pumas adapt, with some help, to a ranch-filled landscape
- The creation of two biological corridors linking Paraguay’s largest national park to other protected areas is boosting efforts to conserve pumas, jaguars and other wildlife in country’s northern Chaco landscape.
- Paved roads, habitat fragmentation due to the expansion of the agricultural frontier, poaching, and conflicts over livestock predation are the main threats to the area’s big cats.
- Regulations for achieving sustainable development in the region include a requirement to maintain more than 25% of native forests across each farm, and stiff fines for noncompliance.

Study shows, via clouded leopards, how to better protect forests
- New research from Borneo suggests we could improve the efficacy of protected areas by better selecting where to locate them.
- A more “assertive” approach to protected area placement that prioritizes protection of high-biodiversity forest areas facing imminent development pressure could significantly improve conservation outcomes for key forest-dependent species, the study says.
- Improving protected area design and management is vital as the urgency of environmental action builds, especially in regions facing escalating development threats, such as Borneo.
- As in many parts of the world, Borneo’s existing network of protected areas are largely located in rugged and remote places that are safeguarded mainly by their inaccessibility to development, rather than by strategic conservation planning.

As Nepal counts its snow leopards, even the best estimate is still a guess
- A committee of experts is combining various studies across different times and regions to estimate Nepal’s snow leopard population for the first time using new standards.
- Past studies varied in their methodology, often leading to overestimates due to sampling bias. The committee is integrating camera-trap and genetic data from fragmented research across Nepal’s snow leopard habitat landscapes.
- Unlike tigers, Nepal’s better-known big cats, snow leopards live in rugged, expansive habitats, making simultaneous surveys across all habitats impractical. Setting up extensive camera traps, as is done for tigers, would be costly and logistically challenging.
- Accurate population estimates are crucial for funding and assessing conservation impact, though the elusive nature of snow leopards means even the best estimate, backed by science, will still be an educated guess.

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.

Inbreeding adds to growing threats to Africa’s smallest wildcat, study finds
- The tiny black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) is one of Africa’s rarest cats, only found in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, with a total population size of fewer than 10,000 individuals.
- The black-footed cat’s genome shows a high level of inbreeding, likely due to historic and recent habitat fragmentation, according to a newly published study.
- Inbreeding may increase the risk of amyloidosis, a fatal disease that kills about 70% of captive black-footed cats, and also affects wild populations.
- Long-term ecological studies of the black-footed cat in South Africa and Namibia finds that the species faces numerous complex threats, including land-use change, fragmentation, disease and climate change.

Elusive wildcats may hold the key to healthier forests in Africa
- Sarah Tossens, a Ph.D. researcher at Belgium’s University of Liège, is studying forest ecosystems in the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon to learn about the presence of leopards and golden cats and how they influence the ecosystem.
- Photographs from her camera traps have helped demonstrate where golden cats and leopards are living and where they’ve been lost, suggesting that sustainably managed logging concessions can be good habitat for these two cats — when poaching is controlled.
- Though her results are preliminary, experiments show that prey species may respond to the smell of wild cats, suggesting that animals in these forests eat fewer seeds when they think these predators are around. This finding could suggest wildcats help forests regenerate.

At Mexico’s school for jaguars, big cats learn skills to return to the wild
- In Oaxaca, southern Mexico, a multidisciplinary team is launching a program to return rescued wildcats to their natural habitat.
- The program is run by the foundation Jaguares en la Selva (Jaguars in the Wild) at the Yaguar Xoo sanctuary, where two wildlife enclosures have been designed for jaguars and pumas to learn to hunt and survive on their own.
- In 2021, the program successfully released two jaguars and is currently working to reintroduce two more jaguars and three pumas back into their natural habitats.

Tiger population census in Bangladesh shows a hopeful upward trend in the Sundarbans
- The latest tiger population census in Bangladesh, which was done by evaluating camera-trapping data, shows that the country is home to at least 125 adult Bengal tigers.
- The report shows almost a 10% increase since the last census in 2018 in the Sundarbans mangrove forests, which is considered to be Bangladesh’s only remaining habitat for tigers.
- Conservationists attribute this success to the efforts made in the region in recent years, including installing fences and increased patrolling against poaching.

Search for new territory led Nepal’s ‘low-altitude’ snow leopard to get lost
- In January 2024, a snow leopard was found far from its usual high-elevation habitat, roaming in Nepal’s eastern plains — a region that’s the turf of the tiger.
- Researchers now conclude that the snow leopard, around 1.5 to 2 years old, likely lost its way during dispersal, a natural process in which young animals leave their birth area to establish their own territory.
- An analysis of the animal’s scat revealed the snow leopard had fed on blue sheep shortly before it was found, suggesting it had come from a higher altitude and ruling out the possibility that it had escaped from captivity.

Africa’s little-known golden cat gets a conservation boost, with community help
- Mwezi “Badru” Mugerwa is a Uganda-based ecologist and conservationist whose work is focused on biodiversity monitoring using camera traps in East Africa’s rainforests, and specifically the African golden cat.
- In 2013, Mugerwa started his conservation nonprofit called Embaka, the local Rukiga name for the golden cat, to work with hunting communities around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
- The organization provides alternative livelihoods to communities through various initiatives to steer them away from hunting and snaring in the national park, which has impacted golden cat numbers there.
- This year, Mugerwa is leading a pan-African monitoring program for the species to assess its distribution, population density and threats, with an eye to replicating Embaka’s activities in other countries.

West Africa’s forgotten felines endangered by conflict and research gaps
- The WAP Complex of protected areas that straddles the border region of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger is one of West Africa’s most important protected areas and a haven for many iconic endangered species.
- Servals, caracals and African wildcats are also found in the WAP Complex, but almost nothing is known about their status, distribution, ecology or threats.
- Covert surveys of medicine markets in the region have found serval and caracal skins, though it’s not known if the skins originated within the WAP Complex.
- The presence of jihadist militants in the region severely impacts conservation and research, particularly in the Niger and Burkina Faso portions of the complex.

Caracal, meet penguin: How humans pushed unlikely predator and prey together
- A recent study finds that a group of caracals in South Africa has become regular seabird hunters, including eating endangered Cape cormorants and African penguins.
- The dietary shift is the result of generations of large-scale changes made to the Cape Peninsula by humans, predominantly since the arrival of the first European settlers.
- The changing landscape is causing species’ ranges to overlap more, and bringing new predators and prey into contact.
- In this system, solutions and conservation interventions are complex, as are people’s opinions about the correct way to manage the area.

Nepal’s snow leopard conservation shifts focus from research to conflict mitigation
- Nepal’s new snow leopard conservation plan for 2024-2030 marks a shift in focus from research and monitoring to community engagement and conflict resolution.
- The plan has a significantly increased budget of $14.24 million and allocates 26% to combat illegal wildlife trade by improving intelligence, law enforcement, and international collaboration.
- The plan acknowledges the impact of livestock depredation by snow leopards on local communities, which can lead to retaliatory killings and exacerbate human-wildlife conflict.
- Nepal still doesn’t have a scientific count of the number of snow leopards in the country.

Follow the prey: How servals adapt to an industrialized landscape
- A new study finds that servals have surprisingly high densities in the Sasol Secunda petrochemical industrial complex in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
- The study authors concluded that this wildcat, native to sub-Saharan African wetlands and savannas, can adapt to anywhere it can find abundant prey, no matter how disturbed by human presence.
- Highlighting the benefits of industrial sites for wildlife must, however, be contextualized to ensure that preserving natural habitats remains the priority, according to another cat expert.

For ranchers in Costa Rica, jaguars and pumas become unexpected allies
- Since 2013, a joint project between Costa Rican conservation authorities and wildcat NGO Panthera has worked to tackle the problem of jaguars and pumas preying on ranchers’ livestock.
- Over the years, it has introduced measures such as the installation of electric fences and the use of predator deterrence devices that have brought down predation numbers and also improved ranches’ productivity.
- The project’s information system has registered 507 reports of predation by jaguars, pumas and other wildcats, and offers crucial data to identify the main areas where these cats live and design intervention programs.
- With more than 400 farms participating in the project, it has proved effective in reducing economic loss caused by predation and improving the relationship between ranchers and conservation authorities.

Canine distemper likely infecting & killing Nepal’s leopards, study shows
- A recent study confirms that canine distemper virus (CDV) is circulating among common leopards (Panthera pardus) in Nepal, causing fatalities; this is the first documentation of live CDV in leopards, establishing a direct link to their deaths.
- Researchers analyzed tissue samples from leopards that exhibited symptoms such as difficulty breathing and seizures, collected from areas like Kathmandu and Dolakha; they identified the virus’ genetic material and confirmed it was the Asia-5 lineage of CDV.
- The presence of different sublineages (A, B and C) of CDV in leopards suggests they may have acquired the virus from multiple sources, including domestic dogs and wild carnivores, highlighting the potential for cross-species transmission.
- The researchers emphasize the importance of controlling CDV spread through dog vaccination, as vaccinating wild animals isn’t possible.

Experts call for urgent leopard conservation efforts in Bangladesh
- The Indian leopard was once prevalent across most the forests in the Bangladesh landscape, but is now critically endangered in the country.
- The big cat’s population has rapidly declined in the country due to habitat fragmentation and degradation, prey crisis and wildlife trafficking.
- Experts suggest taking urgent conservation initiatives for the neglected species and bringing it into national conservation focus in Bangladesh.

As in India, tigers in Nepal may seek refuge in sugarcane fields
- A fatal tiger attack occurred near a sugarcane field in Nepal in August, raising concerns about tigers using sugarcane farms as refuge.
- Sugarcane cultivation in Nepal has expanded significantly, from 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) in 1961 to 62,500 hectares (155,000 acres) in 2022, primarily in the Terai region where tiger populations have also grown.
- • Experts suggest that sugarcane fields may provide refuge or even habitat similar to tall grasslands in protected areas, potentially attracting tigers, especially weaker or dispersing individuals.
- While the phenomenon of “sugarcane tigers” is well documented in India, more research is needed in Nepal to determine the extent to which tigers use sugarcane farms.

Budget constraints limit wildlife protection in major Nepali road project
- Nepal is expanding a 115-kilometer (71-mile) section of its East-West Highway from two to four lanes, aiming to improve travel times and connectivity.
- The expanded highway passes through 11 forest patches near Chitwan National Park, raising concerns about wildlife safety and mobility.
- Budget constraints prevented the construction of wildlife overpasses and limited modifications to 12 key structures for animal crossings.
- Conservationists worry that without proper safeguards, the expanded highway could lead to increased wildlife-vehicle collisions and habitat fragmentation, potentially undermining conservation efforts in the region.

Nepal’s buffalo-kills-tiger story reveals deeper pains in compensation system
- A tethered buffalo killed a Bengal tiger on the fringes of Chitwan National Park in Nepal.
- The incident highlights lapses in the compensation system, particularly the lack of provisions for providing assistance to owners of domestic animals that are injured but do not die immediately from predator attacks.
- The buffalo owner says he bought the animal on loan and its milk was a vital source of income for the family.

How a fun women’s gathering led to small wildcat conservation in Peru’s Andes
- Habitat loss due to deforestation of Polylepis forests is increasing the incidence of human-wildlife conflict between communities and threatened feline species such as the Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), puma (Puma concolor) and pampas or Peruvian desert cat (Leopardus garleppi) in the central Andes of Peru.
- A pioneering new Indigenous women-led citizen science conservation project in the Ayacucho region of Central Peru aims to obtain baseline data on wildcats and mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
- At first, local women were quite bemused by the project, but they’ve slowly began to weave it into their lives, and find it enjoyable community space they can claim ownership over where men do not dominate.
- Since the start of the project, there’s been a reduction in puma and wildcat attacks on livestock and attitudes toward the animals are changing within the community.

Sumatran tiger confirmed killed by snare in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province
- Officials have confirmed that a Sumatran tiger was found killed by a snare in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province in late July, after farmers had reported encounters with the animal in human settlements over a period of around four months.
- The Sumatran tiger remains the most threatened tiger subspecies in the world, with fewer than 400 individuals estimated to remain in the wilds of Sumatra.
- Tiger species endemic to the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali were declared extinct during the 20th century following decades of hunting and deforestation.
- Researchers are calling for the various conservation and protected forests in West Sumatra and to unified into a single national park and for increased government regulation on snares.

‘Lost’ snow leopard to remain at Kathmandu zoo, officials say
- A snow leopard found in Nepal’s lowland at the start of the year will remain at Kathmandu’s Central Zoo, officials have announced.
- The juvenile male has recovered from injuries it had when it was found, and currently occupies a temperature-controlled quarantine shelter at the zoo.
- A committee formed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation recommended that the snow leopard should not be released back into the wild due to its prolonged captivity.
- Six months since its capture, there’s still no consensus as to how the mountain-dwelling snow leopard ended up in the plains, with theories ranging from natural dispersal to escape from traffickers.

Nepal’s railway rerouting plan to avoid Chitwan park sparks fiery backlash
- On July 14, residents of Bharatpur on the fringes of Chitwan National Park burned a vehicle of a survey team, mistaking them for officials planning a controversial railway project reroute.
- The government’s decision to reroute the railway through Bharatpur to avoid Chitwan National Park has sparked local protests due to fears of displacement and inadequate compensation.
- Bharatpur’s rapid development and population growth have heightened tensions, with residents demanding the railway be rerouted farther north to avoid their homes. But doing so may not be technically and financially possible.

Bangladesh wildlife sanctuary continues to lose primary forest
Primary forests inside Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuary, one of Bangladesh’s largest protected areas, continue to get cleared, recent satellite data show. The tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of Pablakhali have historically been home to rare and threatened species such as Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), sloth bears (Melursus ursinus), western hoolock gibbons (Hylobates […]
Where Javan leopards thrive, so do other wildlife, study shows
- Where Javan leopards thrive, the diversity and abundance of other wildlife species is also enhanced, a new study shows.
- Researchers used camera traps across Java from 2020 to 2022 to identify the richness of animal life in areas with more leopards.
- Many of these species, such as barking deer and wild boar, are leopard prey, while others, such as dhole wild dogs and Javan rhinos, aren’t.
- The study highlights the importance of targeted conservation strategies that also include protecting these other species and restoring habitats, to support the endangered Javan leopards and their ecosystems.

A Guatemalan reserve turns from civil war refuge to deforestation hotspot
- Illegal deforestation in Guatemala’s Sierra del Lacandón National Park is accelerating, driven by cattle ranching and drug-trafficking activities.
- The park is a critical biological corridor, home to numerous threatened species, and connects protected areas in Guatemala and Mexico.
- Indigenous communities, many of which settled in the area during the civil war, are now involved in deforestation activities under pressure from powerful political and economic figures, threatening the region’s ecological integrity.

Incredibly rare Iberian lynx making a “dramatic recovery”
Once on the verge of extinction, the Iberian lynx is making a dramatic comeback, according to a recent update by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2002, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), a spotted medium-sized cat with pointy ears and a face framed by a beard, was down to an estimated 62 […]
An Indigenous-led biodiversity credit scheme in the Colombian Amazon
A U.S.-based company Savimbo has an unusual biodiversity credit scheme on offer, reports Mongabay’s Shreya Dasgupta. “It is the only for-profit, biodiversity credit company that has been bringing Indigenous people to sit down in internal private meetings that are just between us and Savimbo to think about what biodiversity credit looks like for us, and […]
After 2-year wait, Sonoran wilderness protection law gets closer to reality
- In June 2022, the northwest Mexican state of Sonora’s Congress unanimously voted to create the country’s first easement system to protect privately owned wilderness spaces from development.
- For more than two years, the law was not published in the state’s legal register, so it never came into effect. In that time, at least two private conservation areas with the highest existing level of protection have been threatened by development.
- The law was finally published earlier this month, possibly with up to another year before the government publishes guidelines and the first easement is declared. At least two reserves plan to apply, and advocates hope their example will encourage other Mexican states to legislate easement designations.

Thai tiger numbers swell as prey populations stabilize in western forests
- Camera-trapping data revealed in a new study show a steady recovery of tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex over the past two decades.
- The tiger recovery has been mirrored by a simultaneous increase in the numbers of the tigers’ prey animals, such as sambar deer and types of wild cattle.
- The authors attribute the recovery of the tigers and their prey to long-term efforts to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to restore key habitats and water sources.
- Experts say the lessons learnt can be applied to support tiger recovery in other parts of Thailand and underscore the importance of the core WEFCOM population as a vital source of tigers repopulating adjacent landscapes.

Shrimp farms threaten Mexico’s mangroves and the jaguars that inhabit them
- Western Mexico’s rapidly expanding shrimp farms, many of which are illegal, are contributing to the deforestation of the Pacific coast’s mangroves, an important habitat for jaguars.
- Satellite images show the total surface area of shrimp ponds along Mexico’s Gulf of California increased by more than 1,100% between 1993 and 2021, to more than 114,000 hectares (282,000 acres).
- Researchers emphasize the importance of small private reserves, like La Papalota in the state of Nayarit, for jaguar conservation: These areas serve as critical sanctuaries and corridors between larger conservation sites, such as Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve, home to a fifth of Mexico’s mangroves.
- Conservationists say urgent action is required to safeguard the remaining mangroves and jaguars, yet efforts continue to be hindered by inadequate enforcement of protection laws and the alleged involvement of cartels reportedly using shrimp farms for money laundering.

In Brazil, conservationists try to save one of the world’s most endangered cats
- Muñoa’s Pampas cat, a small wild feline, is endemic to the Pampas grasslands that sprawl over southern Brazil, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.
- With fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild, experts call Muñoa’s pampas cat one of the most endangered felines in the world and warn it go extinct within 10 years as its natural habitat is cleared for cropland.
- Conservation plans to save the species include switching from monocultures to extensive ranching that preserves the natural grasslands, creating a captive-breeding program, and developing a trinational conservation agreement.
- Recent floods in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where many Muñoa’s Pampas cat sightings have been recorded, have currently halted all local conservation efforts, putting the future of this feline at risk.

Media must help reduce conflict between tigers and people in the Sundarbans (commentary)
- The Sundarbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest, supporting millions of people and myriad wildlife, including endangered tigers, which are increasingly killed for the wildlife trade or in retaliation for attacks on humans.
- Media outlets rarely focus on the root causes of this conflict – habitat loss, poaching, and illegal trade – and yet they often sensationalize tiger attacks, painting a picture of bloodthirsty beasts preying on innocent humans.
- “We must learn to live harmoniously with nature, not try to dominate it. This includes recognizing the power of the media to shape our perceptions and using that power responsibly to foster coexistence,” a Bangladeshi journalist argues in a new op-ed.
- This post is a commentary, the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Fear and hardship for the last community inside Chitwan, Nepal’s tiger central
- Residents of Nepal’s Madi Valley have for the last half century lived almost entirely surrounded by Chitwan National Park, famous for its tigers, leopards and rhinos.
- While the wildlife are a major tourist draw for the park, for the community they’re a constant source of fear, with attacks on people, livestock and crops far higher here than elsewhere in Nepal.
- The fate of the community epitomizes the tricky balance Nepal has tried to strike between conservation efforts and community welfare, complicated by cultural and political factors and the broader history of relocation in the Chitwan region.
- Though many residents have moved away from Madi, the poorest have been left behind, with no choice but to eke out a precarious existence as intruders on their own land.

Elusive jaguarundi inspires biologists to share data across Latin America
- The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) is a little-known small felid with a range extending from northern Argentina to Mexico. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in 1986.
- H. yagouaroundi is found in a variety of habitats, but is thought to occupy mostly rugged areas with good shrub cover, including near agricultural lands. Unlike most other felids, the jaguarundi is active during the day, which can easily bring it into conflict with farmers who don’t appreciate its habit of raiding chicken coops.
- Like most small, noncharismatic cat species, there’s little funding to learn more about the jaguarundi. But researchers are developing new tools, for example pooling sparse “bycatch” data gathered by many biologists from camera traps in widely scattered places and modeling it to predict habitat use and population size.
- An ongoing IUCN jaguarundi assessment is using a Google Forms questionnaire to reach out widely to researchers, governments and NGOs, while also using easily shared social media tools. A detailed understanding of jaguarundi behavior is needed to assure it is conserved both inside and outside protected areas.

Mysterious, at risk, understudied flat-headed cat lacks conservation focus
- Little is known about the elusive flat-headed cat, a cryptic Southeast Asian felid that’s found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and southern Thailand.
- This cat is endangered due to its habitat being converted to agricultural lands (including oil palm plantations), pollution and hunting. The small felid confounds researchers who struggle to capture it on camera traps, leaving huge knowledge gaps about its distribution and ecology.
- But collaring of the cat and tailored research is helping fill data gaps, with conservationists now planning range-wide targeted surveys and tagging efforts. Innovative research techniques, such as eDNA, could shed further light on populations, but these methods face their own implementation challenges.
- Protecting the flat-headed cat in the face of multiple threats requires more targeted research, much better funding, and specific targeted conservation action that is currently lacking.

Final cheetah conservationists freed in Iran, but the big cat’s outlook remains grim
- In April, the last four cheetah conservationists from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation jailed in 2018 for alleged espionage were released from prison in Tehran; four of their colleagues had been released earlier, while one had died in custody.
- The case had a chilling effect on scientific collaboration and efforts to save the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), which is today found only in Iran, with fewer than 30 believed to remain in the wild.
- The cheetah faces a range of threats, chief among them vehicle collisions: some 52% of cheetah deaths in Iran are due to road accidents.
- Saving the species will require a comprehensive and coordinated effort, and international scientific cooperation is crucial — but conservation work has been hampered by complex geopolitical dynamics, including sanctions.

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