DHAKA — On Jan. 7, 2024, in a rural area of northwestern Bangladesh, a nilgai, the largest species of Asian antelope, crossed the border from India. It never crossed back. When villagers in Ranisankail subdistrict, Thakurgaon district, found out about the nilgai, also known as the blue bull, “they chased the animal and caught it,” […]
Tag: Mongabay.com
On Kaho’olawe, new technology could restore a sacred Hawaiian island
To bring seabirds back to Kaho‘olawe, you need to first find the cats. And to find the cats on Kaho‘olawe, you need to know where to find the bombs. Eleven kilometers, about 7 miles, off the coast of Maui, the island of Kaho‘olawe — the smallest of the main Hawaiian Islands — presents conservationists with […]
New trackers bring prairie dogs’ little-known underground life to light
To say tracking prairie dogs is difficult would be an understatement. The animals spend most of their time in burrows. Since conventional GPS collars don’t function underground, the movements and interactions of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) have remained notoriously elusive to the researchers who study them. What do they do? How do they move within […]
Not just polar bears — climate change could push African rhinos to extinction
New research is ringing alarm bells about how climate change may impact one of Africa’s most iconic and vulnerable animals: the rhinoceros. “Climate change has the potential of wiping out all of them in the blink of an eye,” says Hlelowenkhosi Mamba, an Eswatini native and Fulbright scholar. Mamba and Timothy Randhir, from the University […]
Global shark deaths increasing despite finning bans, study shows
Shark finning bans have had little effect on protecting global shark populations, according to new research. However, shark mortality decreased in pelagic fisheries, which suggests that regulatory measures in regional fisheries have had some positive impact. In a new study published in Science, an international team of researchers analyzed shark catch data from 150 countries […]
Could mugger crocodiles be brought back from regional extinction in Bangladesh?
On Oct. 17, a mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), also zoologically known as a marsh crocodile, was recovered from the Bhubaneswar River in Bangladesh’s south-central Faridpur district, creating much excitement among local people, as the reptile species had not been seen in the locality in the last 70 years. Seeing a crocodile floating in the river, […]
In Kenya, vicious ants are nesting birds’ best neighbors, study finds
The remarkable partnership between East Africa’s whistling thorn trees and their resident ants is well known, but now a new study brings to light the trees’ relationship with birds. Acacia ants will swarm over branches and bite elephants or giraffes who try to eat the leaves of the whistling thorn (Acacia drepanolobium). As an incentive […]
Still on the menu: Shark fin trade in U.S. persists despite ban
The trade in shark fins is still underway in the United States, despite legislation making such activities illegal, an investigative report has found. Environmentalists say this indicates that officials need to do more to enforce the laws already in place to stamp out illegal activities and protect sharks, which are globally threatened with extinction. On […]