DNA analysis has revealed a “new” species of monkey that only survives today because its habitat is difficult to access and therefore hasn’t been converted for large-scale agriculture, reports New Scientist. Writing in Primate Conservation, a team of scientists analyzed the traits of a group of titi monkeys rediscovered in 2011 in the Chapada dos […]
Tag: Mongabay.com
The jaguars fishing in the sea to survive
A thriving population of jaguars living on a small, unspoilt island off the coast of the Brazilian Amazon has learned to catch fish in the sea to survive, conservationists have found. The Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station island reserve, three miles off the northern state of Amapá, acts as a nursery for jaguars, according to WWF researchers […]
Community conservation agreements a lifeline for Uganda’s grey crowned cranes
KABALE DISTRICT, Uganda — Ten years ago, grey crowned cranes (Balearica regulorum) had become a rare sight along the highway connecting the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to Rwanda. Across the birds’ entire range in East and Southern Africa, the cranes’ populations had declined steeply. But efforts to restore their wetland habitats in Uganda are succeeding, and […]
Why you should care about the current wave of mass extinctions
The scientific imprimatur fell on us just six months ago: Yes, the extinction crisis we are witnessing is only the beginning of a wave of mass ecocide of non-human life on Earth, a process that could wipe out a million species of plants and animals from our planet in the short term (read: decades). About […]
Nearly extinct vaquita mothers with calves spotted in recent expeditions
There may be a glimmer of hope for the extremely rare vaquita porpoise, the world’s smallest cetacean, a group that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. The vaquita is also the most threatened marine mammal in the world, nearly extinct because of entanglement in fishing nets. The latest expeditions to survey the mammal in the northern […]
Conserving wildlife is key to tropical forests’ carbon storage, study finds
This past summer, the world was gripped by the flames that tore through the Amazon rainforest and released huge volumes of trapped carbon dioxide in the process. Half a world away, far from the social media hashtags, a much smaller patch of tropical forest was revealing the secret of what makes these landscapes such potent […]
Last of the belugas from Russia’s ‘whale jail’ released
The last of the nearly 100 whales held captive in what’s been termed a “whale jail” in Russia’s Far East have finally been freed back into the ocean — although the releases have been far from ideal, conservationists say. Late last year, drone footage revealed 87 beluga whales and 11 orcas packed in cramped, icy […]
Scientists rediscover mammalian oddity in remote Vietnam
VIETNAM, July 2019 –I’m chasing a ghost, I think not for the first time, as night falls and I gather up my gear in a hotel in a village in southern Vietnam. I pack my camera, a bottle of water, and a poncho; outside the window I can see a light rain. I’m here to […]