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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/bacteria/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 05:01:24 +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 Bacteria</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/bacteria/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Canadian muskoxen hit by double punch of novel diseases and climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 15:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02214119/1-Edit-35-BANNER-IMAGE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316879</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Atlantic Forest, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Climate, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Planetary Health, Public Health, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger cows and bulls, leaving the breeding animals alone. It takes a couple hours to skin, butcher and load up the sleds, the older and younger generations working together in -30° Celsius to -35°C (-22° Fahrenheit to -35°F), weather that is “just perfect,” says Niptanatiak, an Inuk hunter and trapper from Nunavut, who is also a retired conservation officer. “Then we eat and have a big meal and just enjoy it and talk and say, ‘Oh, this is a blessing,’” he says. Muskoxen are an integral part of Arctic ecology and, with their thick shaggy coats, are synonymous with the Far North. Nearly driven to extinction by commercial hunting in the early 1900s, surviving in just a few pockets in Canada, they began to recover following a 1917 hunting ban. By the 1990s, the Canadian population was estimated at 108,600. About 70% of the Canadian population was on Victoria and Banks islands, in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago — large islands with a combined area of nearly 290,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), about the size of Italy. Niptanatiak lives in Kugluktuk, a small hamlet on the mainland, just across from Victoria Island. Diets vary there, but for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316879</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>There&#8217;s hope for sunflower sea stars, with their killer unmasked and reintroductions pending</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2025 14:19:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Darren IncorvaiaSharon Guynup]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/18145341/4.-Pycnopodia-and-vase-tunicates-in-Rivers-Inlet_Photo-courtesy-of-Bennett-Whitnell_Hakai-Institute-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304445</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Coral Reefs, Diseases, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There&#8217;s hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak of sea star wasting disease, a deadly ailment that pocks starfish bodies with lesions and then dissolves their flesh. It affects roughly 20 species, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There&#8217;s hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak of sea star wasting disease, a deadly ailment that pocks starfish bodies with lesions and then dissolves their flesh. It affects roughly 20 species, and has killed a staggering 5.75 billion sea stars. But it’s been particularly catastrophic for sunflower sea stars. About 99% of the population along its southern range is gone, from Washington state to Mexico. It’s the largest epidemic ever to occur in the ocean. Though the disease peaked between 2013 and 2017, localized outbreaks still occur, and the population hasn’t recovered. Now, more than a decade after the epidemic began, the mysterious killer has finally been unmasked. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Hakai Institute in Canada just published their discovery, identifying a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida as a culprit. Increasing sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, driven by anthropogenic climate change, are believed to have triggered or exacerbated the disease, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sea stars are voracious predators that feed on sea urchins and other prey. In their absence, urchins have proliferated and laid waste to the kelp forests that historically lined the California coast, which are homes and nurseries to innumerable marine species, from fish and seabirds to otters and sea lions. A sunflower sea star clings to life in Knight Inlet,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304445</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sagarmatha microbes may survive harsh conditions for decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2023 07:35:04 +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/20/2023/03/21071613/mountaineering-sagarmatha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Climate Change, Diseases, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Microorganisms, Mountains, Permafrost, Pollution, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The South Col in the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) region faces blasts of unrelenting winds that sweep away almost everything in their path, including snow. Located nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level, the southeastern ridge of this desolate terrain is where mountaineers heading to world&#8217;s tallest peak make their final camp. A recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The South Col in the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) region faces blasts of unrelenting winds that sweep away almost everything in their path, including snow. Located nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level, the southeastern ridge of this desolate terrain is where mountaineers heading to world&#8217;s tallest peak make their final camp. A recent study published in the journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, shows that even the winds haven’t swept away a trail of tough microbes that can survive the harsh conditions on the Roof of the World for decades, if not centuries, left behind by mountaineers in the area. “Some of the microbes we found were possibly transported by humans when they sneeze or cough,” said Steve Schmidt, co-author on the paper and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “The concern, with all the pollution that’s going on Everest, is that these microbes aren’t going to go away,” he told Mongabay, adding that he himself didn’t go to Sagarmatha to collect soil samples there. Through his previous work, Schmidt had established ties with researchers on their way to Sagarmatha to set up the world&#8217;s highest weather station on South Col in May 2019 as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition (April to May 2019).  He requested collections of soil samples, to which Baker Perry, co-author and professor of geography at Appalachian State University, obliged. As part of the study, three surface sediment samples from the South Col were collected by members of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266633</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘During droughts, pivot to agroecology’: Q&#038;A with soil expert at the World Agroforestry Centre</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2023 20:17:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kang-Chun Cheng]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/28185158/IMG_4644-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266030</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Bacteria, Climate, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crops, Degraded Lands, Drought, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Mongabay Data Studio, Poverty, Soil Carbon, Subsistence Agriculture, Trees, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This interview was produced with the funding support of the Pulitzer Center. WESTERN TURKANA, Kenya—Driving across Northern Kenya’s Turkana County, the seemingly boundless terrain of sand dunes, dusty brushes and hard, dry soil makes it hard to imagine anyone could farm and eke a living out here. As Kenya and the Horn of Africa are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This interview was produced with the funding support of the Pulitzer Center. WESTERN TURKANA, Kenya—Driving across Northern Kenya’s Turkana County, the seemingly boundless terrain of sand dunes, dusty brushes and hard, dry soil makes it hard to imagine anyone could farm and eke a living out here. As Kenya and the Horn of Africa are confronted by the fifth consecutive failed rainy season since September 2020—the region’s worst drought in four decades—around 22 million people (roughly the population of Taiwan or Sri Lanka) are food insecure, says a U.N. World Food Programme report released last month. In Kenya, the number stands at 4.4 million as of December 2022, with children needing acute treatment for malnutrition on the rise. The numbers and immense toll on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, who rely on both crops and livestock, grow starker still: their animals have been dying en masse with, 2.5 million livestock deaths recorded by the Government of Kenya, and entire communities pushed to pursue different livelihoods as traditional means and resources fail. Patricia Nying’uro, a climate scientist at the Kenya Meteorological Department, says that although there are several causes of the ongoing drought, negative La Niña conditions are a significant contributing factor. This periodic cooling of sea-surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean, the meteorologist tells Mongabay, leads to certain negative indices, such as prolonged drought. A Turkana man walking through the sand dunes at Eliye Springs, on the western shores of Lake Turkana. Image by Kang-Chun Cheng. A U.N. report has confirmed that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266030</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pollution and climate change set stage for rise in antimicrobial resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2023 10:31:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/08102833/Antimicrobial_resistance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265292</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Chemicals, Climate Change, Diseases, Environment, Food, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Medicine, Microorganisms, Nutrient Pollution, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Research, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pollution from a variety of sources is driving up the incidence of resistance to the compounds used to treat infections, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme. The authors also note that climate change and biodiversity loss help foster the development of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. They call for systemic societal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pollution from a variety of sources is driving up the incidence of resistance to the compounds used to treat infections, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme. The authors also note that climate change and biodiversity loss help foster the development of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. They call for systemic societal changes to avoid rendering more of these disease-fighting tools ineffective. Our reliance on antibiotics and other antimicrobial compounds has created something of a paradox. These chemicals treat bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections, saving countless lives around the world and boosting the production of food crops and livestock. But the use — and overuse in many cases — of these antimicrobials has also come at a cost, nudging along the evolution of potentially dangerous microbes into forms that are more resistant to the medications we throw at them. “We’re selecting for stronger and more powerful microorganisms,” David Graham, a professor of ecosystems engineering at the U.K.’s Newcastle University and one of the lead authors of the report, said at a press conference ahead of the report’s launch Feb. 7 at a meeting of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance in Barbados. Studies show bacterial infections resistant to antimicrobials played a role in the deaths of nearly 5 million people in 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers antimicrobial resistance one of the top 10 threats to global health. The report’s authors sought to tease apart the complex dynamics by which this resistance develops and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265292</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Captive lions kept in ‘stressful conditions’ create perfect recipe for disease, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/captive-lions-kept-in-stressful-conditions-create-perfect-recipe-for-disease-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/captive-lions-kept-in-stressful-conditions-create-perfect-recipe-for-disease-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2021 14:07:25 +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/20/2021/04/08123454/Credit-Blood-Lions-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=241464</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Atlantic Forest, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Bacteria, Big Cats, Captive Breeding, Cats, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Diseases, Lions, Pandemics, Parasites, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2019, animal welfare inspectors visited Pienika Farm, a captive-lion facility in the North West province of South Africa. They found sick lion after sick lion living in conditions inspectors described as “horrific.” Twenty-seven animals were severely infected with mange, a condition caused by parasitic mites, while cubs twitched in the dirt, suffering from neurological [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2019, animal welfare inspectors visited Pienika Farm, a captive-lion facility in the North West province of South Africa. They found sick lion after sick lion living in conditions inspectors described as “horrific.” Twenty-seven animals were severely infected with mange, a condition caused by parasitic mites, while cubs twitched in the dirt, suffering from neurological disorders. Dozens of lions were crammed into cages meant only to hold a few. Rotting food and feces littered the ground. These are the ideal conditions for pathogens to grow and spread, resulting in disease, says Louise de Waal, a wildlife conservationist and one of the directors of Blood Lions, a nonprofit organization launched after the release of the 2015 film Blood Lions. The spread of disease is not only dangerous for the lions (Panthera leo) themselves, she said, but there is a possibility that disease could spill over into the human population, threatening human health and even triggering future epidemics. According to a recent peer-reviewed paper co-authored by De Waal and other experts from Blood Lions and World Animal Protection, captive and wild lions are known to carry a total of 63 pathogens — including parasites, bacteria and viruses — and these can result in about 83 diseases and clinical symptoms. Some of these pathogens can be transmitted from lions to other species, including humans, the research says. A captive lion with no fur on its nose due to mange. Image by Louise de Waal. The Blood Lions team has identified five diseases as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/captive-lions-kept-in-stressful-conditions-create-perfect-recipe-for-disease-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/captive-lions-kept-in-stressful-conditions-create-perfect-recipe-for-disease-experts-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-241464</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Move over, fishmeal: Insects and bacteria emerge as alternative animal feeds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/move-over-fishmeal-insects-and-bacteria-emerge-as-alternative-animal-feeds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/move-over-fishmeal-insects-and-bacteria-emerge-as-alternative-animal-feeds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2020 13:23:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emilie Filou]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/24125529/BSF-Harvesting-at-InsectIPro-2_Banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229390</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Global, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative proteins, Aquaculture, Bacteria, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Food, food security, Food Waste, Global Environmental Crisis, Insects, Oceans, Overfishing, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LIMURU, Kenya — In the lush, rolling highlands of Limuru in central Kenya lies a farm like few others. From the outside, it could be growing anything in its rows upon rows of greenhouses. Inside, however, netted cages and stacks of black plastic crates tell a different story: InsectiPro farms flies. Talash Huijbers, InsectiPro’s plucky [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LIMURU, Kenya — In the lush, rolling highlands of Limuru in central Kenya lies a farm like few others. From the outside, it could be growing anything in its rows upon rows of greenhouses. Inside, however, netted cages and stacks of black plastic crates tell a different story: InsectiPro farms flies. Talash Huijbers, InsectiPro’s plucky 24-year-old founder, proudly shows off her brood: millions of black soldier flies (BSF, Hermetia illucens) gently buzzing in their cages (they’re poor fliers), and billions of their larvae fattening up in trays. The larvae are fed a diet of food waste from markets and the food and drink industry. When I visit, it’s mango season and mounds of rotting fruit await processing into larvae food. Huijbers, who is half-Kenyan and half-Dutch, got the idea to set up a BSF farm after her family looked into starting a fish farm and noticed how expensive fishmeal, a key ingredient of animal feed, was. In Kenya, the main species used for fishmeal production is omena (Rastrineobola argentea), a small, silvery fish from Lake Victoria. It’s also a local staple. Competing demands from the food and feed markets have led to significant overfishing, and feed manufacturers are keen to find an alternative. Huijbers had heard that insect protein was all the rage in Europe, so she decided to suss out demand before launching the business. She set up a meeting with Fugo Feeds, the largest feed manufacturer in East Africa, to gauge their interest in BSF. “And they were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/move-over-fishmeal-insects-and-bacteria-emerge-as-alternative-animal-feeds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229390</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A saiga time bomb? Bad news for Central Asia’s beleaguered antelope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-time-bomb-for-the-saiga-bad-news-central-asias-beleaguered-antelope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-time-bomb-for-the-saiga-bad-news-central-asias-beleaguered-antelope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jan 2018 16:51:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/01/17164114/kock1HR-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=202964</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Antelope, Bacteria, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Diseases, Environment, Global Warming, Grasslands, Hunting, Mammals, Over-hunting, Poaching, Research, Saiga, Temperatures, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In May 2015, more than 200,000 saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) suddenly died. Entire herds perished, their bodies littering the steppe grasslands of central Kazakhstan as if dropped from the sky. Biologists were left stunned, baffled and very concerned. Already critically endangered, the mass die-off reduced the species by two-thirds globally. Only around 31,000 remained in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In May 2015, more than 200,000 saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) suddenly died. Entire herds perished, their bodies littering the steppe grasslands of central Kazakhstan as if dropped from the sky. Biologists were left stunned, baffled and very concerned. Already critically endangered, the mass die-off reduced the species by two-thirds globally. Only around 31,000 remained in Kazakhstan and 100,000 worldwide. Research indicated the saigas were likely killed by hemorrhagic septicemia caused by a type of bacteria called Pasteurella multocida. But P. multocida generally exists harmlessly in healthy saigas and other animals, so the question remained: Why did so many saigas become infected so suddenly and severely by a normally benign type of bacteria? Dead saigas litter the ground during at Torgai Betpak Dala, Kazakhstan, in May 2015. Photo by Photograph courtesy of the Joint saiga health monitoring team in Kazakhstan (Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity, Kazakhstan, Biosafety Institute, Gvardeskiy RK, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK) A newborn saiga calf nestles in the arms of a scientist of the joint health monitoring team. Scientists think the saiga&#8217;s distinctive nose helps filter out dust kicked up during summer migrations and warms up inhaled air in the winter. Photo by Photograph courtesy of the Joint saiga health monitoring team in Kazakhstan (Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity, Kazakhstan, Biosafety Institute, Gvardeskiy RK, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK) In 2016, disaster struck the saiga again. This time in Mongolia and from a known entity: a virus from domestic goats and sheep. Between December 2016&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-time-bomb-for-the-saiga-bad-news-central-asias-beleaguered-antelope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-202964</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Antibiotics revolution? iChip promises resistance-free antibiotics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/07/antibiotics-revolution-ichip-promises-resistance-free-antibiotics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/07/antibiotics-revolution-ichip-promises-resistance-free-antibiotics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2015 22:10:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/07/03165012/bacteria-386x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bacteria, Environment, Food Industry, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Countless lives have been saved by antibiotics since the middle of the 20th century. But their life giving potency is fading fast as bacterial resistance surges. Last year the United Nations declared the problem a “serious threat” to global health. Recently, however, a new study published in Nature revealed the discovery of a resistance-proof antibiotic, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Countless lives have been saved by antibiotics since the middle of the 20th century. But their life giving potency is fading fast as bacterial resistance surges. Last year the United Nations declared the problem a “serious threat” to global health. Recently, however, a new study published in Nature revealed the discovery of a resistance-proof antibiotic, marking a possible milestone in the fight against infectious disease. Around 500,000 deaths are attributed globally to antibiotic resistance annually. That toll could rise to ten million by 2050 if current rates of resistance continue and no viable alternative antibiotics are found, according to the U.K government Review on Microbial Resistance. Widespread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics by large-scale corporate agriculture and in the food industry is considered a significant factor in the rise of resistance in recent years. Antibiotic effectiveness for the treatment of infections has also declined due to overuse and improper application among the general populace, allowing bacteria resistance to strengthen. “Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a “post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” said Dr Keiji Fukuda, the World Health Organization’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. In an effort to turn the tide on antibiotic resistance, a team of scientists from NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals and Northeastern University have uncovered a potential goldmine of drug interventions lying just beneath our feet. There they found a fascinating resistance-proof antibiotic, which they named teixobactin – in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/07/antibiotics-revolution-ichip-promises-resistance-free-antibiotics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-63775</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Leaf bacteria are important to tree health, may help forests adapt to climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/leaf-bacteria-are-important-to-tree-health-may-help-forests-adapt-to-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/leaf-bacteria-are-important-to-tree-health-may-help-forests-adapt-to-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2014 17:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Ikarashi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Tiffany Roufs]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/11/leaf-bacteria-are-important-to-tree-health-may-help-forests-adapt-to-climate-change/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Green, Microorganisms, Rainforests, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Leaves are vital trees organs that support many important functions. A recent study published in PNAS found that each tree species in tropical rainforests possesses distinctive bacterial communities – called microbiomes – on their leaves. Understanding how leaf microbiomes vary among species may in the future be applied for maintaining healthy forests and predicting how [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Leaves are vital trees organs that support many important functions. A recent study published in PNAS found that each tree species in tropical rainforests possesses distinctive bacterial communities – called microbiomes – on their leaves. Understanding how leaf microbiomes vary among species may in the future be applied for maintaining healthy forests and predicting how forests will react to climate change. Leaves are a habitat for millions of bacteria. &#8220;These bacteria can have important effects &#8212; both positive and negative &#8212; on the health and functioning of their host plants,&#8221; said Dr. Steven Kembel, lead author of the study. &#8220;For example, while some bacteria on leaves cause disease, others may protect the plant against pathogens or produce hormones that increase plant growth rates.&#8221; The research team collected bacterial samples from a lowland tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, which is home to more than 450 tree species. They sequenced special genes to identify and measure the diversity of bacteria on the trees&#8217; leaves. Scientists refer to the genes as &#8220;barcode genes&#8221; because they vary considerably and are used to differentiate between species. Rainforest leaves in Mato Grosso du Sul, Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / mongabay.com According to the study, microbiomes differ both between trees from different families and between those that simply live in different environments. &#8220;We found that the abundance of some bacterial taxa was correlated with the growth, mortality, and function of the host,&#8221; Kembel said. &#8220;Some bacteria were very abundant and present on every&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/leaf-bacteria-are-important-to-tree-health-may-help-forests-adapt-to-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24469</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Smelly frogs may be key to fighting antibiotic-resistant infections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/12/smelly-frogs-may-be-key-to-fighting-antibiotic-resistant-infections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/12/smelly-frogs-may-be-key-to-fighting-antibiotic-resistant-infections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Dec 2011 17:23:00 +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/2011/12/smelly-frogs-may-be-key-to-fighting-antibiotic-resistant-infections/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and China]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Bacteria, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Frogs, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Health, Medicine, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Foul smelling frogs may save lives, according to new research in the Journal of Proteome Research. Examining nine species of Chinese frogs, known as &#8220;odorous&#8221; frogs for their off-putting smell, researchers have discovered an astounding variety of antimicrobial peptides, or put simply bacteria-killers. Researchers recorded 728 antimicrobial peptides from the nine species, making these frogs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Foul smelling frogs may save lives, according to new research in the Journal of Proteome Research. Examining nine species of Chinese frogs, known as &#8220;odorous&#8221; frogs for their off-putting smell, researchers have discovered an astounding variety of antimicrobial peptides, or put simply bacteria-killers. Researchers recorded 728 antimicrobial peptides from the nine species, making these frogs the possessors of the greatest known variety of antibacterial substances on Earth. In fact, the substances on the frogs account for nearly one-third of all known antimicrobial peptides. In addition, ninety percent of the peptides recorded were new. Frogs have long adapted skins that secrete antibodies due to living in hot, moist places where infections thrive. The amphibians have been instrumental already in creating drugs to fight infections, HIV, and mental illness. Unfortunately frogs are in the midst of what may well be a mass extinction. Pummeled by deforestation, habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation and climate change, frogs are also combating a deadly fungal disease called chytridiomycosis. Currently the IUCN Red List has found that 41 percent of the world&#8217;s 7,000 amphibians are threatened with extinction. It&#8217;s believed that at least 120 amphibians have gone extinct in the last 30 years, and some species likely vanished before they were ever discovered, taking their medicinal potential with them. Related articles Extinct frog rediscovered in Israel (11/21/2011) After its marshland was drained, researchers thought the Hula painted frog (Discoglossus nigriventer) had vanished for good. However a patrol at the Ha-Hula lake in Israel recently discovered a single female&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/12/smelly-frogs-may-be-key-to-fighting-antibiotic-resistant-infections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31653</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: the top ten new species discovered in 2010</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2011 16:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Benin, Brazil, Madagascar, Nigeria, North America, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, South America, Southern Africa, Togo, United States, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fungi, Green, Herps, Hunting, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Oceans, Poaching, Rainforests, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Spiders, Strange, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The biggest species from this year&#8217;s Top 10 New Species List is the six-foot long new monitor lizard, known as the, Sierra Madre Forest monitor, from the Philippine island of Luzon. This is an adult male. Photo by: Joseph Brown. If we had to characterize our understanding of life on Earth as either ignorant or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The biggest species from this year&#8217;s Top 10 New Species List is the six-foot long new monitor lizard, known as the, Sierra Madre Forest monitor, from the Philippine island of Luzon. This is an adult male. Photo by: Joseph Brown. If we had to characterize our understanding of life on Earth as either ignorant or knowledgeable, the former would be most correct. In 250 years of rigorous taxonomic work researchers have cataloged nearly two million species, however scientists estimate the total number of species on Earth is at least five million and perhaps up to a hundred million. This means every year thousands of new species are discovered by researchers, and from these thousands, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University selects ten especially notable new species. This years Top 10 New Species includes bacteria that feed on the Titanic wreck, a human-sized lizard, a small antelope that was discovered in a bushmeat market in West Africa, a leech named after the king of dinosaurs, and a glowing fungi among others [see photos and further descriptions below]. &#8220;Charting the species of the world and their unique attributes are essential parts of understanding the history of life. It is in our own self-interest as we face the challenges of living on a rapidly changing planet that we understand the origin and 3.8 billion year history of evolution,&#8221; explains Quentin Wheeler, Director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an entomologist himself. He adds:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32511</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Breaking all of life&#8217;s rules: scientists discover bacteria that can survive on arsenic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/12/breaking-all-of-lifes-rules-scientists-discover-bacteria-that-can-survive-on-arsenic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/12/breaking-all-of-lifes-rules-scientists-discover-bacteria-that-can-survive-on-arsenic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2010 17:19:00 +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/2010/12/breaking-all-of-lifes-rules-scientists-discover-bacteria-that-can-survive-on-arsenic/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Environment, Extremophiles, Green, Lakes, and Strange]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While for days rumors have circulated around the Internet that NASA had discovered alien life, the truth may be even less expected. Instead of aliens, NASA-funded researchers have discovered a microorganism on Earth that breaks all the rules of life: in Mono Lake in California scientists found a bacterium that can survive wholly on arsenic. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While for days rumors have circulated around the Internet that NASA had discovered alien life, the truth may be even less expected. Instead of aliens, NASA-funded researchers have discovered a microorganism on Earth that breaks all the rules of life: in Mono Lake in California scientists found a bacterium that can survive wholly on arsenic. The microorganism is capable of replacing phosphate, one of the essential blocks of all known life, with the toxic chemical arsenic according to new researched published in Science. Uncovered by lead author and NASA-funded scientist, Felicia Wolf-Simon, along with astrobiolgist colleagues at Arizona State University, the discovery is thought to have widespread implications on how life may survive on other planets. &#8220;Life as we know it requires particular chemical elements and excludes others,&#8221; explains co-author Ariel Anbar, a biogeochemist and astrobiologist who directs the astrobiology program at Arizona State University. &#8220;But are those the only options? How different could life be?&#8221; The alien-like landscape of Mono Lake, California. Image © 2010 Henry Bortman. Very, very different it turns out. Arsenic is usually highly toxic to life by disrupting metabolic pathway, however chemically arsenic acts similarly to phosphate. The extremophile bacteria, a member of the Halomonadaceae family, is capable of switching out phosphorous for arsenic to such an extent that the arsenic is actually incorporates it into its DNA. &#8220;Arsenic is toxic mainly because its chemical behavior is so similar to that of phosphorus. As a result, organisms have a hard time telling these elements apart.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2010/12/breaking-all-of-lifes-rules-scientists-discover-bacteria-that-can-survive-on-arsenic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-33264</doi>				</item>
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