New research shows that marine heat waves last longer in deeper water, increasing the possibility of species displacement or mortality. Marine heat waves, defined as events where ocean temperatures rise to extreme levels and hold steady for at least five days, are becoming increasingly common as human-induced climate change fuels global warming. The ocean absorbs […]
Tag: mongabay
Endangered Formosan black bears caught in Taiwanese ‘snaring crisis’ (commentary)
In 2020 a report titled “Wildlife-snaring crisis in Asian Forests” was published by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), estimating that over 12 million snares engulf Indochinese forests (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) alone, mostly in ‘protected’ areas. By contrast, it is difficult to know how many snares blanket Taiwan’s mountainous forests, but it is safe […]
Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
In 2002, three researchers set out to conduct a large-scale experiment — both in terms of area and time. Their goal: to explore the role of tree diversity in the restoration of lowland rainforest. Now, 21 years later, early results are coming in and are described in a new study published in Science Advances. The […]
Newly described gecko from Madagascar a master of disguise
The leaf-tailed geckos of the genus Uroplatus aren’t easy to find. In the jungles of their native Madagascar, this is certainly true, owing to their remarkable ability to meld into their surroundings. But scientists are still uncovering species from the island nation with astonishing regularity by disentangling species complexes using DNA analysis. In 1989, only […]
African Parks to rewild 2,000 rhinos from controversial breeding program
On Sept. 4, African Parks, a multinational nonprofit conservation organization, announced that it had purchased Platinum Rhino, John Hume’s controversial intensive rhino breeding operation, and intended to rewild the more than 2,000 southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) that came with it. The news was universally welcomed by those Mongabay has spoken to in South […]
A forest gave Cambodia’s captive elephants a new life. Now they’re paying it back
PU TROM, Cambodia — The quiet life that Sambo leads today seems as distant from her past plight as the searing-hot streets she once trod as a tourist attraction in the far-off capital of Phnom Penh. “Elephants are not meant to walk on concrete,” says Jemma Bullock, deputy director at the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment […]
Online trade in Philippine hornbills threatens birds and forests
MANILA – Hornbills in the Philippines already suffer from habitat loss and forest conversion, but the illegal sale of these endangered birds in the online market could further plunge their numbers in the wild, according to a recently published study. This possible decrease in their populations due to poaching could have a knock-on effect on […]
Suriname’s tapirs: Conservation in the face of hunting and other threats
Each year from June to August, it’s tapir hunting season in Suriname, the only country in South America that allows hunting the animal, which already faces a host of other threats to its survival. This species, widely known in Suriname as bofru (Tapirus terrestris), is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of […]