Calling all Muppets fans: A new species of see-through glass frog found in Costa Rica looks just like Kermit. The lime-green amphibian, which took the Internet by storm this week, has bulging white eyes with perfect black pupils, much like Jim Henson’s musical puppet. But this frog can’t carry a tune. In fact, it has […]
Tag: habitat loss
Helping orangutans survive: new project aims to connect habitat fragments in Kalimantan (Part II)
Two decades ago, a project to convert one million hectares of forest to rice paddies was undertaken by the Indonesian government in southern Kalimantan. As predicted by experts, this Mega Rice Project (MRP) was a massive failure and was eventually abandoned, but not before it destroyed critical orangutan habitat. Now a new project is trying […]
World’s last wild Siberian tigers threatened by illegal logging, global warming, disease (Part II)
This is the second part of series examining the impact of forest loss on Siberian tigers. Part I discussed overall forest loss in the region and its major drivers. The very fact that there are Siberian tigers in the world today is something of a miracle. In the 1940s, just 20 animals remained in the […]
86 percent of big animals in the Sahara Desert are extinct or endangered
Bigger than all of Brazil, among the harshest ecosystems on Earth, and largely undeveloped, one would expect that the Sahara desert would be a haven for desert wildlife. One would anticipate that big African animals—which are facing poaching and habitat loss in other parts of the world—would thrive in this vast wilderness. But a new […]
The neglected giraffe: world’s tallest animal in need of conservation assistance
Just two year’s before his assassination, Julius Caesar brought to Rome one of the world’s most astonishing living creatures: a giraffe. The animal was among Caesar’s spoils from his campaign in Egypt and according to the Roman writer, Dio, the giraffe, which was arguably the first to ever touch European soil, was paraded in the […]
Rare crane egg given 24-hour guard
The first common crane egg laid in western Britain for more than 400 years has been given a round-the-clock guard. The first common crane egg laid in western Britain for more than 400 years has been given a round-the-clock guard, conservationists said. The nesting pair that produced the egg are part of the Great Crane […]
Domesticated bees do not replace declining wild insects as agricultural pollinators
Sprinkled with pollen, buzzing bees fly from one blossom to another, collecting sweet nectar from brilliantly colored flowers. Bees tend to symbolize the pollination process, but there are many wild insects that carry out the same function. Unfortunately, wild insect populations are in decline, and, according to a recent study, adding more honey bees may […]
The beautiful amphibian from Hell: scientists discover new crocodile newt in Vietnam (photos)
Researchers have discovered a new species of Vietnamese salamander that looks like it was birthed from an abyssal volcano. Found tucked away in Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science, the scientists described the species in the new edition of Current Herpetology. Coal-black with orange-tinted toes, the new crocodile newt (in the genus Tylototriton) was […]