Monarch butterflies are returning to gardens across the United States, but a few months ago, I stood in a mountain forest in Mexico where the monarchs spend the winter. They clustered on trees by the thousands and when the sun hit them, they swarmed in a cloud of bright orange confetti. I was surrounded by […]
Tag: Mongabay.com
Tapirs in Brazil’s Cerrado inspire research on human health & pesticides
It was in 2015 when researchers were attempting to capture tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Brazilian Cerrado to install monitoring collars so they could study the species. While trying to complete the anesthetic procedure, they noticed that the anesthesia was not working, and as a result, they had to supplement the doses for the procedure […]
Bonobos, the ‘hippy apes’, may not be as peaceful as once thought
Anthropologist Maud Mouginot recalls an encounter with bonobos early one morning in 2019 deep in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo that helped revise her impression of them as the peace-loving “hippy apes.” It was still pitch dark in Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, in the center of the country, and she and colleagues were […]
A tiger cat gains new species designation, but conservation challenges remain
Many of the world’s small wildcats are enigmatic, elusive and roam beyond the media spotlight enjoyed by their big cat cousins. But you could be forgiven for never having heard of Latin America’s cloud forest-dwelling small cat Leopardus pardinoides, as researchers only recently described it as a new species. A team comprised of dozens of […]
Jaguar release offers a lifeline to Gran Chaco’s lonely big cats
The lowland forest of El Impenetrable National Park in northern Argentina sprawls across the hot, swampy green of the Gran Chaco biome, home to South America’s largest mammals and thousands of plant species. It’s a critical conservation unit for the protection of one of the planet’s most deforested ecosystems, yet it’s missing an important resident: […]
Study identifies species with a long history but short future amid threats
Over the past 4 billion years, lifeforms have evolved into the spectacular array of species that now inhabit the planet. While many species radiated into extensive families of closely related species, others are so unique that they alone embody millions of years of evolutionary history — sole representatives of entire lineages of the tree of […]
Nepali experts question rhino relocation within park for population balance
KATHMANDU — On March 21, Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation completed the relocation of six vulnerable one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) from the western part of Chitwan National Park to the eastern side. Department officials initiated the move to rectify the skewed distribution of the animal’s population, which was dominant in and around […]
Cable car proposal is Nepal’s latest plan to commercialize national parks
KATHMANDU — Nepal’s Ministry of Forest and Environment is preparing to allow the construction of ropeways inside protected areas of the country, a draft of a proposed regulation seen by Mongabay suggests. Ropeways, which carry cable cars, are not permitted in protected areas such as national parks under current laws. But the proposed National Parks […]