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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?s=&#038;type=post&#038;topic=aquariums" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/aquariums/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 10:17:25 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Aquariums</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/aquariums/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Singapore resort said to halt controversial dolphin sourcing, breeding</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2026 05:21:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/30112321/AP720134243665-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316502</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Environment, Environmental Law, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — The Resorts World Sentosa casino and entertainment complex in Singapore has halted sourcing dolphins from the wild for its aquarium, Mongabay has learned. The resort’s Oceanarium has also suspended its breeding program, according to insiders. The facility is assembling a panel of experts to determine the future of the more than 20 Indo-Pacific [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — The Resorts World Sentosa casino and entertainment complex in Singapore has halted sourcing dolphins from the wild for its aquarium, Mongabay has learned. The resort’s Oceanarium has also suspended its breeding program, according to insiders. The facility is assembling a panel of experts to determine the future of the more than 20 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) it has held since 2013. RWS has not announced any formal policy regarding the dolphins and declined to comment. Multiple visits by Mongabay to the Oceanarium were unable to confirm the exact number of animals held at its Marine Mammal Habitat, although trainers said no additional dolphins were being captured or bred. The last dolphin born at the facility was Kenzo, a male now 7 years old, staff said during a visit in March. Uncertainty over the fate of Singapore’s captive dolphins comes amid a growing global shift against keeping cetaceans in captivity, as awareness grows of their intelligence, complex social structures, and poor welfare in confined environments. In June 2025, Mexico became the latest country to ban the captivity of cetaceans for entertainment, joining Canada, France, India, Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Taiwan is also phasing out cetacean performances. But countries including China, Japan and some in the Middle East continue to source dolphins for newly built aquariums as they expand marine attractions aimed at boosting tourism. RWS originally sourced 27 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands in 2008 and 2009. The Dolphin Island exhibit&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316502</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trade in marine fish for aquariums includes threatened species, lacks oversight: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/trade-in-marine-fish-for-aquariums-includes-threatened-species-lacks-oversight-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/trade-in-marine-fish-for-aquariums-includes-threatened-species-lacks-oversight-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Nov 2025 17:10:23 +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/20/2025/11/18081226/4-Pyramid-butterflyfish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309700</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pet Trade, Pets, Research, Saltwater Fish, Science, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The United States is the main market for “ornamental” marine fish, those that end up as pets in aquariums. Now, a new study of U.S.-based online retailers has found that nearly 90% of traded species are sourced exclusively from the wild, including a number of threatened species, and that the trade is poorly tracked. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The United States is the main market for “ornamental” marine fish, those that end up as pets in aquariums. Now, a new study of U.S.-based online retailers has found that nearly 90% of traded species are sourced exclusively from the wild, including a number of threatened species, and that the trade is poorly tracked. The study, published in October in the journal Conservation Biology, raises concerns about the ecological impact of the trade on marine ecosystems, including around coral reefs, in countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, where the fish are caught. “We urgently need stronger traceability and regulatory oversight to ensure that aquarium fish are sourced responsibly,” Bing Lin, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney, Australia, and lead author of the study, said in a press release. Lin undertook the study as a Ph.D. student at Princeton University, U.S. “Consumers have no reliable way of knowing whether the fish they buy were sustainably harvested.” A clownfish, possibly Amphiprion ocellaris, around the island of Bali in Indonesia. Image courtesy of Bing Lin. Bing Lin, who led a study on the marine aquarium trade as a Ph.D. student at Princeton University. Image courtesy of Bing Lin &amp; Helen Yan. The study doesn’t deal with the trade in freshwater aquarium species, which have different supply chains and market dynamics, and are mainly bred in captivity. Nor does it look at the trade in sharks, invertebrates or corals — the focus is marine finfish. More than 1,700 marine finfish&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/trade-in-marine-fish-for-aquariums-includes-threatened-species-lacks-oversight-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/trade-in-marine-fish-for-aquariums-includes-threatened-species-lacks-oversight-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309700</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can we undo extinction? A growing effort to restore lost sharks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/can-we-undo-extinction-a-global-effort-to-restore-lost-sharks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/can-we-undo-extinction-a-global-effort-to-restore-lost-sharks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 07:39:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/12085107/alex-kydd-shark-01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303906</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Elasmobranchs, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Fish, Happy-upbeat Environmental, In-situ Conservation, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Predators, Reintroductions, Restoration, Rewilding, Sharks, Solutions, Species recovery, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the shallows of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, a bold conservation experiment is underway—one that blends marine biology, local stewardship, and international collaboration in an effort to bring a species back from the brink. It’s called ReShark, and it represents the world’s first attempt to rewild an endangered shark. Working alongside the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the shallows of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, a bold conservation experiment is underway—one that blends marine biology, local stewardship, and international collaboration in an effort to bring a species back from the brink. It’s called ReShark, and it represents the world’s first attempt to rewild an endangered shark. Working alongside the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, Conservation International, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and 105 partner institutions across 20 countries, the Re:wild-led initiative aims to restore populations of the Indo-Pacific leopard shark—also known as the zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum)—to reefs where the species has all but disappeared. “This is something that’s been done for decades on land—think California condors or wolves in Yellowstone,” said Mark Erdmann, Executive Director of ReShark and Shark Conservation Director at Re:wild, former Vice President of Asia-Pacific marine programs at Conservation International, and one of the architects of the project. “But in the ocean, and especially with sharks, this is a first.” An adult leopard shark at the North Stradbroke Island summer aggregation site in Australia. Photo by MV Erdmann Indonesia Program Manager Nesha Ichida, Erdmann and the RARCC Shark Nannies release a pup at Kri Island as students from Child Aid Papua look on. Photo by Luca Vaime/Indo-Pacific Films. Erin Meyer, co-chair of the StAR Steering Committee and a founding member of ReShark, said the idea initially seemed far-fetched to some: breeding sharks in captivity, transporting their eggs overseas, rearing them in custom-built nurseries, and eventually releasing them into the wild. “Thanks to the passion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/can-we-undo-extinction-a-global-effort-to-restore-lost-sharks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/can-we-undo-extinction-a-global-effort-to-restore-lost-sharks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303906</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Predatory snakehead fish poses invasive threat after sighting in Sri Lanka reservoir</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/predatory-snakehead-fish-poses-invasive-threat-after-sighting-in-sri-lanka-reservoir/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/predatory-snakehead-fish-poses-invasive-threat-after-sighting-in-sri-lanka-reservoir/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2025 12:40:14 +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/20/2025/06/28122236/2-Young-giant-snakeheads-c-NARA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301605</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Aquariums, Ecology, Education, Environment, Fish, Freshwater Fish, and Invasive Species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — The Deduru Oya reservoir in northwestern Sri Lanka has long been a favorite fishing spot for angler Ishanka Dissanayaka. In mid-June, he returned to the reservoir for a relaxing day by the water. But this time, the fish that snagged his bait was so heavy that he had to wade to the edge [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — The Deduru Oya reservoir in northwestern Sri Lanka has long been a favorite fishing spot for angler Ishanka Dissanayaka. In mid-June, he returned to the reservoir for a relaxing day by the water. But this time, the fish that snagged his bait was so heavy that he had to wade to the edge of the water and, with the help of colleagues, hauled it out using a hand net. The fish measured nearly a meter (3 feet) in length and weighed 8 kilograms (17. 6 pounds), one of his heaviest catches to date. What made it even more remarkable was when it turned out to be giant snakehead (Channa micropeltes), one of the world’s most feared invasive freshwater fish, now clearly established in Sri Lanka. While Dissanayaka saw the catch as a personal triumph, others in the community viewed this discovery with alarm. Local fisher Vijith Samantha recalled how fishing near the banks during windy days used to yield a decent catch. But now, he said, those catches have been reduced by half, with many of the native species once commonly caught seeming to have disappeared. Measuring nearly 1 m in length and weighing 8 kg, this giant snakehead is now well-established as an invasive species in Sri Lanka’s Deduru Oya reservoir. Image courtesy of Ishanka Dissanayaka. Dramatic increase of giant snakeheads Samantha attributed this dramatic change to the rise of the giant snakehead, an apex predator native to Southeast Asia. With a torpedo-shaped body and powerful jaws&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/predatory-snakehead-fish-poses-invasive-threat-after-sighting-in-sri-lanka-reservoir/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/predatory-snakehead-fish-poses-invasive-threat-after-sighting-in-sri-lanka-reservoir/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301605</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From the Amazon to the Himalayas, an invasive catfish makes its Nepal debut</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/from-the-amazon-to-the-himalayas-an-invasive-catfish-makes-its-nepal-debut/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/from-the-amazon-to-the-himalayas-an-invasive-catfish-makes-its-nepal-debut/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2024 11:16:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/20111007/otter-and-fish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283478</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Habitat, Invasive Species, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The discovery in a Nepali river of an armored catfish native to the Amazon has alarmed researchers and conservationists, who say it’s still not clear how the species found its way from the South American rainforest to the Himalayan nation. Forty-three specimens of Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, known as the vermiculated sailfin catfish, were discovered [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The discovery in a Nepali river of an armored catfish native to the Amazon has alarmed researchers and conservationists, who say it’s still not clear how the species found its way from the South American rainforest to the Himalayan nation. Forty-three specimens of Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, known as the vermiculated sailfin catfish, were discovered in the Lohandra River during surveys of various rivers in eastern Nepal from May 2019 to July 2023. The findings were documented in a newly published study in the journal BioInvasions Records. “Our study for the first time shows the presence of genus Pterygoplichthys fish in Nepal’s river system,” study co-author Asmit Subba, a zoologist at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, told Mongabay. “However, we can’t conclusively say where the fish came from.” Crowd-sourced global records of Amazon catfish (Genus Pterygoplichthy). Image courtesy of inaturalist.org Fish in the genus Pterygoplichthys are commonly called “janitor fish,&#8221; as they’re used in aquariums to eat algae and keep the tanks clean. From the Amazon Basin via the aquarium fish trade, they’ve since found their way into river systems around the world, including in South Asia, East Asia and the U.S. P. disjunctivus is adapted to living in the murky waters of the Amazon, where it swallows air and absorbs the oxygen through its intestinal linings rather than extracting oxygen from water the way most other fishes do. This ability allows it to survive even when it’s out of water for hours. “Because of its vermiculated scales, it’s very difficult&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/from-the-amazon-to-the-himalayas-an-invasive-catfish-makes-its-nepal-debut/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283478</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Popular aquarium fish from Thailand and Myanmar is new-to-science species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/popular-aquarium-fish-from-thailand-and-myanmar-is-new-to-science-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/popular-aquarium-fish-from-thailand-and-myanmar-is-new-to-science-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2023 15:45:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/14153926/Header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270911</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Forests, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Pet Trade, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their bright orange tails and elongated snouts, redtail garras are a popular aquarium fish. Yet while these fish have graced aquariums for decades, information about their biology has been hard to find — because they were just recently described by science. During his fieldwork, Larry Page, a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their bright orange tails and elongated snouts, redtail garras are a popular aquarium fish. Yet while these fish have graced aquariums for decades, information about their biology has been hard to find — because they were just recently described by science. During his fieldwork, Larry Page, a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History, found a few redtail garras (Garra panitvongi) limited to a small section of the Kasat River on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Their habitat is isolated and hard to reach, so, despite being a globally recognized aquarium fish, redtail garras are rather obscure in the wild. “When we first collected specimens, we thought it must be widespread in Myanmar because of its popularity in the aquarium trade,” Page said. “But it turns out it’s not. It’s only in the Ataran River Basin.” (A) The type of habitat where the redtail garra is found. (B) Redtail garra in their home in the Kasat River, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Photos in B by Nonn Panitvong. Populations of redtail garra have only been found where we see the black dot on the map, in a  river basin that crosses the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Image by Tangjitjaroen et al. (2023) CC BY. The official description of the redtail garra has now been published in the journal Zootaxa. This new species adds to the nearly 200 species of fish in the Garra genus, one of the most widely distributed globally. Garras are found from the Middle East to India, West&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/popular-aquarium-fish-from-thailand-and-myanmar-is-new-to-science-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270911</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh bans suckermouth catfish in light of threats to native fish species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/bangladesh-bans-suckermouth-catfish-in-light-of-threats-to-native-fish-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/bangladesh-bans-suckermouth-catfish-in-light-of-threats-to-native-fish-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2023 14:52:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/23142934/Suckermouth-catfish-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265872</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Invasive Species, Rivers, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Considering the invasive nature of the species, Bangladesh has finally banned the cultivation, breeding, transportation, sale and conservation of suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus), as it gradually encroaches on local water bodies and puts local species at risk. The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock issued a gazette notification on Jan. 11 in this regard, said Md. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Considering the invasive nature of the species, Bangladesh has finally banned the cultivation, breeding, transportation, sale and conservation of suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus), as it gradually encroaches on local water bodies and puts local species at risk. The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock issued a gazette notification on Jan. 11 in this regard, said Md. Zia Haider Chowdhury, a senior official of the Department of Fisheries. With an aim to declare the species as invasive and harmful to other aquatic species, on Sept. 25, the ministry issued a public notification to elicit comments from the public as well as experts on the decision to declare the fish “malicious and banned” by amending the existing Protection and Conservation of Fish Act 1950. Prior to that, the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) conducted a study to find out the reasons behind the abundance of this exotic species and its negative impacts on local fish resources. Researchers found the species to be different from the other local species due to its omnivorous dietary habits as well as higher reproductive capacity, said Md. Anisur Rahman, director of BRFI, who led the study. &#8220;Based on our findings and concern over our local fishes, we termed the fish species as malicious,&#8221; he said, adding that the fish species even grows and breeds in extremely polluted water like the Buriganga River, where the level of dissolved oxygen is far below acceptable levels. Another study on U.S. aquatic habitats also suggested suckermouth catfish have unusual food habits as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/bangladesh-bans-suckermouth-catfish-in-light-of-threats-to-native-fish-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/bangladesh-bans-suckermouth-catfish-in-light-of-threats-to-native-fish-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265872</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amid Mexico’s Day of the Dead, a fish declared extinct comes back to life</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/amid-mexicos-day-of-the-dead-a-fish-declared-extinct-comes-back-to-life/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/amid-mexicos-day-of-the-dead-a-fish-declared-extinct-comes-back-to-life/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Nov 2022 14:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/08222159/DOD-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amid Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, a fish species considered extinct in the wild has been granted new life. Adorned in colorful costumes and marigolds, a parade of kids, community members and conservationists marched to release thousands of golden skiffias into the Teuchitlán River in Mexico’s Jalisco state. The procession heralded what they hope [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amid Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, a fish species considered extinct in the wild has been granted new life. Adorned in colorful costumes and marigolds, a parade of kids, community members and conservationists marched to release thousands of golden skiffias into the Teuchitlán River in Mexico’s Jalisco state. The procession heralded what they hope is a new era for these little fish. “The Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican celebration, when it is believed that people’s deceased ancestors return to the land of the living for one night, to talk and spend time with their families,” Omar Domínguez-Domínguez, a professor and researcher from the Michoacan University of Mexico, leader of the golden skiffia reintroduction program, said in a statement. “Releasing the golden skiffia around this time is a metaphor for how the species has come back from the dead to return to its home, not for one night, but forever.” On Nov. 4, community members released thousands of golden skiffia (Skiffia francesae) fish back into the species’ native range in the Teuchitlán. The fish were part of a captive-breeding program and conservation effort between the Michoacan University of Mexico, Chester Zoo in the U.K., the Goodeid Working Group, Re:wild, and SHOAL. A released, wild golden skiffia. Image © Enrique Ramírez. Adorned in colorful costumes and marigolds, a parade of kids, community members and conservationists marched to release thousands of golden skiffias into the Teuchitlán River. Image © Manfred Meiners/Re:wild. It’s been nearly 30 years since a golden&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/amid-mexicos-day-of-the-dead-a-fish-declared-extinct-comes-back-to-life/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pilot program tries to get U.S. aquariums to raise their own fish, not catch them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/pilot-program-tries-to-get-u-s-aquariums-to-raise-their-own-fish-not-catch-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/pilot-program-tries-to-get-u-s-aquariums-to-raise-their-own-fish-not-catch-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2022 15:58:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashley Stumvoll]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/21153330/6-Many-clownfish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255012</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pet Trade, Pets, Research, Saltwater Fish, Science, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While at university studying chemical ecology and aquaculture, Andy Rhyne picked up a job at an aquarium shop to raise money for a cross-country bike trip. Though he didn’t know it at the time, the gig would lead him to an important observation and, eventually, a place on an innovative team working to change how [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While at university studying chemical ecology and aquaculture, Andy Rhyne picked up a job at an aquarium shop to raise money for a cross-country bike trip. Though he didn’t know it at the time, the gig would lead him to an important observation and, eventually, a place on an innovative team working to change how aquariums obtain fish. “I could really see very quickly that there was not a lot of aquaculture in the marine aquarium industry,” said Rhyne, now an associate professor of marine biology at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. Rhyne convinced his supervisor to start stocking aquacultured clownfish (Amphiprioninae spp.), one of the only groups of marine fish being bred in captivity at the time. He noticed that unlike the fragile wild clownfish, these individuals were robust — even friendly. “They would come eat out of your fingers,” Rhyne told Mongabay on an early morning video call from his office at the marine lab in Bristol, where he now runs a successful breeding program for marine fish. “You could sell those fish to [a new hobbyist], and they could keep those fish alive.” Despite the hour, Rhyne was energized, gesturing enthusiastically in front of a large painting of a queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula), a gift from a student. In 2009, teams from Roger Williams University and the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, working as the Larval Fishes Aquaculture Program, successfully reared adult queen triggerfish in captivity for the first time ever. So far, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/pilot-program-tries-to-get-u-s-aquariums-to-raise-their-own-fish-not-catch-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/pilot-program-tries-to-get-u-s-aquariums-to-raise-their-own-fish-not-catch-them/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255012</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>GM fish engineered to glow in the dark are found in Brazil creeks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/gm-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-brazil-creeks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/gm-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-brazil-creeks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2022 07:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/05080014/GM-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-Brazil-creeks-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254429</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Genetic Engineering, Invasive Species, Pet Trade, Pets, Rivers, Tropics, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of Brazil’s most threatened biomes, the Atlantic Forest, now faces a new hazard: genetically modified zebrafish that glow in the dark. Despite these so-called GloFish being officially banned in the country, researchers caught specimens in all five sampled headwater creeks in the southeastearn Paraíba do Sul River Basin. The basin covers 55,500 square kilometres [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of Brazil’s most threatened biomes, the Atlantic Forest, now faces a new hazard: genetically modified zebrafish that glow in the dark. Despite these so-called GloFish being officially banned in the country, researchers caught specimens in all five sampled headwater creeks in the southeastearn Paraíba do Sul River Basin. The basin covers 55,500 square kilometres (21,400 square miles) across the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and is considered the Brazilian watershed that has been the most heavily impacted by human activity. “I am very concerned because these non-native fish can have serious ecological impacts, such as competing [with native fish] over food and predating native fish,” André Magalhāes, a biologist at the Federal University of São João del-Rei in Minas Gerais state and lead author of a recently published study, told Mongabay in an email. Some of the native fish could be driven into extinction by these GloFish and other introduced species, he said. “Apart from many species of non-native fish, we now have non-native hybrid fish and, worst of all, non-native genetically modified fish, like the transgenic zebra fish [in our water courses].” A Galactic Purple Shark, one of several strains of genetically modified rainbow shark (Epalzeorhynchos frenatum). Image by Ccm272 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). This study, Magalhães said, is the first to explore life-history strategies of genetically modified zebrafish (Danio rerio) in the wild. These fish feed on the insects and zooplankton that native fish also eat, putting them in direct&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/gm-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-brazil-creeks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254429</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Spectacular new fish species is first to be named by Maldivian scientist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/spectacular-new-fish-species-is-first-to-be-named-by-maldivian-scientist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/spectacular-new-fish-species-is-first-to-be-named-by-maldivian-scientist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2022 19:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/11183228/Screen-Shot-2022-03-11-at-10.32.04-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=253650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indian Ocean, Maldives, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Animals, New Discovery, Oceans, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Out in the azure waters and colorful corals of the Maldives, a resplendent, rainbow-hued fish has become the first to be named and described by a Maldivian researcher. New to science, the rose-veiled fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa) is named in the local Dhivehi language. Finifenmaa means “rose” and is a tribute to the islands’ pink-hued [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Out in the azure waters and colorful corals of the Maldives, a resplendent, rainbow-hued fish has become the first to be named and described by a Maldivian researcher. New to science, the rose-veiled fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa) is named in the local Dhivehi language. Finifenmaa means “rose” and is a tribute to the islands’ pink-hued national flower as well as the color of the fish. A description of the species was published this week in the journal ZooKeys. Listen to this article here: “It has always been foreign scientists who have described species found in the Maldives without much involvement from local scientists, even those that are endemic to the Maldives,” Ahmed Najeeb the biologist from the Maldives Marine Research Institute (MMRI) who named the fish, said in a press release. “This time it is different and getting to be part of something for the first time has been really exciting, especially having the opportunity to work alongside top ichthyologists [fish biologists] on such an elegant and beautiful species.” Maldives Marine Research Insitute biologist Ahmed Najeeb is the first Maldivian scientist to name and describe a new fish species found in local waters. Photo by Claudia Rocha © California Academy of Sciences A male rose-veiled fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa) from the Maldives. The species name ‘finifenmaa&#8217; means ‘rose’ in the local Dhivehi language, a nod to both its pink hues and the Maldives’ national flower. hoto by Yi-Kai Tea © California Academy of Sciences This paler-colored male fish is displaying his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/spectacular-new-fish-species-is-first-to-be-named-by-maldivian-scientist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/spectacular-new-fish-species-is-first-to-be-named-by-maldivian-scientist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-253650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetic diversity of Sri Lanka’s ‘spa fish’ highlights need for informed conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/genetic-diversity-of-sri-lankas-spa-fish-highlights-need-for-informed-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/genetic-diversity-of-sri-lankas-spa-fish-highlights-need-for-informed-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2021 06:44:17 +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/20/2021/05/25061908/Banner-Garra-in-habitat-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=242974</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Freshwater Fish, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s fast-flowing freshwater streams are home to a variety of beautiful fish, which, as a rule, swiftly swim away if you dip your feet into the water. But not so the welcoming “stone suckers” (Garra ceylonensis), renowned for their use in “fish spas,” where they nibble away at the dead skin cells [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s fast-flowing freshwater streams are home to a variety of beautiful fish, which, as a rule, swiftly swim away if you dip your feet into the water. But not so the welcoming “stone suckers” (Garra ceylonensis), renowned for their use in “fish spas,” where they nibble away at the dead skin cells of visitors’ feet. They’re also among the most widely distributed of Sri Lanka’s freshwater fish. Now, a new study into that distribution shows that while G. ceylonensis populations in different river basins around the island are physically identical — in size, body patterns, color — they differ genetically. “We found six genetically different populations of G. ceylonensis from different locations,” says lead researcher Hiranya Sudasinghe, a molecular biologist at the University of Peradeniya’s Post-Graduate Institute of Science. Sri Lanka is home to 91 freshwater fish species, 50 of which are found nowhere else on Earth. The algae-eating Garra ceylonensis nibbles a hand under water. Like other members of its genus, it has adapted to a life in swiftly flowing waters. Image courtesy of Hiranya Sudasinghe. But G. ceylonensis is a class apart: It has already adapted to survive in fast-flowing water, feeding on rock-clinging algae with its pouty mouth. The evolutionary history of G. ceylonensis hasn’t been investigated until now, but it’s an ideal organism to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a widespread, yet morphologically specialized, freshwater fish in a tropical-island setting, Sudasinghe says. The research, for which Sudasinghe and his team collected specimens from 38&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/genetic-diversity-of-sri-lankas-spa-fish-highlights-need-for-informed-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-242974</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hawaiian reefs lost almost half their fish to pollution and fishing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/hawaiian-reefs-lost-almost-half-their-fish-to-pollution-and-fishing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/hawaiian-reefs-lost-almost-half-their-fish-to-pollution-and-fishing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2020 08:32:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/17114141/63869d80-b65f-4865-8981-77419930f0f9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234928</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Hawaii and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Climate Change, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Erosion, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Gillnets, Marine, Marine Animals, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Overfishing, Pollution, Saltwater Fish, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A healthy coral reef system is like a well-managed city. Each resident fish has a job in maintaining the reef: some nibble away at seaweed threatening to smother the coral, while others crunch through bits of coral, making space for new polyps. In turn, the reef provides food and a refuge where fish can sleep, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A healthy coral reef system is like a well-managed city. Each resident fish has a job in maintaining the reef: some nibble away at seaweed threatening to smother the coral, while others crunch through bits of coral, making space for new polyps. In turn, the reef provides food and a refuge where fish can sleep, reproduce, and hide from predators. These relationships are symbiotic: the fish help the reef, and the reef helps the fish. But when fish disappear from a coral reef due to fishing or pollution, the system is thrown out of balance, and a reef may deteriorate to the point of collapse, especially when coral bleaching and other climate change-induced factors are thrown into the mix. This is exactly what’s happening to the coral reefs in West Hawai‘i, the western shoreline of Hawai‘i’s Big Island known as the Kona coast, according to a new study. Bigeye emperor (Monotaxis grandoculis) in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Image by NOAA / Flickr. Published last month in Ecological Applications, the study investigates how human activities, such as fishing, aquarium collection and pollution, affect so-called resource fishes that live in the shallow waters along the reef. The study defines resource fish as species that are “important to local subsistence or cultural sectors,” such as by providing food or income. Overall, it documented a 45% decrease in resource fish biomass across West Hawai‘i’s reefs between 2008 and 2018. “A 45% decline in 10 years is very alarming,” said Greg Asner, co-author of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/hawaiian-reefs-lost-almost-half-their-fish-to-pollution-and-fishing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234928</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gray areas and weak policies mar lucrative Asian trade in live reef fish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/gray-areas-and-weak-policies-mar-lucrative-asian-trade-in-live-reef-fish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/gray-areas-and-weak-policies-mar-lucrative-asian-trade-in-live-reef-fish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2020 20:55:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Leilani]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/01232717/434384175_0488df77a2_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232036</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Aquariums, Biodiversity, COVID-19, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Industry, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Overfishing, Pandemics, Politics, Saltwater Fish, Sustainability, and Tuna]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PALAWAN, Philippines — On a sunny June morning in Taytay Bay, Jorophy Mahusay stands on a floating cage as he throws fish meal into the azure waters below, where his leopard coral trout congregate. “I feed them twice a week,” he says as he glances at the bright red-orange fish, known locally as suno, with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PALAWAN, Philippines — On a sunny June morning in Taytay Bay, Jorophy Mahusay stands on a floating cage as he throws fish meal into the azure waters below, where his leopard coral trout congregate. “I feed them twice a week,” he says as he glances at the bright red-orange fish, known locally as suno, with electric-blue dots all over their bodies. Mahusay is one of the more than 200 traders in the Philippine island province of Palawan engaged in mariculture, a type of aquaculture where wild-caught fish are grown in enclosed pens. “I buy wild-caught suno juveniles from hook-and-line fishers and then grow the fish in a cage until such time they reach the marketable plate size,” he tells Mongabay. One of the Philippines’ richest fishing grounds, Palawan in the country’s western region is the capital of the live reef food fish trade, or LRFFT, producing 70% of the nation’s exports of live reef fish. These include species like the leopard coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus), humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) and bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum), which are sought-after and valued in this industry. In the wild, reef fish like the humphead wrasse and parrotfish can grow up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length and live up to 30 years. But fishers tend to catch them while they’re still at juvenile size, before they reach full maturity. “At plate size, these fish species are not yet sexually mature,” marine biologist Ditto dela Rosa of the Haribon Foundation, a conservation NGO, tells&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/gray-areas-and-weak-policies-mar-lucrative-asian-trade-in-live-reef-fish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/gray-areas-and-weak-policies-mar-lucrative-asian-trade-in-live-reef-fish/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232036</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Sri Lanka, the hunt is on for alien fish in native lakes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/in-sri-lanka-the-hunt-is-on-for-alien-fish-in-native-lakes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/in-sri-lanka-the-hunt-is-on-for-alien-fish-in-native-lakes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2020 14:36:32 +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/20/2020/07/06141640/Another-large-knifew-fish-caught-from-thalangama-c-Pathum.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232131</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Aquariums, Environment, Fish, Freshwater Fish, and Invasive Species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Located in the suburbs of Sri Lanka’s biggest city, Colombo, the picturesque Thalangama Lake is plagued by at least two invasive predatory fish species that are contributing to the decline of the native aquatic life. “I have heard villagers living close to the lake claiming that they had seen a fish with a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Located in the suburbs of Sri Lanka’s biggest city, Colombo, the picturesque Thalangama Lake is plagued by at least two invasive predatory fish species that are contributing to the decline of the native aquatic life. “I have heard villagers living close to the lake claiming that they had seen a fish with a long snout like an alligator in the Thalangama Lake waters,” said Pathum Madhusanka, a young fish enthusiast who has made it his mission to rid the lake of the invasive species. The particular fish he’s referring to is the alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula), native to North America and one of the largest fish from that region, which can grow to a length of 3 meters (10 feet). Madhusanka has for the past few years been painstakingly fishing out another species from the lake: the clown knifefish (Chitala ornata), also a voracious feeder, and native to Southeast Asia. He had to put his mission on hold when the Sri Lankan government imposed a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But within a day of the lockdown being lifted in May, Madhusanka was back at Thalangama with his rod and reel. And the first fish he hooked was an alligator gar, about a meter (3 feet) in length. “It seemed quite impossible to find an alligator gar in this water body,” he told Mongabay. Invasive fish species are released into natural bodies of water by owners who get tired of them when they outgrow their tanks&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/in-sri-lanka-the-hunt-is-on-for-alien-fish-in-native-lakes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/in-sri-lanka-the-hunt-is-on-for-alien-fish-in-native-lakes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232131</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to make sure your aquarium fish are ethical (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-to-make-sure-your-aquarium-fish-are-ethical-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-to-make-sure-your-aquarium-fish-are-ethical-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2019 14:47:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Woods]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/03143753/aqaurium_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220160</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquariums, Commentary, Environment, Ethics, Fish, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fishkeeping has been around for centuries, and the amount of people who want to start keeping fish grows year after year. However, many newcomers to the hobby don’t carry out research to ensure the fish they’re buying have been sourced ethically. Instead, many people just turn up at the local pet store and buy the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Fishkeeping has been around for centuries, and the amount of people who want to start keeping fish grows year after year. However, many newcomers to the hobby don’t carry out research to ensure the fish they’re buying have been sourced ethically. Instead, many people just turn up at the local pet store and buy the most colorful fish they can find without a second thought, usually based on the price tag. The disturbing truth is that a large portion of marine fish are not raised or caught ethically. Some are wild-caught, meaning they’ve been taken from their natural environment to be sold onto aquarists. However, not all collection of fish in the wild is unethical — it depends of how they were caught, whether that species is in decline, and a few other factors. Here’s how to ensure that you buy aquarium fish ethically. The debate around wild-caught vs captive-bred fish Up to 90% of freshwater species in aquariums are bred in captivity. The beauty behind this is that they are already used to tank conditions and don’t need an acclimation period, we don’t deplete numbers in the wild, and we can preserve species that might be going extinct or that wouldn’t survive in the wild (for example, albino species). Most people accept that captive-bred fish are much more ethical than sourcing wild-caught fish. This might lead you to assume that all wild-caught fish automatically equal unethically sourced fish, but this isn’t necessarily the case. There are many wild fish&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-to-make-sure-your-aquarium-fish-are-ethical-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-to-make-sure-your-aquarium-fish-are-ethical-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220160</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Canada passes ‘Free Willy’ bill to ban captivity of all whales, dolphins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/canada-passes-free-willy-bill-to-ban-captivity-of-all-whales-dolphins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/canada-passes-free-willy-bill-to-ban-captivity-of-all-whales-dolphins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2019 08:46:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/10070731/1024px-Killerwhales_jumping-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219377</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2163-3717]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Canada has made it illegal to catch and hold whales, dolphins and porpoises in captivity. On June 10, Canada’s House of Commons passed Bill S-203, or the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, banning the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity in the country. The new legislation also prohibits the trade, breeding and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Canada has made it illegal to catch and hold whales, dolphins and porpoises in captivity. On June 10, Canada’s House of Commons passed Bill S-203, or the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, banning the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity in the country. The new legislation also prohibits the trade, breeding and collecting of reproductive materials from the animals, such as sperm or embryos. The only exceptions to these provisions will be in cases of rescues and rehabilitation, licensed scientific research, or in the “best interests of the cetacean’s welfare.” Referred to as the “Free Willy” bill after the 1993 U.S. movie in which a young boy releases a captive orca or killer whale (Orcinus orca) into the wild, the bill also makes it illegal to participate in competition, exhibition, or any other events in which captive whales or dolphins are used for performance for entertainment purposes. Those who violate sections of this law can be fined up to $200,000. “The passage of Bill S-203 is a watershed moment in the protection of marine animals and a victory for all Canadians,” Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of the Humane Society International/Canada, said in a statement. “Whales and dolphins don’t belong in tanks, and the inherent suffering these highly social and intelligent animals endure in intensive confinement can no longer be tolerated. We congratulate the sponsors of this bill and the Canadian government for showing strong leadership in responding to public will and sound science on this critical issue.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/canada-passes-free-willy-bill-to-ban-captivity-of-all-whales-dolphins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/canada-passes-free-willy-bill-to-ban-captivity-of-all-whales-dolphins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219377</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A fishy translocation highlights dangers of ‘taxonomic inflation’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/a-fishy-translocation-highlights-dangers-of-taxonomic-inflation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/a-fishy-translocation-highlights-dangers-of-taxonomic-inflation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2019 07:55:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/16072516/4-Natural-Habitat-of-Rasboroides-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217517</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Research, and Taxonomy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2018SEFD]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A tiny fish described in 2013 from a stream in Sri Lanka was apparently a known species that had been moved there years earlier, according to a study that underscores the importance of due diligence when it comes to the translocation of species. A taxonomic review that year of the freshwater fish genus Rasboroides, from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A tiny fish described in 2013 from a stream in Sri Lanka was apparently a known species that had been moved there years earlier, according to a study that underscores the importance of due diligence when it comes to the translocation of species. A taxonomic review that year of the freshwater fish genus Rasboroides, from the Cyprinidae family, recognized three of the already established species in the genus: Rasboroides vaterifloris, R. nigromarginatus and R. pallidus. It also described a new species, R. rohani, from a localized population in the Walawe River Basin in southern Sri Lanka. In 2018, a team of researchers led by Hiranya Sudasinghe, a molecular biologist at Sri Lanka’s University of Peradeniya, carried out a taxonomic assessment of the country’s cyprinids, and began asking questions about R. rohani. “We tested by using genetics, morphology, morphometrics and statistical analysis and concluded that R. rohani was not distinct,” Sudasinghe said, adding: “If new, it should have been distinct from other species, and molecular evidence did not establish such distinction.” A phylogram, a haplotype networks for two genes and their distribution – https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6084 In their findings, published in December 2018, Sudasinghe and colleagues Jayampathi Herath, Rohan Pethiyagoda and Madhava Meegaskumbura revealed that there had been two undocumented translocations of Rasboroides, one of them into the Walawe Basin, and that the species described as new in 2013 was in fact the already known R. Pallidus. The translocation in question took place in 2003 near a monastery in the Suriyakanda area of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/a-fishy-translocation-highlights-dangers-of-taxonomic-inflation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/a-fishy-translocation-highlights-dangers-of-taxonomic-inflation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217517</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Six new catfish species, facial tentacles and all, described in Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/six-new-catfish-species-facial-tentacles-and-all-described-in-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/six-new-catfish-species-facial-tentacles-and-all-described-in-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2019 10:43:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/02/11054938/Ancistrus-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=215369</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Evolution, Fish, Green, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America, researchers have described six new species of catfish that have tentacles on their faces, spines sticking out from their heads, and bodies covered with armor-like bony plates. All six species belong to the genus Ancistrus, researchers report in a new study published in Zootaxa. These river-dwelling catfish, commonly known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America, researchers have described six new species of catfish that have tentacles on their faces, spines sticking out from their heads, and bodies covered with armor-like bony plates. All six species belong to the genus Ancistrus, researchers report in a new study published in Zootaxa. These river-dwelling catfish, commonly known as bristlenose or bushynose catfish, are popular aquarium fish, particularly famed for their skills as champion algae eaters that help keep tanks clean. All members of this group also have several fleshy tentacles covering their snouts — a feature that distinguishes them from other catfish that tend to have smaller “whiskers.” Males have especially long tentacles on their snouts. And researchers think the larger tentacles come in handy when trying to attract females. This is because Ancistrus fathers guard the nests of eggs and juveniles against intruders. To females, a male that’s guarding a nest might signal a fitter parent that knows how to take care of its young. Researchers have posited that the long tentacles in males, which resemble larvae or catfish juveniles, might have evolved to trick a female into laying eggs in the nest. “The idea is that when a female fish sees a male with these tentacles &#8230; [t]hat signifies to her that he’s a good father who&#8217;s able to produce offspring and protect them,” Lesley de Souza, a fish expert at Chicago’s Field Museum and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. “It’s an evolutionary move that takes ‘catfishing’ to a whole new, kind&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/six-new-catfish-species-facial-tentacles-and-all-described-in-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/six-new-catfish-species-facial-tentacles-and-all-described-in-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-215369</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Warmer waters shrink krill habitat around Antarctica</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/warmer-waters-shrink-krill-habitat-pushing-them-closer-to-antarctica/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/warmer-waters-shrink-krill-habitat-pushing-them-closer-to-antarctica/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2019 09:41:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/01/30030552/1280px-Antarctic_krill_Euphausia_superba.8e6e6db5ada24601894c180ec7d12e0c-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=215001</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Arctic, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Impact Of Climate Change, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Pet Trade, Protected Areas, Research, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Baby krill living around Antarctica are struggling to cope with rising sea temperatures, new research suggests. The study, published online Jan. 21 in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that fewer of the tiny, shrimp-like Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are surviving to adulthood in the northern reaches of the Scotia Sea, home to the largest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Baby krill living around Antarctica are struggling to cope with rising sea temperatures, new research suggests. The study, published online Jan. 21 in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that fewer of the tiny, shrimp-like Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are surviving to adulthood in the northern reaches of the Scotia Sea, home to the largest concentrations of the animal. “These northern waters have warmed and conditions throughout the Scotia Sea have become more hostile, with stronger winds, warmer weather and less ice,” Simeon Hill, an ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey and one of the paper’s lead authors, said in a statement. “This is bad news for young krill.” A map shows the location of the Scotia Sea. Image by Gi via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Hill and his colleagues pulled together data on the body lengths and counts of individual krill in the Southern Ocean going back more than 90 years. They zeroed in on the Scotia Sea where the Atlantic and Southern Oceans meet. Historically, that’s been the best spot to find dense clouds of krill, which are a critical food source for fish, penguins and whales. Scientists have tracked the shift of zooplankton like krill toward cooler waters around both poles as a result of climate change. But without the type of comprehensive data sets used in this study, it’s been difficult to determine how large an effect warmer temperatures are having now or will have in the future, the authors write. “It is only when&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/warmer-waters-shrink-krill-habitat-pushing-them-closer-to-antarctica/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/warmer-waters-shrink-krill-habitat-pushing-them-closer-to-antarctica/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-215001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Manatees to make a comeback in Guadeloupe for the first time in over a century</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/manatees-to-make-a-comeback-in-guadeloupe-in-over-a-century/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/manatees-to-make-a-comeback-in-guadeloupe-in-over-a-century/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2016 09:43:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/08/01194852/Inage-3_Seven-year-old-Kai-was-chosen-because-he-had-reached-sexual-maturity-and-is-best-friends-with-Junior-in-the-aquarium_lores-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187984</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Environment, Islands, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Reintroductions, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the beginning of the 20th century, over-hunting wiped out all west Indian manatees from the waters of the French Caribbean Islands of Guadeloupe located in the eastern Caribbean sea. But now, two male West Indian or Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus), currently residing in a Singapore zoo, are being re-introduced to Guadeloupe in what [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the beginning of the 20th century, over-hunting wiped out all west Indian manatees from the waters of the French Caribbean Islands of Guadeloupe located in the eastern Caribbean sea. But now, two male West Indian or Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus), currently residing in a Singapore zoo, are being re-introduced to Guadeloupe in what is believed to be the world’s first manatee re-population program. The program is led by the National Park of Guadeloupe. The two manatees &#8212; Kai, born on 8 October 2009, and Junior, born on 2 February 2010 at River Safari, a Singapore-based zoo and aquarium &#8212; are almost inseparable, according to a statement released by the zoo. Kai and Junior will be sent to the Grand Cul-de-sac Marin, a protected bay that has an “enforced no-entry zone” to keep the manatees away from boating traffic, the statement says. They will soon be joined by 13 more manatees from various zoological institutions, forming the founding group. This group’s future offspring will then be reintroduced to the wild, the River Safari team adds. Sébastien Rives from the National Park of Guadeloupe hand-feeding Kai and Junior with high fibre pellets inside River Safari’s Amazon Flooded Forest, the world’s largest freshwater aquarium. Photo credit: Wildlife Reserves Singapore. The two manatees will fly out to Guadeloupe in the next few weeks, a flight that is likely to take more than 30 hours. They will be accompanied by veterinarians from the National Park of Guadeloupe, and two aquarists from River Safari. Threatened by hunting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/manatees-to-make-a-comeback-in-guadeloupe-in-over-a-century/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/manatees-to-make-a-comeback-in-guadeloupe-in-over-a-century/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187984</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Popular pet fish listed as &#8220;threatened&#8221; under Endangered Species Act</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/popular-pet-fish-listed-as-threatened-under-endangered-species-act/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/popular-pet-fish-listed-as-threatened-under-endangered-species-act/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2016 12:14:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ret Talbot]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/01/02190553/BCF-Sulawesi-440x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North America, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Green, Overfishing, Pet Trade, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a final rule Wednesday listing the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species will be the first saltwater aquarium fish listed, and only the twenty-eighth marine fish. Because the Banggai cardinalfish will be listed as “threatened” and not “endangered,” NMFS [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a final rule Wednesday listing the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species will be the first saltwater aquarium fish listed, and only the twenty-eighth marine fish. Because the Banggai cardinalfish will be listed as “threatened” and not “endangered,” NMFS will place no immediate restrictions on its trade or possession. However, the agency may initiate a rulemaking process to determine prohibitions at some point in the future. The Banggai cardinalfish is small but stunningly beautiful, with showy fins, a silvery to bronze body, three jet-black vertical bars, and constellations of bright spots. A scientist first collected two Banggai cardinalfish in Indonesia’s Banggai Islands in 1920. It wasn’t until 1933 that the specimens were described in the scientific literature. The species is endemic to an extremely small range — its available habitat is thought to be roughly the size of Los Angeles Harbor, around 34 square kilometers. It was largely forgotten until 1994 when renowned ichthyologist Gerry Allen with the NGO Conservation International, “re-discovered” it. The following year, the species made its debut to US aquarium hobbyists at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America, where it was described as a nearly ideal aquarium species. A Banggai cardinalfish swims in its native range in the Banggai Islands of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo by Ret Talbot. As a direct result of its popularity, combined with little to no fishery management in the Banggai Islands, the harvest of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/popular-pet-fish-listed-as-threatened-under-endangered-species-act/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/popular-pet-fish-listed-as-threatened-under-endangered-species-act/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-175536</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Quantifying the aquarium trade to help it become more sustainable</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/quantifying-the-aquarium-trade-to-help-it-become-more-sustainable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/quantifying-the-aquarium-trade-to-help-it-become-more-sustainable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jan 2016 00:12:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ret Talbot]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/01/02202743/0120_RTalbot_AquariumTrade_Cebu-496x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pet Trade, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Crisanto sorted his catch in a humid, non-descript concrete building that whirred and hummed as pumps moved water through hundreds of acrylic cubes containing brightly colored tropical reef fishes. A fisherman with weather-beaten skin, apparently in his 40s, he said he has collected aquarium fishes for most of his adult life. His village, on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Crisanto sorted his catch in a humid, non-descript concrete building that whirred and hummed as pumps moved water through hundreds of acrylic cubes containing brightly colored tropical reef fishes. A fisherman with weather-beaten skin, apparently in his 40s, he said he has collected aquarium fishes for most of his adult life. His village, on the Philippine island of Cebu, is a place foreigners see predominantly for its palm-fringed beaches. But while tourists flock to the island, the only islanders leaving in droves for foreign destinations are its fish. Crisanto was surprised to learn that his country provides the majority of saltwater aquarium fishes to global markets. And he was shocked to hear what foreign aquarium hobbyists pay for fishes — in some cases a hundred or more times what the fisher makes for each one. What he does know is the poverty that surrounds him — the piles of rotting refuse along the street, the makeshift shacks of rusted corrugated tin draped with storm-beaten tarps. More than 66 percent of the region’s families are low-income or poor according to government statistics. A town in Cebu, the Philippines. Photo by Junho Lee/Flickr. In this hardscrabble setting, it&#8217;s hard to conjure the mini reefs reproduced in living rooms of landlocked, well-fed Westerners. Yet that will likely be the final destination for the twospined angelfish (Centropyge bispinosa), an iridescent indigo creature with a flash of orange on its sides, that Crisanto transferred from a tub into a water-filled plastic bag for shipping. After&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/quantifying-the-aquarium-trade-to-help-it-become-more-sustainable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/quantifying-the-aquarium-trade-to-help-it-become-more-sustainable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-175261</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cupid’s syringe: A love potion for troubled amphibians</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/cupids-syringe-a-love-potion-for-troubled-amphibians/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/cupids-syringe-a-love-potion-for-troubled-amphibians/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2015 15:28:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Geoffrey Giller]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/10/03145014/1015_GGiller_CupidsSyringe_EasternHellbender2-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Evolving Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Aquariums, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Endangered Species, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Technology, Wildlife, Wildtech, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Dale McGinnity rushed to the Nashville Zoo at 3 a.m. one morning in 2011, it was to witness the culmination of a six-year effort. One of the zoo&#8217;s eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) was finally laying eggs. These giant salamanders, along with the other hellbender subspecies, the Ozark hellbender (C. a. bishopi), can grow [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Dale McGinnity rushed to the Nashville Zoo at 3 a.m. one morning in 2011, it was to witness the culmination of a six-year effort. One of the zoo&#8217;s eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) was finally laying eggs. These giant salamanders, along with the other hellbender subspecies, the Ozark hellbender (C. a. bishopi), can grow to over two feet long, making them North America’s largest salamander species by far. But both subspecies are rapidly disappearing from the wild, and scientists were scrambling to figure out how to breed the animals in captivity as a way to replenish wild populations. McGinnity and his colleagues immediately got to work, artificially fertilizing the eggs with sperm from male hellbenders. The scientists knew what to thank for these small, slimy bundles of joy: four days earlier, McGinnity had injected the zoo&#8217;s female hellbenders with a new compound, essentially a love potion for amphibians that causes them to mate or to release their eggs or sperm. It was designed specifically for species that were reluctant to breed in captivity. Just call it “Cupid’s syringe.” The elixir in question, called Amphiplex, was concocted by Vance Trudeau at the University of Ottawa. Originally a fish endocrinologist, Trudeau felt compelled to redirect his expertise in the early 2000s when reports of startling drops in amphibian populations started to roll in from around the world. &#8220;I&#8217;m an endocrinologist, I know a lot about spawning,&#8221; he said to himself at the time. &#8220;Why don&#8217;t I try to do something?&#8221; An&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/cupids-syringe-a-love-potion-for-troubled-amphibians/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-151876</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Animals bark, screech, and howl for action on global warming (PHOTOS)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/animals-bark-screech-and-howl-for-action-on-global-warming-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/animals-bark-screech-and-howl-for-action-on-global-warming-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2014 21:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/06/animals-bark-screech-and-howl-for-action-on-global-warming-photos/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Extinction, Global Warming, Green, Photos, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The destruction of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia for palm oil, paper, and timber has put the world&#8217;s orangutans at risk of extinction, it also compounds global warming and mass extinction. Photo by: Singapore Zoo. On May 22nd, zoos and aquariums around the world creatively called for action on global warming. Dubbed &#8220;Show the Wild [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The destruction of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia for palm oil, paper, and timber has put the world&#8217;s orangutans at risk of extinction, it also compounds global warming and mass extinction. Photo by: Singapore Zoo. On May 22nd, zoos and aquariums around the world creatively called for action on global warming. Dubbed &#8220;Show the Wild Face of Climate Change,&#8221; the event involved over 70 institutions from 25 countries on all seven continents. &#8220;[This] was the largest single-day global zoo event in history,” said George Rabb, President Emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society and former Chair of the IUCN&#8217;s Species Survival Commission. &#8220;The success of this day for climate change action is a good omen for future campaigns to engage zoos to recruit their visitors and members as global citizens with responsibilities for the global commons of the atmosphere, waters, available lands, and biodiversity.&#8221; Gentoo penguins in Antarctica support 350. Global warming is impacting the distribution of prey for penguins. Photo by: Dee Boersma/Penguinstudies.org. In addition to holding special events and activities, zoos also took photos of over 150 species with the logo &#8220;Zoos &#038; Aquariums for 350.&#8221; 350 refers to the parts per million (ppm) of carbon in the atmosphere that scientists have deemed relatively safe not only for humans, but life on Earth. Currently, carbon levels are at 400 ppm and rising. Moreover, a paper last week in Science found that extinction rates are currently 1,000 times the average rate as based on fossils. Global warming is one of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/animals-bark-screech-and-howl-for-action-on-global-warming-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25148</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The quiet zoo revolution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/the-quiet-zoo-revolution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/the-quiet-zoo-revolution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2014 12:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/05/the-quiet-zoo-revolution/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, United Kingdom, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Extinction, Funding, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, In-situ Conservation, Innovation, Mass Extinction, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How the world&#8217;s best zoos are working to save biodiversity in an age of extinction. Tiger meets human at the Minnesota Zoo. Physical spaces where people can easily encounter and connect with wild species, zoos and aquariums are unique institutions. Yet in an age of environmental crises, are they doing enough to save species from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How the world&#8217;s best zoos are working to save biodiversity in an age of extinction. Tiger meets human at the Minnesota Zoo. Physical spaces where people can easily encounter and connect with wild species, zoos and aquariums are unique institutions. Yet in an age of environmental crises, are they doing enough to save species from extinction? Photo by: Tara Harris. What is a zoo? Is it a place of entertainment or education? Of cages or conservation? Beginning around the mid-Twentieth Century, zoos and aquariums underwent a revolution of sorts: they began to see their animals less as captives and more as charges, while viewing their role within the community as increasingly educational. Many abolished barred cages for larger and more natural-looking pens, added enrichment activities to keep animals engaged, and began to take education more seriously, especially as the realization of a biodiversity crisis began to permeate the public consciousness. This revolution in zoos has been well-documented. But a quieter revolution in zoos has also been occurring over just the past twenty-five years. Rather than just stand by the sidelines as species vanish in the wild, more and more zoos have begun funding on-the-ground conservation efforts, some even going so far as launching their own conservation programs. While this revolution has been less visible than spruced-up pens and educational outreach, it signals a widening realization by zoos of the positive&#8212;and wholly unique&#8212;role they could play in combatting global mass extinction. But the question remains: are zoos doing enough? &#8220;There is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/the-quiet-zoo-revolution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25222</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Zoos join fossil fuel divestment movement</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/zoos-join-fossil-fuel-divestment-movement/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/zoos-join-fossil-fuel-divestment-movement/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2013 17:08:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/11/zoos-join-fossil-fuel-divestment-movement/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Divestment, Economics, Energy, Environment, Finance, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mitigation, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last month, over a hundred representatives from zoos and aquariums around the world joined climate activism group, 350.org, pledging that their institutions would take action against global warming, including the possibility of divesting from fossil fuel companies. The effort, dubbed Zoos and Aquariums for 350, was launched during the annual meeting of the Conservation Breeding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last month, over a hundred representatives from zoos and aquariums around the world joined climate activism group, 350.org, pledging that their institutions would take action against global warming, including the possibility of divesting from fossil fuel companies. The effort, dubbed Zoos and Aquariums for 350, was launched during the annual meeting of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG). &#8220;What could be more consistent with the conservation mission of zoos and aquariums than working to ensure that governments acknowledge the reality of climate change and take action?&#8221; said Onnie Byers, the chair of CBSG. In recent decades, many zoos and aquariums have taken a more active role in supporting conservation efforts beyond traditional captive-breeding, including setting up their own conservation programs, funding scientists in the field, or expanding initiatives to educate visitors. But no environmental issue likely threatens more species in more regions of the world&#8212;from coral reefs to Arctic mammals to high-altitude rainforest species&#8212;than global warming. &#8220;Zoos and Aquariums are critical places for the fossil fuel divestment movement to take hold. As institutions dedicated to conservation and biodiversity, they have an incredible opportunity to educate the world on the climate crisis,&#8221; says co-founder of 350.org, Phil Aroneanu, who attended the meeting. 350.org, whose name refers to the level of carbon in the atmosphere that scientists deem safe in parts per million (levels passed 400 ppm for the first time this May), initially kicked-off its fossil fuel divestment campaign last year. It called on universities, churches, cities, and pension funds to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/zoos-join-fossil-fuel-divestment-movement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/zoos-join-fossil-fuel-divestment-movement/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26140</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>98% of marine fish headed for the aquarium trade die within a year in the Philippines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/98-of-marine-fish-headed-for-the-aquarium-trade-die-within-a-year-in-the-philippines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/98-of-marine-fish-headed-for-the-aquarium-trade-die-within-a-year-in-the-philippines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Oct 2013 16:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Natalie Millar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Tiffany Roufs]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/10/98-of-marine-fish-headed-for-the-aquarium-trade-die-within-a-year-in-the-philippines/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Fiji and Solomon Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Green, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Pet Trade, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Almost all wild caught marine fish for the aquarium trade will die within a year of capture, according to WWF. Following months of interviews with Filipino marine exporters and hobbyists, WWF-Philippines have found that roughly 80% of all marine fish die before they are sold, and those that survive long enough to be bought by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Almost all wild caught marine fish for the aquarium trade will die within a year of capture, according to WWF. Following months of interviews with Filipino marine exporters and hobbyists, WWF-Philippines have found that roughly 80% of all marine fish die before they are sold, and those that survive long enough to be bought by hobbyists are extremely likely to be dead in under a year. Unregulated capture techniques and improper bagging along with poor transportation and stocking practices result in the high mortalities, according to WWF-Philippines. Only the hardiest fish are likely to survive, such as clownfish (Amphiprion spp), damselfish (Pomacentrus spp), wrasses (Labroides spp) and gobies. Clownfish in an anemone. Photo by Tiffany Roufs. Technological advances in the 1970s meant that it was possible to keep marine life in your home aquarium, and by 1992 the trade of marine fish, coral and invertebrates was worth $1 billion worldwide. This industry is a significant driver for the Filipino economy, being especially important for fish collectors throughout the archipelago. Although factors such as climate change, pollution and poor harvesting practices have decimated reefs and depleted marine populations. Brackish fish (species found where freshwater and saltwater meet) and freshwater fish have long-adapted to dealing with rapid changes in their environment. With heavy rain and storms filling their habitat with mud and silt, they have evolved to cope with major fluctuations. However, marine fish live in one of the most stable environments on earth – the ocean – where any change in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/98-of-marine-fish-headed-for-the-aquarium-trade-die-within-a-year-in-the-philippines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26233</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Zoos call on governments to take urgent action against illegal wildlife trade (photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/zoos-call-on-governments-to-take-urgent-action-against-illegal-wildlife-trade-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/zoos-call-on-governments-to-take-urgent-action-against-illegal-wildlife-trade-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2013 14:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/07/zoos-call-on-governments-to-take-urgent-action-against-illegal-wildlife-trade-photos/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, China, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Apes, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Conflict, Conservation, Consumption, Crime, Elephants, Environment, Environmental Law, Green, Ivory, Law, Law Enforcement, Organized Crime, Pet Trade, Poaching, Primates, Rhinos, Sharks, Tigers, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Warning: some photos may be disturbing or graphic. In a single night in March, a band of heavily-armed, horse-riding poachers slaughtered 89 elephants in southern Chad, thirty of which were pregnant females. The carnage was the worst poaching incident of the year, but even this slaughter paled in comparison to the 650 elephants killed in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Warning: some photos may be disturbing or graphic. In a single night in March, a band of heavily-armed, horse-riding poachers slaughtered 89 elephants in southern Chad, thirty of which were pregnant females. The carnage was the worst poaching incident of the year, but even this slaughter paled in comparison to the 650 elephants killed in a Cameroon park in 2012. Elephant poaching is hitting new records as experts say some 30,000 elephants are being killed every year for their ivory tusks. But the illegal wildlife trade&#8212;estimated at $19 billion&#8212;is not just decimating elephants, but also rhinos, big cats, great apes, and thousands of lesser-known species like pangolins and slow lorises. This growing carnage recently led to representatives of over 40 zoos and dozens of wildlife programs to call on governments around the world to take immediate action on long-neglected wildlife crime. Meeting in Des Moines earlier this month at the Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation Conference (ZACC), over 200 conservationists&#8212;representing zoos, aquariums, and field work around the world&#8212;raised an alarm over the booming wildlife trade. Participants called on governments to commit more ambitious and coordinated action against poachers and smugglers, including beefed up law enforcement and tougher penalties. In addition, they called for more consumer-awareness campaigns about the trade. &#8220;The illegal wildlife trade has become a critical threat to global biodiversity. The demand for wildlife in the form of exotic pets, traditional medicine, and bushmeat is supported by a vast criminal network stretching around the globe linking poachers and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/zoos-call-on-governments-to-take-urgent-action-against-illegal-wildlife-trade-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>San Francisco seafood restaurants go sustainable</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/san-francisco-seafood-restaurants-go-sustainable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/san-francisco-seafood-restaurants-go-sustainable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2013 12:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/07/san-francisco-seafood-restaurants-go-sustainable/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Interviews, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Sustainability, Tuna, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th&#8212;July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&#38;As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Maggie Ostdahl at California Ocean Day. Photo courtesy of: [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th&#8212;July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&amp;As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Maggie Ostdahl at California Ocean Day. Photo courtesy of: Maggie Ostdahl. The Seafood Watch Program ®, first created by Monterey Bay Aquarium in the late 1990s, is arguably the best-known guide to sustainably-caught seafood in the U.S. Listing seafood choices in three categories&#8212;green (best choices), yellow (good alternatives), and red (avoid)&#8212;the guide informs consumers of the best options. However, it&#8217;s one thing to create a well-respected guide, and another issues altogether to get producers and consumers to use it. But a newer partnership, the San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance, is working to bridge this gap. Maggie Ostdahl of Aquarium of the Bay works with the Seafood Watch Restaurant program and restaurants across San Francisco&#8212;one of the best places in the country for seafood&#8212;to source sustainable seafood. Restaurant partners avoid seafood on the guide&#8217;s red list. &#8220;Essentially, I get to work with chefs and staff from at least 30 restaurants (and growing!), and I try to be a helpful resource towards their commitment to serving sustainable seafood,&#8221; Ostdahl told mongabay.com in a recent interview, adding that &#8220;many restaurants in the area are aware of the importance of sustainable seafood, and I do think in most cases it&#8217;s not just for trendiness&#8217; sake. However, I would&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/san-francisco-seafood-restaurants-go-sustainable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/san-francisco-seafood-restaurants-go-sustainable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28745</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Should zoos educate the public about climate change?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/should-zoos-educate-the-public-about-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/should-zoos-educate-the-public-about-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2013 17:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/should-zoos-educate-the-public-about-climate-change/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquariums, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Education, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, In-situ Conservation, Interviews, Mitigation, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th&#8212;July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&#38;As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Captive polar bear. Given the rising threat of climate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th&#8212;July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&amp;As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Captive polar bear. Given the rising threat of climate change to many of the world&#8217;s species, including polar bears, how should zoos address the issue? Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Zoos are usually thought of as entertainment destinations. As a place to take the kids on a nice afternoon, they are sometimes perceived to lack the educational heft of an art museum or a theatre. However, over the past few decades many of the world&#8217;s best zoos and aquariums have also worked to educate their visitors about conservation issues, in addition to funding and supporting programs in the field to save the ever-growing number of imperiled species. But as threats to the world&#8217;s species mount&#8212;including climate change&#8212;many are beginning to ask what, if anything, zoos and aquariums should do to address the global environmental crisis. &#8220;The public should ask their local zoo or aquariums what they are doing for the planet,&#8221; Anne Warner, Conservation and Education Consultant with the consulting business, Conservation Strategies, told mongabay.com. &#8220;It is expected that Association of Zoos and Aquariums(AZA)-accredited institutions are supporting field conservation that is directly contributing to the long-term survival of species in natural ecosystems and habitats, yet this is work the public often does not realize&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/should-zoos-educate-the-public-about-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28828</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The comeback kids: the role of zoos in saving species from oblivion  (photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/the-comeback-kids-the-role-of-zoos-in-saving-species-from-oblivion-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/the-comeback-kids-the-role-of-zoos-in-saving-species-from-oblivion-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2013 13:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/the-comeback-kids-the-role-of-zoos-in-saving-species-from-oblivion-photos/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Birds, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Extinction, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Interviews, Mammals, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th &#8211; July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&#38;As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Red wolf: after going extinct in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th &#8211; July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&amp;As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Red wolf: after going extinct in the early 1980s, red wolves were reintroduced in the Eastern U.S. in 1987. Photo by: Seth Bynum /Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. While many people may view zoos first and foremost as attractions, these institutions have a long history of supporting and instigating conservation work, including saving species from extinction that have vanished from their wild habitat. But such efforts require not just dedication and patience, but herculean organizational efforts. Enter, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), which works with zoos and aquariums to set up conservation programs and track endangered species in captivity. &#8220;Most of the major international conservation organizations have moved away from species conservation in recent years, now focusing on issues such as poverty alleviation, global change, ecosystem services, etc. It is the role of zoos and aquariums to keep alive the flame of species conservation!&#8221; Markus Gusset, Conservation Officer with WAZA, told mongabay.com in a recent interview. Gusset says that zoos and aquariums should be conservation centers first and businesses second. He points to a long history of zoos in saving species that have gone extinct in the wild, including five mammals and one bird that would not be around&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/the-comeback-kids-the-role-of-zoos-in-saving-species-from-oblivion-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28905</doi>				</item>
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