Articles by Isabel Esterman

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal's government plans to conduct a census of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in March 2020, a year after postponing the count due to lack of funds.…

Off the coast of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, the Malacca Strait was once home to dolphins. In their place, there are now barges filled with coal, brought by sea to…

The rainforests that once carpeted Indonesia's Sumatra Island are among the world's most biodiverse ecosystems, home to iconic species like the Sumatran tiger, rhino and orangutan. They are also among…

Mongabay investigates the disappearance, death and discovery of a wandering rhino in Northeast India.

KOH KONG, Cambodia — In a rare ruling, a court in Cambodia has decided to acquit a Spanish environmental activist charged with incitement, the state’s default accusation against most forms…

When economist Adrian Lopes read a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a question popped into his mind. The report, which described rhino poaching and counter-poaching measures, talked…

In November 2018, a small female Sumatran rhino plunged into a pit trap in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Pahu, as she came to be called,…

In April 2018, a month before Malaysian voters elected Mahathir Mohamad to the prime minister’s office, Ng Zhu Hann couldn’t have been more open and enthusiastic about Forest City, the…

DOROGOT, Indonesia — Toikot rises as the golden light of dawn begins to shine on the heavy mist that cloaks the rainforest canopy outside his home in Indonesia's Siberut Island.…

China’s mammoth spending on transportation, energy and residential infrastructure was a potent issue in Malaysia’s raucous 2018 election that saw Najib Razak replaced as prime minister by his former mentor…

SAURAHA, Nepal — Barbecue smoke and soft reggae music fill the air as tourists lounge on the banks of the Rapti River in Sauraha, the eastern gateway to Nepal's Chitwan…

NAWALPUR DISTRICT, Nepal — A few kilometers from the town of Danda along the East-West Highway in Nepal's southern plains, the road diverges. One fork leads to Barauli, the other…

BASANKUSU, Democratic Republic of Congo — On a sultry morning in the densely forested Équateur province, Victor Likofata and Ibrahim Walelo perch on the edge of a long dugout canoe…

The four-wheel-drive is king of the road in Papua New Guinea. Driving anywhere outside the capital, Port Moresby, is a whiplash roulette of swerving around zigzag crevices and blindsiding potholes.…

OHOFIA, Nigeria — The fading sunlight, half-coned and yellow, turns the evening murky. The crowing of roosters mingles with the rattling of motorbikes as farmers make their way home from…

Tam, the last known male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia, died May 27 after months of declining health. "It is with heavy hearts that we share the tragic news that Tam,…

A typical morning in the village of Phlangwanbroi starts with a melodious yet primitive-sounding song: drifting over from the nearby community forest, a series of whoops, hoots and tones rise…

BOKÉ, Guinea — As he looks out on a landscape devastated by bauxite mining, Lamarana Camara remembers when chimpanzees would wander freely through the thick forests that once surrounded his…

Traffic is a decades-old problem in Penang, a common complaint shared across class, race and political lines in this Malaysian state. When it’s brought up, Siti Fadhilah, a 31-year-old selling…

A juvenile male Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) was found dead last month in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the only remaining population of the nearly extinct species. The…