Among the spindly saline roots of the mangrove trees that line western Mexico’s coast, the jaguar is the ecosystem’s apex predator. Yet despite being at the top of the food chain, its existence is threatened by the abundance of another, much smaller species: the whiteleg shrimp. Aquaculture of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), or Pacific white […]
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Madagascar lemurs, tortoises seized in Thai bust reveal reach of wildlife trafficking
In May, authorities in southern Thailand arrested six people for illegally transporting 48 lemurs and more than 1,200 critically endangered tortoises, all of which had reportedly been obtained from the wild in Madagascar. The seizure is the latest in a string of illegal wildlife trade busts in Thailand. Red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), monitor lizards, snakes […]
‘Explorer elephants’ in transfrontier conservation area offer solution to tree damage
Elephants are known to be “ecosystem engineers,” altering habitats to suit their own needs, but this sometimes comes at a cost to other species. Hedging, or stem snapping, is the term used to describe how elephants (Loxodonta africana) reduce dominant trees to low-level shrubs, bringing the trees’ leaves within easy reach of mother-and-calf herds while […]
Fraud and corruption drive illegal wildlife trade in the Amazon
In 2017, authorities at the Miami airport inspected a commercial shipment from Europe. Inside a container, they found 21 splash-backed poison frogs (Adelphobates galactonotus), a species known for its vibrant colors and poisonous skin. The species is endemic to the southern tributaries of the Amazon River and highly sought after by private collectors worldwide. When […]
From the Amazon to the Himalayas, an invasive catfish makes its Nepal debut
KATHMANDU — The discovery in a Nepali river of an armored catfish native to the Amazon has alarmed researchers and conservationists, who say it’s still not clear how the species found its way from the South American rainforest to the Himalayan nation. Forty-three specimens of Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, known as the vermiculated sailfin catfish, were discovered […]
Sick chimps seek out medicinal plants to heal themselves, study finds
Wild chimpanzees actively seek out plants with medicinal properties to treat themselves for specific ailments,a new study has found. While most animals consume foods with medicinal properties as part of their routine diet, few species have been shown to engage in self-medication in a way that suggests they have basic awareness of the healing properties […]
In Brazil, conservationists try to save one of the world’s most endangered cats
The Pampas grasslands, spanning southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina, are home to a wildcat so rare that researchers consider it the most endangered of its kind in the Americas, and possibly the world. Most sightings of this domestic cat-sized feline come from camera-trap images that have documented its distinctive fawn-colored coat, fluffy fur and […]
Nepal’s legal barriers hinder genetic research, forcing scientists to improvise
KATHMANDU — When researcher Kumar Paudel from the NGO Greenhood Nepal received permission to carry out a genetic study to determine the distribution of the two species of pangolins in Nepal, he submitted some samples sourced from the Chitwan-Parsa landscape to a lab in Nepal. The permission’s condition was that the lab tests needed to […]