The long-tailed macaque has lost a battle for its survival — but won one for scientific integrity, reports Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn. In early October, the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, reaffirmed the species’ endangered status, rejecting an appeal by the U.S. National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR). The lobby group had argued that the listing impeded vaccine and drug development, since laboratories rely heavily on macaques for testing.

The IUCN first elevated Macaca fascicularis from vulnerable to endangered in 2022, after evidence emerged that wild monkeys were being laundered into “captive-breeding” farms across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Its latest review found that wild populations have fallen by as much as 70% over the past three decades.

“I’m happy to see science prevail, but I’m not happy to see the long-tailed macaques endangered,” said Malene Friis Hansen of Aarhus University in Denmark, a co-author of the assessment. “That we’ve pushed such an adaptive synanthrope to this stage should be an eye-opener.”

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified demand for macaques for medical testing. When China halted exports in 2020, Cambodia’s shipments nearly doubled. Reports soon surfaced that supposedly captive-bred macaques were, in fact, trapped in the wild and funneled through state-linked farms. U.S. prosecutors later alleged Cambodian officials’ complicity in the trade, though few have faced consequences. The industry, meanwhile, has prospered: wild monkeys can fetch a few hundred dollars, while laboratory buyers pay tens of thousands.

The NABR insists the IUCN’s process was tainted by “emotive” language and conflicts of interest, allegations the conservation body dismissed after an internal inquiry. It has pledged to “educate policymakers” about what it calls an overreach of environmental science. Yet Hansen asks a sharper question: “If these companies claim they’re only using captive-bred monkeys, then why are they so concerned about the IUCN listing?” That listing applies only to wild populations.

Beyond laboratories, macaques suffer from the pet trade and from viral social-media cruelty videos, where abuse is monetized for clicks. Habitat loss and persecution complete the toll. The species’ apparent abundance at tourist sites masks its disappearance from the forests it once dominated. For a primate known for its adaptability, that may be the cruelest irony of all.

Read the full story by Gerald Flynn here.

Banner image: Long-tailed macaques living in the mountains of Cambodia’s Battambang province. Image by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Rescue operations intensified Friday across central Vietnam as floodwaters receded after days of record rain and deadly landslides that left at least 13 people dead, 11 missing and tens of thousands displaced.

The receding waters allowed rescue teams to reach previously cut-off communities and nearly 26,000 residents have been evacuated from flooded or landslide-prone areas.

The government deployed helicopters and troops to deliver food, medicine and other supplies while working to repair homes, clear debris and prevent disease. Roads, power lines and schools are being restored, and emergency rice aid is set for distribution by Saturday.

The country’s North–South railway, a key transport route linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, reopened early Friday after being cut off for three days. Hundreds of workers labored overnight to repair damaged sections and stabilize the tracks.

Flooding has eased in the coastal cities of Hue and Danang but remains widespread and is expected to persist for the next two days, according to state media. Since torrential rain began Oct. 26, floods and landslides have submerged homes and villages and destroyed infrastructure across the region.

Hue recorded 1,085 millimeters (42 inches) of rain in just 24 hours earlier this week — the highest daily rainfall ever measured in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered emergency measures to speed recovery and ensure no one is left hungry or without shelter.

About 120,000 homes were inundated by the floods across central Vietnam, with 56 houses completely destroyed and 147 badly damaged, according to disaster officials. Authorities said temporary shelters will be set up for families who lost their homes.

Vietnam’s meteorological agency said a surge of cool air from the north collided with warm, moisture-rich winds from the sea, setting off a chain of storms that have pounded central provinces for days. The winds forced rain-laden clouds up against the mountains, causing even heavier downpours.

They warned that heavy rain could continue in parts of central Vietnam through Nov. 4, with some areas expected to receive more than 700 millimeters of rain.

Central Vietnam frequently faces heavy rains and tropical storms, yet experts say the scale and intensity of this week’s floods highlight rising dangers linked to shifting rainfall patterns in a warming climate.

The country is among the most flood-prone in the world, with nearly half its population living in high-risk areas.

By Aniruddha Ghosal, Associated Press  

Banner image: Local residents paddle a boat through a flooded street in Hue, Vietnam, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (Mai Huyen Trang/VNA via AP)

Researchers have recently described six new-to-science species of tube-nosed bats from the Philippines, named after their unique nostrils that protrude from the snout. All the specimens were collected from either primary or secondary forests, currently threatened by mining and shifting agriculture, the authors write in a new study.

“These bats are notoriously elusive, so the tube-nosed bat collection this study examined was cobbled together over many years, expeditions, and memorable experiences — one bat at a time,” Jodi Sedlock, study co-author from Lawrence University, U.S., said in a statement.

For the study, the researchers examined the bodies and genetics of museum specimens of tube-nosed bats collected from various Philippine islands over the past couple of decades. Their analysis found six species previously unknown to science. All the bats are insect-eating and weigh just 4-14 grams (0.1-0.5 ounces).

Alvarez’s tube-nosed bat (Murina alvarezi): Found in the southern and central Philippines, this bat has been recorded from a diverse range of forests on the islands of Mindanao, Siquijor, Bohol, Cebu and Sibuyan. The species is named in honor of James Alvarez, a young Filipino bat biologist who died in 2018.

Balete’s tube-nosed bat (Murina baletei): This bat was recorded in primary and second-growth forests of Lubang, southern Luzon and Catanduanes islands. It’s named in honor of Danilo S. Balete, a Filipino zoologist who died in 2017.

Hilong-Hilong tube-nosed bat (Murina hilonghilong): The largest Murina species in the Philippines, the bat has only been found in the forests of Mount Hilong-Hilong. The mountain is recognized as both a Key Biodiversity Area and an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area in Danger, the authors write.

Luzon tube-nosed bat (Murina luzonensis): This bat is currently only known from the forests of the central Cordillera and northern Sierra Madre range in northern part of the island of Luzon.

Philippine tube-nosed bat (Murina philippinensis): This is the smallest and most widespread of the endemic Murina species found across the Philippines, the authors write. Named for its broad distribution, the bat has been recorded “from Luzon in the north to Mindanao in the south,” they add.

Mindoro tube-nosed bat (Murina mindorensis): This species is found only on the island of Mindoro; two specimens were recorded there close to the foot of Mount Tallulah.

The researchers write that all six bats were captured within forests and protected areas that are threatened by agriculture and mining.

Mt. Hilong-Hilong, for example, the only known habitat of M. hilonghilong, lost about 4% of its forest cover from 2000-2019, they add. Meanwhile, Mount Kampalili-Puting Bato Key Biodiversity Area, home to M. alvarezi, experienced more than 8% forest cover loss within the same period. There are also 58 large-scale mines, including nickel, operating in the Philippines currently, most in eastern Mindanao, the researchers say.

Banner image of Murina baletei. Image courtesy of D. Balete.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell by 11% from August 2024 to July this year, the government said Thursday, even as wildfires tracked by Brazil’s space agency surged to record levels amid a severe drought.

According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), 5,796 square kilometers (2,238 square miles) of forest were cleared between August 2024 and July 2025 — an area nearly four times the size of New York City, but still a significant drop from the previous year and the lowest level in nearly a decade.

The Environment Ministry said the drop in deforestation reflects stronger environmental enforcement, expanded satellite monitoring and renewed coordination among federal agencies.

The results come just weeks before Brazil hosts the COP30 U.N. climate summit in the Amazon city of Belem, where the country will be under pressure to demonstrate progress toward its 2030 goal of ending illegal deforestation.

At the same time, INPE reported that fire detections in the Amazon from January through October 2025 were the highest since 2010. Widespread burning and prolonged drought have blanketed parts of northern Brazil in smoke, forcing flight cancellations and prompting health warnings in states such as Amazonas and Para.

Experts say the fires — often used to clear already-deforested land — risk undermining recent conservation gains.

Ibama, Brazil’s environmental enforcement agency, said during the announcement that it carried out 9,540 inspections this year, a 38% increase from 2024, issuing 2.85 billion reais ($520 million) in environmental fines this year and seizing more than 4,500 pieces of machinery and livestock tied to illegal clearing.

Officials said over 75 civil lawsuits were filed jointly by Ibama and the Attorney General’s Office against deforestation and illegal burning cases.

Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a coalition of Brazilian civil-society groups, told The Associated Press the latest data show both progress and contradiction in Brazil’s climate policy.

“It’s great news — it shows the zero-deforestation target can be achieved if the government and society as a whole work together,” he said. “But it also exposes the government’s contradictions: while one part delivers solutions like reducing deforestation, another is delivering the problem, approving oil drilling projects in the Amazon River basin.”

Greenpeace Brazil called the results positive but said lasting progress will depend on permanent safeguards and stronger global cooperation.

“The result is encouraging, but there’s still room to improve,” said Ana Clis Ferreira, spokesperson for Greenpeace’s Zero Deforestation campaign in a statement. “It’s essential to institutionalize protections that don’t depend on political cycles and to implement robust action plans for periods of greater climate vulnerability.”

By Steven Grattan, Associated Press

Powerful winds are ripping through the Arctic, breaking up critical sea ice that once acted as a shield against disturbance from wind and waves. Scientists warn the loss of sea ice is speeding up the region’s ecological collapse and could disrupt weather patterns far beyond the Arctic, contributor Sean Mowbray reported for Mongabay.

In the Arctic, deeper waters are warmer than the freezing surface temperatures. So when powerful wind forcefully stirs the water, it pulls warmer water up. That warmer water raises the air temperature, making the atmosphere less stable and potentially strengthening winds. Those stronger winds break up sea ice and bring warmer water to the surface, creating more melting — a positive feedback loop that accelerates both Arctic melting and wind intensification.

“What we’re seeing now is that, as the Arctic is warming up, we’re transitioning to much more of a seasonal sea ice cover with more open water,” Morven Muilwijk, a physical oceanographer with the Norwegian Polar Institute, told Mowbray. “Stronger winds mean more drag on the ice and the ocean.”

Arctic cyclones have grown stronger in recent years, in terms of both intensity and duration. In 2012, 2016 and 2022, intense storms shattered large amounts sea ice, leaving fragments dispersed and more vulnerable to melting.

It’s possible these cyclones are accelerating a shift to an ice-free Arctic in summer, Steven Cavallo, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Oklahoma, U.S., told Mowbray. “There’s still a lot of unknowns … because there’s so many changes happening in the Arctic.”

More intense storms also cause coastal erosion and damage infrastructure in Arctic communities. Locals, many Indigenous, are at risk of losing their traditional hunting and fishing practices, which depend on stable ice.

According to Muilwijk, changes in Arctic wind patterns are having far-reaching effects on other parts of the world. That’s because a warming Arctic weakens the polar jet stream, which impacts weather for much of the Northern Hemisphere.

A faster-melting Arctic has been linked to more rain in Europe’s Iberian Peninsula during the winter, and reduced rainfall in California, U.S., a region already suffering from desertification.

“I think the key message here is that these changes … have implications that go far, far beyond the Arctic’s borders,” Muilwijk added.

Read the full story by Sean Mowbray here.

Banner image: More intense Arctic cyclones, caused by climate change, are linked to rapid sea ice loss. Image courtesy of Trine Lise Sviggum Helgerud/Norwegian Polar Institute.