Eastern quolls are set to be released on the Australian mainland, 50 years after they were wiped out by a combination of habitat loss and the spread of foxes and feral cats. The quolls, which once spread from the southern reaches of South Australia up to Brisbane, have not been seen on the Australian mainland […]
Tag: extinction
What Animals Are Likely to Go Extinct First Due to Climate Change
One in six species could disappear as the climate warms over the next century, with animals and plants in South America particularly hard hit while those in North America would face the lowest risk, according to a major new analysis published Thursday. With naturally small populations of native species in its tropical rainforests and mountains, […]
Carmichael mine may push rare bird to extinction, scientists warn
The creation of Australia’s largest mine will have “serious detrimental and irreversible consequences” for the endangered black-throated finch and may even push it to extinction, a recovery team for the species has advised Greg Hunt, the federal environment minister. The black-throated finch recovery team, comprised of scientists from the CSIRO and James Cook University as […]
At home with the world’s last male northern white rhinoceros
Mohamed Doyo seems to have a dream job. Every evening, he patrols the Kenyan savannah, glimpsing lions chasing down darting Thomson’s gazelles, hearing the calls of red-chested cuckoos and, when there is a full moon, seeing the majestic, snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya in the distance. But Doyo can scarcely stop to admire the extraordinary […]
Tiger family photo surprises scientists
In a frigid Russian forest, a camera trap snapped 21 family photos over two minutes. This wasn’t a usual family, though, this was a tiger family, more specifically an Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) family. And this wasn’t even a usual tiger family: the cameras showed a dad leading the way. Generally, tiger male are […]
‘Guns kill trees too’: overhunting raises extinction threat for trees
A new paper confirms what ecologists have long feared: hunting birds and mammals drastically raises the risk of extinction for tropical trees. Following the long-lifespan of a single canopy tree, Miliusa horsfieldii, researchers discovered that overhunting of animals could increase the chances of extinction for the species fourteen times over a century, from 0.5 percent […]
‘Canary in the cornfield’: Monarch butterfly may get threatened species status
Monarch butterflies were once a common sight throughout the North American heartland. In Mexico, where they overwinter, single trees would often be covered in thousands. But declines in milkweed – their caterpillars’ only source of food – have led to a 90 percent decline in monarch numbers. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) […]
Scientists uncover five new species of ‘toupee’ monkeys in the Amazon
While saki monkeys may be characterized by floppy mops of hair that resemble the worst of human toupees, these acrobatic, tree-dwelling primates are essential for dispersing seeds across the vast Amazon landscape as they primarily dine on fruit. After long being neglected by both scientists and conservationists, a massive research effort by one intrepid researcher […]