A staggering 3 billion birds, including 700 million grassland birds, have been lost in the last 50 years. Without question, one of the leading causes of those catastrophic losses has been habitat loss driven by grazing livestock. Yet, latching on to the success of regenerative plant agriculture, beef advocates have launched far-fetched “regenerative ranching” theories […]
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For Brazil’s most trafficked parrot, the poaching is relentless
It’s a natural phenomenon that you could set your calendar by: every August, the turquoise-fronted parrots (Amazona aestiva) of Brazil’s Cerrado biome start laying their eggs. The chicks hatch soon after, and by November have left the nest. The cycle is so constant that every year, for decades, poachers have been stealing eggs and chicks […]
Discovery of threatened species drives bid to protect Vietnam forest
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Recently disclosed results from an extensive survey have revealed the presence of several highly endangered species in a forest that is not currently under any legal protection in Vietnam’s central highlands. Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and GreenViet, a biodiversity conservation NGO based in Da Nang, undertook months of […]
481 and counting: Norway’s whaling catch hits four-year high
Four hundred and eighty-one. That’s how many minke whales Norway has killed so far this year, according to new data released by the country’s Fishermen’s Sales Organization, or Råfisklaget. That’s 52 more than all of last year, and 76 more than the two years before that. What’s more, this year’s whaling season has yet to […]
For South America’s wilderness areas, COVID-19 brings risk and respite
The Bolivian government’s decision to close all national parks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March was supposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But it’s also had unwanted consequences for the wildlife and for the financial viability of the very parks themselves, not just in Bolivia but across Latin America. Within days […]
Sharks nearby? A bottle of seawater can hold the answer, study says
Two liters of seawater, or about half a gallon. That’s all that’s needed to detect the presence of sharks in the ocean, according to a new study. A group of researchers from Florida International University (FIU), New College of Florida and Havenworth Coastal Conservation recently teamed up to develop a new method of detecting the […]
Captive breeding helps New Zealand’s threatened black stilts take flight
A group of students and parents huddled behind a row of wooden boxes in New Zealand’s Godley Valley on the country’s South Island. The box doors were flung open, and birds with fluffy white bellies and long, pointy bills flapped their black wings, chirping as they took off into the crisp winter air. This month, […]
Elephant shrew ‘lost’ to science for 52 years is ‘rediscovered’ in Africa
The Somali sengi is a strange amalgamation of creatures. While its body is the shape and size of a mouse’s, it has spindly, gazelle-like legs that allow it to dart across boulders at breakneck speed. It also has a long, trunk-like nose that resembles an elephant’s, although it functions more like an anteater’s with its […]