On April 20, on the south coast of Timor-Leste, Jafet Potenzo Lopes saw three green pigeons. He had not seen the species for years. The birds were Timor green pigeons, and the site, in Manatuto municipality, had no previous record of them. With the species nearing extinction, finding three birds in a new place was […]
Tag: Oryx
War reveals the isolation of Iran’s scientists
The smiles on the faces of Iman Ebrahimi and his colleagues in the photograph are revealing: After more than a month of war in Iran, a tenuous ceasefire in mid-April offered a brief window for the team to travel to one of Ebrahimi’s favorite field sites. Maharloo Lake is the “hottest spot for flamingo breeding […]
The value of South Africa’s wildlife shouldn’t be in the hands of wealthy foreign hunters (commentary)
South Africa’s conservation debate is too often anchored within the blunt slogan, “If it pays, it stays.” At face value, this appears pragmatic, even responsible. But there’s a troubling premise underneath it: the survival of South Africa’s wildlife depends on its ability to generate an enormous income for a select group of wealthy farmers and […]
‘Extinct’ Graceful Oryx Thriving in the Saharan Wilds Thanks to Decades of Captive Breeding
Even as the final scimitar-horned oryx was felled for meat and leather on the Saharan dunes, a network of zoos, hunting reserves, and even a royal menagerie, guaranteed they would live on in captivity. Now, 9 years after these graceful antelope were first introduced back into the lands they once roamed, they have become one […]
Climate change threatens unique ‘Samburu Special 5’ wildlife in arid East Africa
In the dry regions of East Africa lives a group of animals unlike any others. Known as the Samburu Special Five to safari operators in Kenya, they are the dry-adapted reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), beisa oryx (Oryx beisa), gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) and Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes). But they are increasingly imperiled […]
With ‘terrifying’ trade in African hornbills, scientists call for increased protection
For millions of years, the African landscape — the rainforests, woodlands, savannas and scrublands — has echoed with the booms and cackles of large, raucous, strange-looking birds: hornbills. When U.S. ornithologist Nico Arcilla came to Gabon in the late 1990s as a Peace Corps volunteer, these noisy birds enchanted her. “There’d be a big flock […]
Namibia’s “Beach Lions” Are Adapting to Climate Change by Hunting Seals
In an extraordinary example of resilience, Namibia’s desert lions—once thought to be confined to the arid interior—are now roaming the Atlantic coastline, evolving into the world’s only known maritime lions. According to BBC Future, these rare big cats have adapted to extreme conditions by changing their diet and habitat, swapping traditional prey like oryx and […]
More than 10,000 species on brink of extinction need urgent action: Study
Extinction is an overwhelming concept, difficult to grasp in its enormity and finality. Thousands of species are barreling toward that grim fate, unless we help. A comprehensive new study provides the clearest picture yet of Earth’s most imperiled species, and offers evidence that conservation can work. The study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity found that […]