A gunshot explodes through the rainforest, followed by what sounds like branches falling from a tree. A dog barks. “Tito, did I hit it?” a man asks his companion in Spanish. “Oh yes, I did hit it. Look, there is blood dripping. I shot it from over there.” These sounds were recorded on an […]
Tag: mongabay
Mystery bird not seen in 172 years makes surprise reappearance in Borneo forest
Three years ago, Panji Gusti Akbar was flipping through the pages of Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago when he came across a photo of a bird with brown wings and a black stripe across its brow, appropriately named the black-browed babbler (Malacocincla perspicillata). On the map beside the bird, there was a question mark, indicating […]
Jaguars in Suriname’s protected parks remain vulnerable to poaching
In mid-June 2012, a few months after she started monitoring the jaguars inside Brownsberg Nature Park in Suriname, biologist Vanessa Kadosoe saw Amalia for the first time. Through the pictures from a camera trap, she observed the little jaguar cub walking beside her parents, Máxima and Willem Alexander, the monarchs of the jungle until then. […]
Fake it till you save it? Synthetic animal parts pose a conservation conundrum
Twice a year, thousands of members of South Africa’s Nazareth Baptist Church clothe themselves in spots and walk to their holy grounds in KwaZulu-Natal province to take up a dance. Following the swell of horns and the pounding of a drum, more than 1,500 male dancers move together, their stamping feet and upraised arms swinging in […]
In Malaysian Borneo’s rainforests, powerful state governments set their own rules
Famed for its caves and karst ecosystems, Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysian Borneo’s Sarawak state is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to more than 81 mammal species, 270 varieties of bird and more than 130 reptiles and amphibians. In 2018, a wave of protest erupted when the public learned that the Sarawak government […]
Cat corridors between protected areas is key to survival of Cerrado’s jaguars
With no natural predators to worry about, jaguars (Panthera onca) roam the forests of South and Central America. This feline is found in 18 countries, but only 4% of its critical habitat is effectively protected. The lack of protection has allowed its habitat to be destroyed and fragmented, the main reason why this emblematic species […]
As forests shrink, mammals are stressed out— with possible fallout for humans
Humans aren’t the only ones feeling anxiety about environmental destruction. As forests shrink, small mammals are also feeling stressed, and we can tell by their fur. A team of scientists collected fur samples from 106 small rodents and marsupials in six forest fragments in the Atlantic Forest of Paraguay. After grinding each fur sample into […]
Fruit-eating, seed-pooping animals can help restore degraded forests
In a once-cleared patch of rainforest, four black-tufted marmosets scamper up to a pile of bananas lying in a plastic dish on the ground. Within the banana flesh are the seeds of a local native tree, hidden there by scientists. After briefly investigating, the marmosets (Callithrix penicillata) dig in. When they’ve eaten their fill, they […]