Environment
Poisoning Dingoes Has Domino Effect on Australia’s Biodiversity
Australia has a long history of poisoning its dingoes (Canis lupus dingo), which have an unfair reputation of preying on sheep and other livestock.
Stories by John R. Platt
Kakapo Baby Boom in New Zealand: First New Chicks in 3 Years [Video]
Kakapo (Strigops habroptila), the critically endangered flightless parrots of New Zealand, have an unusual mating ritual. In the rare years when the birds breed, the males climb to the tops of hills, breathe in so deeply they swell up like balloons and then let out a series of deep, rhythmic booms that can be heard [...]..
Sunday Species Snapshot: Panamanian Golden Frog
These tiny, brightly colored amphibians pack a potent neurotoxin on their skin. That toxin protected them from predators, but it won’t save them from extinction.
Sustainability
Tea and Consequences: Unsustainable Cultivation Puts Honeybush Tea at Risk
The Web sites selling sweet-smelling honeybush tea proudly proclaim its supposed health benefits, which range from lowering cholesterol and improving respiration to controlling the symptoms of menopause...
Roosevelt’s Barking Deer, Unseen for 85 Years, Photographed in Vietnam
A rare deer species first discovered by the sons of Pres. Teddy Roosevelt 85 years ago has been rediscovered in Vietnam. Camera-trap images of Roosevelt’s muntjacs (aka Roosevelt’s barking deer, Muntiacus rooseveltorum) and other samples collected in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve are the sole record of the species in the country, which was previously known [...]..
Environment
25 Years after Exxon Valdez Spill, Sea Otters Recovered in Alaska's Prince William Sound
It took a quarter century, but the northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) living in Alaska’s Prince William Sound have finally recovered from the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, according to a new report from the U.S...
Endangered Falcon Lives Fast, Dies Young in Response to Habitat Loss
Few species have undergone as spectacular a recovery as the Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus). Forty years ago the birds were nearly extinct, with only four of the small falcons remaining in the wild...
Sustainability
Crisis in Madagascar: 90 Percent of Lemur Species Are Threatened with Extinction
Madagascar’s 101 lemur species are “the most threatened mammal group on Earth,” according to a new policy paper published last week in Science.
The Long, Strange Saga of the Endangered Hawaiian Hawk
The National Wilderness Institute no longer exists. Its Web site has disappeared, its phone number has been disconnected and the founder has moved on to become a senior advisor for the conservative Heritage Foundation...
Sea Lion Whisker Patterns Could Be Key to Conservation
This month marks the beginning of the breeding season for endangered Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) as well as a great opportunity for citizen scientists to help conserve this rare species...
Sunday Species Snapshot: Blue-Crowned Laughingthrush
There isn’t much to laugh about when we’re talking about the blue-crowned laughingthrush. Only about 250 of these rare birds, whose songs sound like human laughter, remain in the wild...
Slaughtered for Ivory: 65 Percent of Forest Elephants Killed Since 2002
It just gets worse and worse. Last year a shocking study revealed that 62 percent of the world’s forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) had been killed by poachers between 2002 and 2011...
Manumea Found: Strange Bird Seen Breeding for the First Time in a Decade
When a rare species is seen and photographed for the first time in a decade, it tends to be cause for celebration. When that sighting is of a juvenile, indicating that the rare species is breeding…well then, it might be time to break out the champagne...
Lion Tamarins versus Climate Change
Ecologically speaking, humans maintain a pretty broad niche. We can adapt to live just about anywhere. Most other species aren’t that lucky.
Sunday Species Snapshot: Coquerel’s Sifaka
These medium-sized lemurs, known for their delightful leaping ability, were only recognized as their own species in 2001, which undoubtedly slowed conservation efforts.
New Crocodile Species Discovered in West Africa
Studying crocodiles in some of the world’s most remote and inaccessible places isn’t easy, but it’s all in a day’s work for researcher Matthew Shirley.
Sunday Species Snapshot: Did the Axolotl Just Go Extinct?
In 2009 scientists reported that the population of one of the world’s most bizarre creatures has dropped by 90 percent over the previous four years.
Sustainability
Only 4 Northern White Rhinos Remain in Africa: Inside the Last Attempts to Breed and Save Them
Richard Vigne, CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, admits that there’s not a huge amount of hope of saving the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) from extinction...
Sustainability
First Wild Beaver in 800 Years Confirmed in the U.K.? [Video]
Few species recoveries have ever been as dramatic as that of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Once overhunted to near extinction, only 1,200 beavers remained by the year 1900.
Sunday Species Snapshot: Mexican Agouti
These large, shy rodents have lost most of their natural habitat to rapid development in their native Mexico. Species name: Mexican agouti (Dasyprocta mexicana).
