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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cats/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 03:13:32 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Cats</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cats/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>India’s tiger numbers are rising. Protecting their pathways is next</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-tiger-numbers-are-rising-protecting-their-pathways-is-next/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-tiger-numbers-are-rising-protecting-their-pathways-is-next/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 13:16:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nirmal Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/23160557/Banner-image-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324368</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Fragmentation, Habitat, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Protected Areas, Roads, Solutions, Tigers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RAJAJI TIGER RESERVE, India — It is early morning in late May in the hardwood sal forests of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in north India, and the heat is rising. By afternoon it will reach 39° Celsius (102° Fahrenheit). I am squatting on the forest floor under National Highway 72, a steady rumble of traffic above, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RAJAJI TIGER RESERVE, India — It is early morning in late May in the hardwood sal forests of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in north India, and the heat is rising. By afternoon it will reach 39° Celsius (102° Fahrenheit). I am squatting on the forest floor under National Highway 72, a steady rumble of traffic above, looking at the footprints of a wild elephant in a patch of moist mud that has thus far survived this scorching summer. This is the Teen Pani (Three Waters) underpass, just 400-odd meters (about 1,300 feet) in length, but good enough to allow everything from mice to elephants to pass safely beneath the highway. And it’s also good enough for T8, a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) that occasionally walks through the area on his nocturnal perambulations, safe from the speeding vehicles above. T8 was one of five tigers relocated to Rajaji from Corbett Tiger Reserve in May 2025, and now roams extensively, and elusively, across this often human-dominated landscape. The expressway above me dates back just to 2021, and it doesn’t have sound barriers, hence the noise. But it replaced the narrower, heavily trafficked old road running from Delhi to the holy Hindu town of Haridwar and on to Dehradun, the capital of the mountain state of Uttarakhand. T8, one of five tigers translocated from Corbett Tiger Reserve to Rajaji Tiger Reserve, will hopefully use the Teen Pani underpass. This photo was made before his release into Rajaji in 2025. Image courtesy of Rajaji&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-tiger-numbers-are-rising-protecting-their-pathways-is-next/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-tiger-numbers-are-rising-protecting-their-pathways-is-next/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324368</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report reveals Cambodia’s appetite for tigers, rhinos and other endangered wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 13:02:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20152557/tiger1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324051</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Cambodia, Global, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Drug Trade, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Megafauna, Organized Crime, Poaching, Rhinos, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tiger bone wines in exquisite bottles. Tiger cubs sold alive as pets or served as a culinary delicacy alongside pangolin and cobra meat at exclusive restaurants. Rooms filled with rhino horns and elephant ivory, stacks of freshly skinned tiger pelts and bags of pangolin scales. Jewelry made from protected corals and ivory. This is just [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tiger bone wines in exquisite bottles. Tiger cubs sold alive as pets or served as a culinary delicacy alongside pangolin and cobra meat at exclusive restaurants. Rooms filled with rhino horns and elephant ivory, stacks of freshly skinned tiger pelts and bags of pangolin scales. Jewelry made from protected corals and ivory. This is just a glimpse of the thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia discovered by undercover investigators from Earth League International (ELI), a U.S.-based NGO that probes environmental crime. From 2025-26, ELI investigators mapped out the people involved in this illicit enterprise and identified five main kingpins allegedly running it. They gathered details on how cartels smuggle wildlife and their parts, what they sell and who their main customers are. They also linked this black-market trade with human and drug trafficking networks and scam centers operating out of Cambodia that defraud their targets. The investigators’ findings of this operation — named Sandokan after a fictional 19th-century pirate from Southeast Asia — are published in a new report. The yearlong investigation revealed a huge demand for wildlife products within Cambodia, fueled by wealthy Chinese and Cambodian buyers. An elephant tusk offered for sale to undercover investigators. Image courtesy of Earth League International. “It&#8217;s a trafficking enterprise, and a good example of what happens when you don&#8217;t do anything … they grow and grow and grow, and at the end, the damage is substantial,” said Andrea Crosta, executive director of ELI. “The big surprise was the incredible quantity of wildlife&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324051</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientific &#038; traditional knowledge are key for effective &#038; community-centered conservation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2026 15:52:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charudutt Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20151938/Tsetsen-Collared-Snow-Leopard-Tost-Mongolia-by-Lkhagvasumberei-Tomorsukh-Snow-Leopard-Trust-SLCF-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324063</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, Global, Himalayas, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Commentary, Mammals, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A group of women often climbs steep cliffs to set up camera traps for snow leopards around Kibber in Spiti Valley, India. The senior women know the landscape intimately, like what areas the animals use and where cameras are likely to capture movement. They have walked these mountains all their lives and know how to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A group of women often climbs steep cliffs to set up camera traps for snow leopards around Kibber in Spiti Valley, India. The senior women know the landscape intimately, like what areas the animals use and where cameras are likely to capture movement. They have walked these mountains all their lives and know how to navigate the most rugged and inaccessible terrain safely, even in snow and ice. This is a kind of access that visiting researchers simply cannot replicate.  Back at the village, they gather around two computer screens. The younger women, who are typically more adept at handling technology, organize and sort the photographic data. Together, they identify individual snow leopards from their coat patterns, building scientific monitoring skills over time. Their work contributes directly to regional and global assessment and monitoring of snow leopard populations. Women hold up their camera traps after completing training. Image courtesy of Kibber women/NCF/HPFD. Who are these scientists conducting camera-trap monitoring of snow leopards? They are not trained researchers. They are women from the Indigenous community of Kibber in Spiti Valley. This work is done alongside their other chores: Livestock rearing, farming, household responsibilities, and community work. They do this, because they are interested in knowing how many snow leopards they are helping protect on their community lands; they take pride in learning research techniques; and they see themselves as part of the global effort to study and protect them.  Lobzang Yangchen, the coordinator of the Kibber team of 11 women, says,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324063</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetahs in steep decline, first national census finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 17:56:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15134921/23-CT-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323543</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cheetahs, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, National Parks, Parks, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetah population is much smaller than previously thought, according to the first coordinated national census of the species living outside protected areas. Over three and a half years, between 2022 and 2026, researchers from Ashia Cheetah Conservation, the Cheetah Outreach Trust (COT) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands surveyed almost [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetah population is much smaller than previously thought, according to the first coordinated national census of the species living outside protected areas. Over three and a half years, between 2022 and 2026, researchers from Ashia Cheetah Conservation, the Cheetah Outreach Trust (COT) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands surveyed almost 100,000 square kilometers (38,610 square miles) of habitat across South Africa’s northern border. Wild cheetahs that inhabit the unprotected areas of South Africa are considered “free roaming.” Using camera traps, GPS collars, landowner surveys, genetic analyses, scat sampling and public sighting records, they compiled the Free-Roaming Cheetah Census (FRCC), which they described as the most comprehensive assessment yet of South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetahs. During this time, they recorded only 83 mature adults, and 119 individual animals in total, which is 70% less than previous, smaller-scale studies suggested using model-based estimates. A young cheetah investigates a monitoring site in North West Province. Image courtesy of Ashia Cheetah Conservation. &#8220;Finding fewer than 100 mature adults is an extremely strong indication of how dramatically smaller the population has become within South Africa over the years,&#8221; Marna Smit, director of Ashia Cheetah Conservation, told Mongabay. Because of a high mortality rate in young cheetahs, which can be up to 90% for wild animals, mature adults — the breeding population —- are important for the survival of the species. Cheetahs in South Africa are currently managed in four separate systems: The free-roaming population, the semi-protected population in Kruger National Park&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323543</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Laos’s illegal wildlife shops keep growing despite enforcement, investigators find</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 01:34:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14121851/baby-pagolin-in-market-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Monkeys, Organized Crime, Pangolins, Poaching, Rhinos, Tigers, Tourism, Trade, Traditional Chinese Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Rescues, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Schemes funneling Chinese tour groups through illegal wildlife shopping sites in Laos appear to be persisting and even expanding in spite of some law enforcement action by authorities, Mongabay has learned. In July 2025, a joint Mongabay investigation identified up to 21 illegal wildlife shopping sites embedded in package tours catering to Chinese [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Schemes funneling Chinese tour groups through illegal wildlife shopping sites in Laos appear to be persisting and even expanding in spite of some law enforcement action by authorities, Mongabay has learned. In July 2025, a joint Mongabay investigation identified up to 21 illegal wildlife shopping sites embedded in package tours catering to Chinese nationals in the Laotian cites of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Typically masquerading as cultural centers, restaurants, jewelry stores and the like, or as stores embedded in such venues, the shopping sites typically only showcase their products to Chinese-language tours run by Chinese and Laotian operators, while barring entry to anyone else. Since then, the number of these shops appears to have nearly doubled, according to multiple groups investigating these operations on the ground. Mongabay has seen evidence suggesting that as many as 35 shops are now operating in Luang Prabang and Vientiane, with 22 in the former and the rest in the latter. When Mongabay asked the Laotian Department of Forestry about the first 21 shops in mid-2025, a spokesperson suggested that at least some of them were not registered as retail shops and that they would investigate. Since then, authorities have made seizures of suspected illegal wildlife products at several shopping sites in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, including of nearly 50 kilograms (110 pounds) during inspections of 17 unnamed locations In November and December, and of more than 57 kg (126 lbs) at an unnamed location on June 13, according to local media reports.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gus Mills, hyena expert and &#8216;the cheerful pessimist of the Kalahari&#8217;, has died</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 16:24:17 +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/20/2026/07/14161941/gus-mills-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323402</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Cats, Cheetahs, Mammals, Obituary, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[His nephew recalled that the children were taught to chant, “Hyenas are beautiful!” as often as possible. On visits to Kruger National Park, he got them out of bed at midnight to look for bushbabies and again at five in the morning to search for big cats. Wildlife was often most active at inconvenient hours, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[His nephew recalled that the children were taught to chant, “Hyenas are beautiful!” as often as possible. On visits to Kruger National Park, he got them out of bed at midnight to look for bushbabies and again at five in the morning to search for big cats. Wildlife was often most active at inconvenient hours, and he expected anyone accompanying him to adjust. Michael “Gus” Mills, who died on July 13th, spent more than 40 years studying Africa’s large carnivores, especially hyenas, wild dogs, and cheetahs. He published more than 150 scientific papers, chapters, and reports, advised conservation bodies, and trained younger researchers. Much of his working life was spent in a vehicle on a sandy track, waiting beside an animal that might sleep for most of the day. Gus and Margie Mills. Sourced via the Endangered Wildlife Trust At school he had seemed an unlikely future scientist. He described himself as a “very bad student,” failed South Africa’s high-school leaving examination, and was told that science was beyond him. After passing the examination on a second attempt, he joked that he had earned an MA: “Matric Again.” Three years of psychology persuaded him that he did not want to be a psychologist. Zoology held his attention. A visit to Kruger in 1954, when he was eight, had already pointed him toward field biology. “It did something to me,” he said. From then on he wanted to work in the bush. After studying at the University of Cape Town and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323402</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meme-face Pallas’s cat traverses a complex conservation landscape</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/meme-face-pallass-cat-traverses-a-complex-conservation-landscape/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/meme-face-pallass-cat-traverses-a-complex-conservation-landscape/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 17:43:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08101628/1-Pallass-cat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322829</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Central Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Cute, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Mammals, Small Cats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Many already know Zelenogorsk — a manul, or Pallas’s cat, from Russia’s Novosibirsk Zoo — who became an internet sensation in 2022 after a video of him warming his paws on his tail was posted on YouTube. That clip has garnered more than 14 million views. Many of the world’s 30-plus small cat species are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Many already know Zelenogorsk — a manul, or Pallas’s cat, from Russia’s Novosibirsk Zoo — who became an internet sensation in 2022 after a video of him warming his paws on his tail was posted on YouTube. That clip has garnered more than 14 million views. Many of the world’s 30-plus small cat species are relatively unknown, but thanks to its online fame as the world’s grumpiest cat, the manul bucks this trend. “Pallas’s cats are known for being these really cranky-looking animals,” said Jan Janecka, a professor of biology at Duquesne University in the U.S. “It&#8217;s almost like a meme, how the facial expression they have is just really unique and funny.” But while the manul’s oft-miffed visage is well known, perhaps less so is the complex conservation picture it faces rangewide. Its “least concern” status on the IUCN Red List somewhat obscures troubling declines at the national level. It inhabits a huge expanse of territory across South and Central Asia, including the Himalayas and on into the Caucasus and Caspian Sea region. Some countries — such as Mongolia and China — are considered strongholds, with healthy, if patchy, populations. But in the south and west, little is known about them. “A lot of what we know is focused on these strongholds,” said Katarzyna Ruta, conservation manager at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and coordinator with the Pallas’s Cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA). Elsewhere in their range, populations are often small, isolated and “very clearly understudied,” she added.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/meme-face-pallass-cat-traverses-a-complex-conservation-landscape/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/meme-face-pallass-cat-traverses-a-complex-conservation-landscape/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322829</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh gets ready for its first release of tiger rescued from poachers’ trap</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 09:00:12 +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/20/2026/07/10084029/upscalemedia-transformed-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323027</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Hope and optimism, Mangroves, Monitoring, Poaching, Tigers, Trapping, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a first, Bangladesh is preparing to release a tiger back into the wild after it was rescued from a poacher’s trap and provided with medical treatment. On Jan. 4 this year, the Forest Department rescued the female tiger (Panthera tigris), estimated to be around 10 years old, from the Chandpai and Sarankhola forest range [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a first, Bangladesh is preparing to release a tiger back into the wild after it was rescued from a poacher’s trap and provided with medical treatment. On Jan. 4 this year, the Forest Department rescued the female tiger (Panthera tigris), estimated to be around 10 years old, from the Chandpai and Sarankhola forest range in the Sundarbans East division. The critically injured tiger was taken to the Khulna Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, a facility of the Bangladesh Forest Department, for treatment. “We rescued the tiger from a snare set for deer poaching. After receiving adequate care, the tiger is now ready to return to the wild. We are planning to release her in a few days,” said Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer, Sundarbans East division. According to the latest tiger census, conducted in 2024, Bangladesh is home to 125 globally endangered Bengal tigers living in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. The rescued tiger&#8217;s left foreleg, which was caught in the snare, was severely injured. Image courtesy of the Bangladesh Forest Department. Covering 6,017 square kilometers (2,323 square miles), the mangrove forest is administratively divided into Sundarbans East and Sundarbans West. It is also divided into three blocks — Chandpai-Sarankhola, Khulna and Satkhira. As per the census, the highest number of Bengal tigers is found in the Chandpai-Sarankhola block. “This indicates that the density of other wildlife, including deer and wild boars, is also higher in this block because the forest’s top predators are more concentrated here,” Chowdhury&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323027</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Endangered West African leopards show signs of recovery, despite odds. &#8216;It&#8217;s a win&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2026 13:13:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/02112035/Image-2-e1782991483626-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Endangered Species, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Leopards, Mammals, National Parks, Predators, Protected Areas, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s been difficult to monitor West African leopards in Benin’s Pendjari National Park: It’s a large wilderness area, situated within a hotspot of armed conflict. The park is among the last strongholds for this geographically distinct leopard population — but a recent study shared hopeful news. Leopard density in the park increased over a six-year [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s been difficult to monitor West African leopards in Benin’s Pendjari National Park: It’s a large wilderness area, situated within a hotspot of armed conflict. The park is among the last strongholds for this geographically distinct leopard population — but a recent study shared hopeful news. Leopard density in the park increased over a six-year period, according to a study published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation. The park has been managed by the nonprofit African Parks since 2017 in partnership with the government — and this conservation effort seems to be working. “It’s a win,” said study lead author Marine Drouilly, a biologist with Panthera, the global wild cat conservation non-profit. West African leopards are geographically separated from other African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) populations. In 2025, they were listed as regionally endangered on the IUCN Red List, after suffering a 50% decline over the past two decades. Numbers are estimated at just 354 across West Africa. In addition to Pendjari, important strongholds include the Niokolo-Koba–Badiar landscape in Senegal and the Guinea, Taï and Comoé National Parks in Côte d’Ivoire and Mole National Park in Ghana. A rapidly growing human population across West Africa means wildlife habitat is disappearing and becoming more fragmented, isolating already small leopard populations, Drouilly said, while widespread bushmeat hunting leaves leopards without enough prey. There’s a growing threat from poachers continent-wide, as leopards are targeted for their spotted skins, canine teeth, bones and other body parts,  killed to supply the illegal wildlife trade&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife’s unpredictable movements make climate-change planning difficult</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/wildlifes-unpredictable-movements-make-climate-change-planning-difficult/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/wildlifes-unpredictable-movements-make-climate-change-planning-difficult/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 10:40:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Dickie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/30143313/6-Florida-panther-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322109</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Animal Behavior, Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Biology, Carnivores, Cats, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fragmentation, Habitat, Impact Of Climate Change, Mammals, Megafauna, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Protected Areas, Research, Science, Temperatures, Threatened species, Top Predators, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New England’s winters have long been a punishing force. Forests fade in and out of deep freezes. Animals pile on fat for warmth in anticipation of the harsh weather to come. Others flee south, seeking warmer refuges. However, over the past 50 years, winters there have become much milder. In the northeastern U.S., winters now [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New England’s winters have long been a punishing force. Forests fade in and out of deep freezes. Animals pile on fat for warmth in anticipation of the harsh weather to come. Others flee south, seeking warmer refuges. However, over the past 50 years, winters there have become much milder. In the northeastern U.S., winters now average between 4 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 and 2.7 degrees Celsius) warmer than in the 1970s. Snowfall can be sparse, and there are usually fewer days of extreme cold. For decades, ecologists have expected that animals living within narrow climate niches would adapt to rising temperatures by moving northwards or upslope to higher elevations. For example, they thought the American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in the northeastern U.S. would move up into the mountains in search of cold. But in a study published last year, scientists found that despite warmer winters, the squirrels haven’t sought out higher elevations. Rather, they’ve relocated downslope, seemingly drawn by the return of red spruce forest following a period of dieback. The tiny forest critters, it seems, are prioritizing habitat over temperature. The red squirrel isn’t alone. Thousands of plants and animals that scientists thought would be on the move in response to rising global temperatures don’t yet seem to have hit the road. In a 2023 study in the journal Environmental Evidence, scientists reviewed the observed range movements of more than 12,000 species, both terrestrial and marine, to see whether they aligned with what ecologists had expected would&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/wildlifes-unpredictable-movements-make-climate-change-planning-difficult/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/wildlifes-unpredictable-movements-make-climate-change-planning-difficult/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322109</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What’s jimbu? The herb that bolsters an iconic Nepali dish could also help save snow leopards</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2026 10:48:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/30091143/jimbu-Allium-przewalskianum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Food, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Medicinal Plants, Natural Resources, Plants, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there&#8217;s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It&#8217;s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there&#8217;s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It&#8217;s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, an aromatic herb from the Himalayas that gives the Nepali staple its distinctive flavor offers Indigenous communities a potential promise: An alternative source of income and fewer conflicts with the iconic snow leopards that live in these mountain peaks. How so? The residents of Phu Valley who cultivate jimbu (Allium przewalskianum) in this high-altitude settlement, located in the trans-Himalayan region of Manang that borders China’s Tibet region will tell you. They grow this herb, also known as Himalayan chive, as a cash crop — and as a way to help save “the big cat of the mountains.” Dried jimbu is usually fried in ghee, or clarified butter, and poured over simmering dal for an earthy flavor. “Whenever we talk about dal bhat, the most famous of them all is the Thakali version prepared by the Thakali communities of the mountains,” said Shailendra Thakali, an expert in environmental conservation, tourism and livelihoods, referring to a version of the dish made by Indigenous people known for their traditional cuisines. “And the Thakali dal bhat owes its unique taste and aroma to jimbu,” Thakali added. Until recently, residents foraged this herb from steep, risky slopes. They used some&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>One mountain lion changed the food web in a California suburb, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/one-mountain-lion-changed-the-food-web-in-a-california-suburb-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/one-mountain-lion-changed-the-food-web-in-a-california-suburb-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2026 17:13:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/29165737/Screenshot-2026-06-29-at-11.53.31-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322039</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Mammals, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When a mountain lion moved into a small suburban preserve near California’s Stanford University in the U.S. around 2012, its presence transformed the local food web, suggesting that apex predators can reshape ecosystems even in heavily developed landscapes. A recent study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution drew on nine years of camera trap [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When a mountain lion moved into a small suburban preserve near California’s Stanford University in the U.S. around 2012, its presence transformed the local food web, suggesting that apex predators can reshape ecosystems even in heavily developed landscapes. A recent study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution drew on nine years of camera trap data from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a 4.9-square-kilometer (nearly 2-square-mile) patch of oak woodland and grassland in the San Francisco Bay Area, surrounded by roads and residential neighborhoods. After mountain lion (Puma concolor, also known as puma or cougar) activity began increasing around 2012, researchers documented ripple effects through multiple species. Coyotes and deer shifted away from nighttime activity. Gray foxes expanded into niches left vacant by retreating competitors. Brush rabbits became more active in the mornings, and woody plant density jumped 64-fold over 17 years. These types of multi-level effects are called trophic cascades. The most well-known example comes from the U.S., as dramatic changes occurred in Yellowstone National Park when wolves were reintroduced to their former range in 1996. “Much like the well-documented cascade triggered by wolves in Yellowstone, we found that increasing mountain lion activity coincided with changes cascading through the food web, from deer and coyotes down to foxes, rabbits, and woody plants,” lead author Chinmay Sonawane, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate, said in an email to Mongabay. “These findings provide clear, empirical evidence of the profound structural role mountain lions play,” Zara McDonald, biologist and president of the Felidae Conservation Fund&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/one-mountain-lion-changed-the-food-web-in-a-california-suburb-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/one-mountain-lion-changed-the-food-web-in-a-california-suburb-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322039</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Telling one guiña from another: It’s all about the angle</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/telling-one-guina-from-another-its-all-about-the-angle/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/telling-one-guina-from-another-its-all-about-the-angle/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2026 11:30:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/29111809/Image_1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321977</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Camera Trapping, Cats, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Monitoring, Research, Small Cats, Species, Surveying, Threatened species, Tracking, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Guiña are small-forest-dwelling felids found in Chile and Argentina that are distinguished only by small, subtle black dots, making it difficult to tell one cat from another. A change in camera trap angle could open the door to a better understanding of their populations, with important conservation implications, a recent study says. Normally, researchers place camera [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Guiña are small-forest-dwelling felids found in Chile and Argentina that are distinguished only by small, subtle black dots, making it difficult to tell one cat from another. A change in camera trap angle could open the door to a better understanding of their populations, with important conservation implications, a recent study says. Normally, researchers place camera traps at ground level to snap pictures of cats as they walk by. But telling one guiña (Leopardus guigna) from another from that angle proved incredibly challenging. “One of the fundamental questions in ecology is always how many individuals are there or what are the densities,” Nicholas Galvez, an associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, told Mongabay in an interview. “Sometimes that sounds like a very easy question, but it&#8217;s actually really difficult to answer in the field, especially with a species so small and cryptic.” To solve that problem, Galvez and his team switched their cameras to point downward, in a “zenith” position, attaching them to tree branches and poles in a temperate forest in Chile&#8217;s Reñihué Valley, in northern Patagonia. That switch enabled the scientists to identify 12 individuals based on their unique markings on their backs. The findings were published in the journal Oryx. Ilaria Agostini, a researcher with Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council, said it’s exciting research. “For the first time, it seems feasible to identify individuals in this very subtly marked cat,” she said in a video interview. When using camera traps for her own&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/telling-one-guina-from-another-its-all-about-the-angle/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/telling-one-guina-from-another-its-all-about-the-angle/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321977</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mel Sunquist, field biologist and mentor to generations of conservationists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mel-sunquist-field-biologist-and-mentor-to-generations-of-conservationists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mel-sunquist-field-biologist-and-mentor-to-generations-of-conservationists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2026 23:37:16 +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/20/2026/06/28082636/MelSunquist_2000px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321928</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Cats, Mammals, Obituary, Sloths, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the 1970s, studying wild tigers still involved more nerve than equipment. A biologist could not rely on camera traps, GPS collars, or satellite-linked data. To understand where a tiger went, what it killed, how far it ranged, and how its territory overlapped with others, someone had to follow it through forests and grasslands with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the 1970s, studying wild tigers still involved more nerve than equipment. A biologist could not rely on camera traps, GPS collars, or satellite-linked data. To understand where a tiger went, what it killed, how far it ranged, and how its territory overlapped with others, someone had to follow it through forests and grasslands with a receiver, a notebook, and enough judgment to stay useful without getting in the way. Radio collars began to change what was possible. They made the movements of secretive carnivores traceable in a new way. For tigers, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, and other animals that were rarely seen directly, they allowed field biologists to replace guesses with records. The work still depended on patience, careful handling, and a capacity to keep thinking when weather, roads, animals, or people refused to cooperate. Mel Sunquist in India. Courtesy of Ullas Karanth Melvin Eugene Sunquist, who died on May 9th at the age of 85, belonged to that generation of field scientists. Born in Morris, Minnesota, in 1941, he became one of the leading biologists of wild cats and large carnivores. He worked in Asia, Latin America, Panama, and Florida, and spent much of his academic life at the University of Florida, where he taught wildlife ecology and conservation from 1987 until his retirement in 2014. To students and colleagues he was “Mel,” a name that suited his manner: steady, spare with words, dry in humor, and difficult to unsettle. Following tigers His best-known early work was on tigers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mel-sunquist-field-biologist-and-mentor-to-generations-of-conservationists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mel-sunquist-field-biologist-and-mentor-to-generations-of-conservationists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321928</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How snow leopards, wolves and leopards share the same Himalayan valley, study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 15:54:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/10052813/himalayan-wolf-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321933</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Cats, Cattle, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Leopards, Livestock, Mammals, Snow Leopards, Threatened species, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published in PLOS One, drew on more than six years of camera-trapping and scat analysis in the Lapchi Valley of the Gaurishankar Conservation Area in Nepal’ s central Himalayas. Researchers set 26 cameras across the landscape over three survey periods between 2018 and 2025 and identified each predator&#8217;s diet by analyzing fecal DNA and examining prey hair under a microscope. Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are an important food source for the snow leopards in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Narayan Koju. Snow leopards, they found, fed mainly on wild ungulates, including blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), musk deer (Moschus leucogaster), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), and Himalayan serow (Capricornis sumatraensis). Blue sheep alone made up nearly half their diet. Himalayan wolves ate a mix of wild prey like blue sheep and musk deer as well as livestock such as goats, horses, and yaks (Bos grunniens). Leopards relied heavily on livestock and animals associated with human settlements, including dogs, though barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) and goral (Naemorhedus goral) also appeared in their scats. Snow leopards and wolves shared roughly three-quarters of their prey, far more than either shared with leopards. Of the three, snow leopards had the narrowest diet, concentrating&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321933</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s Central Zoo faces questions over its bird flu response</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 16:55:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25161349/Sarus_Crane_Central_Zoo_Nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321835</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Diseases, Ex-situ Conservation, Health, Leopards, Owls, Wildlife, Zoonotic Diseases, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A dead crow was found inside Nepal’s Central Zoo around “mid-June,” the exact date remains unknown. Then birds including a barn owl (Tyto alba) tested positive for avian influenza (bird flu) in a rapid test. Zoo authorities then sent samples to the Central Veterinary Laboratory on June 15. The zoo and officials from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A dead crow was found inside Nepal’s Central Zoo around “mid-June,” the exact date remains unknown. Then birds including a barn owl (Tyto alba) tested positive for avian influenza (bird flu) in a rapid test. Zoo authorities then sent samples to the Central Veterinary Laboratory on June 15. The zoo and officials from the semi-government body running it have given conflicting accounts of when the first deaths were detected and when bird flu was suspected. The facility remained open for several days, raising questions over its disease response during a major outbreak in Kathmandu Valley, where infected crows and fowl had already been reported in nearby Kirtipur. Ganesh Koirala, spokesperson for the Central Zoo, said officials found a dead crow inside the zoo on June 13. “Although the rapid test had already indicated infection, laboratory confirmation was necessary,” Koirala said. “It took 72 hours for the lab to send the results.” That account differs from Rachana Shah, spokesperson for the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the semi-government body that manages the zoo. She said a crow and a pigeon were found dead on June 12, a date also confirmed by a veterinary official. House crows make a nest on a tree in Kathmandu. Image courtesy of Dinesh Bhusal. “During summer, pigeons and crows can also die because of heat stress, so at that point we could not immediately conclude that it was bird flu,” she said. But Koirala’s timeline indicated the zoo had an early warning by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321835</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rodent-killing baits threaten small wild cats and other wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 14:29:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/18054111/Image_6-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321399</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Australia, Global, North America, Oceania, South Africa, Southern Africa, United States, and Washington]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Carnivores, Cats, Chemicals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Health, Mammals, Poisoning, Predators, Rodents, Small Cats, Toxicology, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Cat kills rodent. Cat eats rodent. Cat is exposed to potentially lethal rodenticides. That scenario is increasingly likely for many small wild cat species across the globe, and yet, only a handful of researchers are investigating this underrecognized conservation issue. Thus far, researchers confirmed that one wild cat population has declined from exposure to these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cat kills rodent. Cat eats rodent. Cat is exposed to potentially lethal rodenticides. That scenario is increasingly likely for many small wild cat species across the globe, and yet, only a handful of researchers are investigating this underrecognized conservation issue. Thus far, researchers confirmed that one wild cat population has declined from exposure to these poisons. That’s a small bobcat (Lynx rufus) living on Kiawah Island off the South Carolina coast in the U.S., which faces imminent local extinction due to rodenticides. Up until 2019, there was a stable population of these beloved cats, which are considered celebrities there, but that year, three cats died. Among them was a female that bled to death while giving birth. Postmortems revealed concoctions of rodenticides in each of the bobcats’ blood and livers. Over the next four years, there were 12 more victims and the bobcats’ overall survival rate fell to 39%. All tested positive for concentrations of anticoagulant rodenticides; some had been acutely poisoned, said Meghan Keating, a doctoral candidate at South Carolina’s Clemson University. That was a troubling sign for a population that now numbers less than 20 individuals. They are regularly exposed to rodenticides, as rodents (including rats) are a major part of their diet, Keating said. Also troubling is that her team found exposure to not just one, but a cocktail of rodenticides. “We haven&#8217;t had a bobcat test positive for less than two rodenticides,” she told Mongabay. Kiawah Island’s rodenticide-driven bobcat decline may be an outlier, given its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321399</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community more crucial than snow leopard counting: Interview with Rodney Jackson</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2026 07:54:23 +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/20/2026/06/19100316/Snow_leopard_-_Uncia_uncia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321499</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mammals, Mountains, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Rodney Jackson pioneered the radio-tracking study of snow leopards in Nepal&#8217;s Langu Valley in the early 1980s and has, since then, worked across the species&#8217; range from Ladakh to Mongolia to the Pakistani Karakoram ranges. In 2000, he founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC), which focuses on community-based conservation approaches in high [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Rodney Jackson pioneered the radio-tracking study of snow leopards in Nepal&#8217;s Langu Valley in the early 1980s and has, since then, worked across the species&#8217; range from Ladakh to Mongolia to the Pakistani Karakoram ranges. In 2000, he founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC), which focuses on community-based conservation approaches in high mountain landscapes of Asia. Jackson, who holds a doctorate from the University of London, was featured on the cover of National Geographic in 1986 and remains one of the most cited researchers in snow leopard (Panthera uncia) science. After retiring in 2022, Jackson serves as the president of the conservancy’s board of directors, where he works in refining strategic approach and impact, mentoring the next generation of conservationists, and special projects. Jackson spoke with Mongabay — the third time, following interviews in 2008 and 2015 — on the sidelines of Society of Conservation Biologists Congress in Kathmandu, Nepal. Talking to Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi, Jackson discusses the state of population monitoring technology, the persistent challenge of human-wildlife conflict in mountain communities, and what he describes as a long-standing failure to center the needs of herding families who bear the direct costs of living alongside the species. He also reflects on the lack of collaboration between the two main international snow leopard organizations, and on what he sees as the field&#8217;s continued overinvestment in science at the expense of practical community support. Jackson holds up awareness material. Image courtesy of Anil Adhikari. This interview has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321499</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka leopard deaths prevalent in region where humans and big cats overlap</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-leopard-deaths-prevalent-in-region-where-humans-and-big-cats-overlap/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-leopard-deaths-prevalent-in-region-where-humans-and-big-cats-overlap/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 15:10:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/11143117/4-A-leopard-killed-that-got-entangled-in-a-wire-snare-set-up-in-a-tea-planation-earlier-this-year-died-of-the-internal-injuries-it-cause-c-DWC-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321001</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Governance, Mammals, Plantations, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — The mist-covered tea estates, forest patches and mountain valleys of Sri Lanka’s hill country support some of the country&#8217;s most important leopard populations outside protected areas. Yet the same landscapes have emerged as the deadliest places for the threatened big cats of Sri Lanka. A new study analyzing 17 years of leopard mortality [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — The mist-covered tea estates, forest patches and mountain valleys of Sri Lanka’s hill country support some of the country&#8217;s most important leopard populations outside protected areas. Yet the same landscapes have emerged as the deadliest places for the threatened big cats of Sri Lanka. A new study analyzing 17 years of leopard mortality records has found that nearly 40% of recorded leopard deaths occurred within a single district of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, the tea-growing Nuwara Eliya, which accounts for only 4.4% of the species&#8217; estimated range. The study, published in Wildlife Letters, documented 164 human-caused leopard deaths between 2008 and 2024. Most of the victims were adult males, with adults accounting for 87.3% of deaths, out of which 68.4% males made up 68.4% of that adult population. With fewer than 1,000 mature leopards believed to remain in Sri Lanka, deaths of adult leopards are raising concerns for the species&#8217; long-term survival, as deaths of breeding-age individuals, even modest increases in adult mortality, can have significant impacts, said Sanjaya Weerakkody, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. The majority of recorded deaths were of males, also problematic as the males maintain large territories overlapping with multiple females, which could lead to destabilize local populations, Weerakkody told Mongabay. A rare image of a mating leopard pair captured by a camera trap in the tea fields of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands highlights that the human-dominated hill country tea landscape is habitat for Sri&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-leopard-deaths-prevalent-in-region-where-humans-and-big-cats-overlap/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetic study reveals extinction risk for unique mangrove-adapted pampas cat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 16:09:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05134141/1-desert-pampas-cat-Leopardus-garleppi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Deserts, Dry Forests, Environment, Extinction, Genetics, Habitat, Mammals, Mangroves, Research, Science, Small Cats, Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because as far as we know, [it] is the only Pampas cat population that lives in a mangrove [habitat],” Alvaro Garcia, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project, told Mongabay in an email. The desert pampas cat (Leopardus garleppi), distinctive for its broad face, ranges along a relatively thin band snaking southward from Colombia through Peru and Bolivia, to northern Chile and Argentina. The species is acclimated to dry conditions, so inhabits deserts, grasslands and dry forests, and isn’t found living in mangroves anywhere else aside from this region of Peru. Dry mangrove forests, also called scrub or dwarf mangrove forests, grow in highly saline soils in upper intertidal zones, so lack regular daily flushing by ocean tides. At first, it was thought the dry mangrove-acclimated cats were faring well: “[I]n the mangrove [habitat], we put cameras out for a week, and we got tons of photos,” whereas in other parts of the felid’s range, conservationists barely capture one desert pampas cat image per month, said Cindy Hurtado, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project. Based on the photos, the research team assumed the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bengal tigers in Cambodia? Reintroduction plan raises questions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-in-cambodia-reintroduction-plan-raises-questions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-in-cambodia-reintroduction-plan-raises-questions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 07:15:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallArathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/01111604/Tigers-Cambodia_Mongabay_Andy-Ball-6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320383</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, India, South Asia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Reintroductions, Restoration, Rewilding, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sat Born, 56, recalls freezing at the forest’s entrance when he first saw it. “Its head was this big,” he says, wide-eyed, spreading his hands to show the animal’s size. Recollecting that eventful morning in 2001, Born, who now farms bananas and durians, retraces his steps from his home in Trapeang Chheu Trav village in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sat Born, 56, recalls freezing at the forest’s entrance when he first saw it. “Its head was this big,” he says, wide-eyed, spreading his hands to show the animal’s size. Recollecting that eventful morning in 2001, Born, who now farms bananas and durians, retraces his steps from his home in Trapeang Chheu Trav village in the rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. As he walks up a hill rising above the forest canopy, he points to a spot on the road. “It’s over here. When I saw the tiger, it was 9 a.m.,” he says. “I was really shocked … I couldn’t tell if the tiger was coming towards me.” In 2007, just six years after this fleeting encounter, Cambodia’s last confirmed tiger sighting was logged by a camera trap. In the 1990s, the country was estimated to host hundreds of wild Indochinese tigers, but decades of poaching pressure took a heavy toll. In 2016, tigers (Panthera tigris) were formally declared extinct in Cambodia. That may be set to change with the imminent translocation of a small population of Bengal tigers from India. Although many reintroductions are success stories, this one raises some serious concerns. Why would Cambodia bring in a nonnative tiger? Have the people living in these areas been adequately consulted? Will these translocated tigers be able to adapt to this new habitat? Is there enough prey to sustain them, and if not, how will the government address predation when hungry cats feed on livestock? With&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-in-cambodia-reintroduction-plan-raises-questions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-in-cambodia-reintroduction-plan-raises-questions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320383</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Kyrgyzstan, a climate-ready corridor gives snow leopards and herders room to roam</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-kyrgyzstan-a-climate-ready-corridor-gives-snow-leopards-and-herders-room-to-roam/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-kyrgyzstan-a-climate-ready-corridor-gives-snow-leopards-and-herders-room-to-roam/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2026 15:19:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/22132936/Ibris_snowleopard-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319984</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, Himalayas, and Kyrgyzstan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Governance, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Snow leopards haunt the rocky ridgelines of Central Asia, vanishing into terrain so rugged that researchers rarely catch more than a brief glimpse on camera traps. Locals call them “ghosts of the mountains.” Their elusive nature, paired with the remote landscapes the cats inhabit, make them notoriously difficult to count. An estimated 3,500 to 7,500 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Snow leopards haunt the rocky ridgelines of Central Asia, vanishing into terrain so rugged that researchers rarely catch more than a brief glimpse on camera traps. Locals call them “ghosts of the mountains.” Their elusive nature, paired with the remote landscapes the cats inhabit, make them notoriously difficult to count. An estimated 3,500 to 7,500 snow leopards (Panthera uncia) remain across 12 countries. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, lists the species as vulnerable to extinction. Kyrgyzstan, where the snow leopard is a national symbol, is thought to be home to around 300. Now, a stretch of high-altitude terrain in central Kyrgyzstan has been stitched into an ecological corridor linking several of the country’s protected areas. The Ak Ilbirs corridor covers roughly 800,000 hectares (nearly 2 million acres) of pastureland, forest and other ecosystems across 14 rural municipalities. Ak ilbirs translates to “white leopard” in Kyrgyz. A snow leopard (Panthera uncia) caught on camera trap by Ilbirs Foundation. Set up in 2025, it’s the first corridor in the region designed with the future climate in mind, project officials say. People still live, herd and work inside it, and the rules are built around them as much as around the wildlife. “Projects like this are good for hope, because you can see changes at the policy level and changes in people’s mindsets on the ground,” Maarten Hofman, associate program management officer at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), told Mongabay in a video call. “You can see people from many backgrounds&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-kyrgyzstan-a-climate-ready-corridor-gives-snow-leopards-and-herders-room-to-roam/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-kyrgyzstan-a-climate-ready-corridor-gives-snow-leopards-and-herders-room-to-roam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319984</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Thailand, burned sugarcane plantations become traps for leopard cat cubs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-thailand-burned-sugarcane-plantations-become-traps-for-leopard-cat-cubs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-thailand-burned-sugarcane-plantations-become-traps-for-leopard-cat-cubs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2026 19:43:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Norman Bermúdez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/15134718/rescued-leopard-cat-6-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319496</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Fires, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Plantations, Regulations, Small Cats, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rehabilitation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nuntita Ruksachat, head veterinarian at the Khon Kaen wildlife rescue center in northeastern Thailand, holds up a feline cub no larger than her hand. Part of a litter rescued just days ago, the cub’s fur is patchy, revealing blistered skin underneath. Its whiskers, clearly singed, are short and stubby. “They were rescued from a burned [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nuntita Ruksachat, head veterinarian at the Khon Kaen wildlife rescue center in northeastern Thailand, holds up a feline cub no larger than her hand. Part of a litter rescued just days ago, the cub’s fur is patchy, revealing blistered skin underneath. Its whiskers, clearly singed, are short and stubby. “They were rescued from a burned sugarcane plantation,” she says. Behind her, cats pace inside rows of cages. More than 50 leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) cubs are currently housed at the rescue center, which is run by Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s (DNP). The youngest are kept in cages, while older ones have been moved to larger enclosures. Leopard cats are small wild felines found across much of Asia, from Afghanistan to South Korea. Roughly the size of domestic cats, their bodies are slightly leaner, and their fur is marked with black spots and stripes. The leopard cat is a highly adaptable species, and as forests have shrunk across its range, it has learnt to live in human-dominated landscapes. In Thailand&#8217;s northeast, sugarcane plantations provide leopard cat mothers and their litters with shelter and prey. But every crop burning season — the period between December and April, when farmers in Thailand typically burn their fields — those same plantations can turn lethal. The rescue center receives a steady influx of leopard cat cubs from across the northeast. Most are found alone and weak on plantations or in nearby forests, some with scorched fur and whiskers. Rows of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-thailand-burned-sugarcane-plantations-become-traps-for-leopard-cat-cubs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-thailand-burned-sugarcane-plantations-become-traps-for-leopard-cat-cubs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319496</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Light pollution reshapes predator-prey dynamics at California&#8217;s urban edge, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2026 19:28:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/15191816/puma-dark-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Environment, Green, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study from two California counties finds that artificial light at night is a stronger driver of wildlife behavior at the edge of urban environments than noise. This has ripple effects for predators and prey. Researchers analyzed more than 35,000 camera-trap days from 61 stations in San Mateo county, on California&#8217;s central coast, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study from two California counties finds that artificial light at night is a stronger driver of wildlife behavior at the edge of urban environments than noise. This has ripple effects for predators and prey. Researchers analyzed more than 35,000 camera-trap days from 61 stations in San Mateo county, on California&#8217;s central coast, and Orange county, in Southern California, between 2022 and 2024. They tracked an apex predator, the puma (Puma concolor); the bobcat (Lynx rufus); and an ungulate prey species, the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). The paper was published in Urban Ecosystems. “While scientists have known for a while that wildlife change their behavior around cities, often becoming more nocturnal to avoid humans, our study isolated one part of the urban environment that is driving this,”co-author Zara McDonald, biologist and president of the Felidae Conservation Fund, told Mongabay by email. “Our key finding is that artificial light pollution is actually altering the predator-prey dynamic.” Predators like pumas and bobcats avoided bright lights at night, such as areas lit by streetlights and other electric lighting. Mule deer, however, were more active in those same areas, though they avoided bright moonlight and noisy areas. The authors say the deer use human-modified spaces that predators avoid. A puma on the urban edge in California. Camera trap image courtesy of Felidae Conservation Fund “Essentially, artificial light is acting as a spatial barrier for carnivores and a &#8216;protective shield&#8217; for prey,” McDonald said. The contrast was visually striking in the images and footage&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Endangered Persian leopards persist across borders, despite hunters and landmines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2026 16:15:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kayleigh Long]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/15145758/captive-leopard-cat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319523</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, and Georgia (Country)]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Leopards, Mammals, Predators, Top Predators, War, Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last September, zoologist and conservationist Bejan Lortkipanidze received a video file from a collaborator, Zurab Gurielidze, the head of Georgia’s Tbilisi Zoo. Gurielidze offered no details, but told his friend to &#8220;just watch.&#8221; For several moments, Lortkipanidze saw nothing remarkable — just nighttime footage of a high fence topped with razor wire. Then a leopard [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last September, zoologist and conservationist Bejan Lortkipanidze received a video file from a collaborator, Zurab Gurielidze, the head of Georgia’s Tbilisi Zoo. Gurielidze offered no details, but told his friend to &#8220;just watch.&#8221; For several moments, Lortkipanidze saw nothing remarkable — just nighttime footage of a high fence topped with razor wire. Then a leopard entered the frame. Lortkipanidze, who is co-founder of the Georgian conservation NGO NACRES, was stunned: It was just the third sighting of a Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) in the south Caucasus nation in 20 years. The footage wasn&#8217;t from a wildlife camera trap. It came from a standard CCTV camera that surveilled the perimeter of a new breeding enclosure for endangered Caucasian red deer (Cervus elaphus maral) in Algeti National Park, situated an hour west of Tbilisi. The video quickly circulated around the conservation community. Vazha Kochiashvili, a biologist with WWF Caucasus, saw it: It was sent to him by the man tasked with checking the deer enclosure footage for Georgia&#8217;s National Agency of Wildlife, Sergo Tabagari, who called him immediately after he saw the cat while reviewing footage. Kochiashvili said he had a hunch and asked his friend: &#8220;Does the leopard have three legs?&#8221; It did. The male leopard’s name is Aren and, over the last few years, he’s roamed across at least two international borders. Persian leopards once traversed a vast territory that lies between Russia, the Middle East and the Caspian and Black seas. They’re wide-ranging animals, and Aren’s journey underscores&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319523</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Honduran authorities seize jaguar kept as pet, put spotlight on local trafficking</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/honduran-authorities-seize-jaguar-kept-as-pet-put-spotlight-on-local-trafficking/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/honduran-authorities-seize-jaguar-kept-as-pet-put-spotlight-on-local-trafficking/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 May 2026 14:28:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/14105929/female-jaguar-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319442</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Honduras, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Jaguars, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Honduras have seized a jaguar kept as a pet by a businessman, in a high-profile raid that conservationists say should serve as a deterrent for others engaged in wildlife trafficking. The May 6 raid at a home in Olancho department, in the country’s east, was two weeks in the planning and the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Honduras have seized a jaguar kept as a pet by a businessman, in a high-profile raid that conservationists say should serve as a deterrent for others engaged in wildlife trafficking. The May 6 raid at a home in Olancho department, in the country’s east, was two weeks in the planning and the first seizure of a live jaguar (Panthera onca) since 2018, said Marcio Martinez, head of the wildlife department at the Forest Conservation Institute (ICF), who was involved in the operation. He added it stemmed from a tip to the Special Environmental Prosecutor&#8217;s Office (FEMA) about a jaguar being kept in the residence of a local businessman in the El Pataste community. The jaguar, a female believed to be about a year old, is thought to have been captured in the Mosquitia forests, a stronghold for the species. The unnamed businessman had no prior criminal record, Martinez said. “He was not listed in our database as a person of interest in the matter of trafficking or illegal possession of wildlife.” Nor has he been arrested. Martinez said FEMA will summon him in the next few days to answer charges of damage to endangered species, illegal capture of wildlife and other possible infractions. He could face fines of around 172,000 lempiras ($6,500) if convicted. Since the seizure, authorities learned that the businessman previously owned wild animals, including big cats. “He will now be a person of interest to environmental government institutions,” Martinez said. The female jaguar being taken&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/honduran-authorities-seize-jaguar-kept-as-pet-put-spotlight-on-local-trafficking/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/honduran-authorities-seize-jaguar-kept-as-pet-put-spotlight-on-local-trafficking/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
					<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/14112732/WhatsApp-Video-2026-05-08-at-17.45.42.mp4" length="0" type="video/mp4" />
					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319442</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New study explores how reforestation could help Java&#8217;s leopards survive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-study-explores-how-reforestation-could-help-javas-leopards-survive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-study-explores-how-reforestation-could-help-javas-leopards-survive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 May 2026 01:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/03/19054541/Foto-CI-Perhutani-YOJ-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319188</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Java, East Java, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Development, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Leopards, Mammals, Predators, Top Predators, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Reforestation done right could be key to helping rebuild habitat connectivity for Javan leopards on an island with one of the highest human densities on Earth, a new study says. It frames strategic forest restoration — linking up fragmented patches of forest to create contiguous corridors — as offering a rare pathway to balance rapid [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Reforestation done right could be key to helping rebuild habitat connectivity for Javan leopards on an island with one of the highest human densities on Earth, a new study says. It frames strategic forest restoration — linking up fragmented patches of forest to create contiguous corridors — as offering a rare pathway to balance rapid infrastructure expansion with the conservation of the endangered big cat. “And to implement this, strong commitment from various stakeholders is needed, given Java’s highly fragmented landscape; this will undoubtedly be a significant challenge,” study lead author Andhika C. Ariyanto, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, told Mongabay by email. Camera-trap image of a Javan leopard on Mount Sanggabuana, West Java province. Image courtesy of Sanggabuana Wildlife Ranger. The study is the first to produce an islandwide model of habitat connectivity for the Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas), offering conservationists a new tool to identify which forest corridors should be protected and restored as infrastructure development expands across Java, Andhika said. By comparing the impact of new roads and railways with a scenario in which degraded forests were restored, Andhika and his colleagues found that replanting trees in key areas could help reconnect fragmented habitats throughout Java and give wildlife, including leopards, more room to move and survive. They looked at key forest areas used by leopards across Java, an island half the size of the U.S. state of Texas with five times its population. This high human population density has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-study-explores-how-reforestation-could-help-javas-leopards-survive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-study-explores-how-reforestation-could-help-javas-leopards-survive/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Asia’s mainland leopard cat is abundant but still cloaked in mystery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/asias-mainland-leopard-cat-is-abundant-but-still-cloaked-in-mystery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/asias-mainland-leopard-cat-is-abundant-but-still-cloaked-in-mystery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 14:34:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/11123340/5-ALTERNATE-BANNER-IMAGE-Leopard_Cat_in_Sundarban-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319100</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Animals]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Cats, Conservation, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Research, Small Cats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There’s good news about Asia’s mainland leopard cat: Prionailurus bengalensis is thought to be one of the world’s most abundant, widely distributed wildcats. With a conservation assessment of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List, sightings are reported from India to the Russian Far East. That’s partly because mainland leopard cats are highly successful generalists. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There’s good news about Asia’s mainland leopard cat: Prionailurus bengalensis is thought to be one of the world’s most abundant, widely distributed wildcats. With a conservation assessment of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List, sightings are reported from India to the Russian Far East. That’s partly because mainland leopard cats are highly successful generalists. With two recognized subspecies — P. b. bengalensis and P. b. euptilurus — this small cat is adaptable to multiple habitats, ranging from forest to shrublands to grasslands, and including areas altered by humans. But this good news comes with a caution: Surprisingly little is known about this felid, say experts, and it may be less plentiful and more at risk than sightings alone indicate. Leopard cats have been understudied, a trend common among small cat species, which garner less public interest than big cats, and a reality that translates into less funding for research and conservation. As a result, P. bengalensis population surveys have only been conducted at a handful of sites, leaving lots of blank spots on range maps. Despite perceived abundance, researchers note that this felid also still faces conservation challenges and could benefit from more attention from funders and the public, as the species plays an important, if underappreciated, role in controlling rodent populations. A leopard cat in the Russian Far East, where it lives alongside leopards and tigers but receives relatively little attention compared with its larger, dynamic cousins. Image courtesy of Yuriy Smityuk. Of ‘least concern’ but at risk&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/asias-mainland-leopard-cat-is-abundant-but-still-cloaked-in-mystery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319100</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The European wildcat hovers between recovery and local extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 13:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/07014556/Image_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318902</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Czech Republic, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and Turkey]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cats, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Diseases, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Funding, Genetics, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human-wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Mammals, Parasites, Population, Reintroductions, Saving Species From Extinction, Small Cats, Solutions, Species recovery, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A quiet comeback story is unfolding for the European wildcat in the Czech Republic’s Lusatian Mountains. Conservationists tracking this elusive species there have spotted a male and female, named Jonáš and Tonka, the first to be found in the region in nearly a century. This small cat species lives in forests across Europe. It’s doing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A quiet comeback story is unfolding for the European wildcat in the Czech Republic’s Lusatian Mountains. Conservationists tracking this elusive species there have spotted a male and female, named Jonáš and Tonka, the first to be found in the region in nearly a century. This small cat species lives in forests across Europe. It’s doing relatively well in some places and is imperiled in others, like the Czech Republic, where it’s critically endangered. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris), which is around the size of a large housecat, was wiped out because of disappearing habitat — and persecution. They were considered vermin and killed because they preyed on poultry and they were hunted for sport. More recently, they’re sometimes hybridizing, breeding with domestic cats. Numbers are spotty across parts of their range, so overall population numbers and trends, whether they’re rebounding or declining, is currently unknown. That’s a challenge shared by many of the world’s 30-plus small wildcat species that are often overlooked by research and funding. But they are hanging on in the Czech Republic. Earlier this year, Tonka gave birth to at least three kittens, offering hope that a slow wildcat recovery may be underway. Conservationists set up “hair traps,” wooden posts smeared with a lure that attracts the wildcats, then analyzed DNA from fur they left behind when they rubbed on them to mark their territory, as cats do. Genetically confirmed records of wildcat births are “exceedingly rare” in the country, said Kristýna Chroboková, field coordinator with the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318902</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Facebook is a hub for illegal wildlife trade, and that’s by design, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 11:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01050735/Tiger-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Gibbons, Illegal Trade, Law, Leopards, Mass Extinction, Pangolins, Regulations, Sea Turtles, Social Media, Technology, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With just the click of a button or a swipe on a phone, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, including rare or endangered animals. From quirky shark trophies to exotic live birds, contraband rhino horns or ivory, buyers can flock to e-commerce platforms and find them all. Traffickers hide behind their screens while profiting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With just the click of a button or a swipe on a phone, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, including rare or endangered animals. From quirky shark trophies to exotic live birds, contraband rhino horns or ivory, buyers can flock to e-commerce platforms and find them all. Traffickers hide behind their screens while profiting from online sales of protected species as these animals dwindle in the wild. “It&#8217;s the largest wildlife market,” said wildlife trade researcher Chris Shepherd from the Center for Biological Diversity. “It&#8217;s easy, it&#8217;s convenient; you can operate anonymously from the comfort of your home. You don&#8217;t have the expenses of setting up a shop.” Online commerce in illicit wildlife products continues to grow, involving more species and wider geographies. It’s an illicit industry run by kingpins with well-connected networks, and it’s hard to prosecute. Catching online criminals is extremely challenging. “Wildlife markets have moved from physical locations into online locations, and that&#8217;s mirroring broader trends in the global economy,” said Simone Haysom, director of environmental crime programs at the Swiss-based organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. In a recent report, Haysom and her colleague Russell Gray analyzed online wildlife trade data from April 2024 to March 2026. They focused on 10 countries across three continents, places where environmental crime and internet use are high, making them fertile grounds for online wildlife trafficking. They found some 266,535 wildlife products posted on 61 online marketplaces, worth about $66 million. About 75% of the nearly 22,000 ads&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318531</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The value of South Africa’s wildlife shouldn&#8217;t be in the hands of wealthy foreign hunters (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-value-of-south-africas-wildlife-shouldnt-be-in-the-hands-of-wealthy-foreign-hunters-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-value-of-south-africas-wildlife-shouldnt-be-in-the-hands-of-wealthy-foreign-hunters-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 12:07:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephanie Klarmann]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/27145726/gemsbok-Oryx-gazella-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318405</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Commentary, Conservation, Ecotourism, Environment, Ethics, Hunting, Lions, Predators, Top Predators, Trade, Trophy Hunting, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[South Africa’s conservation debate is too often anchored within the blunt slogan, “If it pays, it stays.” At face value, this appears pragmatic, even responsible. But there’s a troubling premise underneath it: the survival of South Africa’s wildlife depends on its ability to generate an enormous income for a select group of wealthy farmers and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[South Africa’s conservation debate is too often anchored within the blunt slogan, “If it pays, it stays.” At face value, this appears pragmatic, even responsible. But there’s a troubling premise underneath it: the survival of South Africa’s wildlife depends on its ability to generate an enormous income for a select group of wealthy farmers and professional hunters from an even wealthier foreign clientele. According to this logic, wildlife is protected not because it is ecologically vital, culturally significant, or ethically deserving of life, but purely because it can be killed for a hefty price. When conservation is built on the premise that wildlife must pay its way to exist, we should ask not only who benefits, but what is being lost, and at whose expense. Each year I examine the professional hunting statistics provided to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to demand transparency regarding how South Africa’s wildlife is being utilized for financial gain. The most recently available statistics (for 2024) show a substantial increase of 17%: 7,756 visitors killed 40,508 wild animals (if one includes indigenous mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and exotic mammals also killed). For proponents of the euphemistically termed “sustainable use,” this will naturally look like a significant success. But can we continue to justify the continuous intensification and amplification of commercial wildlife use on ecological and ethical grounds? Number of animals hunted and hunting clients in South Africa, 2018-2024. Table provided by the author. ‘If it pays, it stays’ Superficially, this phrase&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-value-of-south-africas-wildlife-shouldnt-be-in-the-hands-of-wealthy-foreign-hunters-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318405</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservationist wins top award to protect lions and people in Zimbabwe</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservationist-wins-top-award-to-protect-lions-and-people-in-zimbabwe/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservationist-wins-top-award-to-protect-lions-and-people-in-zimbabwe/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 02:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/28190853/a-Moreangels_Mbizah_2026_Zimbabwe_Chizarira_National_Park_Moreangels_Mbizah_Posing_During_Lion_Tracking_Session_01-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318318</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Cattle, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Endangered Species, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Lions, Mammals, Predators, Solutions, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lion conservationist Moreangels Mbizah and her colleagues chose the name “Batabilili” for the community guardians they’re training in northern Zimbabwe. The word means &#8220;protectors&#8221; in the local language, Tonga, and its meaning cuts both ways: the guardians protect people and their livestock from lions, and lions from people. Both jobs are essential in this part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lion conservationist Moreangels Mbizah and her colleagues chose the name “Batabilili” for the community guardians they’re training in northern Zimbabwe. The word means &#8220;protectors&#8221; in the local language, Tonga, and its meaning cuts both ways: the guardians protect people and their livestock from lions, and lions from people. Both jobs are essential in this part of the Southern African country. When cattle are killed by lions, the economic losses suffered by families are considerable; when farmers retaliate by killing lions, it worsens the plight of an emblematic species, Panthera leo, now vulnerable to extinction across the continent. “In some cases these lions are female lions and at times some of them would have cubs, so when the females die [at the hands of people] the cubs would probably die [also],” says Mbizah, who is the winner of one of this year’s Whitley Awards, prestigious international conservation prizes given out annually by the U.K.’s Whitley Fund for Nature. A young lion at rest. Image courtesy of the Whitley Fund for Nature. The 50,000-pound ($67,500) prize money will go toward supporting the work by Mbizah’s NGO, Wildlife Conservation Action, in three additional rural wards — small administrative areas comprising clusters of villages and around 4,800 people — that are prone to human-carnivore conflict. This will include the recruitment of six new Batabilili. The protectors head out early each morning to look for tracks or droppings and warn farmers about the presence of predators or elephants (Loxodonta africana) so that they can avoid&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservationist-wins-top-award-to-protect-lions-and-people-in-zimbabwe/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318318</doi>				</item>
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