Sunday Species Snapshot: Visayan Warty Pig
This delightfully ugly, hairy, toothy pig has disappeared from most of its original range. But a few zoos are helping to save it from extinction.
Stories by John R. Platt
Fish Found: The Greatest Conservation Success Story of 2013?
Seven months ago things looked pretty bleak for the Mangarahara cichlid (Ptychochromis insolitus). The only habitat for this rare Madagascar fish species had been destroyed and the cichlid was down to its last three known individuals, all of which were males...
Sunday Species Snapshot: Alaotran Gentle Lemur
A primate that lives only in wetlands? That alone makes the Alaotran gentle lemur unique. But this tiny lemur lives in incredibly limited constrained habitat, which continues to shrink around it...
Parasites that Cause Chagas Disease in Humans May Also Be Killing Tiny Australian Marsupials
Why are the woylies all dying? Since 2001 the populations of these tiny Australian marsupials have mysteriously crashed by as much as 90 percent.
Good News for One of the World’s Rarest Monkeys
You know that a species is in rough shape when a population increase of just 20 animals is cause for celebration. But that’s the case in northern Vietnam this month, where one of the few remaining groups of critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus avunculus) has grown from just 90 individuals in 2006 to between [...]..
Sunday Species Snapshot: Cuban Crocodile
These small, aggressive crocodiles once dominated their habitats. That is no longer the case. Species name: Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) Where found: The Cuban crocodile once existed on quite a few Caribbean islands...
Lawsuit to Remove Plant from Endangered Species List Completely Backfires
Oh what a difference a few years makes. Just four years ago, the rare California shrub known as the Indian Knob mountain balm (Eriodictyon altissimum) was poised to drop off the endangered species list after the threats to its existence had mostly been abated...
Tourists are Giving Endangered Iguanas Diarrhea and High Cholesterol
Hop on over to the photo-sharing site Flickr and you’ll find dozens of photos and videos of people eagerly feeding grapes to hungry iguanas on the beaches of the Bahamas.
Sunday Species Snapshot: Fijian Monkey-Faced Bat
This rare bat is only known from a handful of collected animals on a single mountain on a single Polynesian island. Species name: Fijian monkey-faced bat (Mirimiri acrodonta), the only member of its genus and the only mammal endemic to the Republic of Fiji...
Can You Guess Which Country Has the Most Endangered Species?
We’re number two! The United States is home to 1,278 species at risk of extinction the second-highest count worldwide according to the latest update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species...
Tiny Ohio Catfish Species, Last Seen in 1957, Declared Extinct
Here’s the thing about extinctions: They are very rarely witnessed. The last members of a species in the wild tend to go quietly into the night with no one to witness their deaths...
Sunday Species Snapshot: Daggernose Shark
These small sharks pose no threats to humans. The opposite, however, cannot be said. Species name: Daggernose shark (Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus).
'Forest Giraffe' Now Endangered: Okapi Populations Drop 50 Percent in 18 Years
Better late than never? This week the International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources, which publishes the IUCN Red List of threatened species, listed the rare and iconic okapi (Okapia johnstoni) as endangered, something the organization acknowledges should have been done back in 2008...
Sunday Species Snapshot: Rothschild’s Giraffe
Fewer than 700 of these endangered giraffes remain in the wild. Species name: Rothschild’s giraffe, a.k.a. the Baringo or Ugandan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi), one as many as nine giraffe subspecies...
The Incredible Mr./Mrs. Limpet: The Endangered, Sex-Changing Sea Snail
Understanding how an endangered species breeds and reproduces can be one of the first steps toward learning how to save it from extinction.
The Good and Bad News about Frog Abnormalities
On average, amphibian deformities at U.S. national wildlife refuges are lower than expected. But in abnormality “hotspots,” rates can approach 40 percent
Conservation’s Holy Grail: ‘Asian Unicorn’ Sighted in Vietnam
One of the rarest creatures in Asia has been spotted in the wild for the first time in nearly 15 years. A camera trap in Vietnam has captured three fleeting images of a single saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) walking next to a stream in the rainforests of the Annamite Mountains...
Sunday Species Snapshot: Jackass Penguin
These popular penguins have faced a lot of threats in recent years that have put them on a dangerous path. Species name: African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), a.k.a.
