For decades it was the only freshwater dolphin species in the world not considered threatened by human activity. The tucuxi of the Amazon held out even as similar species in South America and Asia were dammed in, poisoned, or killed as bycatch; one is considered to have gone extinct. Now, the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) has […]
Tag: iucn red list of threatened species
One Third of Freshwater Fish Face Extinction, New Report Warns
The latest warning of the Earth’s mounting extinction crisis is coming from its lakes and rivers. A new report from a coalition of 16 conservation groups warns that almost a third of freshwater fish species face extinction because of human activity. “Nowhere is the world’s nature crisis more acute than in our rivers, lakes and […]
Petition: Brutal Footage Released of Training Practices Used to Break the Spirits of Baby Elephants to Entertain Tourists
World Animal Protection released footage of an elephant training process called “the crush.” In this method, baby elephants are exploited to make them submissive to tourists. Baby and adult elephants are used in entertainment around the world, including giving rides to tourists or performing tricks. “The Crush” is designed to break animals spirits, and according […]
Ground-feeding birds in Southeast Asia may be going extinct outside protected areas
Nature reserves in large parts of Southeast Asia may be the last strongholds for charismatic ground-feeding birds such as quails, partridges and pheasants, together called galliforms, according to a recent study in Conservation Letters. Researchers estimate that five species of galliforms no longer survive outside protected areas in Sundaland, a region comprising the Malay Peninsula […]
Peccary’s disappearance foreboding for other Mesoamerican wildlife
The white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), a hairy, pig-like mammal that once lived throughout the forests of Central and South America, now only skitters around in 13 percent of its former range, according to a report released in November 2018. More than two-thirds of white-lipped peccary populations are on the decline, said scientists who met to […]
POLL: Should the Fish and Wildlife Service protect giraffes as an endangered species?
Animal advocacy and conservation organizations are taking the Trump administration to court for failing to protect giraffes who are suffering from what’s been dubbed a “silent extinction.” Although they might be one of the most easily recognizable and beloved animals on earth, giraffes have been quietly disappearing at an alarming rate. Since the mid-1980s, their […]
New Roadmap Launched to Save Latin America’s Iconic Jaguars
Conservationists are celebrating a big step forward for jaguar conservation in South America, along with the creation of the first annual International Jaguar Day. Jaguars once roamed from the southern tip of South America to close to the border between Mexico and the U.S., but over the years they’ve lost half their range and continue […]
Hunting, agriculture driving rapid decline of jaguars in South America’s Gran Chaco
New research finds that one-third of critical jaguar habitat in the Gran Chaco, South America’s largest tropical dry forest, has been lost since the mid-1980s. According to the study, led by researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) and published in the journal Diversity and Distributions this week, deforestation driven by agricultural expansion — mainly […]