Rhett Ayers Butler

Rhett Ayers Butler

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About

Rhett Butler is the founder and CEO of Mongabay.

Rhett founded Mongabay out of his passion for wildlife and wild places.

He has traveled widely in the tropics and enjoys photography, hiking, and scuba-diving.

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Some background on Mongabay's origin:

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2313 stories
Jane Goodall in 2024. Courtesy of the Jane Goodall Institute.

A year ago today, Jane Goodall died at 91. Her message is more important than ever

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Oct 2026
Giraldo Alayón García

Giraldo Alayón García, Cuba’s ‘spider man,’ died on Sept. 24

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Oct 2026
Baird's tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are the largest native land mammals in Central and South America. They are endangered and habitat loss is one of its biggest threats. Image by user Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

In Panama’s Darién forest, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Sep 2026
Pratap Singh Chundawat via his Facebook page.

Pratap Singh Chundawat rescued a leopard from a well. He died in the line of duty, aged 40

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Sep 2026
Jaco Muller. Image courtesy of the Rhino Momma Project.

Jaco Muller turned his 15-year-old son’s idea into 197 rhino births

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Sep 2026

The mountain lion photo that helped change Los Angeles

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Sep 2026
Tiger cat released with satellite collar in Mirador State Park. Courtesy of Tadeu de Oliveira.

A new cat species was just discovered. Several more may follow

Rhett Ayers Butler 24 Sep 2026
Guainia mountains

Nearly forgotten languages are finding new words for Colombia’s dragonflies

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Sep 2026
Illustration of the clownfish photo taken by Debby Ng.

A clownfish’s last stand

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Sep 2026
Spinach pipefish is an endemic species found in Papua New Guinea's Sepik River. It was not seen by scientists for more than four decades. Image Courtesy of New Guinea Binatang Research Centre.

Indigenous fisherwoman finds ‘lost’ spinach pipefish, not seen by science in 40 years

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Sep 2026
Michael Painter in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo by David Wilkie.

Michael Painter put Indigenous land rights at the center of conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 2 Sep 2026
Kerexu Laudiceia smoking a petyngua, the Guarani people’s sacred pipe. Image by Fellipe Abreu.

Tiago Karaí and Laudiceia Benites helped reclaim Guarani land. They died with their children in an accident last month.

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Sep 2026
With Dreyk, a member of the Cubeo people from the Venado community, surrounded by the Mavicure Hills in Guainía, Colombia. Credit: Rhett Ayers Butler

Environmental crimes don’t stop at borders. Neither can the reporting

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Aug 2026
A view of the presidential palace in Indonesia's new capital, Nusantara. Image courtesy of Leah Varjacques.

Recording a rainforest before Indonesia’s new capital changes it

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Aug 2026

For 50 years, Philip Fearnside has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Aug 2026
Hà Đình Đức with the great softshell of Hồ Gươm. Photo by ZNews Vietnam

Hà Đình Đức, guardian of Hanoi’s legendary turtle, died at 86

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Aug 2026
Américo Pascuala Tumisha. Photo courtesy of Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN)

Ashéninka leader reportedly killed while patrolling Indigenous territory is found alive

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Aug 2026

Daniel Janzen and the long work of bringing back a forest

Rhett Ayers Butler 24 Aug 2026
Patricio Segura. Courtesy of Patagon Journal

Patricio Segura, journalist who defended Patagonia’s rivers, died of hantavirus, aged 54

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Aug 2026
Pete Brosius in Sarawak

Pete Brosius brought Penan forest stewardship in Sarawak into court

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Aug 2026

Why every endangered species needs a champion: a conversation with conservationist Bill Konstant

Rhett Ayers Butler 20 Aug 2026
A Timor green pigeon (Treron psittaceus).

Only a few hundred Timor green pigeons may remain. There is still time to save them

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Aug 2026
Steve Smit. From his Facebook page

Steve Smit, South Africa’s “Monkey Man,” has died

Rhett Ayers Butler 15 Aug 2026
John Salehe. Photo courtesy of AWF

John Salehe helped shape Tanzania’s community conservation movement

Rhett Ayers Butler 15 Aug 2026
Cerros de Mavicure at sunset. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

Among the sacred hills of Colombia’s Guainía

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Aug 2026
Adam Falk at Jahoo Gibbon Camp within Keo Seima Sanctuary in Cambodia. Photo courtesy of WCS.

What conservation looks like from the outside: A conversation with Adam Falk after his first year as CEO of WCS

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Aug 2026
Chimpanzees at Tacugama

What makes chimpanzee conservation last? Lessons from Sierra Leone

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Aug 2026
A group of cow elk traverses an active mine site as they move between forest patches. Image courtesy of Brittany L. Slabach.

Wildlife in the eastern US are making a comeback

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Aug 2026
Mariano Cenamo. Photo by Renato Stockler / Folha Press

Mariano Cenamo, advocate for a sustainable Amazon bioeconomy, has died, aged 46

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Aug 2026
Mist rising from the Amazon rainforest in July 2026. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler / Mongabay

Amazon deforestation alerts fall to lowest level since 2013, Brazilian data show

Rhett Ayers Butler 9 Aug 2026

Tree cover is not the same as ecological recovery

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Aug 2026
Vinod Rishi

Vinod Rishi helped give India’s elephants room to roam

Rhett Ayers Butler 6 Aug 2026

News and Inspiration from Nature's Frontline.

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A black-faced lion tamarin photographed during the yellow fever vaccination project conducted by SPVS. Image by Gabriel Marchi.
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