|
In flood-prone Bangladesh, tiny homes are built to move with the river 21 May 2026 08:28:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-flood-prone-bangladesh-tiny-homes-are-built-to-move-with-the-river/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: In the northeast of Bangladesh, residents living along the Jamuna River face a relentless cycle of environmental upheaval. Every rainy season, severe flooding routinely invades homes and wipes out crops, turning daily life into a struggle for survival. For families in these areas of low-lying sand beds, locally known as char areas, land is affordable but highly vulnerable. Rebuilding after each monsoon has historically been an exhausting requirement. However, Mongabay’s Lucia Torres reports in a recent video that an innovative architectural design is helping to ease the struggle. Khandoker Mohammad Bulbul, a newly married farmer who recently moved to the region, explains the economic reality of living in such a high-risk area. “I can buy seven or eight times more land here because the land price is very low in char areas,” he tells Mongabay. However, the trade-off for that affordability is constant danger: during floods, Bulbul says, “water enters our house. Sometimes it comes up to our waist.” To break this cycle, architects from Dhaka are collaborating with rural communities to build Khudi Bari, or tiny houses, designed to withstand climate extremes. These simple, flood-resistant structures are engineered to respond to the region’s shifting topography and the constant threat of river erosion. The Khudi Bari concept offers two distinct advantages for river-basin communities. First, the dwellings are elevated off the ground, protecting families and food supplies during high water. Second, because the flooding rivers constantly change the topography of the area, the houses are designed to be easily relocated…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In the northeast of Bangladesh, residents living along the Jamuna River face a relentless cycle of environmental upheaval. Every rainy season, severe flooding routinely invades homes and wipes out crops, turning daily life into a struggle for survival. For families in these areas of low-lying sand beds, locally known as char areas, land is affordable […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New survey methods uncover new insights into Madagascar’s biodiversity 21 May 2026 08:15:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-survey-methods-uncover-new-insights-into-madagascars-biodiversity/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Mino Rakotovao content:encoded: Conservation biologist Dimby Raharinjanahary spent years walking through Madagascar’s forests, counting some of the island’s most visible species, such as lemurs and birds. Raharinjanahary was head of monitoring and research for the country’s national parks service from 2012 to 2018, when monitoring still relied largely on tracking a handful of species as indicators of forest condition and ecosystem health. “Conservation is based on a few target species. If you don’t see them, you say the forest is degraded,” he tells Mongabay. “But the opposite can also be true: you find them, and the forest is still degraded.” Raharinjanahary, now director of monitoring at the Madagascar Biodiversity Center, is part of a global initiative called LIFEPLAN that is working to improve this. LIFEPLAN expands biodiversity monitoring beyond a few target species to include a much wider range of organisms, including hyper-diverse and still poorly known groups such as arthropods and fungi. Setting up a Malaise trap for insects. Image courtesy of Dimby Raharinjanahary. Building a global picture of biodiversity Across 83 sites worldwide, researchers affiliated with LIFEPLAN simultaneously tracked arthropods, fungi, mammals and birds. Their work built on an earlier effort, the Insect Biome Atlas, which mapped insect biomass in Sweden and Madagascar between 2019 and 2020, before expanding into a broader global program covering multiple groups of organisms. The expanded program is using identical methods, repeated year-round and across continents to compare biodiversity consistently across sites and, in turn, explore how changes in climate or human pressure may shape future…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - LIFEPLAN tracks arthropods, fungi, mammals and birds simultaneously using identical methods repeated year-round across continents, generating one of the largest standardized biodiversity data sets ever assembled. - A forthcoming study found that geographic distance is a key driver of endemism in Madagascar’s arthropods. - Entomologists use LIFEPLAN data to identify new priority areas for insect conservation that are not represented in the current protected area network. - Researchers say they hope LIFEPLAN methods can support long-term biodiversity monitoring in Madagascar’s protected areas in collaboration with different partners. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Climate change triples chance of deadly 2026 South Asia pre-monsoon heatwave: Report 21 May 2026 06:55:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/climate-change-triples-chance-of-deadly-2026-south-asia-pre-monsoon-heatwave-report/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: From mid-April through May 2026, India and Pakistan were gripped by a heatwave that saw daily maximum temperatures soar above 46° Celsius (114.8° Fahrenheit) in numerous cities. This ongoing period of intense heat has resulted in at least 10 reported deaths in Karachi, Pakistan and 6 reported cases of deaths from heat stroke in India, as of April 27. A “super-rapid” study released by scientists from the World Weather Attribution indicates that such high temperature conditions in April are becoming more frequent, now occurring once every five years in the region. The researchers also found human-induced climate change made the 15-day heatwave period from April 15-29 approximately three times more likely than it would have been in a pre-industrial climate. The same heat “event would have been about 1°C (1.8°F) cooler in a pre-industrial climate.” “What used to be rare heat in South Asia is now a regular reality,” Mariam Zachariah, a research associate in extreme weather and climate change at Imperial College London, said in a statement. She noted the pre-monsoon period in the region is becoming both longer and hotter, forcing hundreds of millions to face extreme heat for a greater portion of the year. The sweltering conditions triggered record-high electricity demand across India and induced agricultural drought affecting over 1 million square kilometers (386,102 square miles), threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions dependent on farming. The heat also coincided with major election periods and census operations, exposing millions of voters and officials to dangerous conditions.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: From mid-April through May 2026, India and Pakistan were gripped by a heatwave that saw daily maximum temperatures soar above 46° Celsius (114.8° Fahrenheit) in numerous cities. This ongoing period of intense heat has resulted in at least 10 reported deaths in Karachi, Pakistan and 6 reported cases of deaths from heat stroke in India, […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
World burned less coal in 2025, but built more plants over energy uncertainty 21 May 2026 06:46:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/world-burned-less-coal-in-2025-but-built-more-plants-over-energy-uncertainty/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: Coal use across the world continued to drop in 2025, but there was an increase in the capacity to burn it, according to an annual report by data analysis group Global Energy Monitor. Overall power generation from coal declined by 0.6% last year, but the amount that was on call if needed for power grids rose by 3.5%. Most of that growth was concentrated in China, where additional coal capacity is increasingly considered a backup option to ensure energy security. While China added 78.1 gigawatts of coal power capacity in 2025, its actual use of coal power fell by 1.2%. This decline was notable as it came amid an overall rise in Chinese energy demand. According to the report, more than 90% of that increased demand was met not with coal, but with wind and solar. While China remains far and away the world’s largest user of coal, more of its energy needs are being met with renewables. India added the second-highest coal power capacity in 2025, but it also showed movement toward a cleaner grid. Along with record solar and wind power additions, renewables made up more than half of the country’s overall power capacity for the first time. Christine Shearer, lead researcher of the report on the global coal power fleet, said most of the new coal capacity added in India and China was commissioned years ago, before the market dynamics around renewables had changed. “By the time all these coal plants began operating in 2025, cheaper alternatives…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Global Energy Monitor released its annual review of global coal use, saying power generation dropped slightly in 2025. - While its overall use decreased, the amount of coal-fired power capacity rose by 3.5%, primarily due to new projects in China and India. - In the EU, nearly 70% of planned retirements of coal plants for 2025 failed to materialize, partly due to concerns over energy disruptions. - The U.S. was a major outlier, with policy interventions leading to a 13% increase in coal electricity generation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New conservation effort launched to protect coral reefs in Yap 21 May 2026 04:55:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-conservation-effort-launched-to-protect-coral-reefs-in-yap/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Conservation groups have launched a new initiative to safeguard coral reefs in Yap, a state in the Federated States of Micronesia, through both scientific innovation and traditional stewardship. The Yap Resilience Hub, a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), is a three-year project that seeks to support local conservation efforts through 2028. “Coral reefs are central to life in Yap and across island communities because they provide food, support livelihoods, and sustain cultural practices,” Berna Gorong, capacity building manager at TNC Micronesia & Polynesia, told Mongabay by email. The reefs are traditional fishing grounds managed under community and clan tenure and “closely tied to identity, stewardship, and daily life,” Gorong said. The Yap Resilience Hub plans to rely on a steering committee of government, traditional leaders and community representatives to help identify candidate reef areas for protection. The reefs will be selected based on five criteria, Gorong said, including their ecological condition and potential for recovery, connectivity to other reef systems, and community and governance readiness. Once priority reefs are identified, she said the project will support local action plans, ensuring that community priorities and local leadership remain at the forefront of the conservation strategy. “Capacity building and capacity-needs assessments will be central so local partners can sustain the work beyond the project period,” Gorong said. “By pairing community priorities with science, planning, and capacity building, [the project] aims to strengthen reef resilience and support the long-term well-being of Yap’s people and coastal…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Conservation groups have launched a new initiative to safeguard coral reefs in Yap, a state in the Federated States of Micronesia, through both scientific innovation and traditional stewardship. The Yap Resilience Hub, a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), is a three-year project that seeks to support local […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Rural women at increasing risk of human-wildlife conflict in Nepal 21 May 2026 04:16:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/rural-women-at-increasing-risk-of-human-wildlife-conflict-in-nepal/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: 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 for daily subsistence work, such as collecting firewood and fodder, reports contributor Tulsi Rauniyar for Mongabay. Most fatal wildlife encounters occur during routine activities. Binita Pariyar, a 17-year-old from a marginalized Dalit family, was killed by a tiger in December 2025 while cutting grass in the forest for her livestock. Following her death, five more people were killed in forests around Bardiya National Park within four weeks. Recent research indicates that nearly one-third of fatal attacks happen while herding cattle, and another third occur during grass cutting. Forest department records also show the majority of those attacked while cutting grass from 2021-2025 have been women. The forests they go to are specifically designated for the collection of fodder, firewood and grazing materials. Data from 2024 show that 84% of recorded attacks in Bardiya district occurred within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of forest boundaries. Many recent deaths have taken place in and around the Khata Corridor, a stretch of forest connecting Bardiya National Park with Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary across the Indian border. “Wildlife movement in the corridor often peaks in the early morning and at dusk, along forest edges, trails and water sources,” said Rama Mishra,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: 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 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Nepal proposes park for ‘problem’ tigers amid rising conflicts 21 May 2026 04:03:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/nepal-proposes-park-for-problem-tigers-amid-rising-conflicts/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: 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 Mukesh Pokhrel. Nepal’s tiger conservation has shown success, with the population of endangered Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) growing from 121 in 2009 to 355 in 2022. However, as the tiger population rises, so do human-tiger conflicts. Between 2019 and 2023, government records show 38 people died in tiger attacks, and 15 tigers were subsequently captured by authorities and placed in temporary holding centers. “Currently, we need to spend around 1.5 million rupees [about $10,000] annually for each captive tiger even if we feed it minimally,” said Hari Bhadra Acharya, a senior ecologist with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation under the Ministry of Forests and Environment, who chairs the committee that’s exploring the plan. According to Acharya, the proposed park would be self-financed, using tourism revenue from ticket sales to the park to fund food and veterinary care. This would allow the tigers to live in environments where they can roam and hide in tall grass rather than being confined to “cramped cages,” he added. Research indicates that only a small fraction of Nepal’s tiger population come into conflict with people. A 2017 study led by Babu Ram Lamichhane found that fewer than…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: 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 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Thai island community rallies to protect beloved dugongs, revive declining seagrass 21 May 2026 01:00:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/thai-island-community-rallies-to-protect-beloved-dugongs-revive-declining-seagrass/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: KOH LIBONG, Thailand — Growing up on the island of Koh Libong, Tipusa Sangsawang remembers fondly how vast numbers of dugongs used to feed on local seagrass meadows teaming with fish, crabs and mollusks. “Out there, it was like a football field,” Tipusa says, as she watches waves lap across a seemingly barren sandflat that fringes this stretch of shoreline. “It used to be green all around this area. Now, it’s only sand.” Fascinated by dugongs (Dugong dugon) since childhood, Tipusa remembers forming a special bond with one particular individual. Marium was an infant dugong brought into the care of marine officials in mid-2019 after fishers discovered her stranded ashore in Krabi province. With no mother or herd, she was moved to a semiwild enclosure farther south in Trang province, near Koh Libong, where authorities hoped to rehabilitate her. Tipusa was a member of the recovery team. She devoted all her time to Marium, swimming alongside her and monitoring her progress daily. The chubby and charismatic youngster quickly became a national sweetheart through social media. “She was like an angel who came to us with a message from the ocean,” Tipusa says. Despite the team’s efforts, Marium died 114 days after her initial rescue, having contracted a blood infection that autopsies indicated was likely linked to plastic ingestion. Her death sparked a rise in public awareness of marine plastic pollution in Thailand. The loss also strengthened Tipusa’s resolve to protect ocean life. “I told Marium she would be the last…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Seagrass beds around the island of Koh Libong in Thailand’s Andaman Sea have died off in recent years, part of wider nationwide declines scientists say have multiple, complex causes. - The seagrass shortage has devastated the island’s once famed dugong population, jeopardizing tourism businesses and impacting the island community who have long protected them. - Locals frustrated by slow government seagrass recovery plans are working with researchers and conservation groups to build citizen science skills and trial seagrass restoration techniques. - Signs of hope are emerging, with recent surveys recording more dugongs in local waters, prompting local leaders to call for increased public awareness and enforcement of protections. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Mexico rejects ‘Perfect Day’ waterpark on Caribbean coast, citing environmental risks 20 May 2026 23:04:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/mexico-rejects-perfect-day-waterpark-on-caribbean-coast-citing-environmental-risks/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: Environmental authorities in Mexico have rejected the proposal for a large waterpark in the southern state of Quintana Roo, citing risks for coastal ecosystems and local communities. Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico would have covered more than 80 hectares (200 acres) in the village of Mahahual with the “ultimate vacation for families,” including pools, restaurants and beaches. But officials this week shot down the project citing concerns about its potential impact on mangroves and coral reefs. “We are not going to do anything that puts the ecological balance of that area at risk,” President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo told the media at her daily morning press conference on Monday, May 18 Royal Caribbean told Reuters it respected Mexico’s decision to cancel the project and is still optimistic about investing in the country. The following day, Tuesday, May 19, Mexico’s secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, confirmed the decision at a press conference. “We, at Semarnat, will not approve it,” she said. By law, the agency reviews development projects and must approve their environmental viability before construction can begin. Mahahual, historically a fishing village, is located approximately 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, which is home to coral reefs and seagrass, among other sensitive marine ecosystems. The town itself also has around 50 hectares (124 acres) of mangroves and wetlands, according to an environmental impact assessment (EIA). Since 2001, a port used by cruise ships has steadily increased tourism to the area. Royal Caribbean, a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Environmental authorities in Mexico have rejected the proposal for a large waterpark in the southern state of Quintana Roo, citing risks for coastal ecosystems and local communities. Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico would have covered more than 80 hectares (200 acres) in the village of Mahahual with the “ultimate vacation for families,” including pools, restaurants […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Three baby pumas born in Minnesota, US, is a first in more than 100 years 20 May 2026 21:32:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/three-baby-pumas-born-in-minnesota-us-is-a-first-in-more-than-100-years/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: 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 with the University of Minnesota’s Voyageurs Wolf Project (VWP) detected that one of their radio-collared deer was dead. Upon investigation, they found, “the carcass buried under a pile of leaves on a hillside — a tell-tale sign of feline predation,” VWP said in a statement. At first, the researchers suspected a bobcat killed the deer, so they set up two trail cameras. They were surprised to find an adult female puma and her three kittens instead. “Without a doubt, our best trail camera capture yet,” VWP said. Pumas (Puma concolor), also known as cougars, mountain lions or panthers, have nearly as many names as habitats. Before settlers arrived in the New World, the cats could be found all the way from the subarctic in Canada to South America, from the Amazon to Patagonia. They ranged across the entire U.S. before hunting and habitat loss drove the largest remaining breeding populations to a few pockets of wilderness in the country’s west. There have been occasional sightings of pumas in the eastern U.S., such as in Connecticut. However, those were likely either escaped pets or lone males in search of a territory and a mate. Females…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: 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 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Humanity’s ancient bond with biodiversity is visible in rock art (analysis) 20 May 2026 21:22:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Kerry Bowman content:encoded: Across continents and cultures, one of the most striking features of ancient rock art is how often it places the natural world at its center. Whether etched into sandstone cliffs in the Sahara, painted in hidden shelters in Southern Africa, or drawn on stone faces deep in the Amazon, the recurring subject is not architecture, warfare or abstract political power. It is animals, forests, rivers, spirits of the land and the intimate relationship between people and the living world around them. I have seen rock art in remote regions of the Amazon, left by ancient San communities in Angola, across the Ennedi Plateau in Chad, and in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, I have come to believe that these works reveal something profound: long before the language of “biodiversity” existed, many human societies understood that their survival, identity and spirituality were inseparable from the ecosystems that sustained them. Modern conservation discourse often treats biodiversity as a scientific concept — a measurable index of species richness, ecological resilience and genetic variation. This framing is useful, but it can obscure an older and deeper truth. For much of human history, biodiversity was not an abstraction. It was immediate, sacred and embedded in daily life. The extraordinary prevalence of animal and ecological imagery in rock art across the world suggests that early human societies recognized, at minimum intuitively, the centrality of the natural world to both material survival and cultural meaning. Ancient rock art depicting wildlife and humans, Ennedi Plateau, Chad. Image courtesy…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Modern conservation treats biodiversity as a scientific concept, and while useful, the deeper truth is that for much of human history, it was not an abstraction but rather was immediate, sacred and embedded in daily life. - Ancient rock art makes this clear, as petroglyphs and panels often depict animals, and in relation to humans. It’s also a global phenomenon, not just an artistic expression centered in Europe. - “If so many human societies across history understood the natural world as worthy of depiction, reverence and symbolic centrality, what does it say about our own era that we are presiding over its rapid destruction?” a new analysis wonders. - This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Torrential rain and floods batter China, killing at least 12 and forcing mass evacuations 20 May 2026 20:46:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/torrential-rain-and-floods-batter-china-killing-at-least-12-and-forcing-mass-evacuations/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: BEIJING (AP) — Torrential rain and floods hit parts of China this week, killing at least 12 people and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate, state media reported. State broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday five deaths and 11 people missing in Shimen County of Hunan province in central China after rain battered the region. A rescue operation is underway. By Tuesday evening, more than 19,000 had been relocated, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported. Xinhua said the county recorded a cumulative rainfall of 339 millimeters (about 13 inches) within a 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. on Monday. One of its towns once received a rainfall of 240 millimeters (about 9 inches) within just a few hours, breaking historical records, it said. In nearby Hubei province, some streets were turned into rivers and rescuers had to deploy inflatable boats to help stranded residents. Some houses were flooded or collapsed, Xinhua reported. Three people were killed and four others were missing as of Tuesday morning, it said. CCTV on Tuesday also reported that heavy rain and floods have caused four deaths and left five others missing in Guizhou Province in southwestern China. In some areas, houses flooded, roads were damaged, and communications were disrupted, it said. One area had to relocate more than 3,700 people, Xinhua added. Flood-induced casualties are common in China. Last July, rains and flooding killed dozens of people in Beijing. Separately, 10 people were killed after a pickup truck fell off a bridge in the southern region of Guangxi on Saturday,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: BEIJING (AP) — Torrential rain and floods hit parts of China this week, killing at least 12 people and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate, state media reported. State broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday five deaths and 11 people missing in Shimen County of Hunan province in central China after rain battered the region. A […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Bangladesh salt farmers struggle as climate shifts disrupt harvests 20 May 2026 14:59:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/bangladesh-salt-farmers-struggle-as-climate-shifts-disrupt-harvests/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Sifayet Ullah content:encoded: Bent over a salt bed, a 55-year-old farmer, Nasir Uddin, was scooping up and throwing out water with a hand-made pot His field was flooded by a few hours of heavy overnight rain. On his 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) of salt plot located in southeastern Bangladesh, nearly 18 maunds of salt (each maund is equal to 40 kilograms, or 88 pounds) had been washed away just a day before harvesting. “I was expecting to collect salt today [April 16]. But the rain has damaged all the salt,” said Nasir, a farmer from Moulabir Gona village of Kutubdia subdistrict in Cox’s Bazar district. The farmer said the rainfall on April 15 happened when production is usually at its peak. “We didn’t experience rainfall in March-April in the past. But over the last 8-10 years, rain has started occurring during this time, even in December and January, during winters,” said Nasir, who has been cultivating salt for around 28 years. Like Nasir, thousands of salt farmers across the coastal belt are now facing similar losses from unseasonal rain, as erratic weather increasingly disrupts production. A salt farmer carries harvested salt from the field, transporting it for storage in nearby pits. Image by Sifayet Ullah. Climate variability emerges as a growing threat Salt farming is one of the largest seasonal livelihoods in the country. In the ongoing season, farming has taken place on more than 27,520 hectares (68,000 acres) of land across Cox’s Bazar’s Sadar, Kutubdia, Maheshkhali, Chakaria, Pekua, Eidgaon and Teknaf subdistricts…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Salt farming is one of the largest seasonal livelihood sources in Bangladesh’s southeastern part. About 40,000 farmers are engaged in salt farming on around 27,520 hectares (68,000 acres) of land across Cox’s Bazar district this year. - However, in recent years, unpredictable weather — such as increased rainy days and cold waves — has been disrupting salt production, forcing farmers to quit their generational livelihoods. - Usually, salt production depends on dry weather, strong sunlight and high temperatures to crystallize salty water into salt. - Experts caution that changing weather patterns could undermine both production stability and economic resilience of salt farming communities without adaptation measures. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ghost shark, carnivorous sponge among 1,000+ newly discovered marine species 20 May 2026 11:58:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/ghost-shark-carnivorous-sponge-among-1000-newly-discovered-marine-species/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: The third year of a global Ocean Census has revealed 1,121 potentially new-to-science marine species, including a worm that lives inside a “glass castle,” a ghost shark, and a carnivorous sponge. The Ocean Census, launched in April 2023, aims to discover and describe marine life “at speed and at scale” before it is lost. The initiative is a joint mission of the Nippon Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropic organization in Japan, and Nekton, a marine science and conservation institute in the U.K. In just three years, scientists from around the world have discovered more than 2,000 marine species. Of these, roughly half were found between April 2025 and March 2026, Michelle Taylor, head of science at the Ocean Census, told Mongabay by email. Among the newly described species is a polychaete worm, Dalhousiella yabukii, discovered last year during a deep-sea expedition off Tokyo. The worm, found at a depth of 791 meters (2,595 feet), lives in symbiotic relationship within a glass sponge. These sponges build castle-like structures using silica, the same material in glass. “The polychaete gains protection from the spiky glass silica spines that form the sponge architecture and the sponge gains nutrients from the polychaete. A match made in deep-sea heaven,” Taylor said. Newly discovered polychaete worm, Dalhousiella yabukii, that lives inside a “glass-castle”. Image courtesy of The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census/JAMSTEC. Other discoveries include a new species of ghost shark off Australia’s Queensland coast; a vibrant new ribbon worm found off Timor-Leste; and a shrimp discovered in a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The third year of a global Ocean Census has revealed 1,121 potentially new-to-science marine species, including a worm that lives inside a “glass castle,” a ghost shark, and a carnivorous sponge. The Ocean Census, launched in April 2023, aims to discover and describe marine life “at speed and at scale” before it is lost. The […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Communities say sacred groves are shrinking in India’s eastern ghats 20 May 2026 11:44:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/communities-say-sacred-groves-are-shrinking-in-indias-eastern-ghats/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Sacred groves in the Indian state of Odisha continue to be protected now, as they have for hundreds of years because of cultural and spiritual values associated with them, a recent study has found. However, the forests are decreasing in size, nearly all residents interviewed by researchers said. India is estimated to have roughly 100,000 sacred groves, the most of any country. The state of Odisha in the Eastern Ghats, a mountain range in India’s eastern coast, has more than 2,000 such groves, but they are poorly understood, the authors wrote. So, the research team interviewed 148 people living around 10 sacred groves in the state’s Mayurbhanj district to understand how they perceive the customs, uses, rules and traditions associated with those forests. Although the Santals, one of the largest tribal groups in India, dominate Mayurbhanj, the interviewees represented a diverse mix of “tribal or caste groups, including Santals, Gonds, Kolhas, Bhuyans, Gauda, Bathudi, Bhumij and Ho Munda,” the authors wrote. This suggests “that the sacred grove is a cultural concept that transcends not only ethnic groups but also other general communities in the district,” they added. The interviews revealed that the villages maintain and preserve the sacred groves as a form of worship for the forest god. Rules include no cutting trees in the groves or extracting natural resources for commercial sale, the respondents said. At the same time, the interviewees said they use 28 different species of plants from the sacred groves “for medicinal and religious purposes.” They…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Sacred groves in the Indian state of Odisha continue to be protected now, as they have for hundreds of years because of cultural and spiritual values associated with them, a recent study has found. However, the forests are decreasing in size, nearly all residents interviewed by researchers said. India is estimated to have roughly 100,000 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
A fever of mobula rays off Mexico’s coast: Photo of the week 20 May 2026 11:13:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-fever-of-mobula-rays-off-mexicos-coast-photo-of-the-week/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: During the mobula ray’s migration season, which runs from late April to July, the marine animals form massive aggregations called fevers. The image above was captured by Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler in Baja California, a northwestern state of Mexico. The region is home to at least five species of mobula rays. Mobula munkiana, commonly known as Munk’s devil ray or Munk’s pygmy devil ray, is the most common, and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The other four species are much scarcer due to slow reproductive rates and population decline due to fishing bycatch. The bentfin devil ray (Mobula thurstoni), spinetail devil ray (Mobula mobular) and sicklefin devil ray (Mobula tarapacana) are all critically endangered. The oceanic manta ray (Mobula birostris) is listed as endangered. Banner image: A fever of mobula rays photographed underwater in June 2025. Images by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: During the mobula ray’s migration season, which runs from late April to July, the marine animals form massive aggregations called fevers. The image above was captured by Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler in Baja California, a northwestern state of Mexico. The region is home to at least five species of mobula rays. Mobula […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Electric fences help farmers and elephants coexist in Zambian borderlands 20 May 2026 10:46:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/electric-fences-help-farmers-and-elephants-coexist-in-zambian-borderlands/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: LUNDAZI, Zambia — “It’s not possible [to coexist with elephants], because they are animals and we are human beings — they should have their own home,” says Esnart Banda, a Zambian farmer whose maize and tobacco fields lie 5 meters, just 16 feet, from the boundary of Malawi’s Kasungu National Park. Just two thin strands of orange, plastic-coated wire now stand between Banda’s crops and Kasungu’s elephants. The wires, known as polywire fencing and supplied by conservation group IFAW and Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), are strung taut between straight, evenly cut fence poles that Banda and her helpers erected. To the uninitiated, they hardly seem capable of stopping a herd of elephants. But Banda herself attests to their effectiveness. “It’s strong, it helps us,” she tells Mongabay. “If somebody touches it, they fall.” Farmer Harry Msimuko stands in front of wires that carry a powerful electric charge, protecting his own crops and those of 19 other households from elephants from nearby Kasungu National Park. Image by Ryan Truscott for Mongabay. On a neighboring farm, within sight of the bare granite faces of Malawi’s Miwonde Hills, Harry Msimuko shows off the “power house” in his living room: two solar-powered batteries with wiring snaking up the wall. When he flicks a switch at night, pulses of electricity run along 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) of fencing enclosing not only his crops but those of 19 neighbors. The only recent conflict, he says, has been with hyenas crossing from…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In 2015, Malawi and Zambia signed a treaty to create a transfrontier conservation area that allows wildlife to cross from Malawi’s Kasungu National Park, to Zambia’s Lukusuzi and Luambe national parks. - Much of Kasungu’s eastern boundary is fenced, but there’s no fence along its western boundary, located along Zambia’s eastern border. - This means the elephants can move out of the park into an area of human settlements to reach Lukusuzi. But they also raid farmers’ fields. - Conservation group IFAW is setting up cluster farms, surrounded by electric wires to prevent the elephants from destroying crops, giving them a chance to cross farmlands to reach secure rangelands in Zambia. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New animals discovered in Cambodian caves 20 May 2026 08:58:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-animals-discovered-in-cambodian-caves/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Shanna Hanburry content:encoded: Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in Cambodia’s karst ecosystems — dramatic landscapes of caves and rocks that create isolated habitats. These new species, as well as other endangered animals in the region highlight the importance of protecting these rare ecosystems.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in Cambodia’s karst ecosystems — dramatic landscapes of caves and rocks that create isolated habitats. These new species, as well as other endangered animals in the region highlight the importance of protecting these rare ecosystems. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Malaysia, a bridge helps endangered langurs and humans coexist 20 May 2026 03:46:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/05/in-malaysia-a-bridge-helps-endangered-langurs-and-humans-coexist/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Isabelle LeongPhilip Jacobson content:encoded: In Malaysia’s Penang state, conservationists and residents are collaborating to reduce conflict between humans and endangered dusky langurs displaced by urban development and habitat loss. The Langur Project Penang built a canopy bridge to help langurs safely cross a busy road and access more habitat, reducing time spent in residential areas and lowering complaints from residents. Malaysia’s wildlife agency receives thousands of wildlife complaints annually, and often responds with trapping, relocation or culling; but conservationists argue education and coexistence measures can be more sustainable responses to increasing human-wildlife encounters. The project’s success has depended heavily on local support and citizen scientists, with some residents gradually shifting from frustration toward compassion and acceptance of living alongside wildlife. TANJUNG BUNGAH, Malaysia — The 50-year-old mango tree growing through Tan Soo Siah’s second-story terrace is a favorite stopping place for the family of endangered monkeys that has taken up residence in a small park near his home in Malaysia’s Penang state. “Since everybody chases them away, I try to let them have a rest here,” says Tan, 64, who likes to watch the dusky langurs (Trachypithecus obscurus) from his bedroom window, peeking up at them playing in the foliage. Not everyone in Taman Concord, a residential community home mostly to retirees like Tan, is as taken with the langurs as he is. Around three years ago, the monkeys were inciting complaints from seniors who were fed up with langurs leaping across their houses, damaging their rooftops and denuding their gardens. Tan Soo Siah, a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In Malaysia’s Penang state, conservationists and residents are collaborating to reduce conflict between humans and endangered dusky langurs displaced by urban development and habitat loss. The Langur Project Penang built a canopy bridge to help langurs safely cross a busy road and access more habitat, reducing time spent in residential areas and lowering complaints from […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary) 20 May 2026 02:24:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Aida Greenbury content:encoded: In general, plantation companies view local communities and smallholders as obstacles to expanding operations and to securing social licenses. In deforestation-free supply chains, smallholders are also often treated as a risk. In my experience, this is one reason forest protection efforts fail: we don’t want to understand why smallholders are perceived as a risk. Yet many of the people closest to the forest are also the ones with the strongest reason to keep it standing. That was not how I saw things at the start of my career. Years inside corporate sustainability changed my view, as did many difficult conversations with communities. Customary forest behind smallholders oil palm plantation in Sanggau, West Kalimantan. Photo by Aida Greenbury. People often asked me, “How did someone like you, a corporate slave, end up working for smallholders?” It’s a long story. I worked for corporations for many years. Some people might remember me as Managing Director of Sustainability at one of the largest integrated forestry, pulp and paper companies headquartered in Indonesia. A forest-based company of that size in Indonesia is frequently criticized for deforestation. More than a decade ago, before I left the company, that work led me to help develop the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), a multistakeholder initiative to develop a deforestation-free methodology for extractive companies operating in humid tropical regions. With many existing deforestation standards unclear and rife with loopholes, adopting a clear, science-based deforestation-free methodology, supported by companies, NGOs, and other global stakeholders, was what I needed to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Smallholders are often treated as risks in deforestation-free supply chains, writes Aida Greenbury, yet many are also among the people with the strongest reason to keep forests standing. - Greenbury argues that standards, traceability rules and buyer requirements can push costs onto farmers who lack the maps, documents, legal recognition and market access needed to comply. - She says forest protection will work only if companies, donors, governments and NGOs make long-term commitments to smallholders, including support for land rights, incentives, better yields and trusted local institutions. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
An Australian icon, the platypus is struggling — and scientists still lack answers 20 May 2026 02:16:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/an-australian-icon-the-platypus-is-struggling-and-scientists-still-lack-answers/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Paul Harvey content:encoded: The platypus is an evolutionary anomaly. This duck-billed, semiaquatic mammal is both unique and rare. It’s just one of five egg-laying mammals on the planet. It nurses its young. And it also has reptilian traits: It has a cloaca, maintains a low body temperature (32° Celsius, or 90° Fahrenheit) and males have venomous spurs. It prefers the lush rivers along Australia’s east coast, using electroreception, sensing electrical stimuli to detect favored food, which includes larvae, shrimp and small crayfish on the riverbed. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) usually feeds during twilight at dusk and dawn, and is elusive, spending much of its life submerged. Its true population remains unknown. The IUCN Red List estimates 50,000 and classifies the species as near threatened. But that listing was based on an assessment done in 2014, which even then noted it was a “best estimate” and the population was decreasing. Gilad Bino, who leads the University of New South Wales Platypus Conservation Initiative, said he doubts those numbers. Platypuses are hard to find and count. They face a host of challenges, including destruction of their riparian habitat and encroaching human development. New research shows that environmental “threat scenarios” are raising the platypus’s risk of extinction. More frequent and extreme weather events endanger platypuses when drought dries the waters they inhabit, wildfires blaze through or floods inundate burrows before the animals can escape. The research, published in the journal Australian Mammalogy, calls for a proactive response, based on habitat and risk. But effective conservation, the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Australia’s iconic platypus is under threat as climate change hits the country hard. Intense heat and longer droughts are parching waterways that platypuses live in; wildfires are more frequent and heavy rainfall events inundate their burrows. - Platypuses are elusive animals, primarily active at dawn and dusk, making them difficult to locate and count, which hinders conservation efforts. Researchers are working to improve platypus population data. - Without comprehensive information on their whereabouts, conservationists can’t intervene early in natural disasters to save platypuses. - Australia’s intense three-year drought and the following 2019-2020 “Black Summer” bushfires led to new ways to manage wild platypus populations during natural disasters. Now, a new framework outlines ways to save populations in crisis: whether to help animals in situ or deciding to move them. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Texas man convicted of buying eagle parts from a wildlife trafficking ring 19 May 2026 23:34:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/texas-man-convicted-of-buying-eagle-parts-from-a-wildlife-trafficking-ring/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: A man from Humble, Texas, U.S., pled guilty to purchasing tails and sets of feathers from illegally killed bald and golden eagles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana. John Patrick Butler, 71, was sentenced May 5 to five years of probation and ordered to pay $77,500 in restitution. The bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) were killed on and around Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Another man, Travis John Branson, was convicted of killing the eagles and sending their body parts to Butler. In October 2024, Branson was sentenced to nearly four years in prison followed by three years of probation, and ordered to pay $777,250 in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana. A co-defendant accused of killing the birds, Simon Paul, is still at large, according to the release Branson sent the eagle parts to Butler in Texas through the mail. Postal records, along with text messages organizing the sales, lead to Butler’s conviction on conspiracy, unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles and purchasing illegally killed eagle parts in violation of the Lacey Act. Branson openly discussed illegally killing eagles in text messages, “out [here] committing felonies,” he said as he hunted the eagles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office He reportedly killed at least 118 eagles and 107 hawks and made as much as $360,000 doing it. “We are going to feel the impacts of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A man from Humble, Texas, U.S., pled guilty to purchasing tails and sets of feathers from illegally killed bald and golden eagles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana. John Patrick Butler, 71, was sentenced May 5 to five years of probation and ordered to pay $77,500 in restitution. The bald […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Measures must be taken now to prevent pandemics at the source, says epidemiologist 19 May 2026 21:33:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/measures-must-be-taken-now-to-prevent-pandemics-at-the-source-says-epidemiologist/ author: Mikedigirolamo dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: “[The]cruel irony here [is] that the world cannot get its act together to address these threats … people are dying, animals are suffering, we’re losing rainforest … these are all interconnected threats,” Neil Vora tells me on this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, just a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) reported more than 80 suspected deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo from an outbreak of the Ebola virus. Vora is a former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) epidemic intelligence service officer who deployed to the DRC to combat Ebola. He says the current strain, the Bundibugyo virus, is particularly dangerous because there is no current approved treatment or vaccine for it. While neither this virus nor the Andes virus, a type of hantavirus that originated in Chile and Argentina and killed three people on a cruise ship, is likely to cause a pandemic, says Vora, he stresses member states of the WHO are unprepared to address a pandemic should one occur. According to Vora, the WHO could have achieved a pandemic agreement to better address the threats pandemics pose. But that fell short when nations failed to adopt a system to equitably share tools such as vaccines. “ And now those discussions on the pandemic agreement have stalled, and days later, we have these two outbreaks of zoonotic viruses.” Vora stresses that measures can be taken now to help stop the risk of pandemics, such as by banning fur farms in the European Union;…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: “[The]cruel irony here [is] that the world cannot get its act together to address these threats … people are dying, animals are suffering, we’re losing rainforest … these are all interconnected threats,” Neil Vora tells me on this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, just a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) reported more […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Senate confirms Trump’s pick to lead federal land agency as drilling and mining expand 19 May 2026 20:24:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/senate-confirms-trumps-pick-to-lead-federal-land-agency-as-drilling-and-mining-expand/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the management of a quarter-billion acres of public lands on Monday, as the administration pushes ahead with more mining and drilling while reversing conservation plans. Former congressman Steve Pearce will lead the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management following Monday’s 46-43 confirmation vote. Pearce’s background as a Republican Party leader in New Mexico known for supporting public land leasing and industry made him a contentious pick. Democrats and environmental groups were strongly opposed. He attempted to assuage any fears during his February confirmation hearing by noting that he grew up on a family farm where conserving the land and water was a necessity. “The security and economic health of the country, especially the western states, rests squarely with the BLM,” he testified. “We can and must balance the different uses of public land. Local economies and future generations depend on us doing our job right.” The land bureau has about 10,000 employees who manage roughly 10% of land in the U.S. It’s also responsible for 700 million acres (283 million hectares) of underground minerals, including major reserves of oil, natural gas and coal. Trump and Republicans in Congress have been unraveling regulations from former President Joe Biden’s administration that are viewed as burdensome to industry. They have opened millions of acres of public lands for mining and drilling and canceled land plans and conservation strategies formulated under Biden. The Democratic Party of New Mexico has called Pearce “an outright enemy of public lands,” suggesting he’s beholden to the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the management of a quarter-billion acres of public lands on Monday, as the administration pushes ahead with more mining and drilling while reversing conservation plans. Former congressman Steve Pearce will lead the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management following Monday’s 46-43 confirmation vote. Pearce’s background as a Republican Party […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
On Southeast Asia’s largest lake, locals wield tech to defend the flooded forest 19 May 2026 18:04:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/on-southeast-asias-largest-lake-locals-wield-tech-to-defend-the-flooded-forest/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Claire Turrell content:encoded: “When the forest [is] healthy, fish can breed and grow. But if the forest burns, the fish disappear — and that affects the livelihoods of our whole community,” says Luon Chanleng, a fisher from Tonle Sap. “I can’t imagine our life without the forest.” Tonle Sap in Cambodia is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Each year, when the dry season sets in from around January to June, the waters of the flooded forest recede, the mangrove roots poke out through the mud, and the flooded forest turns into a tinder box. More than a million people live around the lake and depend on it for their livelihoods, homes and nutrition. Yet, the freshwater mangroves or “flooded forest” that surround the lake are shrinking. A study by the Wonders of the Mekong project, led by the University of Nevada in the U.S., found that nearly a third of forests in flood plains like the Tonle Sap area were lost between 1993 and 2017. “It primarily seems to be driven by two activities: One is conversion of flooded forest for agriculture, and then the second is forest fires,” says Zeb Hogan, director of the Wonders of the Mekong project. Now, the Tonle Sap community is fighting back. Seventy-eight people, including Luon, have trained as community firefighters, and are now using satellite wildfire alerts to help them curb the devastation. According to records kept by U.S.-based NGO Conservation International, which receives the satellite alerts and forwards them to the patrol team,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Communities living around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap are using a combination of natural and technological solutions to help protect the lake and its surrounding forests from fires. - A community savings initiative funds patrol teams, which respond to satellite alerts and have stopped more than 50 wildfires. - Local residents are also restoring the forest by growing native trees in community nurseries. - Threatened wildlife are returning as a result of these efforts: the fishing cat has been spotted for the first time in 10 years in the restoration area. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
He survived a deadly attack, now he is calling for better working conditions for rangers in DRC 19 May 2026 16:43:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/he-survived-a-deadly-attack-now-he-is-calling-for-better-working-conditions-for-rangers-in-drc/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa, protecting nature can cost you your life. For years, rangers operating in parks such as Virunga and Kahuzi-Biega have worked amid armed groups, illegal natural resource trafficking, community tensions, and chronic violence that has already claimed the lives of hundreds of their colleagues. Yet despite their central role in protecting biodiversity and some of the world’s most important forests, many continue to work with little support, low salaries, and highly precarious conditions. For Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo, this reality is deeply personal. A former Virunga ranger who is now an official at Kahuzi-Biega National Park, he survived a deadly ambush in 2018 by a community-based militia group known locally as Mai-Mai. Several of his colleagues were killed in the ambush. Shot, psychologically traumatized, and later prosecuted in a military court in a case linked to park protection, he could have walked away. Instead, Bahati chose to tell his story in a book titled Conservation at the Cost of My Youth: The Survival of a Ranger, a raw account of the sacrifices, fears, political pressures, and often invisible realities faced by forest rangers in eastern DRC. In this interview with Mongabay, Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo reflects on his journey, the ambush that nearly killed him, the trauma experienced by rangers, the conflicts between conservation and local community survival, and the political interference complicating the protection of protected areas. Beyond the personal story, however, his testimony is also a call to action: to finally recognize…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The international community has set ambitious goals to protect nature, the latest aiming to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. Rangers are at the center of this effort. According to the International Ranger Federation, they play a crucial role in protecting protected areas and achieving global conservation targets. - But in many protected areas, rangers are increasingly exposed to violence, often confronting armed groups with limited support, particularly in unstable regions such as eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. - For Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo, this reality is not abstract — it is deeply personal. In 2018, he narrowly survived an attack by Mai-Mai fighters (an armed group operating in the DRC). Unlike many rangers who have lost their lives protecting nature in eastern DRC, he survived. More than 100 rangers are believed to have been killed in Virunga National Park over the past decade. - Seeking to shed light on the realities and working conditions of rangers in the DRC, Bahati recently published a book titled Conservation at the Cost of My Youth: The Survival of a Ranger, in which he recounts the life of a ranger in eastern DRC. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Study gathers over 4,000 photos to find Bolivia’s rarest Amazonian dog 19 May 2026 15:04:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/study-gathers-over-4000-photos-to-find-bolivias-rarest-amazonian-dog/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Iván Paredes Tamayo content:encoded: It has a fox-like snout, webbed toes and a thick tail. It’s called the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis), but also the ghost dog (perro fantasma in Spanish) in Bolivia, and the Amazonian dog. It’s one of the world’s least-known canids and one of the least frequently sighted carnivores in Latin America. Now, though, a study conducted over the course of more than two decades — from 2001 to 2024 — in Bolivia has revealed more than 4,600 camera-trap images that show how it lives, the places it inhabits, and why this species is so dependent on South America’s forests remaining intact to survive. The research underscores that the ghost dog is very much an Amazonian species, and in particular a forest one. In Bolivia, it can be spotted in the country’s continuous Amazonian forests, in the northern portion of the department of La Paz, but also in the department of Pando, in northern and northeastern Beni, and in the far north and northeast of Santa Cruz. It’s also found in the pre-Amazonian forests of the Andes mountain range, also called piedmont forests, at elevations up to 750 meters (2,460 feet). Robert Wallace, a British biologist from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Bolivia and a co-author of the new study, said the team conducted a systematic review of published and unpublished distribution records of the species in Bolivia. Throughout the 23 years, they also carried out 34 intensive camera-trap surveys in the lowland areas of the Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape (in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A study conducted for more than 20 years with camera-trap surveys in different parts of the Bolivian Amazon has recorded 594 independent events for the short-eared dog in more than 4,600 images. - This species, popularly known in Bolivia as the ghost dog, is one of the least-known canids in the world. Its survival depends highly on the quality of its natural habitat, according to experts. - In the Bolivian forests, it can generally be found in protected areas or Indigenous territories, which scientists say underscores the importance of these kinds of areas for biodiversity conservation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Tiremakers ready to roll with EUDR, but repeated delays frustrate industry 19 May 2026 10:00:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tiremakers-ready-to-roll-with-eudr-but-repeated-delays-frustrate-industry/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Ruth Kamnitzer content:encoded: The tire manufacturing industry, a major consumer of natural rubber, says it’s ready for the European Union Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, but remains concerned over the latest delay in the rule’s implementation. The EUDR aims to prevent products linked to deforestation from being sold in the EU market. Rubber is one of the seven commodities targeted under the rule that’s set to take effect at the end of this year. Natural rubber is collected by scoring the bark of the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) and collecting the milky white latex. At the base of the natural rubber supply chain are 6 million smallholders, mostly in Southeast Asia and, increasingly, West Africa, who produce about 85% of the world’s natural rubber. These farmers may have just a hectare or two of land under rubber, in multiple plots, and are independent, selling to multiple agents. The latex they harvest may then pass through numerous intermediary agents before in-country processing or export, making traceability within supply chains exceedingly complex. Under the EUDR, companies placing goods containing natural rubber on the EU market will have to show that the rubber didn’t come from recently deforested land, and that it was produced in compliance with local laws. That will mean they must have traceability throughout their supply chains. Originally slated to come into force in 2024, the EUDR’s implementation has been delayed twice. Large and medium-sized companies will now have until Dec. 30, 2026, to be EUDR-compliant, while small and micro-operators will be given a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Tire manufacturers, major consumers of natural rubber, say they’re ready for the implementation of the EU’s antideforestation regulation, or EUDR, and lament its repeated delays. - Natural rubber supply chains are notoriously complex, with 85% of natural rubber coming from 6 million smallholders, and the rubber passing through numerous intermediaries before being turned into tires. - Ensuring EUDR compliance throughout natural rubber supply chains remains challenging; European tire industry representatives also point to ongoing problems with the information system and due diligence requirements in downstream supply chains. - The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, made up of industry, civil society and producers, promotes sustainability within the natural rubber supply chain and supports smallholders. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Rising waters and mounting pressures collide on Kenya’s Lake Turkana 19 May 2026 08:04:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Christopher Clark content:encoded: KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman says, pointing toward the western shoreline of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest permanent desert lake, just visible a couple of kilometers away. “But now it’s underwater.” Over the last 15 years, Lake Turkana has risen by about 8-10 meters (26-33 feet). That’s increased its surface area by around 10%. In and around the fishing hub of Kalokol, hundreds of people have been displaced by this steady advance. In Esirite’s case, the village where he grew up, Natole, has long since been abandoned. The fisherman has had to relocate three times since 2014, pushed ever farther from his ancestral land and the nearshore breeding grounds he has fished for most of his life. “We are suffering, but no one is helping us,” he says. “We can only pray to God for assistance.” But even the church where Esirite used to pray is underwater. What is happening in Kalokol is part of a wider trend. Since the early 2010s, many lakes across Kenya’s Rift Valley have flooded, their expansion accelerating after particularly heavy rains in 2020, forcing tens of thousands from their homes. But here, in this long-neglected northern corner of the country, the human and environmental…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Lake Turkana in northern Kenya has risen by as much as 10 meters (33 feet) over the past 15 years, displacing communities, flooding infrastructure and reshaping fisheries in one of the country’s most climate-vulnerable regions. - Scientists and local residents are still debating the causes of the lake’s expansion, with theories ranging from heavier rainfall linked to climate change, to tectonic and groundwater shifts, while researchers say Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam upstream has also altered the lake’s ecological dynamics. - Fishers around the lake say catches have declined sharply in recent years as changing water levels alter breeding grounds and fish distribution, while drought drives more pastoralists to rely on fishing for survival. - Researchers and local advocates say Lake Turkana suffers from decades of poorly planned development and limited scientific monitoring, though new efforts are underway to improve data collection and guide more sustainable management of the lake and its fisheries. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
‘Turkana has always adapted to change’: Interview with environmentalist Ikal Angelei 19 May 2026 08:02:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Christopher Clark content:encoded: Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What has changed is the scale and intensity of pressures now converging on and around the lake — from increasingly erratic climate patterns and mounting strain on fisheries, to oil development, resource conflict, and the political decisions now shaping the lake’s future. In 2008, Ikal Angelei was working as a program coordinator at the Turkana Basin Institute, a pioneering research center focused on human origins and the environment, when she first heard from visiting scientists about a huge hydroelectric dam being built across the border in Ethiopia. Concerned about the Gibe III Dam’s potentially devastating impact downstream, on Lake Turkana and the communities that depend on it, Angelei founded a grassroots organization called Friends of Lake Turkana to amplify the voices of people who had been excluded from the consultation process and fight the project. In 2012, Angelei was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy. Her organization continues to work with and on behalf of communities within the greater Turkana Basin to demand collective social, economic, cultural, environmental and territorial justice. Mongabay spoke with Angelei about resilience, reductive narratives, and what Turkana’s history might reveal about its future. This interview has been lightly edited…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Local livelihoods around Kenya’s Lake Turkana have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapted to a landscape defined by fluctuation. - But as the scale and intensity of erratic climate patterns, mounting pressure on its fisheries, and conflict over resources has increased, their space has shrunk. - The lake has long been a place where the poorest could make a living, but as the economic value of resources here increases, there is a risk that they will be pushed out by those better placed to access infrastructure and opportunities. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indonesia’s nickel boom linked to rising illness and worker harm, reports find 19 May 2026 07:47:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesias-nickel-boom-linked-to-rising-illness-and-worker-harm-reports-find/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Rabul SawalYulia Adiningsih content:encoded: HALMAHERA, Indonesia — New research examining Indonesia’s vast nickel-processing regions has documented rising rates of ill health and workplace harm linked to a key industry supplying the global energy transition. A report published in April by Indonesia’s human rights commission, known as Komnas HAM, cited Central Sulawesi provincial health data showing respiratory infections reached 305,191 diagnoses in 2024, a 26% increase over the 262,160 cases recorded in 2023. In the Central Sulawesi district of Morowali, home to Southeast Asia’s largest nickel processing estate, the PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), the number of respiratory infections diagnosed in 2024 was 57,190. The IWIP industrial area, which has been tied to mercury and arsenic exposure. Image by Garry Latulung. A civil society coalition protests in front of the PT IWIP office in Jakarta. Image by Christ Belseran/Mongabay Indonesia. “Communities living near mining and smelter areas are at higher risk due to exposure to dust and emissions from production processes,” said Uli Parulian Sihombing, a coordinator at Komnas HAM. The rights commission called for greater state intervention to uphold rights in and around Central Sulawesi’s nickel processing estates. “Based on these findings, this study concludes that the state has failed to guarantee protection of human rights in the nickel mining and processing sector,” the Komnas HAM report concluded. The report also noted the increase in deforestation recorded on Central Sulawesi tied to the booming mining sector. “This situation is exacerbated by massive ecological damage that has led to a health crisis for communities…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A newly published report by Indonesia’s human rights commission, Komnas HAM, includes new evidence of environmental and public health harms caused by the nickel mining industry in eastern Indonesia. - Mongabay Indonesia has previously reported on increases in respiratory disease recorded by health workers in a community alongside the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park in North Maluku province. - The Komnas HAM human rights report also includes data showing high rates of respiratory disease around the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park in Central Sulawesi province. - A separate report published by a labor nonprofit focusing on interviews with workers showed many knew of colleagues who had died suddenly, while reports of suicide were common. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Timor green pigeon could go extinct without immediate action, study finds 19 May 2026 05:15:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/timor-green-pigeon-could-go-extinct-without-immediate-action-study-finds/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: The extremely rare Timor green pigeon has fewer than 500 individuals left in the wild, according to a recent study. Researchers say its extinction risk must be revised from endangered to critically endangered. The fruit-eating Timor green pigeon (Treron psittaceus), known for its distinctive mango-green plumage, is “endemic to Timor, Rote and adjacent satellite islands” in eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Once numbering in the tens of thousands, the bird’s population has suffered over recent decades. The species is currently classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List, with an estimated global population of 660-2,000 mature individuals. However, by compiling published observations and data from field surveys conducted from 2002-2025, researchers now conservatively estimate that only 100 to 500 individuals remain globally. The species is now considered nearly extinct in Indonesia, with no records in West Timor since 2005 and none in Rote since 2009. “While there has been loss of forest habitat on Timor and Rote islands over the past 100 years or so, hunting over recent decades is responsible for the catastrophic collapse of Timor green pigeon populations,” lead author Colin Trainor of Charles Darwin University, Australia, told Mongabay. The bird is particularly vulnerable due to its lack of a flight response. Hunters in Lautem district in eastern Timor-Leste call the bird tule (meaning deaf) because the flock often continues to feed even after rifles are fired, allowing several birds to be shot in a single session , the authors wrote. Jafet Potenzo Lopes, study co-author from Conservation International, told…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The extremely rare Timor green pigeon has fewer than 500 individuals left in the wild, according to a recent study. Researchers say its extinction risk must be revised from endangered to critically endangered. The fruit-eating Timor green pigeon (Treron psittaceus), known for its distinctive mango-green plumage, is “endemic to Timor, Rote and adjacent satellite islands” […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Philippine fishing and Indigenous communities wary of clean energy boom in Marcos stronghold 18 May 2026 23:28:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/philippine-fishing-and-indigenous-communities-wary-of-clean-energy-boom-in-marcos-stronghold/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Michael Beltran content:encoded: PASUQUIN, Philippines — Crouched on the beach under the hot noon sun, a fisherman flattens a black sheet of seaweed on a bamboo mat rolled out on the sand. Wearing a straw hat wide enough to shade his entire body, he tucks his legs in to avoid getting burned. Gamet, a rare and coveted variety of seaweed local to the coasts of the Philippines’ Ilocos Norte province, is both a staple to fishing communities and a popular souvenir for travelers. But harvesting the highly sought-after seaweed can be a dangerous task. Like the better-known nori, it belongs to the Bangiaceae family of red algae and grows exclusively on the sharp, pointed rocks along the cooler waters of the northern Philippine coast. At the other end of the beach, Ed Singson, leader of the local fishing association, has just come ashore with a bucket of fresh gamet. Taking a handful of seaweed from his bucket, he says, “We will protest on the seas for this if we have to.” Singson, 55, and his fellow fisherfolk have learned from local authorities about plans by a foreign company to build a vast stretch of offshore wind turbines on traditional fishing grounds. They say they fear the construction, vibrations and, eventually, the completed structures could disrupt their fishing routes and local marine life. A fisher in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, flattens a sheet of Gamet to dry on the beach. Image by Michael Beltran for Mongabay. ‘Renewable energy capital’ Ilocos Norte, the northwestern tip of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Philippines is currently highly dependent on fossil fuels for energy generation, but the government has committed to reaching 50% renewables by 2050. - The resulting energy boom — especially in Ilocos North, the president’s home province — has seen an influx of foreign investment, but also raised questions about who will bear the costs of the country’s energy transition. - Fishers in Ilocos Norte say they worry that wind energy projects in their traditional fishing grounds will disrupt marine life and fishing routes. - Inland, the Masamuyao Isneg Yapayao tribal council is trying to stop the expansion of a solar farm that officials say failed to obtain the tribe’s consent. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Organized crime adds to environmental destruction in the Amazon, report finds 18 May 2026 18:30:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/organized-crime-adds-to-environmental-destruction-in-the-amazon-report-finds/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: A new report by the International Crisis Group finds that organized crime has become a “major obstacle” to protecting the Amazon. Criminal groups often operate across borders and are expanding control over huge swathes of land, which undermines state efforts to combat environmental crimes such as drug trafficking, deforestation and illegal mining. “In Colombia, park rangers have been blocked from entering their own protected areas by non-state armed groups, leaving vast stretches of forest unmonitored and effectively undefended,” report author Bram Ebus, an International Crisis Group consultant and founder of Amazon Underworld, an investigative journalism project, told Mongabay via WhatsApp messages. “NGOs [non-governmental organizations], U.N. agencies and bodies belonging to the environment ministry have similarly been denied access to Amazon territories with troubling regularity, meaning that local development programs, reforestation initiatives and conservation efforts simply cannot be carried out.” Ebus said this is not incidental and that armed groups deliberately keep communities at a distance from the state to maintain a governance vacuum that serves their economic and territorial interests. The spread of organized crime has fueled rising violence and environmental damage across the Amazon including in Colombia’s Putumayo, Caquetá and Amazonas departments. The Comandos de la Frontera, a FARC dissident group that controls coca plantations and illegal mines, exerts control in those areas. Other criminal organizations operating across the Amazon, including in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru are also driving instability and environmental harm. While criminals continue to expand their reach and coordinate with one another, the report says national…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A new report by the International Crisis Group finds that organized crime has become a “major obstacle” to protecting the Amazon. Criminal groups often operate across borders and are expanding control over huge swathes of land, which undermines state efforts to combat environmental crimes such as drug trafficking, deforestation and illegal mining. “In Colombia, park […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Who controls Indian Ocean tuna? 18 May 2026 18:20:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/05/who-controls-indian-ocean-tuna/ author: Alejandroprescottcornejo dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: The Indian Ocean hosts one of the world’s largest tuna fisheries, supplying global seafood markets and sustaining livelihoods across dozens of coastal nations. But scientists warn some stocks are under mounting pressure as foreign-owned industrial fleets continue to overfish tuna and coastal countries expand their fisheries — intensifying disputes over how the resource is managed. This Special Issue reported by editor Malavika Vyawahare examines the politics, science and competing interests shaping the region’s tuna fishery.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The Indian Ocean hosts one of the world’s largest tuna fisheries, supplying global seafood markets and sustaining livelihoods across dozens of coastal nations. But scientists warn some stocks are under mounting pressure as foreign-owned industrial fleets continue to overfish tuna and coastal countries expand their fisheries — intensifying disputes over how the resource is managed. […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
19,000 Great Pyramids a year: Report flags unsustainable rate of sand mining 18 May 2026 17:33:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/19000-great-pyramids-a-year-report-flags-unsustainable-rate-of-sand-mining/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: Sand is the most widely extracted solid material on Earth. The global sand mining industry removes roughly 50 billion metric tons of it a year, a pace that far outstrips the planet’s natural replenishment rates, according to a new report from the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP). Excessive sand extraction from landscapes, rivers and coastal zones threatens ecosystems, livelihoods and many processes on which life depends, the report says. Yet the current pace of removal — enough to build more than 19,000 Great Pyramids of Giza — is only set to grow, with demand for buildings alone expected to rise 45% by 2060. Without coordinated governance, stronger monitoring and long-term planning to mitigate the risks of surging global demand, the industry will continue operating at an unsustainable level, the authors say. The report, published by UNEP’s Global Resource Information Database Geneva (GRID-Geneva) team, calls on industry stakeholders to improve extraction practices to use sand more wisely by balancing meeting demand with environmental protection. Sand is used to make concrete to build everything from homes and offices to roads and seawalls. It’s also used to manufacture glass and silicon-based components like electronic chips and solar panels. “Sand is sometimes referred as the unrecognized hero of development,” Pascal Peduzzi, director of UNEP’s GRID-Geneva program, said in a press release. However, its role in sustaining biodiversity and coastal communities already vulnerable to the impacts of environmental change is too often overlooked, he added. “Sand is our first line of defence against sea level rise,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new analysis of global sand extraction indicates the industry is removing roughly 50 billion metric tons a year, a pace that far outstrips natural replenishment. - Experts say the loss of sand from landscapes, river deltas, and coastal zones threatens ecosystems, livelihoods and many processes on which life depends. - Although the sand mining industry is operating at unsustainable levels, experts say measures exist to lessen its impact. - Solutions include coordinated governance, stronger monitoring and long-term, cross-border planning. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Trump called trophy hunting a “horror show,” but permitted 300-plus elephant trophy imports in 2025 18 May 2026 15:33:55 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/trump-called-trophy-hunting-a-horror-show-but-permitted-300-plus-elephant-trophy-imports-in-2025/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: The U.S. issued more than 300 elephant trophy import permits during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to records obtained by U.S.-based NGO the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). It’s the most ever issued on Trump’s watch in a year, and indicates that as many as 300 elephants were killed. Trophies are usually the taxidermied heads or feet, which hunters display in their homes as décor. Tanya Sanerib, the center’s international legal director who analyzed the data, called the permit numbers “alarming.” It’s a 154% increase in the total number of elephant trophy import permits issued during all of Trump’s first term. Because elephants are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), importers need a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to bring elephant trophies into the country. In 2018, the agency issued 114 permits. That dropped to just four in 2019 and none in 2020 and 2021. Receiving a permit does not necessarily mean an elephant was killed that year. Some hunters apply for permits before going on a hunting trip; others apply after an animal is killed. Each permit is valid for a year. African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) are an endangered species. In the 1800s, about 26 million roamed the continent. But poaching for the international trade in ivory crashed their numbers: Since 1965, 60% of them were slaughtered for their tusks. Only about 415,000 remain today. While the ivory trade has declined, this wide-ranging pachyderm’s habitat…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - More than 300 elephant trophy import permits were issued in 2025 under Donald Trump’s second presidency, the most ever issued under the Trump administration. - In 2017, after Trump called trophy hunting a “horror show,” his administration convened a pro-hunting board to rework import rules; it dissolved after a lawsuit. Now, Safari Club International has petitioned to dilute protections for elephants in the U.S. to facilitate trophy imports. - Nearly two-thirds of the imported trophies came from Botswana, which renewed elephant hunting in 2018 after a brief pause. - Since trophy hunters selectively target “supertuskers” — older males with the largest tusks — conservationists say they are being killed at a rate that raises concerns for the future of endangered savanna elephants. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Nepal’s plan to release blackbucks into tiger country raises red flags 18 May 2026 12:58:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-plan-to-release-blackbucks-into-tiger-country-raises-red-flags/ author: Nandithachandraprakash dc:creator: Bibek Bhandari content:encoded: KATHMANDU — Nepal is preparing to relocate blackbucks from protected areas in the country’s west to the south-central lowlands, in an effort to expand the species’ population beyond its current range. But conservationists have raised questions about the suitability of the new site, including the increased risk of predation. Under the plan, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) will release 18 blackbucks (Antilope cervicapra) in Tikauli, a corridor forest area near Chitwan National Park. The animals, six males and 12 females, will be translocated from Shuklaphanta National Park and Blackbuck Conservation Area, located in Nepal’s far-western and southwestern regions, respectively. “We will be translocating them as soon as possible,” said Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at DNPWC who has planned the translocation for nearly five years now. “It will be a mix of young and subadult individuals. The main objective of this translocation is to revive the blackbuck population in a different geographic location and habitat area, so if they’re impacted by disease or disaster in one area, there will be an alternate secure population.” Blackbucks are an antelope species native to the Indian subcontinent, and were once widely distributed across the region. Today, India has the largest population of blackbucks, while the species occurs in small, fragmented pockets in Nepal, considered the northernmost extent of its range. Although the species as a whole isn’t considered in danger of extinction on the IUCN Red List, within Nepal it’s classified as critically endangered, and in Bangladesh and Pakistan has…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Nepali authorities will relocate 18 blackbucks to an enclosure near Chitwan National Park to establish a new habitat for the critically endangered animals, which in Nepal are currently found only in Bardiya and Shuklaphanta. - However, Chitwan’s monsoonal climate, competition from other deer species, and the presence of tigers and leopards are likely to increase physiological and behavioral stress for the blackbucks, conservationists warn. - They’ve also flagged the relocation enclosure’s proximity to a municipal waste dump and a carnival ground, and warned of potential disturbances from tourists. - Earlier translocations to Shuklaphanta were considered successful, helping to boost Nepal’s blackbuck population, largely in human-managed landscapes; but ecologists say true success will be achieved only when the animals are released into the wild and can sustain a self-sufficient, breeding population. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Jane Goodall’s grandson on hope after loss 18 May 2026 12:12:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/jane-goodalls-grandson-on-hope-after-loss/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Five months after Jane Goodall’s death, her grandson Merlin Van Lawick appeared at the ChangeNOW environmental forum in Paris carrying something both public and personal. He was there not as a substitute for his grandmother, but as someone shaped by her work and now helping to carry it forward, reports Mongabay’s Juliette Chapalain. The easiest way to misunderstand Goodall’s message is to treat hope as a feeling. For Goodall, as Van Lawick describes it, hope was closer to discipline. She used the image of a dark tunnel with a light at the end. The light did not come to you. You had to crawl toward it, over obstacles and under them. “Hope is rooted in action,” he said. That phrase can sound almost too easy until one considers the work behind it. Goodall’s career began with field research at Gombe in Tanzania, where she helped change how science understood chimpanzees. It became something larger: a life spent asking people to see animals as individuals, ecosystems as living communities, and young people as participants rather than spectators. In Van Lawick’s telling, Goodall’s influence came through example. She did not push people into service. She made them aware of the consequences of their choices, then left the decision to them. Even with her grandchildren, the pressure was light. Van Lawick once wanted to be a footballer. She told him she thought he would become a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Five months after Jane Goodall’s death, her grandson Merlin Van Lawick appeared at the ChangeNOW environmental forum in Paris carrying something both public and personal. He was there not as a substitute for his grandmother, but as someone […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Fire at WCS Makira Natural Park office allegedly linked to patrol efforts 18 May 2026 11:40:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fire-at-wcs-makira-natural-park-office-allegedly-linked-to-patrol-efforts/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Rivonala Razafison content:encoded: ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — On May 4, angry residents allegedly set fire to Wildlife Conservation Society’s office overseeing Makira Natural Park in northeast Madagascar. WCS, a New York-based NGO present in Madagascar since 1993, manages the reserve. Photos shared by Malagasy activist Clovis Razafimalala on Facebook show that the fire destroyed the office located in the rural municipality of Ambinanitelo. The WCS staff present at the site are believed to be safe. Local authorities are investigating the alleged attack, and initial interviews suggest a run-in between illegal loggers and forest guards might be at the heart of the incident. According to Jean Roger, a representative of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Maroantsetra district, forest guards alerted him and the local police about the existence of illegal logging activity in the core area of Makira Park, which is spread across 372,470 hectares (920,000 acres, roughly three times the size of Los Angeles). A team consisting of environment ministry representatives, WCS-backed eco-guards and gendarmes were deployed in response to the alert, Roger told Mongabay via a phone call. In the field, they faced four men who appeared ready to transport cut logs and two other men carrying chainsaws. One of the chainsaw-wielding men escaped while the rest of them were captured, according to Roger. The gendarme is a kind of militarized police force that sometimes gets involved in tackling illicit activities at protected sites. “The eco-guards were not a part of the arrest,” a spokesperson for WCS, who did not…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - An angry crowd allegedly set fire to a site office of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Ambinanitelo Maroantsetra, in northeastern Madagascar, on May 4. - Photos circulating on social media show that the office was destroyed; the staff are believed to be safe. - Six men were allegedly caught logging in the core of Makira Natural Park, managed by WCS. An environment ministry official suggested that their capture angered nearby residents. - Local authorities are waiting for tensions to subside before resuming the probe, as they say it might place WCS staff and park personnel at risk. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Elephants return to Mount Elgon side of Uganda after four decades 18 May 2026 10:03:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Benjamin Jumbe content:encoded: According to monitoring with tracking collars by the Mount Elgon Foundation (MEF), last year at least 60 elephants crossed from Kenya into the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon, a vast volcanic mountain that straddles the border, returning to a part of their natural range where they’ve not been seen for over 40 years. MEF funds community projects aimed at reducing forest degradation and raising awareness of environmental issues, as well as a team of 18 community scouts on the Kenyan side of the mountain, part of the East African Wild Life Society’s Mount Elgon Elephant Project. MEF’s chair, Chris Powles, told Mongabay that back in 2022, scouts tracked four elephants crossing the Suam river, which marks the border between the two countries. Drone footage of elephants on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon. Image courtesy of UWA. In an email interview, Powles said a number of factors could explain the elephants’ return, though it’s impossible to say for certain what’s prompted them to reestablish themselves. “[These] include the growth of the elephant population on the Kenya side, the increasing human pressure on the Kenya side, the relative safety for them on the Uganda side as it is all national park (unlike in Kenya),” he wrote. “And, maybe, the elephants alive from the time when others of them were killed in Uganda have now died naturally and so their memory of what happened in Uganda may have passed.” In the late 1970s and 80s, elephants in Uganda and other parts of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Monitoring of elephants on Mount Elgon, on the Uganda-Kenya border, shows a herd of elephants have crossed over to the Ugandan side, into areas they had largely abandoned since the 1970s. - The Uganda Wildlife Authority says their return is a positive sign that efforts to restore degraded forest in Mount Elgon National Park is succeeding. - Residents of Bukwo district, which overlaps with the national park, say elephants destroyed crops in 2025 but UWA rangers have so far prevented this in 2026. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
War on Iran may threaten conservation of the world’s rarest big cat 18 May 2026 08:54:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/war-on-iran-may-threaten-conservation-of-the-worlds-rarest-big-cat/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: 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 30 individuals estimated to remain in the wild in Iran. Before the war began in February 2026, conservationists observed a rare sign of hope: a female cheetah named Helia was filmed in North Khorasan province with five cubs, the largest litter ever recorded for the subspecies. Bagher Nezami, national director of the Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, told Iranian media that these were “ID-carded” individuals being monitored by researchers. However, access to protected areas for nongovernmental groups has now “slowed down considerably,” interrupting long-term monitoring and camera trapping, a local conservationist told Mongabay, speaking on condition of anonymity. There are also fears that conservation vehicles could be misidentified as military targets in the remote desert landscapes where the cheetahs live. Sarah Durant, a research scientist at the Zoological Society of London, emphasized the protection of field scientists, park rangers, and Indigenous peoples during armed conflict is “a matter of urgent international concern.” Beyond the direct impact of combat, Western sanctions on Iran have also taken a toll. “Critical activities such as monitoring, law enforcement and the development of wildlife-friendly infrastructure have declined,” the authors of a 2025 study wrote. “These limitations have contributed to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: 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 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
More than a million live birds imported to Asia in 15 years, report finds 18 May 2026 05:16:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/more-than-a-million-live-birds-imported-to-asia-in-15-years-report-finds/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Hong Kong and Singapore imported more than 1 million live wild birds between 2006 and 2020, according to a new analysis of customs data published in Conservation Biology. Nearly two-thirds of the birds were from Africa. The study highlights a massive, often under-regulated trade that threatens wild populations and poses significant risks for the spread of invasive species and deadly diseases, Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman reports. Rowan Martin, director of bird trade at the World Parrot Trust, and his colleagues used U.N. Comtrade data to track the trade of wild birds. They found that Singapore accounted for nearly three-quarters of the imports, and Hong Kong was a second hub. Canaries (Crithagra spp.) topped the list of birds entering Hong Kong, with the yellow-fronted canary (C. mozambica) and white-rumped seedeater (C. leucopygia) making up 84% of African imports between 2015 and 2020. Martin’s team found that about 65% of the birds came from Africa. Mali, Guinea, Tanzania, and Mozambique were the primary exporters. “African birds are prominent because there’s been very little regulation of the exports,” Martin told Mongabay. “There are relatively few large-scale exporters operating in West Africa, and often these family businesses have big holding facilities where they aggregate birds prior to export.” Martin and his colleagues found bird imports to Hong Kong and Singapore increased after 2006. He credits this to rising middle-class wealth in Asia, more flight connectivity, and social media, which facilitates connections between exporters and buyers. Simon Bruslund, a bird trade researcher from the Copenhagen Zoo…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Hong Kong and Singapore imported more than 1 million live wild birds between 2006 and 2020, according to a new analysis of customs data published in Conservation Biology. Nearly two-thirds of the birds were from Africa. The study highlights a massive, often under-regulated trade that threatens wild populations and poses significant risks for the spread […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
FIFA’s World Cup heat measures may not go far enough, expert warns 18 May 2026 04:55:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/fifas-world-cup-heat-measures-may-not-go-far-enough-expert-warns/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Measures proposed by organizers of the upcoming FIFA World Cup won’t be sufficient to protect players and fans from the significantly higher risk of extreme heat and humidity expected at this year’s tournament, a medical expert warns. In December 2025, FIFA announced there would be three-minute hydration breaks for players in each half of every game “to ensure the best possible conditions for players”. However, a recent analysis says conditions at the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, will be much warmer than during the USA ’94 tournament. Scientists from World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international initiative studying the role of climate change in extreme events, warn that human-induced climate change has nearly doubled the likelihood of dangerously hot match conditions since then. That makes it much more difficult for the body to dissipate heat, said Chris Mullington, a consultant anesthetist and clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London. “That matters because footballers generate large amounts of metabolic heat during repeated sprints, accelerations, and high-intensity play,” he said at a press briefing. “As WGBT rises, the body’s usual cooling mechanisms become less effective.” WGBT is the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WGBT) index, a combined measure of humidity, wind, air temperature and direct sunlight, which gives the “real feel” of heat on the human body. Mullington said high WBGT can compel players to “reduce high intensity running, sprint less often, pace themselves more conservatively, and experience impaired decision making as thermal strain accumulates.” The WWA analysis identified…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Measures proposed by organizers of the upcoming FIFA World Cup won’t be sufficient to protect players and fans from the significantly higher risk of extreme heat and humidity expected at this year’s tournament, a medical expert warns. In December 2025, FIFA announced there would be three-minute hydration breaks for players in each half of every […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Monica Montefalcone, leading seagrass scientist, dies in Maldives diving accident, aged 51 16 May 2026 09:34:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: To Monica Montefalcone, the sea was a place to study: its plants, reefs, hidden habitats and seasonal changes. A meadow of Posidonia oceanica was not just a patch of green beneath the water. It provided a nursery, offered shelter, stored carbon, and afforded coastal protection. To most swimmers it might have looked like seagrass. To Montefalcone it was a living system, and one that recovered slowly once damaged. That slowness mattered. Posidonia grows at a pace that does not fit human timetables. In the Mediterranean, more than half of its meadows have been lost over the past century; in Liguria, the losses were especially severe. Laws and European directives could help protect what remained, she argued, but protection alone was not enough. Where hundreds of hectares had disappeared, waiting for nature to repair itself would mean leaving the work to future generations. Active restoration, including the manual replanting of seagrass, was therefore a practical response to a practical problem. Monica Montefalcone. From Sky TG24 Montefalcone, who died on May 14th in a diving accident in the Maldives, was 51. Her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, 23, died with her, along with Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow who had worked with her, Federico Gualtieri, a recent marine-biology graduate, and Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor and boat operations manager. Four of the victims were connected to the University of Genoa, where Montefalcone was an associate professor of ecology. The group had been diving in caves in Vaavu Atoll. The final details of the accident…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Monica Montefalcone, a University of Genoa marine ecologist and leading expert on Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica meadows, died in a diving accident in the Maldives at age 51. - Her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, 23, died with her, along with three other Italians, four of whom were connected to the University of Genoa. - Montefalcone’s work linked field science, conservation practice and public understanding, especially through mapping, monitoring and restoring seagrass meadows and other coastal marine habitats. - Colleagues and students remembered her as a demanding field scientist, generous teacher and clear communicator who helped younger researchers find their place in marine biology. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Tensions rise in DRC mining region as community leaders arrested over protest 15 May 2026 21:41:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/tensions-rise-in-drc-mining-region-as-community-leaders-arrested-over-protest/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: Civil society groups have denounced the “arbitrary” arrests of 11 community leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a peaceful protest over the impacts of mining operations on local communities. Authorities made the arrests on May 1 in the country’s southeastern Lualaba province, prompting calls by local and international NGOs for the “immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.” The case centers around Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM), one of the world’s largest copper and cobalt miners and a subsidiary of CMOC (China Molybdenum) Group, which in 2020 built a lime processing plant near the village of Kabombwa in Lualaba. Two years later, following an investigation, the NGO African Natural Resources Watch (AFREWATCH) alleged that TFM’s plant was releasing acidic water into a nearby river, causing 11 deaths between 2020 and 2022. The company denied AFREWATCH’s findings, yet in 2023 relocated several Kabombwa residents through a provincial government commission, and paid out compensation ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. Three years after the relocation, many residents remain deeply dissatisfied. “They realized the amount they received was far from sufficient and does not allow them to live decently,” Leonard Zama, activist and director of the Initiative for the Protection of Human Rights and Social Reintegration (IPDHOR ASBL), told Mongabay by phone. During the relocation, TFM also promised support for housing and health care for three years, but the agreement was only verbal “and nothing was done,” Zama added. Frustrated by what they describe as inadequate responses to their demands by the end…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Civil society groups have denounced the “arbitrary” arrests of 11 community leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a peaceful protest over the impacts of mining operations on local communities. Authorities made the arrests on May 1 in the country’s southeastern Lualaba province, prompting calls by local and international NGOs for the “immediate and […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New energy deals for Africa sealed at Nairobi summit 15 May 2026 20:01:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-energy-deals-for-africa-sealed-at-nairobi-summit/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: European and African business leaders and heads of state have announced a raft of clean energy and infrastructure investments at the recent Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. Forty companies announced plans to invest roughly 27 billion euros ($31.5 billion) across about 30 projects in Africa. They aim to generate a combined 100 billion euros ($116.5 billion) in revenue while employing more than 600,000 people across the continent. The wider goal is to deepen industrial ties and accelerate Africa’s transition to low-carbon power. Energy attracted the largest share of investments, roughly 14 billion euros ($16.3 billion). Agriculture, human capital, finance, AI, industrialization and the blue economy were also a focus. Kenya and France jointly hosted the May 11-12 gathering, which organizers said was designed to build a “partnership of equals.” Africa and Europe, particularly France, have historically had a contentious relationship rooted in colonialism. Commitments on renewable energy French utility EDF confirmed plans for 2 gigawatts of hydropower projects across several African countries. French oil and gas major TotalEnergies outlined more than $10 billion in new investments by 2030, including $2 billion for renewable power in Rwanda and $400 million for clean cooking initiatives in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. TotalEnergies will also work with Ellipse Projects on the construction and renovation of hospital infrastructure worth $700 million. Infrastructure investor Meridiam announced $200 million to double the capacity of Kenya’s Kipeto wind project, while Global Telecom Holding pledged $350 million for a 250-megawatt solar farm in Zambia. AXIAN Group and partners committed…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: European and African business leaders and heads of state have announced a raft of clean energy and infrastructure investments at the recent Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. Forty companies announced plans to invest roughly 27 billion euros ($31.5 billion) across about 30 projects in Africa. They aim to generate a combined 100 billion euros ($116.5 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Thailand, burned sugarcane plantations become traps for leopard cat cubs 15 May 2026 19:43:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-thailand-burned-sugarcane-plantations-become-traps-for-leopard-cat-cubs/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Ana Norman Bermúdez content:encoded: Nuntita Ruksachat, head veterinarian at the Khon Kaen wildlife rescue center in northeastern Thailand, holds up a feline cub no larger than her hand. Part of a litter rescued just days ago, the cub’s fur is patchy, revealing blistered skin underneath. Its whiskers, clearly singed, are short and stubby. “They were rescued from a burned sugarcane plantation,” she says. Behind her, cats pace inside rows of cages. More than 50 leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) cubs are currently housed at the rescue center, which is run by Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s (DNP). The youngest are kept in cages, while older ones have been moved to larger enclosures. Leopard cats are small wild felines found across much of Asia, from Afghanistan to South Korea. Roughly the size of domestic cats, their bodies are slightly leaner, and their fur is marked with black spots and stripes. The leopard cat is a highly adaptable species, and as forests have shrunk across its range, it has learnt to live in human-dominated landscapes. In Thailand’s northeast, sugarcane plantations provide leopard cat mothers and their litters with shelter and prey. But every crop burning season — the period between December and April, when farmers in Thailand typically burn their fields — those same plantations can turn lethal. The rescue center receives a steady influx of leopard cat cubs from across the northeast. Most are found alone and weak on plantations or in nearby forests, some with scorched fur and whiskers. Rows of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - 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. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Light pollution reshapes predator-prey dynamics at California’s urban edge, study finds 15 May 2026 19:28:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: A new study from two California counties finds that artificial light at night is a stronger driver of wildlife behavior at the edge of urban environments than noise. This has ripple effects for predators and prey. Researchers analyzed more than 35,000 camera-trap days from 61 stations in San Mateo county, on California’s central coast, and Orange county, in Southern California, between 2022 and 2024. They tracked an apex predator, the puma (Puma concolor); the bobcat (Lynx rufus); and an ungulate prey species, the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). The paper was published in Urban Ecosystems. “While scientists have known for a while that wildlife change their behavior around cities, often becoming more nocturnal to avoid humans, our study isolated one part of the urban environment that is driving this,”co-author Zara McDonald, biologist and president of the Felidae Conservation Fund, told Mongabay by email. “Our key finding is that artificial light pollution is actually altering the predator-prey dynamic.” Predators like pumas and bobcats avoided bright lights at night, such as areas lit by streetlights and other electric lighting. Mule deer, however, were more active in those same areas, though they avoided bright moonlight and noisy areas. The authors say the deer use human-modified spaces that predators avoid. A puma on the urban edge in California. Camera trap image courtesy of Felidae Conservation Fund “Essentially, artificial light is acting as a spatial barrier for carnivores and a ‘protective shield’ for prey,” McDonald said. The contrast was visually striking in the images and footage…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - 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. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
2026 FIFA World Cup threatened by extreme heat: Report 15 May 2026 18:55:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/2026-fifa-world-cup-threatened-by-extreme-heat-report/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: In less than a month, the world’s attention will shift to one of the biggest sporting events on the planet: the FIFA World Cup. As fans prepare to travel to stadiums across the United States, Mexico and Canada, scientists are warning that dangerous heat linked to climate change could create unsafe conditions for both athletes and spectators. A new analysis warns that dangerous levels of heat and humidity are now nearly twice as likely as they were the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup, in 1994, largely due to human-driven climate change. The study, conducted as part of the World Weather Attribution initiative, found that more than two dozen matches this summer are expected to be played under potentially dangerous heat-stress conditions. “Matches this summer will be played in conditions made hotter by climate change, putting players and fans at risk,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a statement obtained by Mongabay. Researchers used the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), a measure of heat stress in direct sun that combines temperature, humidity, sunlight, wind and cloud cover to identify trends across several host cities. A WBGT above 26° Celsius (79° Fahrenheit) is considered risky, while temperatures above 28°C (82°F) are deemed unsafe for play, according to the study. During the upcoming tournament, the WBGT for 26 matches is expected to reach or exceed 26°C. In 1994, there were likely 21. Five matches could surpass the dangerous 28°C threshold this year,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In less than a month, the world’s attention will shift to one of the biggest sporting events on the planet: the FIFA World Cup. As fans prepare to travel to stadiums across the United States, Mexico and Canada, scientists are warning that dangerous heat linked to climate change could create unsafe conditions for both athletes […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Radio and satellite alerts help Zambian farmers live with dangerous wildlife 15 May 2026 18:54:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/radio-and-satellite-alerts-help-zambian-farmers-live-with-dangerous-wildlife/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: LUNDAZI, Zambia – In a yellow, single-story building in the eastern Zambian town of Lundazi, a radio presenter fields numerous calls from anxious villagers on nearby farms. Sitting across from presenter Joseph Mwale in the air-conditioned studio are two officials from Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). One of them, Senior Ranger Mathews Mumbi, tells listeners: “Avoid going out at night to avoid the ngozi (accidental harm).” Many of the villagers tuning in to the Thursday evening program live in a transfrontier conservation area (TFCA) straddling eastern Zambia and neighboring Malawi: dangerous encounters with wild animals is a way of life here. The twice-weekly radio show on Chikaya FM, a community radio station, is sponsored by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which works with the DNPW to promote human-wildlife coexistence across three Zambian farming districts – Lundazi, Lumezi and Chipangali — home to around half a million people. In theory, the TFCA links Kasungu with Zambia’s Lukusuzi and Luambe National Parks, but to reach the Zambian parks, elephants and other wild animals must cross farmland and roads and navigate past schools and homesteads. Zambia Department of National Parks and Wildlife’s Mwizaso Chipeta (left) and Mathews Mumbi field questions from callers about human-wildlife conflict from callers during a radio show on Chikaya FM, while IFAW’s community engagement manager Alstone Mwanza (right) listens in. Image by Ryan Truscott for Mongabay. During a break in the radio show, the station runs an advert with the sound of an elephant…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In Zambia’s Eastern Province, a community radio station beams out programs and messages on coping with human-wildlife conflict. - Tuning in are villagers living in a transfrontier conservation area straddling this part of Zambia, and neighboring Malawi. - When Mongabay visited, residents were mostly worried about attacks by hyenas, which officials say have recently claimed the lives of four children. - But cutting-edge satellite technology also provides farmers with an early warning on the approach of potentially destructive elephant herds. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Marine conservation suffers when the ocean is not accessible to all, especially on remote islands (commentary) 15 May 2026 16:54:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Elsie Gabriel content:encoded: The global push to protect oceans is gaining momentum, from coral reef restoration to ambitious targets under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Yet one critical dimension remains largely overlooked: accessibility. If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced. Today, for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach. This is not just a social gap. It is a conservation failure. Ocean conservation depends on connection. People protect what they value, and they value what they can experience. Research shows that direct interaction with natural environments strengthens long-term environmental stewardship. Yet coastal and marine systems across much of the world remain structurally inaccessible to persons with disabilities, older populations, and marginalized communities. Workshop for residents of Lakshadweep, India, on accessible diving and ocean literacy. Image courtesy of Accessible Ocean Tourism. Beaches lack barrier-free access. Transport systems remain exclusionary. Marine experiences such as snorkeling and diving are rarely adapted. The result is a quiet but widespread exclusion from the ecosystems conservation seeks to protect. Globally, governments have committed to ensuring that no one is left behind under the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet in ocean spaces, exclusion persists. Accessibility is still treated as an afterthought, added through isolated initiatives rather than embedded into planning and conservation systems. This has direct consequences. When access to the ocean is limited, ocean literacy declines, while public understanding of marine ecosystems is a key driver of conservation outcomes. Communities that cannot engage with the ocean are less likely to participate in citizen science, conservation dialogue, or local stewardship. Conservation becomes something done for people,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Coastal and marine systems across much of the world remain structurally inaccessible to persons with disabilities, older populations, and marginalized communities. - If people protect what they value, and they value what they can experience, then marine conservation will be a low priority for these people, a new op-ed argues. - “If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced, but for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach,” the author writes. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Endangered Persian leopards persist across borders, despite hunters and landmines 15 May 2026 16:15:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Kayleigh Long content:encoded: Last September, zoologist and conservationist Bejan Lortkipanidze received a video file from a collaborator, Zurab Gurielidze, the head of Georgia’s Tbilisi Zoo. Gurielidze offered no details, but told his friend to “just watch.” For several moments, Lortkipanidze saw nothing remarkable — just nighttime footage of a high fence topped with razor wire. Then a leopard entered the frame. Lortkipanidze, who heads the Georgian conservation NGO NACRES, was stunned: It was just the third sighting of a Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) in the south Caucasus nation in 20 years. The footage wasn’t from a wildlife camera trap. It came from a standard CCTV camera that surveilled the perimeter of a new breeding enclosure for endangered Caucasian red deer (Cervus elaphus maral) in Algeti National Park, situated an hour west of Tbilisi. The video quickly circulated around the conservation community. Vazha Kochiashvili, a biologist with WWF Caucasus, saw it: It was sent to him by the man tasked with checking the deer enclosure footage for Georgia’s National Agency of Wildlife, Sergo Tabagari, who called him immediately after he saw the cat while reviewing footage. Kochiashvili said he had a hunch and asked his friend: “Does the leopard have three legs?” It did. The male leopard’s name is Aren and, over the last few years, he’s roamed across at least two international borders. Persian leopards once traversed a vast territory that lies between Russia, the Middle East and the Caspian and Black seas. They’re wide-ranging animals, and Aren’s journey underscores the myriad…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - 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. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
At least 65 dead in latest Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo 15 May 2026 16:11:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/at-least-65-dead-in-latest-ebola-outbreak-in-eastern-dr-congo/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: A new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to an announcement made by The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on May 15. Sixty-five people have died and around 246 suspected cases have been identified so far, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones in Ituri province. Africa CDC said four of the deaths have been confirmed through laboratory testing. Mongabay contacted military authorities in Ituri as well as several provincial lawmakers for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication. The number of deaths and cases could rise rapidly. Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, the provincial capital located on the shores of Lake Albert near the border with Uganda. Due to its geographic and political position, the city is a major cultural, economic and social hub, making the presence of suspected cases particularly concerning for Africa CDC. “Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighboring countries, rapid regional coordination is critical,” said Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, in a statement shared with Mongabay. “We are working with the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan and partners to strengthen surveillance, preparedness and response efforts, and to help contain the outbreak as quickly as possible.” In response to the latest outbreak, the pan-African agency announced that an emergency meeting would be held May 15 “to strengthen cross-border surveillance, preparedness and outbreak response efforts.” Participants are expected to include health…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to an announcement made by The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on May 15. Sixty-five people have died and around 246 suspected cases have been identified so far, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Canada aims to double its electric grid by 2050 with clean energy and lower costs for users 15 May 2026 15:58:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/canada-aims-to-double-its-electric-grid-by-2050-with-clean-energy-and-lower-costs-for-users/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a clean electricity strategy Thursday he says will help double Canada’s electricity grid by 2050 and lower energy costs for the majority of Canadian households. Canada is facing major challenges, including tariffs imposed by the United States, higher energy costs resulting from the war with Iran, plus the effects of climate change, Carney said. “When the world fundamentally changes, we must respond with new approaches,” he said. The new strategy includes regulations that will allow natural gas to play a larger role in building the grid. Construction is expected to cost more than $1 trillion Canadian ($730 billon). “The path to affordability is electrification,” Carney told a news conference in Ottawa. “The path to competitiveness is electrification. The path to net zero is electricity.” Carney said the plan includes new partnerships with Indigenous people and a willingness to use a wide range of energy, including hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, some gas, carbon capture and geothermal. “The scale is huge, the timeline is short and the task of getting the right mix of power is complex,” he said. “We can’t simply rely on restrictions and prohibitions. We must do things differently.” The government forecasts 130,000 new workers will be needed to double the size of grid. The strategy signals a shift from the existing clean electricity regulations presented by the former Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. That plan to decarbonize Canada’s grid by 2050 set limits on carbon dioxide pollution from almost all electricity generation units that use fossil fuels. Electricity accounts…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a clean electricity strategy Thursday he says will help double Canada’s electricity grid by 2050 and lower energy costs for the majority of Canadian households. Canada is facing major challenges, including tariffs imposed by the United States, higher energy costs resulting from the war with Iran, plus the effects of climate change, Carney said. […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Zambian prodigy draws on theoretical physics to improve weather prediction 15 May 2026 13:16:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/zambian-teen-draws-on-theoretical-physics-to-improve-weather-prediction/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: Prosper Chanda, 18, does not shy away from big problems. At the age of 3, he dived into algebra, and then as an adolescent he turned his attention toward advanced physics. At a time when most youth his age are dealing with late-stage teen angst, Chanda is awaiting the publication of a research paper that attempts to reconcile classical and quantum physics frameworks. Chanda, who hails from Kasama in Zambia’s Northern province, is also applying the conceptual frameworks of theoretical physics to the practical problem of accurate weather prediction. The model is based on what he calls Prosper’s Unified Position Equation, or PUPE. For this initiative, he was shortlisted along with four other teams from Africa for this year’s Earth Prize, which recognizes the efforts of 13-to-19-year-olds offering innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges. Aerial view of solar-powered drip irrigation scheme in Tauya village, Zambia. In Zambia, the majority of rural communities depend on rain-fed agriculture. However, erratic weather patterns, including drought, often lead to significant crop damage and livestock losses. Food security remains a pressing issue. Photo by Enoch Kavindele Jr/UNDP Zambia via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Chanda noticed the growing challenge in Zambia of not having precise weather predictions in times where the impacts of global warming are becoming increasingly devastating. “Communities are not well-informed about weather events and climate systems,” Chanda told Mongabay via voice note. “Those things tend to affect the people and the communities due to misinformation, and they are not informed fast.” Currently, most…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A weather prediction model by a teen prodigy from Zambian is one of five shortlisted projects from Africa for the Earth Prize this year. - The prize is awarded to youths between 13 and 19 who have come up with innovations that aim to solve pressing environmental challenges. - Recognizing the need for weather prediction models that work in the sub-Saharan African context, Prosper Chanda, now 18, developed a model that aims to complement existing ones built largely with data from the U.S. and Europe. - A scientific paper he authored focusing on the physics behind the model is currently undergoing peer review ahead of publication. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Endangered Species Day highlights wildlife wins — and mounting losses 15 May 2026 12:33:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-species-day-highlights-wildlife-wins-and-mounting-losses/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: At least 18,000 animal species globally are threatened with extinction: they’re listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sustained conservation efforts have resulted in rebounding numbers for many species, including populations of some wolves, whales, lizards and parrots. But many others are struggling to survive as they face habitat loss and fatal human-led pressures. On Endangered Species Day on May 15, we’re highlighting some of these stories that Mongabay recently reported on. Wolves are back in California’s wild Gray wolves (Canis lupus) began to repopulate the western U.S. state of California in 2015, after several decades of local extinction. Now, after dedicated rewilding efforts, an estimated 50 to 70 wolves roam the state, organized in at least 10 separate packs. According to a 2013 poll, more than two-thirds of California’s voters supported the reintroduction of wolves to the wild, but some opinions have since shifted. Between 2015 and 2024, wolves killed least 142 head of cattle, about 0.002% of California’s nearly 7-million-strong herd. This triggered one county to kill four wolves of a pack who had become reliant on livestock as a food source. Some ranchers are now adopting nonlethal deterrents, such as faldry (strips of fabric hung on a fence), drones blaring loud music, and electric fences, to keep wolves at bay, reported Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman. West African leopard population listed as endangered The leopard population in West Africa has declined by 50% over the past two decades. About 350 mature individuals remain…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: At least 18,000 animal species globally are threatened with extinction: they’re listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sustained conservation efforts have resulted in rebounding numbers for many species, including populations of some wolves, whales, lizards and parrots. But many others are struggling to survive as they face habitat […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
European bottom trawling costs billions every year in climate impacts, study finds 15 May 2026 09:28:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/european-bottom-trawling-costs-billions-every-year-in-climate-impacts-study-finds/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Europe’s fishing industry makes around 180 million euros ($210 million) every year in profits from bottom trawling, which involves dragging heavy fishing gear along seabeds. But a new study found when climate costs associated with the practice are calculated, society is paying a price up to 90 times higher than the fishing industry profits. “Bottom trawl gear scrapes up the seafloor, releasing carbon that’s been stored in the ocean seabed for centuries,” lead author Katherine Millage, a marine researcher for National Geographic Pristine Seas, wrote in a statement. That carbon release contributes to expensive climate impacts like reduced agriculture productivity and problems for human health. The cost calculations vary but are between 43 euros ($50) per metric ton of emissions on the low end and 161 euros ($188) on the high end. “Even when we use a very conservative estimate of the social cost per metric ton of emitted CO₂, society is left bearing a heavy economic burden,” Millage said. The CO2 emissions from disturbing the sediment cost between 4.87 billion euros and 18 billion euros ($5.7 billion to $21 billion) a year, the study found However, bottom trawl and dredge fisheries do provide more than a quarter of global wild-caught fish and shellfish. The study calculated that economic benefit along with secondary benefits such as employment. Still, the net cost of bottom trawling adds up to between 2 billion euros and 16 billion euros ($2.3 billion and $19 billion) per year for Europeans. Globally, bottom trawling catches around…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Europe’s fishing industry makes around 180 million euros ($210 million) every year in profits from bottom trawling, which involves dragging heavy fishing gear along seabeds. But a new study found when climate costs associated with the practice are calculated, society is paying a price up to 90 times higher than the fishing industry profits. “Bottom […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
How AI could save koalas 15 May 2026 09:06:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/how-ai-could-save-koalas/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Abhishyant Kidangoor content:encoded: A new AI-powered camera system could make road crossings less of a nightmare for koalas. Koalas face multiple threats to their survival including deforestation, urbanization, diseases and bushfires. As humans encroach into their habitats, they are forced to cross roads to move across fragmented forests. Because of this, vehicle strikes have also become a major cause of koala deaths. Scientists at Griffith University in Australia are now working to detect koalas crossing the roads in real-time. Watch this video to learn more.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A new AI-powered camera system could make road crossings less of a nightmare for koalas. Koalas face multiple threats to their survival including deforestation, urbanization, diseases and bushfires. As humans encroach into their habitats, they are forced to cross roads to move across fragmented forests. Because of this, vehicle strikes have also become a major […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Illegal wildlife trade in Himalayan countries threaten mountain ecosystem 15 May 2026 05:34:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/illegal-wildlife-trade-in-himalayan-countries-threaten-mountain-ecosystem/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Illegal wildlife trade across the eight countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region has more than doubled since 2019, according to a January 2026 study. This surge in trafficking, which targets species of carnivores, elephants, and pangolins, poses a significant threat to the fragile mountain ecosystem and the 1.8 billion people who depend on its biodiversity, reports contributor Vandana K. for Mongabay India. The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), which hosts four global biodiversity hotspots, spans roughly 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) across eight countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. For this region, the researchers analyzed wildlife trade and seizure data from 2001-2020 and found that India and China recorded thousands of seizure incidents, with animals trafficked for live trade, body parts, and traditional medicine. The volume of illegal wildlife trade more than doubled from 2019, compared to previous years. The study noted researchers linked the increase in wildlife trade between 2019 and 2021 to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns led to reduced surveillance and law enforcement, while economic hardships and disrupted food chains pushed low-income communities toward poaching. India reported a 151% increase in poaching during the pandemic, with rises also noted in Nepal and Bangladesh. The illegal trade is driven by consumer demand for exotic pets and wildlife products for luxury fashion and traditional medicine. To meet this demand, a large variety of species and their parts became part of cross-border trade, the study said. “The illegal goods were taken through porous borders and also high mountain…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Illegal wildlife trade across the eight countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region has more than doubled since 2019, according to a January 2026 study. This surge in trafficking, which targets species of carnivores, elephants, and pangolins, poses a significant threat to the fragile mountain ecosystem and the 1.8 billion people who depend on its […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |