Stories by John R. Platt

Nearly half of all freshwater turtles and tortoises are at risk of disappearing forever, a new report warns

A recent study finds that the often-feared big cats actually help keep crops and domesticated animals safe from other threats

Things don’t look good for these critically endangered birds, but a captive-breeding program could help save them

The subspecies has now been removed from the Endangered Species Act, 80 years after its last sighting

2017 was another deadly year for the panthers. How much longer can this critically endangered species survive?

And according to the latest IUCN Red List update, a dismaying 13 percent of species are endangered

Only 35 Mount Graham squirrels remain in the wild, but five captive squirrels could hold the key to their long-term survival—if we can get them to breed

Researchers exploit a fear to reduce elephant-human confrontation

After eight years at Scientific American, “Extinction Countdown” is moving on

The Ankarana dwarf lemur weighs about as much as a banana and lives in a highly restricted habitat

China’s legal ivory market will close this year, but elephants are still being slaughtered

As few as 2,000 of these beloved primates remain in the forests of Madagascar, according to new research

The entire Hendrix’s liveforever species could be wiped out by a single tractor

The new plan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also addresses human-bear conflict, subsistence hunting and oil spills

Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride

Apes, deforestation and endangered plants are among the stories that didn’t get enough attention this past year, experts say

Dying rhinos, the extinction of the Rabbs’ tree frog, and threatened snails grabbed readers’ interests this year

Generally speaking, it was an awful year for wildlife—but there were more successes than you might think

We saw several extinctions this year, while numerous more species suffered terrible losses

The bushmeat trade and traditional medicine could push tigers, chimpanzees, pangolins and hundreds of other species toward extinction

The world’s tallest land mammal has been listed as vulnerable to extinction after a 40 percent population decline

All of these species were newly recognized by science—but it was too late to save them

Bycatch from overfishing has put at least 53 percent of Mediterranean shark species at risk of extinction

New research reveals that the distributions for these nine striking species are much smaller than we previously assumed