The Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis is on the verge of extinction. Decades of well intentioned, “politically correct”, conservation activities have not changed its demise’ trend. Moreover a reversal of the situation is not going to happen in a few years unless the policy is changed. Due to a persistent status quo no rhino’s captures (but […]
Tag: mongabay
Video: Vets hail ‘victory’ as jaguar burned in Pantanal fires returns to wild
Ousado the jaguar could hardly walk. Fires had blown through his territory in the Pantanal region of Brazil, scorching the very ground the animal was running upon as he tried to escape. When a team of volunteer veterinarians eventually captured him in Encontro das Águas State Park, all four of his paws had turned beet […]
Sri Lankans save pilot whales in epic rescue after mass stranding
PANADURA, Sri Lanka — Volunteers in Sri Lanka defied the ongoing COVID-19 second wave to join a mammoth overnight rescue effort to push more than 100 stranded pilot whales back into the sea. At least five whales were reported to have died despite the efforts. The whales beached in the southwestern town of Panadura, about […]
Are wolves related to dogs? Candid Animal Cam meets the largest member of the dog family
Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting the ancestor of all domestic dog breeds: grey wolves. Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are the largest member of the dog family. Because they are one of the most wide-ranging land animals, there […]
A chameleon not seen in a century reappears in a Madagascar garden
Armed with headlamps and flashlights, a team of researchers in northwestern Madagascar searched through the night for an elusive chameleon, Voeltzkow’s chameleon (Furcifer voeltzkowi), which hadn’t been spotted for more than 100 years. On the sixth day of their expedition, they found it. But the species wasn’t in the forest as they expected: it was […]
Lemurs might never recover from COVID-19 (commentary)
The DreamWorks version of Madagascar is exactly that, a fantasy. The island nation is no unpeopled paradise teeming with dancing lemurs, as depicted in the animated Madagascar film. On the contrary, almost all of its lemur species are being driven to extinction by humans. This World Lemur’s Day, it is worth pointing out that the […]
Efforts to tackle shark fin trade need to focus closer to shore, study says
A hunger for shark fin soup — a brothy, gelatinous dish that’s considered a delicacy in East Asia — is responsible for the deaths of about 73 million sharks each year. It was previously believed that many of these sharks were being caught in international waters, beyond the authority of any individual country, but a […]
Planned road projects threaten Sumatran rhino habitat, experts say
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Conservationists are calling for a Sumatran rhino habitat at the northern tip of the Indonesian island to be fully protected from planned road-construction projects. Officials in the province of Aceh have allocated 2.4 trillion rupiah ($164 million) for the development of 12 roads across the province through 2022. Governor Nova Iriansyah […]