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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/matthew-weaver/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Stories by Matthew Weaver -</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/matthew-weaver/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>In Panama’s Darién forest, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 21:15:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31193348/1024px-Bairds_tapir_mother_with_baby_92151-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331355</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Camera Trapping, cameras, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Culture, In-situ Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Monitoring, Protected Areas, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status, reports Mongabay contributor María Paula Rubiano A. Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status, reports Mongabay contributor María Paula Rubiano A. Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened forest, including three “umbrella” species: Jaguars (Panthera onca), Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) and crested eagles (Morphnus guianensis). At least 15 of the species they documented are classified as threatened. The communities are now using the data as a baseline for joining the biodiversity credit market, which they hope can generate revenue in an area where there are few opportunities to earn money. The communities are using bioacoustic monitoring and camera-trapping with the support of the Panama-based NGO FSC Indigenous Foundation and Health In Harmony, an international nonprofit. They are employing a methodology developed by Savimbo, a biodiversity credit company co-founded by Indigenous community members, that uses 15 indicator species as a proxy for forest health. Samuel Cheucarama, who lives in an Indigenous Wounaan village, told Rubiano the efforts have already changed behavior in the communities. &#8220;People don’t go hunting anymore. They’re saying, &#8216;We&#8217;re going to put up a &#8216;No Hunting&#8217; sign.&#8221; Read the full article here. Banner image:Baird&#8217;s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are the largest native land mammals in Central and South America. Image by user Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).  This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331355</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Isle Royale wolves inbred but likely to survive, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 20:47:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331353</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Canids, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Islands, Mammals, Reintroductions, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have found that wolves brought to Isle Royale in 2018 are likely to survive but face challenges from inbreeding and isolation. The island had only two inbred wolves in 2016, so officials introduced 19 new wolves between 2018 and 2019. A study published in Conservation Science and Practice shows the wolf population has over [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have found that wolves brought to Isle Royale in 2018 are likely to survive but face challenges from inbreeding and isolation. The island had only two inbred wolves in 2016, so officials introduced 19 new wolves between 2018 and 2019. A study published in Conservation Science and Practice shows the wolf population has over an 80% chance of lasting 20 years. However, inbreeding remains a significant concern. The wolf population has increased since the study ended, but the moose population, a key food source, has sharply declined, raising additional concerns for the ecosystem. By Laura Herberg/Bridge Michigan via Associated Press Banner image:  A 4-year-old female gray wolf emerges from her cage as she is released at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. Image courtesy of the National Park Service. This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331353</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New releases a leap forward for endangered frog in southern California</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 19:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331219</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Endangered Species, Frogs, Habitat, Herps, Invasive Species, Reintroductions, Research, Rewilding, Science, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Frog release days always start early, at about 4 a.m., so that staff can get up to the site before the day gets too hot, said Erin Lundy, manager of conservation initiatives at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the U.S. The first challenge is catching the frogs. A newly morphed southern mountain yellow-legged frog [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Frog release days always start early, at about 4 a.m., so that staff can get up to the site before the day gets too hot, said Erin Lundy, manager of conservation initiatives at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the U.S. The first challenge is catching the frogs. A newly morphed southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) is about an inch long, fast, and very good at squeezing into cracks, Lundy said. It can take a couple of hours for staff to scoop them all up from the tanks. Lundy prefers grabbing them with gloved hands, though others use nets. The aquarium has been rearing southern mountain yellow-legged frogs since 2021, as part of a multi-agency, 20-plus-year conservation effort for the species, a Southern California amphibian listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Head-starting the frogs by ushering them through metamorphosis in captivity boosts their odds of survive, Lundy said. This year’s cohort arrived at the aquarium late last summer as 2-month-old tadpoles from the Los Angeles Zoo, where they were bred. Through winter and into spring, aquarium staff watched as their limbs erupted and tails slowly reabsorbed. By August, most were ready for life in the wild. (Metamorphosis for this species takes from one to five years in the wild, and is highly variable in captivity. Those that did not fully metamorphosize by the release date will be held back and released as larger adults next summer). Developing southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) embryos inside eggs at&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331219</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Philippine eagle habitat study maps mining risks and conservation priorities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 18:18:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30154948/05_Philippine-eagle-of-Barangay-Cabuaya-Mati-City-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331291</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Mapping, Mining, Raptors, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study mapping the likely nesting habitats of the iconic Philippine eagle in its main stronghold warns that the threat of habitat loss — a key driver of its disappearance across much of its range — still looms large for the critically endangered species. The study, published in Bird Conservation International, shows that approved [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study mapping the likely nesting habitats of the iconic Philippine eagle in its main stronghold warns that the threat of habitat loss — a key driver of its disappearance across much of its range — still looms large for the critically endangered species. The study, published in Bird Conservation International, shows that approved mining concessions overlap with 41% of highly suitable nesting habitat and 65% of its core areas in eastern Mindanao, the Philippines’ southernmost and second-largest island. Only about 35% of the highly suitable habitat identified across the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor falls within protected areas. Indigenous ancestral domains separately overlap with 65% of core high-quality nesting habitat. (The figures do not necessarily represent the same areas, the study notes.) “This study turns nearly four decades of field observations, nest records, GPS tracking and satellite information into something people can actually use,” study co-author Christopher J.W. McClure, vice president for global science at U.S.-based NGO The Peregrine Fund, said in a Sept. 24 statement issued by the Philippine Eagle Foundation. “It helps us see where surveys and safeguards are needed most before important habitat is changed,” McClure added. Juan Carlos Gonzalez, an ornithologist and curator for birds at the Museum of Natural History at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, who wasn’t involved in the research, said the findings are concerning because Philippine eagles (Pithecophaga jefferyi) already have limited suitable habitat inside protected areas and also persist in Indigenous-managed forests. “Both represent the last stronghold for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331291</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global experts gather in Sri Lanka for historic first World Congress on Snakes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 16:12:02 +0000</pubDate>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30152244/Dendrelaphis-wickrorum-full-body-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331281</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conflict, Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Habitat Loss, Herps, Research, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KANDY, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s cultural capital of Kandy will step into the global scientific spotlight from Oct. 1 to 4, 2026, as it hosts the inaugural World Congress on Snakes (WCS 2026). Taking place at the Grand Kandyan Hotel, the congress is a landmark event, marking the first international conference dedicated entirely to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KANDY, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s cultural capital of Kandy will step into the global scientific spotlight from Oct. 1 to 4, 2026, as it hosts the inaugural World Congress on Snakes (WCS 2026). Taking place at the Grand Kandyan Hotel, the congress is a landmark event, marking the first international conference dedicated entirely to snake biology, conservation and public health. More than 400 delegates from 25 countries, including more than 300 international scientists, ophiologists — experts in the branch of zoology concerned with the study of snakes — and medical experts, are expected to attend the four-day event on the Indian Ocean island. They will be joined by more than 100 local researchers to address critical ecological challenges and the rising global crisis of snakebite envenomation. Sri Lanka was chosen as the host nation owing to its extraordinary and unique reptilian diversity. The island is home to 112 snake species, more than 63 of which are endemic and found nowhere else on Earth. &#8220;This congress establishes Sri Lanka as the epicenter of global snake research and conservation policy,&#8221; said Anslem de Silva, congress chairperson and a global authority on herpetology. &nbsp; The World Congress on Snakes 2026 (WCS26) is the first of its kind and will host more than 500 delegates to discuss snake biology, evolution and conservation. Image courtesy of the WCS26. For decades, snake research has been marginalized within broader herpetological forums and the WCS 2026 aims to provide a dedicated, standalone platform for these ecologically vital&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331281</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal wildlife continues to slip through Canada’s borders. Experts explain how</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-wildlife-continues-to-slip-through-canadas-borders-experts-explain-how/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-wildlife-continues-to-slip-through-canadas-borders-experts-explain-how/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 15:13:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alex Megerle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30122850/earless-monitor-lizard-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331249</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Global, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Crime, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Law, Pet Trade, Pets, Trade, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It is far easier than one might expect to access the illegal wildlife trade in Canada. Chris Shepherd, a senior conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, knows this firsthand. On a recent call with Mongabay, he recounted attending a reptile fair in Canada and speaking to a seller who told him he regularly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It is far easier than one might expect to access the illegal wildlife trade in Canada. Chris Shepherd, a senior conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, knows this firsthand. On a recent call with Mongabay, he recounted attending a reptile fair in Canada and speaking to a seller who told him he regularly received shipments of “anything you want” from the U.S. “I asked him about a few illegal [Indonesian] animals … he said, ‘Oh, I just sold out of those. I&#8217;ll get more next weekend,’” Shepherd said. Globally, the black-market wildlife trade is driving many species toward extinction, and it’s extremely lucrative: Poaching and illegal sales of wildlife are valued at about $20 billion annually, according to a paper published last year in the journal Ecology and Evolution. Meanwhile, the legal trade is estimated at $220 billion a year, trading at least 70,000 species, that are often shipped or smuggled in vast numbers. Meanwhile, there’s little data on sustainability, according to a broad international study. Beyond the conservation concerns, this trade also poses a serious public health threat. Importing animals from around the globe without proper oversight can expose both humans and livestock to zoonotic diseases that jump between species. Examples include Ebola, tuberculosis, rabies, avian influenza and COVID-19, to name a few. The illegal wildlife trade is also a national security issue because of the perpetrators: International organized crime syndicates run these black-market operations, which can only function through bribes, fraud, complicity and corruption. Few realize&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-wildlife-continues-to-slip-through-canadas-borders-experts-explain-how/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331249</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Brazil’s Acre, calls for new roads clash with deforestation commitments</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-brazils-acre-calls-for-new-roads-clash-with-deforestation-commitments/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-brazils-acre-calls-for-new-roads-clash-with-deforestation-commitments/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 15:05:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constance Malleret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/03130100/1-Brazil-Acre-road-5-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331068</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forest Loss, Governance, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Ports, Roads, Trade, Transportation, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Along a freshly repaved stretch of the BR-317 highway in Acre, a Brazilian state bordering Bolivia and Peru in the Western Amazon, pasture stretches out as far as the eye can see. Solitary Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa), a protected species, are the only reminder of the tropical forest that once stood there. The road [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Along a freshly repaved stretch of the BR-317 highway in Acre, a Brazilian state bordering Bolivia and Peru in the Western Amazon, pasture stretches out as far as the eye can see. Solitary Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa), a protected species, are the only reminder of the tropical forest that once stood there. The road is part of the Interoceanic Highway, inaugurated in 2011 as the first paved road in South America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Built through the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon to help increase trade to Asia as well as between neighboring countries, the highway has been associated with deforestation on both sides of the border. “Roads are the main vector for deforestation and irregular [land] occupation,” says Sonaira Souza da Silva, a professor at the Federal University of Acre’s Floresta Campus and co-author of a recent paper on road expansion in Acre. The desolate landscape that now lines the BR-317 could be replicated elsewhere in Acre, environmentalists warn, if plans go ahead to build a second road connection with Peru. This is part of a renewed push to turn the state into a corridor to the Pacific for the export of Brazilian agricultural and mineral goods, following the 2024 inauguration of Chancay, a Chinese-built mega-port just north of Peru’s capital Lima. A new report from the NGO Amazon Conservation argues that expanding road infrastructure is incompatible with Acre’s deforestation commitments and that new corridors could add between 74,700 to 133,800 hectares (around 184,600 to 330,600&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-brazils-acre-calls-for-new-roads-clash-with-deforestation-commitments/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331068</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Big Oil vs. national parks: Who wins?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/big-oil-vs-national-parks-who-wins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/big-oil-vs-national-parks-who-wins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 14:15:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Izzy Sasada]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30141400/Big-Oil-vs-national-parks.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331272</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Giraffes, Natural Resources, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[12 critically endangered Nubian Giraffes were recently relocated from their home at Murchison Falls National Park to a reserve over 100km away. One of the reasons? Murchison Falls is now being opened up for oil extraction, as almost half of Uganda&#8217;s oil reserves are thought to lie there. National parks are home to some of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[12 critically endangered Nubian Giraffes were recently relocated from their home at Murchison Falls National Park to a reserve over 100km away. One of the reasons? Murchison Falls is now being opened up for oil extraction, as almost half of Uganda&#8217;s oil reserves are thought to lie there. National parks are home to some of the world’s most important biodiversity, and they are increasingly recognised as vital tools in tackling both biodiversity loss and climate change. But around the world, these protected areas are increasingly being undermined by political and economic priorities. So how protected are they, really? Join Conservation Entangled’s Izzy Sasada to learn more.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/big-oil-vs-national-parks-who-wins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/big-oil-vs-national-parks-who-wins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331272</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Evidence builds showing climate change could be intensifying El Niño events</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/evidence-builds-showing-climate-change-could-be-intensifying-el-nino-events/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/evidence-builds-showing-climate-change-could-be-intensifying-el-nino-events/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 14:03:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30115329/drought-and-humanitarian-crisis-in-Ethiopia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331234</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Science, Drought, Earth Science, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As a potentially historic El Niño builds in the Pacific, evidence suggests that climate change is ratcheting up the intensity of such events. And as temperatures rise in the future, the number and frequency of strong El Niños could increase even further, some experts say. “The evidence is accumulating that climate change makes for more [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As a potentially historic El Niño builds in the Pacific, evidence suggests that climate change is ratcheting up the intensity of such events. And as temperatures rise in the future, the number and frequency of strong El Niños could increase even further, some experts say. “The evidence is accumulating that climate change makes for more powerful El Niños,” climate scientist Mark Cane with Columbia University in the U.S. told Mongabay in a video interview. His work was instrumental in enabling accurate forecasting of El Niño events in the late 1980s and early ’90s. This year’s El Niño is on the verge of breaking all records as it continues to build and is forecast to peak between October and December 2026, according to most models. A pre-print study found an event of this size is six times more likely due to climate change. The 2026-2027 event “is clearly going to be very large, up there with the handful of largest events that we&#8217;re aware of,” Cane said. A coral reef in the Galapagos Islands. In 1982, a marine heatwave triggered by a very strong El Niño killed off around 95% of the coral in the Galapagos. That left “death horizons” in the coral samples, evidence of the catastrophic impact of that event. Image by Julia Cole. A continuing debate Whether climate change is intensifying El Niños and altering their frequency — and crucially, whether it will continue to do so — remains an open question. Today’s El Niños can be forecast&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/evidence-builds-showing-climate-change-could-be-intensifying-el-nino-events/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/evidence-builds-showing-climate-change-could-be-intensifying-el-nino-events/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331234</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pratap Singh Chundawat rescued a leopard from a well. He died in the line of duty, aged 40</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/pratap-singh-chundawat-rescued-a-leopard-from-a-well-he-died-in-the-line-of-duty-aged-40/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/pratap-singh-chundawat-rescued-a-leopard-from-a-well-he-died-in-the-line-of-duty-aged-40/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 09:40:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30093802/Pratap-Singh-Chundawat-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331215</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Governance, Illegal Mining, Leopards, Mammals, Mining, Obituary, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. On April 9, a farmer named Rupalal heard noises in a well at his field in Dhawadi village in the state of Rajasthan in India. He looked down and saw a leopard 21 meters (70 feet) below. A [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. On April 9, a farmer named Rupalal heard noises in a well at his field in Dhawadi village in the state of Rajasthan in India. He looked down and saw a leopard 21 meters (70 feet) below. A Rajasthan Forest Department team arrived at the scene and lowered a cage into the well, but the leopard would not enter. So Pratap Singh Chundawat, a ranger, descended into the shaft by rope. He tranquilized the animal with a dart gun, and the team was able to remove it safely. Before its release, the leopard was given a veterinary examination, which found that it was a healthy, one-and-a-half-year-old male. For Chundawat, while the event was particularly dramatic, it was in line with his work. Chundawat was well known for wildlife rescues and his work in tree nurseries, and had won awards at the district and division level. On the eve of this year&#8217;s World Environment Day, the Rajasthan Environment and Energy Conservation Centre honored Chundawat in Jaipur, the Rajasthan state capital, for “outstanding contributions to forest and wildlife conservation.” Suresh Agrawal, deputy conservator of forest in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district, called Chundawat “our best officer.” On Sept. 22, Chundawat died after he was run down by people allegedly involved in a local soil mining mafia. According to news accounts, at roughly 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 21, forest staff were notified that an earthmover and a truck&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/pratap-singh-chundawat-rescued-a-leopard-from-a-well-he-died-in-the-line-of-duty-aged-40/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/pratap-singh-chundawat-rescued-a-leopard-from-a-well-he-died-in-the-line-of-duty-aged-40/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331215</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tokyo records historic 35-day rain streak driven by El Niño and stalled fronts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/tokyo-records-historic-35-day-rain-streak-driven-by-el-nino-and-stalled-fronts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/tokyo-records-historic-35-day-rain-streak-driven-by-el-nino-and-stalled-fronts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 09:17:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30091646/Tokyo_Shibuya_Scramble_Crossing_2018-10-09-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331213</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Development, Disasters, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Impact Of Climate Change, Ocean Warming, Precipitation, Storms, Tropics, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Central Tokyo has experienced 35 consecutive days of rainfall, setting the longest continuous rainy streak since records began in 1886, reported local media citing Japan’s weather agency. Rains began on Aug. 27 and have continued daily as of Sept. 30. This spell breaks the previous record of 33 consecutive days of rainfall set in 2019, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Central Tokyo has experienced 35 consecutive days of rainfall, setting the longest continuous rainy streak since records began in 1886, reported local media citing Japan’s weather agency. Rains began on Aug. 27 and have continued daily as of Sept. 30. This spell breaks the previous record of 33 consecutive days of rainfall set in 2019, from June 27-July 29, according to Tokyo-based news site Japan Today. Tokyo typically sees its rainiest period in June-July. The nonstop rains in September are due to a combination of a stationary autumn rain front (known locally as akisame-zensen), intensified by approaching typhoons, including Typhoon Dujuan and low-pressure troughs. Rainfall in central Tokyo in September reached 629 millimeters (24.8 inches) by Sept. 28 — nearly three times the typical monthly average and approaching the September record of 670.9 mm (26.4 in) set in 1958, according to local media. Another typhoon is expected to affect Tokyo by Oct. 1. Meteorological officials attribute the abnormal weather pattern in part to global climate drivers, including El Niño, the warming of surface ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific. Masayuki Kyoda, an official at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), told AFP that “the distinctive weather map during this month is in part because of El Niño.” “Autumn rain fronts are staying longer than usual,” Kyoda said, because an associated Pacific high-pressure system has remained prolonged over the region. While he noted that it’s difficult to attribute a single event directly to climate change, a JMA report, “Climate Change in Japan&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/tokyo-records-historic-35-day-rain-streak-driven-by-el-nino-and-stalled-fronts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/tokyo-records-historic-35-day-rain-streak-driven-by-el-nino-and-stalled-fronts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331213</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Turning vulnerable livestock into four-eyed beasts helps protect them in Zimbabwe</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/turning-vulnerable-livestock-into-four-eyed-beasts-helps-protect-them-in-zimbabwe/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/turning-vulnerable-livestock-into-four-eyed-beasts-helps-protect-them-in-zimbabwe/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 08:09:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cecil Dzwowa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29232742/YawningLionPanthera.leo_Julie-LarsenWCS-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331196</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Cattle, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, and Livestock]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NYANGOMBE, Zimbabwe — In the first six months of 2026, the local council in Chiredzi recorded 317 cases of human-wildlife conflict in this district of southeastern Zimbabwe. In villages like Nyangombe, which is flanked by large game reserves such as Save Valley Conservancy and Nyangombe Community Conservancy, residents say wildlife frequently eat their crops and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NYANGOMBE, Zimbabwe — In the first six months of 2026, the local council in Chiredzi recorded 317 cases of human-wildlife conflict in this district of southeastern Zimbabwe. In villages like Nyangombe, which is flanked by large game reserves such as Save Valley Conservancy and Nyangombe Community Conservancy, residents say wildlife frequently eat their crops and attack livestock or even people. “Buffaloes destroy crops and spread diseases, while wild dogs, jackals, leopards and even lions target livestock,” Edson Mabika, a farmer in Nyangombe, told Mongabay. Mabika said he lost four sheep and a calf to wild animals in less than 10 days despite having a secure kraal and an experienced herd boy with three dogs. The loss prompted Mabika to think outside the box to protect his livestock. He asked a friend, a former game-reserve ranger, for suggestions on how to scare away wild predators without getting in harm’s way. His friend’s advice caught him by surprise: “He just advised me to try drawing eyes on the butts of my animals,” Mabika said. One of Edson Mabika&#8217;s cows, with decoy eyes painted on its rump. Image by Cecil Dzwowa for Mongabay. Mabika thought the former ranger was joking, but says his friend kept insisting. In January 2025, he painted black and white eyes on the backsides of about a third of his livestock. The first victims of the fake “butt eyes” were a pack of local dogs who barked aggressively after being startled by the new &#8220;eyes&#8221; on the livestock. Mabika&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/turning-vulnerable-livestock-into-four-eyed-beasts-helps-protect-them-in-zimbabwe/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/turning-vulnerable-livestock-into-four-eyed-beasts-helps-protect-them-in-zimbabwe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331196</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastic fused to coral rubble raises new concerns for ocean pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/plastic-fused-to-coral-rubble-raises-new-concerns-for-ocean-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/plastic-fused-to-coral-rubble-raises-new-concerns-for-ocean-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 23:41:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29221123/Plastic-coral-pic-e1790725156843-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331190</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Islands, Marine, Microplastics, Oceans, Planetary Boundaries, Plastic, Pollution, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From the seafloor to turtle stomachs, scientists are finding plastic everywhere they look for it. Now, researchers in Japan have found plastic thermally adhered to coral rubble, an amalgamation they’ve termed “plasticoral,” according to a new study. The finding is raising concerns about potential ocean chemical leaching, habitat degradation and a new way for microplastics [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From the seafloor to turtle stomachs, scientists are finding plastic everywhere they look for it. Now, researchers in Japan have found plastic thermally adhered to coral rubble, an amalgamation they’ve termed “plasticoral,” according to a new study. The finding is raising concerns about potential ocean chemical leaching, habitat degradation and a new way for microplastics to enter the marine environment, they say. Ifenna Ilechukwu, first author of the study with the University of Ryukyus in Japan, and his colleagues found five pieces of “plasticoral” on three different beaches during a routine marine litter survey on Japan’s Okinawa Island in August 2024. “We did not set out to discover plasticoral,” Ilechukwu told Mongabay in an email.  Researchers have previously described plastiglomerates, melted plastic debris fused with rocks, wood or other natural materials. However, when the team found coral rubble with plastic not just stuck on the surface but permanently adhered to it, they knew they’d found something unusual. Plasticoral is a subset of plastiglomerates, however, “plasticorals represent something different,” Ilechukwu said. “The melted polymers literally liquidized and conformed to the intricate, porous skeleton of the coral rubble.” Researchers suspect the plastic was burned into the rubble by a beach fire, though further research is needed to confirm that, Ilechukwu said. Laboratory analysis found that four of the plastic samples were polyethylene, commonly used for single-use bottles. One sample was polypropylene, a more rigid plastic used in food containers and bottle caps. Both are among the most common types of plastic found&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/plastic-fused-to-coral-rubble-raises-new-concerns-for-ocean-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/plastic-fused-to-coral-rubble-raises-new-concerns-for-ocean-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331190</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iwi and community-led effort return kiwi to Wellington for first time in over a century</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/iwi-and-community-led-effort-return-kiwi-to-wellington-for-first-time-in-over-a-century/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/iwi-and-community-led-effort-return-kiwi-to-wellington-for-first-time-in-over-a-century/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 20:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17043117/National-Geographic_Dec2023-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=330547</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Philosophy, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, In-situ Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For the first time in 150 years, kiwi once again live in the hills surrounding Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. More than 250 manu (“birds” in the Māori language) were successfully translocated back to the region, thanks to the efforts of the iwi (nations of Aotearoa), community members, and landowners behind the Capital Kiwi Project. Paul [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For the first time in 150 years, kiwi once again live in the hills surrounding Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. More than 250 manu (“birds” in the Māori language) were successfully translocated back to the region, thanks to the efforts of the iwi (nations of Aotearoa), community members, and landowners behind the Capital Kiwi Project. Paul Ward, the project lead and founder, joins the Mongabay Newscast this week to explain the yearslong effort to make this possible. A large part of it was removing stoats, which prey on kiwi before the chicks reach “fighting weight” (1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds), which is when they can defend themselves. The project did this by deploying more than 5,300 traps to remove stoats from the project area, covering about 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres). But removing predation threats to the kiwi was only the start, as it took years of relationship building with iwi, translocating birds, and educating community members on care — many of whom had never seen a kiwi in person before. “The three legs on which this project are based are those relationships with iwi, with Māori, the relationships with the communities, and the relationships with the landowners. And if you pull one of those legs off, the tripod falls over,” Ward says. “This is a relational project as much as it is what you might traditionally call a conservation project. And I think at a fundamental level that if we lose our relationship with these animals, with these manu … they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/iwi-and-community-led-effort-return-kiwi-to-wellington-for-first-time-in-over-a-century/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/iwi-and-community-led-effort-return-kiwi-to-wellington-for-first-time-in-over-a-century/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330547</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uganda pastoralists turn to wild plants as food shortages bite, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/uganda-pastoralists-turn-to-wild-plants-as-food-shortages-bite-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/uganda-pastoralists-turn-to-wild-plants-as-food-shortages-bite-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 19:11:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kingsley Charles]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29073341/The_Karamojong_or_Karimojong_an_ethnic_group_of_agro-pastoral_herders_living_mainly_in_the_north-east_of_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Fellows, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Plants, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For decades, the global outlook for food and agriculture has brought heightened concerns  as climate patterns create a mix of droughts and floods across the world. Consequently, fears of diminishing crop yields and livestock shortages have dominated the headlines. Amid the ensuing food security crisis, scientists are wondering if communities can turn toward local plant [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For decades, the global outlook for food and agriculture has brought heightened concerns  as climate patterns create a mix of droughts and floods across the world. Consequently, fears of diminishing crop yields and livestock shortages have dominated the headlines. Amid the ensuing food security crisis, scientists are wondering if communities can turn toward local plant diversity as insurance against subsequent food shocks. A recent study published in People and Nature examines how pastoralist communities in a Ugandan subregion contend with food shortages by adopting previously unused wild edible plants. The study comes on the heels of 2024 research on wild edible plants by local NGOs in Karamoja, a semiarid region in northern Uganda. That earlier study found “that people had developed uses for plants they had not used before,” Emiel De Meyer, a postdoctoral researcher at the State Natural History Museum in Germany, explained by email. Spurred by this discovery, De Meyer led a team of researchers across five agro-pastorialist communities in Karamoja, interviewing members of the local communities on their knowledge of edible wild plants. Through a mix of qualitative and statistical methods, the researchers also probed the reasons behind the adoption of particular plants and how this knowledge was transmitted. In the five villages covered in the study, the authors recorded 27 plant species previously unused as food and now eaten as leafy vegetables. Of these, 20 were reported to be indigenous to Uganda. Although all these plants were mostly harvested during the wet season, at least three&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/uganda-pastoralists-turn-to-wild-plants-as-food-shortages-bite-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/uganda-pastoralists-turn-to-wild-plants-as-food-shortages-bite-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331118</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenyan nuclear project faces international legal challenge over security risks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/kenyan-nuclear-project-faces-international-legal-challenge-over-security-risks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/kenyan-nuclear-project-faces-international-legal-challenge-over-security-risks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 18:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29170446/lake-victoria-513519_1280-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331175</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Security, Environment, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Health, Lakes, Nuclear Power, Public Health, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A case has been brought to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) over the Kenyan government’s plan to build a 2,000-5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bondo, near the eastern shore of Victoria Lake, Africa’s largest freshwater lake. The project has been the source of numerous protests from residents since it was announced. A Strategic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A case has been brought to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) over the Kenyan government’s plan to build a 2,000-5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bondo, near the eastern shore of Victoria Lake, Africa’s largest freshwater lake. The project has been the source of numerous protests from residents since it was announced. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report produced in 2023 by Kenya’s nuclear power program noted that nuclear power should be avoided in the Victoria Lake region, citing volcanic hazards that could impair nuclear safety. However, the nuclear plant project is proceeding, despite the SEA finding. “I filed a reference at the East African Court of Justice on two grounds,” Dickens Ochieng, told Mongabay in a phone call. Ochieng is a resident of Siaya County, where the facility is located, and a human rights lawyer with J. Henry and Company Advocates, the law firm that filed the case on Sept. 23. “First, I want the court to determine if we should even have that nuclear power plant in Victoria Lake given the ecological and environmental risk that may be associated with it,” Ochieng said. “Then, I am asking for the project to have a transboundary environmental impact assessment, as Victoria Lake is not only a Kenyan matter.” Victoria Lake is shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Roughly 40 million people across the three countries depend on the lake for their livelihoods, food security and drinking water. Millions more depend on the river that drains from Lake Victoria and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/kenyan-nuclear-project-faces-international-legal-challenge-over-security-risks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331175</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hurricane Polo makes landfall in Baja California, flooding coastal communities and toppling trees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/hurricane-polo-makes-landfall-in-baja-california-flooding-coastal-communities-and-toppling-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/hurricane-polo-makes-landfall-in-baja-california-flooding-coastal-communities-and-toppling-trees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 17:47:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29174645/AP26272321204166-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331177</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Polo has made landfall in Baja California, Mexico, with powerful winds and flash flooding. The Category 2 hurricane struck early Tuesday near Las Barrancas, bringing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports Polo is crossing the Gulf of California and could bring heavy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Polo has made landfall in Baja California, Mexico, with powerful winds and flash flooding. The Category 2 hurricane struck early Tuesday near Las Barrancas, bringing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports Polo is crossing the Gulf of California and could bring heavy rain to parts of the U.S. Southwest later this week. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Rachel is moving parallel to Mexico&#8217;s coast. The Pacific storm activity is above average this season, consistent with El Niño patterns. Hurricane Nolo, still a Category 3, is moving away from Hawaii, where it caused flooding over the weekend. By Martín Silva Rey and Megan Janetsky, Associated Press  Banner image: Workers tow a boat ashore as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos in the Mexican state of Baja California on Monday, September 28, 2026. Image courtesy of Eduardo Verdugo, Associated PressThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/hurricane-polo-makes-landfall-in-baja-california-flooding-coastal-communities-and-toppling-trees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/hurricane-polo-makes-landfall-in-baja-california-flooding-coastal-communities-and-toppling-trees/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331177</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In war-torn South Sudan, giraffes retain a surprisingly healthy gene pool</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-war-torn-south-sudan-giraffes-retain-a-surprisingly-healthy-gene-pool/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-war-torn-south-sudan-giraffes-retain-a-surprisingly-healthy-gene-pool/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 14:38:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29143421/Julie-Larsen-2002-Rothchild-Giraffe-UGA-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331146</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Sudan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conflict, Conservation, Genetics, Giraffes, Habitat, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Research, Science, Ungulates, War, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Giraffes living in the South Sudan’s war-torn savannas are genetically healthy and connected to nearby giraffe populations by gene flow, despite decades of conflict, recent research suggests. These findings show that “regions of the world that have been affected by conflict can maintain a lot of biodiversity and should therefore not be overlooked by genetic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Giraffes living in the South Sudan’s war-torn savannas are genetically healthy and connected to nearby giraffe populations by gene flow, despite decades of conflict, recent research suggests. These findings show that “regions of the world that have been affected by conflict can maintain a lot of biodiversity and should therefore not be overlooked by genetic studies and conservation efforts,” Sam van Giessen, study lead author and a conservation genomics researcher from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, told Mongabay by email. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, currently recognizes four species and seven subspecies of giraffes. South Sudan is home to two subspecies of the critically endangered northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis): the Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis) and the Kordofan giraffe (G. c. antiquorum). Between the conflict years of 1985 and 2025, Nubian giraffes in Ethiopia and South Sudan declined by 95%. By 2025, researchers estimated roughly 235 Nubian giraffe survived across South Sudan in isolated pockets, down from an estimate of 15,000 individuals in 1995. To find out the genetic health of these giraffe populations, researchers from the South Sudan government, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), and conservation NGO African Parks analyzed DNA from skin biopsies collected from 30 Nubian giraffes in Boma and Badingilo national parks, run by African Parks. As the giraffe population in the region is small, there was some concern that inbreeding could be a problem for the subspecies’ long-term conservation. However, their analysis showed the South Sudan Nubian giraffe population has relatively high levels&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-war-torn-south-sudan-giraffes-retain-a-surprisingly-healthy-gene-pool/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-war-torn-south-sudan-giraffes-retain-a-surprisingly-healthy-gene-pool/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331146</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New global maps chart 40 years of ocean heat and acidification extremes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 11:22:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[María Paula Rubiano A.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/25101034/a.-BANNER-da65bd48-4b5b-4ca7-9598-ea1df2f84852Original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330790</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, El Nino, Fish, Fisheries, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, Seabirds, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between 2014 and 2015, a marine heatwave known as “The Blob” warmed an area of the Pacific Ocean larger than the United States and Mexico combined. The massive event fueled toxic algae blooms, collapsed fisheries, killed off millions of emaciated seabirds, sent dead fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sea otters washing up on Alaska and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 2014 and 2015, a marine heatwave known as “The Blob” warmed an area of the Pacific Ocean larger than the United States and Mexico combined. The massive event fueled toxic algae blooms, collapsed fisheries, killed off millions of emaciated seabirds, sent dead fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sea otters washing up on Alaska and British Columbia coasts, and dotted California shores with starving sea lions. Though best known as a marine heat wave, The Blob was also an extreme acidification event. Yet occurrences of these compound heat-acidity extreme events remain poorly understood. A new study, published in the journal AGU Advances in August, provides a detailed look at the frequency, intensity and duration of these compound events during the last four decades. The study reveals an understudied aspect of marine heat waves that could have implications for the developing 2026-2027 “super” El Niño, in which waters in the equatorial Pacific become unusually warm due to changing wind patterns. An underweight sea lion pup on a beach in February 2015. Image by NOAA Fisheries West Coast. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) found compound heat-acidity events across the globe happen together “more frequently than would be expected by chance,&#8221; they wrote. Instead, the researchers attributed their occurrence to underlying ocean physics that allow marine heat waves to become unusually acidic in some regions. These events are mostly short-lived and small, with 67% of the 500 identified events lasting less than three months and extending to an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330790</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bhutan recognized for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies ahead of World Rabies Day</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/bhutan-recognized-for-eliminating-dog-transmitted-rabies-ahead-of-world-rabies-day/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/bhutan-recognized-for-eliminating-dog-transmitted-rabies-ahead-of-world-rabies-day/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 04:36:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29043538/Wangdue_Phodrang-Nobding-10-Kuenphen_Hund-2015-gje-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331113</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bhutan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Diseases, Environment, Health, Livestock, One Health, Public Health, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The World Health Organization has officially recognized Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies as a public health problem  — in time for World Rabies Day on Sept. 28. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Bhutan is the first country in the Southeast Asia region, and the second to be named globally after Mexico, to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The World Health Organization has officially recognized Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies as a public health problem  — in time for World Rabies Day on Sept. 28. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Bhutan is the first country in the Southeast Asia region, and the second to be named globally after Mexico, to achieve this validation. Nearly 99% of all human rabies cases globally are caused by the bite or scratch of an infected dog. Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal. On Sept. 4, the WHO confirmed that Bhutan has recorded zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies since June 2023 and has demonstrated that it has the resources and systems in place to prevent the disease’s re-emergence. Bhutan’s achievement comes as organizations including the WHO, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) mark World Rabies Day with the theme of “Stronger Together”, advancing a global goal to eliminate human rabies deaths worldwide by 2030 under the “Zero by 30” initiative. To eradicate rabies, Bhutan has persistently invested in a comprehensive “One Health” approach, which recognizes that animal, human and environmental health are interconnected, the WHO said in a press release. A 2021 Royal Decree by the King of Bhutan launched the Nationwide Accelerated Dog Population Mangement and Rabies Control Programme, implemented jointly by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. WHO said field health teams and veterinarians supported by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/bhutan-recognized-for-eliminating-dog-transmitted-rabies-ahead-of-world-rabies-day/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331113</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Jaco Muller turned his 15-year-old son’s idea into 197 rhino births</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/jaco-muller-turned-his-15-year-old-sons-idea-into-197-rhino-births/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/jaco-muller-turned-his-15-year-old-sons-idea-into-197-rhino-births/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 03:08:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29030505/jaco-muller-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331111</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Endangered Species, Mammals, Obituary, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In 2022, poachers had taken 14 white rhinos from private farms in Namibia in six weeks, so owners started removing their horns. One cow had a horn 86 centimeters (34 inches) long. Jaco Muller said he was nearly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In 2022, poachers had taken 14 white rhinos from private farms in Namibia in six weeks, so owners started removing their horns. One cow had a horn 86 centimeters (34 inches) long. Jaco Muller said he was nearly in tears when it was removed. “It is such a magnificent animal,” he said. “But for the animal’s sake, it is for the best.” Dehorning gave poachers less reason to kill a rhino. For Muller, the sight of a dehorned rhino was preferable to finding a dead one. The idea for breeding rhinos came from his son, then 15, as a school project. In 2010, Muller converted the family’s antelope-breeding operation into what became the Rhino Momma Project in Namibia’s Kunene region. Muller believed that breeding more white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum), keeping them secure enough to reproduce, and then replenishing populations across Africa could help save the species. So he built a breeding program with a rhino-custodianship farm and the nonprofit Help Our Rhinos Now, or HoRn. The first calf was born in 2013; by 2025, the project had become one of Namibia’s larger privately run rhino-breeding operations. Kifaru Lodge, which Muller opened in 2018, brought in money from tourists to help cover security and rhino care. Muller also supported legalizing the trade in rhino horn. His argument was that prohibition let criminals collect the profits while farm owners and conservation groups paid for security.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/jaco-muller-turned-his-15-year-old-sons-idea-into-197-rhino-births/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/jaco-muller-turned-his-15-year-old-sons-idea-into-197-rhino-births/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331111</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite a drop in deforestation in 2025, forest losses pile up in the Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 02:05:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/12064247/Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-3-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Monitoring, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Over the course of 2025, the Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined 746,168 hectares (1.8 million acres) of tree cover, an area roughly equivalent to the size of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, according to Mongabay’s analysis*. Data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Over the course of 2025, the Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined 746,168 hectares (1.8 million acres) of tree cover, an area roughly equivalent to the size of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, according to Mongabay’s analysis*. Data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, in partnership with Global Nature Watch (GNW) — formerly Global Forest Watch — shows that of the total 746,168 hectares of tree cover lost, more than 154,000 hectares (380,000 acres)  was primary forest. Mongabay’s analysis found that just shy of 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of the total were lost from the region’s protected areas. While these numbers may paint a bleak picture for the Mekong’s forests, the rate of regional deforestation has dropped by almost 25% from that recorded by GNW in 2024, continuing a decline that, according to the data, began in 2023. Fewer wildfires, higher rainfall, stricter law enforcement and lower market rates for commodities could all factor into a drop in the Mekong’s deforestation rate for 2025 when compared to 2024. However, experts warn that short-term drops do not always represent a broader trend in deforestation. Every country in the Mekong saw a fall in deforestation rates from 2024 to 2025, but each still grapples with a range of challenges to protecting the region’s remaining forests. Data from 2025 shows a drop in deforestation recorded across Mekong nations, but much of the tree cover lost last year was lost inside&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More plastic, less glow? Pollution threatens deep sea’s bioluminescent life, experts warn</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/more-plastic-less-glow-pollution-threatens-deep-seas-bioluminescent-life-experts-warn/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/more-plastic-less-glow-pollution-threatens-deep-seas-bioluminescent-life-experts-warn/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 23:44:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28202536/a.-BANNER-%C2%A9-Marc-Martin-Sola-original-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331105</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Deep Sea, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Microplastics, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastic pollution could disrupt the bioluminescent light produced by deep-sea organisms, researchers warn in a letter in the journal Cambridge Prisms: Plastics. When deep-sea organisms ingest plastics, it could disrupt the chemical pathways that create bioluminescence and damage the tissues in their bodies, impairing their ability to find food and a mate, the authors said. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastic pollution could disrupt the bioluminescent light produced by deep-sea organisms, researchers warn in a letter in the journal Cambridge Prisms: Plastics. When deep-sea organisms ingest plastics, it could disrupt the chemical pathways that create bioluminescence and damage the tissues in their bodies, impairing their ability to find food and a mate, the authors said. In the deep sea, up to 80% of organisms with complex cells are believed to be bioluminescent, the only source of light in the darkest parts of the ocean. The light these organisms create is essential for their survival and reproduction, the letter notes. Disruption of their bioluminescence could negatively impact food webs and ecosystem functions in the deep sea, the largest and least-explored biome on Earth, the letter says. In an email to Mongabay, co-author Renjith VishnuRadhan of Amity University in India offered the example of an anglerfish. “It is widely recognizable from documentaries and films such as Finding Nemo,” he said. “Female deep-sea anglerfish have a modified dorsal spine ending in a luminous lure called the esca. Light produced by symbiotic bacteria helps attract prey and may also assist with recognition or communication in darkness.” It’s well-established that bacterial bioluminescence can be affected by pollutants, VishnuRadhan said, and ingestion of toxic plastic additives by anglerfish could disrupt the bacterial symbiosis in the lure, theoretically affecting its luminous signaling. The authors note there’s some evidence of plastic pollution impacts on deep-sea ecosystems, but scientists lack the high-quality data and observations needed to understand the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/more-plastic-less-glow-pollution-threatens-deep-seas-bioluminescent-life-experts-warn/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/more-plastic-less-glow-pollution-threatens-deep-seas-bioluminescent-life-experts-warn/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331105</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reintroduced Grauer’s gorilla gives birth in DRC national park, ‘makes us happy’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/reintroduced-grauers-gorilla-gives-birth-in-drc-national-park-makes-us-happy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/reintroduced-grauers-gorilla-gives-birth-in-drc-national-park-makes-us-happy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 19:20:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28191338/output-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Gorillas, Great Apes, Mammals, National Parks, Parks, Primates, Protected Areas, Reintroductions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lulingu, a Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), was reintroduced to Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2024. In May 2026, Lulingu gave birth to a new baby, bringing hope for the species and excitement for the conservationists working there. “The baby and the mother are doing perfectly well. It really makes us [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lulingu, a Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), was reintroduced to Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2024. In May 2026, Lulingu gave birth to a new baby, bringing hope for the species and excitement for the conservationists working there. “The baby and the mother are doing perfectly well. It really makes us happy. We are proud of her, it is also a bit of our success. Imagine, we knew her as a baby, we watched her grow, be rehabilitated and now she is a mother,” Jackson Kabuyaya Mbeke, country director of the DRC Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE), told Mongabay by phone. Lulingu arrived at GRACE, a 16-hectare (40-acre) wildlife sanctuary, in 2016 when she was 18 months old. She was rescued from an illegal wildlife trafficking network by the Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN) and the NGO Gorilla Doctors. The sanctuary gave her space to socialize and play in a setting close to her natural habitat, under the watchful eyes of adoptive gorilla mothers. Lulingu was later reintroduced into the wild near Mount Tshiaberimu, a remote part of Virunga National Park. “The purpose of our sanctuary is to take in rescued gorillas, but also to care for them until they can be released into the wild. The fact that Lulingu has had a baby is a sign that she has adapted well to life in the wild,” Kabuyaya Mbeke explained. “By reintroducing them into the wild, we also hope to repopulate forests that have been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/reintroduced-grauers-gorilla-gives-birth-in-drc-national-park-makes-us-happy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/reintroduced-grauers-gorilla-gives-birth-in-drc-national-park-makes-us-happy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New deep-sea creatures unlocked!</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/new-deep-sea-creatures-unlocked/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/new-deep-sea-creatures-unlocked/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 18:14:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28181330/Mongabay_Thumbnail_NewSpecies_Featured.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331099</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Marine, Oceans, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A giant octopus devouring a jellyfish. An ultra-fast gossamer worm. These are just a couple of the 31 new species scientists discovered on a recent expedition off the coast of Brazil. They explored the ocean&#8217;s midwater zone — the vast space between the sunlit surface and the seafloor — which is the Earth&#8217;s largest and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A giant octopus devouring a jellyfish. An ultra-fast gossamer worm. These are just a couple of the 31 new species scientists discovered on a recent expedition off the coast of Brazil. They explored the ocean&#8217;s midwater zone — the vast space between the sunlit surface and the seafloor — which is the Earth&#8217;s largest and least explored habitable ecosystem. While it can take researchers decades to identify and describe new species, state-of-the-art technology like 3D lasers and advanced microscopes helped the team confirm these new species within a matter of days.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/new-deep-sea-creatures-unlocked/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/new-deep-sea-creatures-unlocked/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331099</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka’s disappearing snake charmers carry a legacy of fear and fascination</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 18:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28164856/1-Snake-charmers-A-Snake-Charmer-in-Sri-Lanka-c-Jerzy-Strzelecki-via-Wikipedia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331088</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Reptiles, Snakes, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – For generations, the sight was familiar in towns and villages across Sri Lanka of a man playing a flute sitting on his haunches next to a woven basket, from which a cobra raised its gently swaying hood, drawing a curious crowd of onlookers. The performance appeared almost magical, as the cobra would seem [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – For generations, the sight was familiar in towns and villages across Sri Lanka of a man playing a flute sitting on his haunches next to a woven basket, from which a cobra raised its gently swaying hood, drawing a curious crowd of onlookers. The performance appeared almost magical, as the cobra would seem to have been charmed by the flute’s notes, moving its hood rhythmically like performing a dance. But behind the spectacle was a community with its own traditions, knowledge and relationship with snakes — one that is quickly fading away. Known locally as the Ahikuntika, this small nomadic tribe is also referred to as Sri Lanka’s gypsies or Sri Lankan Telugus. They’ve traditionally traveled from place to place, and men have performed as snake charmers and monkey performers, with the women primarily associated with fortune-telling or soothsaying. Historical accounts describe temporary settlements and an itinerant lifestyle in which families moved between communities to earn a living through performances and traditional livelihoods. Today, however, snake charming has become rare. A group of snake charmers perform with their cobras. Image courtesy of Anslem de Silva. “During our childhood, we could regularly see snake charmers. They were often seen near markets, while groups of itinerant performers would also travel from village to village, announcing their arrival by beating a small hand drum,” recalled 75-year-old retired schoolteacher Chandrasena Liyanarachchi. Sri Lankans have a long-inherited fear of the venomous cobras (Naja naja), yet also accord them cultural significance, and often watch&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As yellow-eyed penguins disappear, conservationists focus on deaths in fishing nets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-yellow-eyed-penguins-disappear-conservationists-focus-on-deaths-in-fishing-nets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-yellow-eyed-penguins-disappear-conservationists-focus-on-deaths-in-fishing-nets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 16:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28113111/12-A-yellow-eyed-penguin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331013</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Polynesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fishing, Governance, Islands, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Penguins, Seabirds, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OTAGO PENINSULA, Aotearoa New Zealand — Sandfly Bay was long a key nesting area for yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), noisy, pink-footed birds that spend long days foraging at sea. But this wild beach on the Otago Peninsula, like others nearby, has gone quiet. In 2024, the last breeding-age female at Sandfly Bay, who’d been consistently [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OTAGO PENINSULA, Aotearoa New Zealand — Sandfly Bay was long a key nesting area for yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), noisy, pink-footed birds that spend long days foraging at sea. But this wild beach on the Otago Peninsula, like others nearby, has gone quiet. In 2024, the last breeding-age female at Sandfly Bay, who’d been consistently producing chicks for a dozen years, drowned in a fishing net. Fishing has been one of many factors driving the species, which is only found in Aotearoa New Zealand, toward extinction. In the 2008-2009 breeding season, there were 739 breeding pairs in the “mainland” New Zealand population, which includes pairs on nearby islands. But the population has dropped since then to 117 pairs — a decline of more than 80%. These figures don’t account for yellow-eyed penguins on New Zealand’s remote southern islands, which are poorly surveyed. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, listed the species as endangered in its last assessment, in 2020, when the mainland population was still twice what it is now. Several experts told Mongabay that the species’ chances of survival are slim, though most said they still had faith. “I think I’d always like to say that there’s hope because otherwise why do you do what you do, but things are pretty dire,” Trudi Webster, a marine scientist who’s worked on research and conservation of the species for the past decade, told Mongabay. A number of organizations are working to save the yellow-eyed penguin, and much of the conservation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-yellow-eyed-penguins-disappear-conservationists-focus-on-deaths-in-fishing-nets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331013</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rain eases in Bangkok but persistent flooding forces thousands to leave home</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rain-eases-in-bangkok-but-persistent-flooding-forces-thousands-to-leave-home/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rain-eases-in-bangkok-but-persistent-flooding-forces-thousands-to-leave-home/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 16:56:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28165111/AP26271445314478-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331091</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK (AP) — Rain eased in Thailand ’s capital on Sunday, but flooding persisted in several low-lying areas, with thousands forced to move into temporary shelters. At least eight people were reported killed in the past 10 days nationwide. Days of continuous downpours have caused widespread flooding and severe disruptions in Bangkok, impacting traffic and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK (AP) — Rain eased in Thailand ’s capital on Sunday, but flooding persisted in several low-lying areas, with thousands forced to move into temporary shelters. At least eight people were reported killed in the past 10 days nationwide. Days of continuous downpours have caused widespread flooding and severe disruptions in Bangkok, impacting traffic and businesses, with accumulated rainfall exceeding 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in many areas. Thailand’s Meteorological Department said moderate to heavy rain was still expected Sunday in several parts of the country, but conditions were expected to improve by Monday. The city set up more than 200 temporary shelters, and about 3,000 people remained in them as of Sunday. Officials said 31 roads were still impacted by floodwaters. Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said rainfall in the capital has decreased and city officials were working to drain water as quickly as possible. He cautioned that water levels in the city’s main canals remained high, with some still rising as water continued to flow in from nearby areas. Several low-lying areas, particularly in the suburbs, were still submerged and many communities had to evacuate, Chadchart said. More than 545,000 people in 25 other provinces have been impacted by flooding as of Sunday, especially in the central and eastern regions, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Incessant rainfall caused flooding that overwhelmed drainage capacity in many areas, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said. He ordered relevant authorities to take immediate measures to relieve the situation and assist those&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rain-eases-in-bangkok-but-persistent-flooding-forces-thousands-to-leave-home/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331091</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The mountain lion photo that helped change Los Angeles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-mountain-lion-photo-that-helped-change-los-angeles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-mountain-lion-photo-that-helped-change-los-angeles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 14:55:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14032410/p042_p043_1-HOLLYWOOD-COUGAR_HIRES_SteveWinter_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331001</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. A mountain lion in front of the Hollywood sign sounds almost too convenient. When photographer Steve Winter proposed the picture, National Park Service biologist Jeff Sikich thought he was crazy. There were, as far as Sikich knew, no [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. A mountain lion in front of the Hollywood sign sounds almost too convenient. When photographer Steve Winter proposed the picture, National Park Service biologist Jeff Sikich thought he was crazy. There were, as far as Sikich knew, no mountain lions in Griffith Park. Then P-22 turned up. Winter spent more than a year trying to get the photograph. Remote cameras were stolen, and equipment failed. Eventually, he captured P-22 walking beneath the Hollywood sign at night, his tracking collar visible around his neck. The photograph made P-22 famous and gave Los Angeles a symbol of the problems faced by wildlife boxed in by roads and development. P-22 became closely associated with the campaign for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over U.S. Route 101, which is intended to reconnect habitat divided by one of the region’s busiest freeways. The story is one of nine in Big Cats, a new book by Winter and journalist Sharon Guynup, who is also Mongabay’s wildlife editor. The pair revisit some of their most consequential reporting projects in the book in their recent conversation with Mike DiGirolamo, the host and producer of the Mongabay Newscast. One of those projects took them to Thailand’s Tiger Temple, a lucrative tourist attraction where visitors could pose with captive tigers. Guynup and Winter spent a year investigating the operation and documented its links to illegal wildlife trafficking. Thai authorities eventually raided and closed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-mountain-lion-photo-that-helped-change-los-angeles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-mountain-lion-photo-that-helped-change-los-angeles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Preserving wildlife DNA for the future: Interview with the Frozen Zoo’s Katie Heineman</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/preserving-wildlife-dna-for-the-future-interview-with-the-frozen-zoos-katie-heineman/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/preserving-wildlife-dna-for-the-future-interview-with-the-frozen-zoos-katie-heineman/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 13:28:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28132011/Banner-Image-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331055</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, DNA, Environment, Gender, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Plants, Research, Science, Solutions, Species, Species recovery, Wildlife, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kurt, a Przewalski&#8217;s horse, was born at in Texas in August 2020. Less than three years later, Ollie followed. Out in the wild, their species had gone extinct in the 1960s. Both individuals, born of a surrogate mother — a domestic horse — were the first Przewalski&#8217;s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) to be successfully cloned [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kurt, a Przewalski&#8217;s horse, was born at in Texas in August 2020. Less than three years later, Ollie followed. Out in the wild, their species had gone extinct in the 1960s. Both individuals, born of a surrogate mother — a domestic horse — were the first Przewalski&#8217;s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) to be successfully cloned from another of their species whose DNA had been preserved at the San Diego Zoo for 40 years. At the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Frozen Zoo, the largest initiative of its kind in the world, genetic materials from animals and plants are stored — cryopreserved using liquid nitrogen at temperatures as low as -196° Celsius (-320° Fahrenheit) — for posterity. But the Frozen Zoo is only part of the alliance’s broader biodiversity banking initiative, which also includes a native plant gene bank and a tissue and DNA bank. “I think of it as saving DNA for the future,” Katie Heineman, conservation program leader for biodiversity banking at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), told Mongabay in a video interview. “It really is an optimistic act to conserve biodiversity for a time where we&#8217;ve solved the threats facing nature.” Applications are aplenty. Biodiversity banking can help not just in the recovery of threatened species, but also in preserving genetic diversity. It’s also crucial for scientific research. However, given the pace of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, Heineman said there’s an urgency to build capacity around the world to ensure more samples are collected and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/preserving-wildlife-dna-for-the-future-interview-with-the-frozen-zoos-katie-heineman/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/preserving-wildlife-dna-for-the-future-interview-with-the-frozen-zoos-katie-heineman/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331055</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia passes agrarian reform law amid concerns over land protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indonesia-passes-agrarian-reform-law-amid-concerns-over-land-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indonesia-passes-agrarian-reform-law-amid-concerns-over-land-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 13:18:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/21161207/IMG-20230907-WA0029-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331043</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Reform, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law, Resource Conflict, and Social Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s parliament has passed a law intended to resolve long-running land conflicts and curb land concentration, but civil society groups say provisions in the final draft could limit redistribution, leave state-controlled land difficult to challenge and expose some land occupants to criminal charges. The House of Representatives, known as the DPR, approved the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s parliament has passed a law intended to resolve long-running land conflicts and curb land concentration, but civil society groups say provisions in the final draft could limit redistribution, leave state-controlled land difficult to challenge and expose some land occupants to criminal charges. The House of Representatives, known as the DPR, approved the Agrarian Reform Regulation Law on Sept. 22, after lawmakers and the government agreed on the bill the previous day. The law establishes a framework for resolving structural conflicts over agrarian land ownership, restoring land rights and redistributing land, among other aims. The final enacted text has not yet been made publicly available, leaving some details of how the law will operate unclear. The debate over the efficacy and the implementation of the law comes amid a long-standing pattern of land disputes in Indonesia. The Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), an advocacy group, reportedly recorded 3,234 agrarian conflicts affecting 7.4 million hectares (18.3 million acres) and 1.8 million households between 2015 and 2024. KPA and other advocates have argued that many conflicts arise from overlapping government authority, land allocations and competing claims involving communities, companies and state institutions. Indigenous communities, farmers and fisherfolk can be affected when their customary or livelihood areas overlap with concessions, state-designated land or infrastructure projects. The new law is intended to address what lawmakers describe as fragmented authority and regulations that have complicated conflict resolution. The parliament said the bill’s provisions include land-use planning and controls, mechanisms for resolving conflicts and restoring&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indonesia-passes-agrarian-reform-law-amid-concerns-over-land-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331043</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Australia’s kangaroo numbers rise, record cull renews calls for other control methods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-australias-kangaroo-numbers-rise-record-cull-renews-calls-for-other-control-methods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-australias-kangaroo-numbers-rise-record-cull-renews-calls-for-other-control-methods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 12:13:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cooper Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28104826/Macropus_giganteus_335059431-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330997</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Habitat, Mammals, Marsupials, Nature-based climate solutions, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CANBERRA — Australia has a problem with the very creature that is its official national symbol: The kangaroo. Endemic to Australia, they live across the country, from north to south, and from east to west. Australia has four main kangaroo species: The red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus), the largest of all species, mainly found in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CANBERRA — Australia has a problem with the very creature that is its official national symbol: The kangaroo. Endemic to Australia, they live across the country, from north to south, and from east to west. Australia has four main kangaroo species: The red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus), the largest of all species, mainly found in the outback through the Northern Territory; the western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), in the southeastern part; the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), in most eastern states, including Tasmania; and antilopine kangaroo (Osphranter antilopinus), in the northern part. Population surveys by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water estimate there are between 30 million and 50 million kangaroos in Australia. Their number fluctuates from year to year depending on drought periods, and it even exceeds the country’s 27.8 million human population. The abundance of the macropods across the country creates a conservation dilemma. They have been blamed for overgrazing and causing environmental damage such as soil degradation and biodiversity decline. Many Australian states have resorted to kangaroo culling. A recent culling in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which includes the federal capital Canberra, encapsulates the controversy about the policy. The Australian Capital Territory, home to an estimated 122,000 eastern grey kangaroos, has one of the highest recorded densities in Australia. Image by Shane Lin via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Record kill At 2,358 square kilometers (910 square miles), the ACT is only slightly smaller than Luxembourg. The territory, home to an estimated 122,000 eastern grey&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-australias-kangaroo-numbers-rise-record-cull-renews-calls-for-other-control-methods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330997</doi>				</item>
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