Rhett Butler

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Founder of Mongabay.

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1058 stories
Sue Palminteri with elephants. Courtesy of George Powell.

Conservation biologist and wildtech journalist Sue Palminteri, 1965-2019

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Dec 2019
Google Earth image showing deforestation south of Santarém, in the state of Pará.

Amazon deforestation paces ahead of recent historical norm

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Dec 2019
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsunday Islands. Astronaut photograph ISS045-E-56257 was acquired on October 12, 2015, with a Nikon D4 digital camera using an 1150 millimeter lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. Courtesy of NASA/JSC.

Protecting living corals could help defend the Great Barrier Reef from ocean acidification for decades

Ariana Remmel 6 Dec 2019
A white-nosed saki (Chiropotes albinasus) in the Amazon rainforest canopy. Climate change will shrink the habitat of these endangered primates and deforestation may limit their ability to find new homes, a new study reports. Photo by João Paulo Krajewski.

Amazon primates face barriers in responding to climate change

Erin Malsbury 3 Dec 2019
Nyeema Harris and her crew deployed motion-detecting cameras throughout their study site in West Africa. Credit: University of Michigan Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab

Camera traps yield surprises in West Africa’s largest protected area

Jerimiah Oetting 2 Dec 2019
Glass eels are a juvenile form of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a species that undergoes an incredible 10,000 kilometer (6,200 mile) migration. Photo courtesy of Alessandro Cresci.

Moon and Earth’s magnetic field guide European eels on their epic migration

Amanda Heidt 2 Dec 2019
Bramble Cay melomys. Photo by Queensland Government

Bramble Cay Melomys: requiem for a small brown rat

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Dec 2019
PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL. Aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Brazilian president claims Leonardo DiCaprio funded Amazon fires

Mongabay.com 30 Nov 2019
Small insect-eating birds, such as the violet-green swallow, have not declined as severely as larger meat-eating birds. However, future warming may further increase water demands and put more species at risk of collapse. Photo by Sean Peterson

Heat stress is causing desert bird populations to collapse

Jesse Kathan 29 Nov 2019
A canopy crane in the forest in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve. Photo courtesy of Lei Chen.

Beneficial and harmful fungi are at the root of forest diversity

Jack J. Lee 28 Nov 2019
Rainforest in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

$10M in prize money for mapping rainforest biodiversity

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Nov 2019
A yaws-infected adult gorilla with red lesions mainly located on its face. Photo by Céline Genton/Université de Rennes 1

Female gorillas recognize and respond to contagious disease

Lara Streiff 25 Nov 2019
The reed frog (Hyperolius molleri) is endemic to the island of São Tomé off the coast of Central Africa and was one of the species sampled in the study. Photo by Andrew Stanbridge

Rapid genetic test traces spread of fungus that kills frogs, reveals new strain in Southeast Asia

Jonathan Wosen 25 Nov 2019
Camera trap image of a pangolin foraging at night in South Sudan. Credit: Bucknell University/Fauna and Flora International

Pangolins are a victim of political instability in South Sudan

Ashleigh Papp 21 Nov 2019
PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL. Aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Brazil’s new deforestation numbers confirm the “Bolsonaro Effect” despite denials (commentary)

Philip M. Fearnside 20 Nov 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Amazon deforestation rises to 11 year high in Brazil

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Nov 2019
Baobab tree amid rice paddies outside Morondava. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Mongabay at 20: Two decades of news and inspiration from nature’s frontline (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Nov 2019
Researchers examining fungi in China. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Failure Factors: Sometimes the most important thing to know is what did not go as planned (commentary)

David Wilkie, Kara Stevens, Richard Margoluis 13 Nov 2019
Hill Myna, Gracula religiosa, for sale in a bird market, Java, Indonesia. photo credit: Gabby Salazar

Mischaracterizing the conservation benefits of trade (commentary)

Brett R. Scheffers, Brunno F. Oliveira, Ieuan Lamb, David P. Edwards 8 Nov 2019
CNES / Airbus image on Google Earth showing rainforest and deforestation at 9°28'8.18"S, 58°16'44.67"W.

Deforestation continues to rise in the Brazilian Amazon

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Oct 2019

$750,000 prize seeks solutions to challenges from small-scale mining

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Oct 2019
Gold and sand mining near Mandor, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

The unrecognized cost of Indonesia’s fires (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Oct 2019
A sound file revealing rich data on biodiversity. Image by Rhett Butler for Mongabay.

How bioacoustics can transform conservation – Wildtech event in Palo Alto

Mongabay.com 3 Oct 2019
Drone view of Chiquitano forest recently deforested on the edge of the Bolivian Amazon for soy production. Photo by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay.

Pro-deforestation policies could be ruinous for farmers (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Sep 2019

Transforming African conservation from old social cause into next-gen growth market

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Sep 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Brazil’s satellite agency resumes releasing deforestation data

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Sep 2019
Andean cock of the rock bird in Manu. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

New road risks Pandora’s box of disruption in world’s most biodiverse national park (commentary)

William Laurance, Penny van Oosterzee 28 Aug 2019
Copernicus / Landsat image of the Amazon River as seen via Google Earth.

A healthy and productive Amazon is the foundation of Brazil’s sovereignty (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Aug 2019
PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL. Aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Michael Shellenberger’s sloppy Forbes diatribe deceives on Amazon fires (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Aug 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

DiCaprio joins $5M effort to combat Amazon fires

Mongabay.com 26 Aug 2019
PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL. Aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Greenpeace releases dramatic photos of Amazon fires

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Aug 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

How many fires are burning in the Amazon?

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Aug 2019

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Sunrise over the Amazon rainforest. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.
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