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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/ethics/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:31:28 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Ethics</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/ethics/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Why is Amazonian wildlife turning up at a Bangkok market?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 14:03:13 +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/20/2026/09/07110651/1.-POSSIBLE-BANNER-DSC05680-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328961</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, South America, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Crime, Environmental Law, Ethics, Governance, Health, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Pet Trade, Pets, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK, Thailand — In the narrow alleys of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, the world’s wildlife is for sale. Ensnared in jungles, fished out of rivers and plucked from wetlands across the globe, hundreds of exotic species are packed onto transcontinental flights only to end up on display in what experts say ranks as one of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK, Thailand — In the narrow alleys of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, the world’s wildlife is for sale. Ensnared in jungles, fished out of rivers and plucked from wetlands across the globe, hundreds of exotic species are packed onto transcontinental flights only to end up on display in what experts say ranks as one of the largest wildlife markets on Earth. Here, alongside Thai milk tea vendors and mango sticky rice stalls, visitors need only veer a few steps from the tourist path to end up in the market’s “Pets” zone — an arguably liberal use of the term. This section of the market hosts a menagerie of domestic and wild animals alike, often crammed into cages with little water and no respite from temperatures that soar beyond 32° Celsius (90° Fahrenheit). From Africa, there are spurred tortoises, fennec foxes, gray parrots, serval cats, and ball pythons. Giant bush babies retail for 48,000 baht (about $1,450), with signs advertising the nocturnal African primates as &#8220;newly arrived.&#8221; Miniscule meerkats dressed in tutus, sometimes presented in petting zoo sandboxes, are among the most plentiful animals at Chatuchak. Masked palm civets, sugar gliders, squirrels, rainbow lorikeets, and eclectus parrots are on offer from Asia and Oceania. As are baby raccoons, prairie dogs, iguanas, goats, cats, baby pigs, among others. Much of the planet is represented in this market; meerkats, like the one pictured here, hail from Southern Africa and are dressed up to be sold as an adorable pet. Image by Gloria Dickie. To&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328961</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Michael Painter put Indigenous land rights at the center of conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 22:12:56 +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/20/2026/09/03014353/mike-painter-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328252</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Chaco, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Dry Forests, Ethics, Forests, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Obituary, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Bolivian Chaco, the Isoceño Guaraní did not need conservationists to tell them that their land was under pressure. Agricultural settlement was pushing into the region, and their organization, the Capitanía de Alto y Bajo Izozog (CABI), had its own territorial aims. What outsiders could provide was scientific expertise, legal support, money, and access [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Bolivian Chaco, the Isoceño Guaraní did not need conservationists to tell them that their land was under pressure. Agricultural settlement was pushing into the region, and their organization, the Capitanía de Alto y Bajo Izozog (CABI), had its own territorial aims. What outsiders could provide was scientific expertise, legal support, money, and access to institutions that could help turn those claims into recognized rights. Working with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), CABI developed the proposal for Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park, which Bolivia created in 1995. At 3.4 million hectares, it was enormous even by the standards of South American protected areas. CABI became its co-administrator. The partnership also helped develop a mechanism for securing Indigenous land under Bolivia’s agrarian reform law. It was used to title 273,000 hectares for the Ayoreode and 560,000 hectares for the Isoceño Guaraní, as well as land for 43 Chiquitano communities. WCS says the process helped establish precedents for Indigenous land titling elsewhere in Bolivia. Michael Painter arrived at WCS in 1997 to direct the Kaa-Iya project. For an ecological anthropologist, its implications were hard to miss. Conservation did not have to mean setting land aside and then persuading the people living around it to cooperate. Indigenous organizations could be conservation partners in their own right, with territorial goals, political interests, and knowledge of their own. A useful role for an organization such as WCS was sometimes to strengthen their ability to deal with governments, companies, donors, and conservationists themselves. Painter,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328252</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian zoo corruption case renews scrutiny of animal welfare</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesian-zoo-corruption-case-renews-scrutiny-of-animal-welfare/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesian-zoo-corruption-case-renews-scrutiny-of-animal-welfare/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 04:18:37 +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/20/2016/04/01214955/800px-Surabaya_Zoo-520x227.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324730</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Java, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corruption, Crime, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An alleged corruption case at Indonesia&#8217;s Surabaya Zoo has renewed scrutiny of how the country&#8217;s wildlife conservation institutions are governed and prompted experts to warn that financial misconduct can have consequences that extend beyond public finances to the welfare of animals entirely dependent on human care. The investigation has also reignited calls for stronger oversight [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An alleged corruption case at Indonesia&#8217;s Surabaya Zoo has renewed scrutiny of how the country&#8217;s wildlife conservation institutions are governed and prompted experts to warn that financial misconduct can have consequences that extend beyond public finances to the welfare of animals entirely dependent on human care. The investigation has also reignited calls for stronger oversight and accountability to ensure conservation institutions protect both public resources and the wildlife entrusted to them. East Java prosecutors named Choirul Anwar a suspect on July 21, 2026, in connection with an alleged corruption case involving the operational budget of Surabaya Zoo between 2016 and 2024. Choirul was previously the president director of the Surabaya Zoo and Wildlife Park Regional Company. A preliminary audit conducted jointly with the East Java representative office of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) estimated state losses at 10.2 billion rupiah ($564,000), of which approximately 7.4 billion rupiah ($409,000) was allegedly diverted for the suspect&#8217;s personal benefit. Prosecutors said the alleged corruption had contributed to a deterioration in the management of Surabaya Zoo in the subsequent years, leading to declining services and facilities, while a number of animals reportedly died due to inadequate care. A 16-year-old tiger died in 2016 in Surabaya Zoo. Image courtesy of Surabaya Zoo. The case has renewed calls from zoo and conservation experts for stronger oversight of conservation institutions, including audits that assess not only financial compliance but also animal welfare outcomes and governance safeguards in hopes of detecting misconduct earlier. “Many people still&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesian-zoo-corruption-case-renews-scrutiny-of-animal-welfare/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesian-zoo-corruption-case-renews-scrutiny-of-animal-welfare/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324730</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Seizures reveal macabre grey parrot blood trade in Cameroon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/seizures-reveal-macabre-grey-parrot-blood-trade-in-cameroon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/seizures-reveal-macabre-grey-parrot-blood-trade-in-cameroon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 18:50:46 +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/20/2026/06/25162156/agp-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321827</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Ethics, Governance, Health, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Parrots, Pets, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The blood of African grey parrots is emerging as a new, macabre illegal wildlife product traded in Cameroon, analysts from TRAFFIC, a nonprofit that monitors wildlife trafficking, reported. This grim trade in grey parrots, an endangered species long coveted by exotic bird collectors, first came to light in 2025, when forest officials patrolling Cameroon’s Lobéké [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The blood of African grey parrots is emerging as a new, macabre illegal wildlife product traded in Cameroon, analysts from TRAFFIC, a nonprofit that monitors wildlife trafficking, reported. This grim trade in grey parrots, an endangered species long coveted by exotic bird collectors, first came to light in 2025, when forest officials patrolling Cameroon’s Lobéké National Park caught trappers with live birds and interrogated them. “Poachers entering the park trap live birds, then kill them, extract their blood and transport them,” said Biloa Donatien Joseph Guy, the park’s conservator, adding that they haul the blood in bottles and jerry cans — normally used to carry fuel. While park authorities haven’t seized blood from apprehended suspects, poachers have been caught with live birds. Further investigations into these cases are ongoing. When last assessed by the IUCN in 2020, grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus), native to the rainforests of West and Central Africa, were declining, largely because of the pet trade. These beautiful, long-lived birds are among the most intelligent animals on the planet, thought to be as smart as a 5-year-old child. These parrots ‘talk,’ mimicking human speech with uncanny accuracy, making them a popular pet. They appear in videos across TikTok and YouTube, further fueling the demand. As a result, these birds have been poached to near-extinction, commanding exorbitant prices from collectors worldwide. Between 1982 and 2001, more than 1.3 million wild-caught grey parrots entered the international trade, according to IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, making them one of the most&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/seizures-reveal-macabre-grey-parrot-blood-trade-in-cameroon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321827</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon floodplains cocoa offers a climate-resilient and sustainable chocolate</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 18:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cícero Pedrosa NetoSam Cowie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25143734/CPN_Chocolate_Mongabay-243-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321624</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Cacao, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Drought, Environment, Ethics, Extreme Weather, Food, Forest Products, Forestry, Global Environmental Crisis, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, Sustainable Forest Management, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A river community in Pará uses ancestral secrets to beat the climate crisis one chocolate bean at a time.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BACARENA, Brazil — Sunlight peeps through dense Amazonian foliage as Elene Elda Mota and her husband Giovanne guide their small motorboat down a narrow stream. Equipped with machetes and baskets, they disembark and make their way through the thick forest until they reach a tree bearing dozens of bright yellow cocoa pods. Here, in the Amazon floodplains of Barcarena, in northern Pará state, near where some Amazon rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean, cocoa grows in a natural agroforestry system. “Our cocoa is native cocoa,” Elene said. “We don’t plant our cocoa, we just manage it.” Protected and irrigated by the forest canopy of the floodplains, Elene’s cocoa is more resistant to pests like vassoura de bruxa, a fungus that devastated Brazilian crops in the 1980s, as well as climate change impacts like droughts and heavy rains. It also offers a diverse range of earthy, fruity and acidic flavors, which Elene has utilized to produce an expanding range of artisanal cocoa and chocolate products. Caramelized cocoa nibs are her best seller, she said, and she also produces artisanal chocolate bars, creams and other sweet spreads, cocoa powders and oils. Cocoa and chocolate producer Elene Elda Mota navigates an Amazon river and a new artisanal scene. Image by Cícero Pedrosa Neto. In recent years, the Amazon state of Pará, Brazil’s largest cocoa producer, has emerged as a new frontier, or terroir, for fine and artisanal chocolate. Like Burgundy wine from France or Ethiopian coffee, the concept of its terroir flavor is rooted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321624</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First global summit held in Indonesia to tackle animal cruelty content</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/first-global-summit-held-in-indonesia-to-tackle-animal-cruelty-content/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/first-global-summit-held-in-indonesia-to-tackle-animal-cruelty-content/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 10:02:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Asad Asnawi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay User]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/23095021/monkey-in-a-cage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321642</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Animals, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Ethics, Governance, Law, Pets, Regulations, Social Media, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BALI, Indonesia — The booming market for animal abuse content brought dozens of international animal protection organizations to Indonesia in June for the first in-person summit to confront a growing online entertainment industry founded on suffering. The Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA), a network of more than 400 animal welfare and conservation organizations around the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BALI, Indonesia — The booming market for animal abuse content brought dozens of international animal protection organizations to Indonesia in June for the first in-person summit to confront a growing online entertainment industry founded on suffering. The Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA), a network of more than 400 animal welfare and conservation organizations around the world, established the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) in 2020 in response to the spread of animal cruelty online. Afa is the world’s largest network of animal welfare nonprofits. SMACC then organized its first international summit in Bali on June 11 and 12 to gather advocates and experts to plan tangible steps to address online abuse of animals. “Online animal cruelty is spreading at a scale no single organisation, platform or government can solve alone,” Nicola O’Brien, lead coordinator of the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition, said in a statement. Evidence of animal cruelty on digital platforms collected by SMACC. Image courtesy of SMACC. The rise of animal cruelty influencers Animal cruelty influencers, who storyboard, produce, film and edit scenes of anguish and pain for casual viewers and paying subscribers via social media and other content platforms, are on the rise A 2021 SMACC report identified 5,480 videos depicting animal cruelty that had amassed more than 5.3 billion views across platforms. Of the channels that distributed these videos, 17 had more than 1 million subscribers with two of these counting more than 30 million subscribers each. Online cruelty often involves wildlife listed as endangered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/first-global-summit-held-in-indonesia-to-tackle-animal-cruelty-content/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321642</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peter Klopfer, the scientist whose civil-rights case helped bring lemurs to Duke</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/peter-klopfer-the-scientist-whose-civil-rights-case-helped-bring-lemurs-to-duke/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/peter-klopfer-the-scientist-whose-civil-rights-case-helped-bring-lemurs-to-duke/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 00:04:01 +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/20/2026/06/16000122/Peter-Klopfer-16x9-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321263</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ethics, Human Rights, Lemurs, Obituary, and Protests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the American South of the late 1950s, segregation was part of the daily architecture. Airports had separate facilities. Restaurants barred Black customers or served them apart. Schools, buses, waiting rooms, and lunch counters carried the same instructions. The system depended on law, custom, and the expectation that most white people would accommodate it. Resistance [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the American South of the late 1950s, segregation was part of the daily architecture. Airports had separate facilities. Restaurants barred Black customers or served them apart. Schools, buses, waiting rooms, and lunch counters carried the same instructions. The system depended on law, custom, and the expectation that most white people would accommodate it. Resistance often began with small acts that carried real costs. A professor might drive arrested students back to campus. A family might refuse to send its children to segregated schools. A group of faculty members might walk toward a restaurant door together and be met in the parking lot by men who intended to stop them. The work required patience, and it also required a willingness to be arrested, disliked, and misunderstood. Peter Klopfer, who died on June 5 at 95, spent nearly seven decades at Duke University as a zoologist, teacher, and builder of institutions. He helped develop behavioral ecology, studied mother-offspring bonding, and co-founded the Duke Lemur Center, which became the world’s largest collection of lemurs outside Madagascar. He was also the named plaintiff in a Supreme Court case that extended the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial to state courts. The civil-rights defendant and the lemur scientist were the same man, formed by the same habits of attention and conscience. He was born in Berlin in 1930 and raised in a German immigrant family in the United States. He attended Friends schools and later studied at UCLA and Yale. At UCLA he&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/peter-klopfer-the-scientist-whose-civil-rights-case-helped-bring-lemurs-to-duke/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/peter-klopfer-the-scientist-whose-civil-rights-case-helped-bring-lemurs-to-duke/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321263</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>France to send its last captive orcas to marine park, not sanctuary</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/france-to-send-its-last-captive-orcas-to-marine-park-not-sanctuary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/france-to-send-its-last-captive-orcas-to-marine-park-not-sanctuary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 18:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/03141906/Orques-du-Marineland-dAntibes-en-representation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320536</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, France, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The French government recently announced it has greenlit a plan to send its last captive cetaceans — two orcas and 12 dolphins — to zoos and entertainment parks in Spain. These cetaceans live in the Marineland Antibes park on the French Riviera, which closed in 2025. In 2021, France passed a law banning the breeding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The French government recently announced it has greenlit a plan to send its last captive cetaceans — two orcas and 12 dolphins — to zoos and entertainment parks in Spain. These cetaceans live in the Marineland Antibes park on the French Riviera, which closed in 2025. In 2021, France passed a law banning the breeding and keeping of cetaceans in captivity for entertainment shows, which will come into effect on Dec. 2, 2026. The orcas and dolphins at Marineland were the primary draw for visitors. The two orcas (Orcinus orca), Wikie, aged 25, and her son, Keijo, aged 12, were born at Marineland Antibes on the French Riviera and spent all their lives in concrete tanks and performing in display shows. They will now be moved to Loro Parque, a zoo and entertainment park in Tenerife on the Canary Islands. The dolphins will be split up between two parks in Valencia and Málaga on the Spanish mainland, with plans for some of them to return to France&#8217;s Beauval Zoo, when it’s ready to have them, according to reporting by Le Monde. A court-appointed expert team found in February 2026 that the concrete tanks in which the orcas lived at Marineland Antibes were in advanced structural decline, and if the mammals weren’t moved soon, they would have to be euthanized. “Faced with this emergency, we are acting to avert the worst,” Mathieu Lefèvre, France’s minister delegate for ecological transition, said in a statement, explaining the rationale for the decision. “Loro Parque&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/france-to-send-its-last-captive-orcas-to-marine-park-not-sanctuary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/france-to-send-its-last-captive-orcas-to-marine-park-not-sanctuary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320536</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For Honduran coffee growers, EUDR compliance means changing old habits</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/for-honduran-coffee-growers-eudr-compliance-means-changing-old-habits/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/for-honduran-coffee-growers-eudr-compliance-means-changing-old-habits/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2026 12:22:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandra Weiss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/29120927/9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320278</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, European Union, Honduras, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Avoided Deforestation, Coffee, Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, EUDR, Farming, Forest Destruction, International Trade, Monitoring, Politics, Supply Chain, Technology, Transparency, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CONCEPCIÓN DE SOLUTECA, Honduras — In the 1970s, the Honduran government granted a piece of land in the mountains of Concepción de Soluteca to Roberto González’s parents. They duly grabbed a chainsaw and a machete to clear the forest. On the 12 hectares (30 acres) they received as part of a land reform, they planted [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CONCEPCIÓN DE SOLUTECA, Honduras — In the 1970s, the Honduran government granted a piece of land in the mountains of Concepción de Soluteca to Roberto González’s parents. They duly grabbed a chainsaw and a machete to clear the forest. On the 12 hectares (30 acres) they received as part of a land reform, they planted corn, beans and bananas, the basic staple foods. It was a hard life up in the mountains, allowing the farmers and their families to just survive. There wasn’t much public infrastructure, and most children had to help with farmwork early on. This included González, who only attended elementary school for three years. When González inherited the land 20 years later, coffee cultivation was just taking off. Middlemen promised the farmers good money for the export crop, and the banks provided loans for cultivation. At first, this worked well, González, now 39, remembers. Coffee helped the farmers to generate income and improve living conditions. But it didn’t last long. They grew coffee much the same way they did other crops, without adequate soil or shade management. When harvests dwindled, they expanded their area, cutting the last standing forests and damaging water sources. Around 2012, they faced an outbreak of coffee rust, a fungal disease. It was a complete disaster: many farmers were thrown into poverty and forced to migrate. “We destroyed the foundations of our livelihoods, but it was out of ignorance; we just didn&#8217;t know better,” González tells Mongabay. Under the EUDR, coffee farmers step&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/for-honduran-coffee-growers-eudr-compliance-means-changing-old-habits/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/for-honduran-coffee-growers-eudr-compliance-means-changing-old-habits/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320278</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How much suffering do invasive species cause? Researchers are measuring that</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-much-suffering-do-invasive-species-cause-researchers-are-measuring-that/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-much-suffering-do-invasive-species-cause-researchers-are-measuring-that/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2026 13:03:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel Shailer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/28112829/Anoplolepis_gracilipes_458690499-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320237</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Galapagos, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Research, and Threatened species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Avian vampire flies (Philornis downsi) were not discovered in the Galápagos Islands for almost three decades after they were thought to have arrived from mainland Ecuador in the 1960s. Even then, the first were found by accident. Birgit Fessl, a landbird ecologist, was surveying for native species on the island of Santa Cruz in 1997 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Avian vampire flies (Philornis downsi) were not discovered in the Galápagos Islands for almost three decades after they were thought to have arrived from mainland Ecuador in the 1960s. Even then, the first were found by accident. Birgit Fessl, a landbird ecologist, was surveying for native species on the island of Santa Cruz in 1997 when she reached into the branches of a tree to take down the huge, domed nest of a woodpecker finch. Inside was a surprise. “We found one dying chick, another dead one which just looked sucked dry and 20 large maggots full of blood,” said Fessl, who now leads the Charles Darwin Foundation’s Landbird Conservation program. “I was stunned — the first dead baby in my hands. Then I realized it wasn’t an accident: It was everywhere,” she told Mongabay over a WhatsApp call. Across each of the Galapagos’ human-inhabited islands, vampire flies had already wrought havoc, killing some chicks in nests they infiltrated and leaving others maimed for life. “But it went unseen because people didn’t really know what to look for.” Around the world, more than 37,000 invasive species have been introduced to new environments. Many of these cause suffering, from vampire flies maiming finches to yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) spraying acid at the eyes of shrikes (Laniidae) on Minami-Daitō Island, Japan, and Australian quolls (Dasyurus) bleeding from the nose after eating toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina). But none of these are measured by the current global standard for assessing the impact&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-much-suffering-do-invasive-species-cause-researchers-are-measuring-that/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-much-suffering-do-invasive-species-cause-researchers-are-measuring-that/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320237</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Humanity’s ancient bond with biodiversity is visible in rock art (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 21:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kerry Bowman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20204407/ancient-rock-art-e1779309915617-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319834</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Arts, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Ethics, Green, Indigenous Peoples, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across continents and cultures, one of the most striking features of ancient rock art is how often it places the natural world at its center. Whether etched into sandstone cliffs in the Sahara, painted in hidden shelters in Southern Africa, or drawn on stone faces deep in the Amazon, the recurring subject is not architecture, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across continents and cultures, one of the most striking features of ancient rock art is how often it places the natural world at its center. Whether etched into sandstone cliffs in the Sahara, painted in hidden shelters in Southern Africa, or drawn on stone faces deep in the Amazon, the recurring subject is not architecture, warfare or abstract political power. It is animals, forests, rivers, spirits of the land and the intimate relationship between people and the living world around them. I have seen rock art in remote regions of the Amazon, left by ancient San communities in Angola, across the Ennedi Plateau in Chad, and in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, I have come to believe that these works reveal something profound: long before the language of “biodiversity” existed, many human societies understood that their survival, identity and spirituality were inseparable from the ecosystems that sustained them. Modern conservation discourse often treats biodiversity as a scientific concept — a measurable index of species richness, ecological resilience and genetic variation. This framing is useful, but it can obscure an older and deeper truth. For much of human history, biodiversity was not an abstraction. It was immediate, sacred and embedded in daily life. The extraordinary prevalence of animal and ecological imagery in rock art across the world suggests that early human societies recognized, at minimum intuitively, the centrality of the natural world to both material survival and cultural meaning. Ancient rock art depicting wildlife and humans, Ennedi Plateau, Chad. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319834</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rise in elephant killings reveals conservation gaps in Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rise-in-elephant-killings-reveals-conservation-gaps-in-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rise-in-elephant-killings-reveals-conservation-gaps-in-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 05:44:44 +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/20/2026/05/07051318/old-man-elephant-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318913</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On April 25, 2026, a male elephant suffering from illness died in the hilly district of Rangamati in southeastern Bangladesh. Residents from the remote village where it died hacked away at its legs and trunk, which highlight serious failures by the country’s Forest Department as well as a lack of public awareness and sensitivity towards [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On April 25, 2026, a male elephant suffering from illness died in the hilly district of Rangamati in southeastern Bangladesh. Residents from the remote village where it died hacked away at its legs and trunk, which highlight serious failures by the country’s Forest Department as well as a lack of public awareness and sensitivity towards wildlife protection. The 60-year-old elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) had been injured several months earlier in a conflict with humans and later died while receiving treatment, said A.S.M. Jahir Uddin Akon, a conservator of forests in Bangladesh. Prior to this incident, in March, a 3-month-old baby elephant was found killed by humans in a protected forest in the neighboring Bandarban district. Before that, on Jan. 19, a captive elephant was killed following collision with a train in Sylhet district in northeastern Bangladesh. The mutilated elephant in Langadu sub-district, Rangamati. Image by Samir Mallik. According to the latest data from the forest department, between 2017 and 2025, at least 148 elephants — including resident, non-resident and captive ones — were killed in the country. ‘Resident’ here means those who live in the country’s forests, and ‘non-resident’ refers to those who frequently come in from the neighboring countries, India and Myanmar. The deaths of the three elephants this year have brought the total number to 151. Regarding the rising fatal incidents of elephants despite several conservation initiatives, Akon, who leads the Elephant Conservation Project at the Forest Department, told Mongabay, “We are working to resolve the crisis in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rise-in-elephant-killings-reveals-conservation-gaps-in-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318913</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts caution Nepal’s plan to open doors to private zoos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 15:17:21 +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/20/2026/04/30145802/481768235_1086437106855534_3058871533111109011_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318492</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Controversial, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Wildlife, Wildlife Rescues, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal has proposed legalizing private zoos, wildlife rescue centers and hospitals, but experts warn weak safeguards could fuel wildlife capture and undermine conservation efforts. Officials say the move could improve infrastructure and raise awareness, but critics warn it lacks clarity on oversight, enforcement and animal welfare standards. “There are so-called mini zoos in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal has proposed legalizing private zoos, wildlife rescue centers and hospitals, but experts warn weak safeguards could fuel wildlife capture and undermine conservation efforts. Officials say the move could improve infrastructure and raise awareness, but critics warn it lacks clarity on oversight, enforcement and animal welfare standards. “There are so-called mini zoos in Nepal, but many function more like killing centers,” said Dibya Raj Dahal, president of Kathmandu-based NGO Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation (SMCRF). “Small wild animals are captured from the wild and sold to these facilities under the guise of rescue. In reality, it is extraction,” he said, adding that many animals die in captivity. Nepal’s only federal government-recognized and functional zoo, the Central Zoo in Kathmandu, was established in 1932 as a private collection. The zoo, which opened its doors to the public in 1956, was managed by the government until 1995 when it was handed over to the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a semi-governmental nonprofit. Although different “mini zoos” have been set up in different parts of the country, their legal status has been dubious and their treatment of animals criticized by conservationists. In response, the government had been saying it plans to introduce new guidelines for the establishment and running of different categories of zoos across the country. Dahal said that despite its gaps, the draft was an improvement on the current regulatory vacuum. “It is a positive step, but the draft remains incomplete.” The guidelines also come as the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318492</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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-value-of-south-africas-wildlife-shouldnt-be-in-the-hands-of-wealthy-foreign-hunters-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318405</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Don Janssen, wildlife veterinarian who argued that caring for animals begins with people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/don-janssen-wildlife-veterinarian-who-argued-that-caring-for-animals-begins-with-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/don-janssen-wildlife-veterinarian-who-argued-that-caring-for-animals-begins-with-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2026 16:38:30 +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/20/2026/04/26162755/Don-Janssen-okapi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318163</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Obituary, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a zoo, a crisis often begins before anyone names it as such. An animal stops responding to treatment. A pregnancy fails to progress. A procedure goes as planned but the animal does not recover as expected. The work is technical and uncertain, and the margin for error is narrow. Outcomes depend on biology, timing, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a zoo, a crisis often begins before anyone names it as such. An animal stops responding to treatment. A pregnancy fails to progress. A procedure goes as planned but the animal does not recover as expected. The work is technical and uncertain, and the margin for error is narrow. Outcomes depend on biology, timing, judgment, and factors that are not immediately apparent. Over time, this shapes the people who do the work. Some grow detached; others become more deliberate. What matters is not only what is done for the animal, but how people carry the outcome when it goes against them. Leadership, in such settings, tends to show itself in small ways: who turns up, who listens, and who steadies the room. Don Janssen, a wildlife veterinarian who spent more than three decades at the San Diego Zoo and its Safari Park, came to see his profession in these terms. Early on, he had assumed that liking animals more than people was an advantage. A senior veterinarian corrected him. If you do not learn to work well with people, he was told, you will spend your career in conflict, and the animals will bear the cost. Janssen returned to that lesson often. Janssen trained at the University of California, Davis, graduating in 1978, and went on to build a career that helped shape modern zoological medicine. At San Diego, he rose to become director of veterinary services and later vice-president of animal health. His work ranged from routine clinical&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/don-janssen-wildlife-veterinarian-who-argued-that-caring-for-animals-begins-with-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/don-janssen-wildlife-veterinarian-who-argued-that-caring-for-animals-begins-with-people/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318163</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Walk for Peace begins in Sri Lanka, activists call for animal rights</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-walk-for-peace-begins-in-sri-lanka-activists-call-for-animal-rights/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-walk-for-peace-begins-in-sri-lanka-activists-call-for-animal-rights/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2026 01:53:05 +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/20/2026/04/26013737/1-Walk-for-Peace-march-with-Aloka-in-the-front-c-Walk-for-Peace-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318156</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Animals, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, and Law]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — A group of barefoot Buddhist monks promoting peace, compassion, mindfulness and nonviolence has arrived in Sri Lanka, accompanied by an unlikely figure: a once stray dog named Aloka. The Walk for Peace, organized by 24 Buddhist monks of the Theravada tradition affiliated with a Vipassana meditation center in Texas in the United States [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — A group of barefoot Buddhist monks promoting peace, compassion, mindfulness and nonviolence has arrived in Sri Lanka, accompanied by an unlikely figure: a once stray dog named Aloka. The Walk for Peace, organized by 24 Buddhist monks of the Theravada tradition affiliated with a Vipassana meditation center in Texas in the United States under the guidance of Vietnamese monk Bhikkhu Paññākāra, commenced in October 2025 and gathered momentum across the U.S. before gaining global popularity. Inspired by the teachings of Gautama Buddha and his 45-year walk, the journey aims to spread awareness of loving kindness and compassion in a world increasingly shaped by conflict. Aloka derives her name from Sanskrit, meaning light, and was first encountered by the monks during a 2022 pilgrimage to India. A stray, Aloka began following the monks despite being injured in a road accident and was eventually adopted by the monks. Her early life on the streets, marked by hardship and illness, has since become central to her identity as a symbol of resilience. Bhikkhu Paññākāra, who played a leading role in organizing the Walk for Peace, chose to include Aloka in the journey as both a companion and a living expression of compassion toward all living beings, a core principle of Buddhism. Sri Lanka marks the first international destination for the walk for peace outside the United States, but Aloka’s participation was initially uncertain. The journey from the United States to Sri Lanka typically exceeds 20 hours of air travel and involves&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-walk-for-peace-begins-in-sri-lanka-activists-call-for-animal-rights/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-walk-for-peace-begins-in-sri-lanka-activists-call-for-animal-rights/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318156</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Sri Lanka, animals pay the price for overcrowding and speeding jeeps</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-sri-lanka-animals-pay-the-price-for-overcrowding-and-speeding-jeeps/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-sri-lanka-animals-pay-the-price-for-overcrowding-and-speeding-jeeps/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2026 17:25:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/17164435/1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317720</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Conservation, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Ethics, Governance, Leopards, Mammals, National Parks, Parks, Photos, Protected Areas, Regulations, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[YALA, Sri Lanka — Spotting a leopard at Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife park located in the deep south, tops the list of priorities for many local and foreign wildlife enthusiasts. Block I of Yala National Park attracts the most number of visitors, as it is known to have the highest density [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[YALA, Sri Lanka — Spotting a leopard at Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife park located in the deep south, tops the list of priorities for many local and foreign wildlife enthusiasts. Block I of Yala National Park attracts the most number of visitors, as it is known to have the highest density of leopards, with at least one leopard per square kilometer (0.4 square miles). Due to this pressure, many visitors flock to Yala Block I all year round, with the hope of spotting one or more leopards, resulting in overcrowding, “leopard jams” and speeding jeeps, posing significant threats to its wildlife. Hit-and-run cases Past incidents indicate dangers associated with speeding jeeps for both humans and wildlife. In October 2011, a young leopard was killed in a hit-and-run safari jeep accident. Another jungle cat died in a hit-and-run incident in June 2012. Then, in September 2021, two safari jeeps carrying local and foreign visitors collided, injuring one local visitor. Recently, Lucas, a magnificent male leopard in the Block I area, made headlines when a safari jeep had come into close contact with the animal. The incident itself was mired in controversy, as some factions claimed the animal had been “slightly bumped” from behind, while park officials denied these claims. Ravindra Kumara, Yala National Park warden, told Mongabay the incident was not an accident as reported in the media. “Usually, when a safari jeep is close to an animal, jeep drivers have been advised to switch off the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-sri-lanka-animals-pay-the-price-for-overcrowding-and-speeding-jeeps/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-sri-lanka-animals-pay-the-price-for-overcrowding-and-speeding-jeeps/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317720</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea wildernesses are more important than the promise of seafloor mining (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 18:23:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrew D. Thaler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/21170043/FK210726-Dive443-BubblegumCoral-20210728-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317523</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Commentary, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Ethics, Fisheries, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When I set sail on the MV NorSky in the summer of 2008 to probe the depths of Manus Basin off the coast of Papua New Guinea, I believed in the promise of deep-sea mining. As an early-career deep-sea ecologist, I was swayed by arguments in favor of this emerging industry. It offered a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When I set sail on the MV NorSky in the summer of 2008 to probe the depths of Manus Basin off the coast of Papua New Guinea, I believed in the promise of deep-sea mining. As an early-career deep-sea ecologist, I was swayed by arguments in favor of this emerging industry. It offered a new way to obtain the metals needed for the renewable energy revolution, one allegedly free of the human rights and environmental abuses of terrestrial mining. The company was Nautilus Minerals, and the plan was to mine an active hydrothermal vent field called Solwara I. What is a hydrothermal vent and why would anyone want to mine one? When seawater is drawn down into the earth and heated under enormous pressure, it rises through cracks in the crust, erupting from the seafloor in metal-rich plumes. Those metals are deposited on the walls of a growing chimney. Deep-sea miners call this structure a seafloor massive sulfide. They can be rich in gold and silver, as well as copper, zinc, lead and rare earth elements. By most estimates, Solwara I is among the most valuable seafloor massive sulfides ever discovered. And it is not only rich in metals, it is rich with life. The dumbo octopus is a species only found in the deep sea. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. The communities that grow around hydrothermal vents depend on the chemical energy of the vent plume. The geological process that deposits metals also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317523</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2026 16:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jackie Dragon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/31170320/50928446358_f3bcd48e6c_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316722</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Guam, Pacific Ocean, Samoa, United States, and United States Minor Outlying Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Commentary, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Ethics, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At 7:45 a.m. one recent January day in American Samoa, a delegation from Greenpeace and Pacific Island partners sat in a small radio studio explaining why we had traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific. We were invited by local leaders to the unincorporated U.S. territory — halfway between Hawai‘i and Australia — to listen, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At 7:45 a.m. one recent January day in American Samoa, a delegation from Greenpeace and Pacific Island partners sat in a small radio studio explaining why we had traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific. We were invited by local leaders to the unincorporated U.S. territory — halfway between Hawai‘i and Australia — to listen, to learn, and to help elevate what people in American Samoa have been saying for years. Communities there are deeply concerned about deep-sea mining, and they want to be heard before decisions are made about the ocean that sustains them. Hours later, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) stood before local officials in a meeting space up the street, walking them through the steps of a federal leasing process that was already moving forward, fast. BOEM’s visit, even as the governor’s office convened space for community voices, felt less like consultation and more like choreography. The agency’s message was, in essence, we hear you, but we are moving forward. Meeting with the governor (center, in red) about the proposal, from left: Ekolu Lindsey, director of Maui Nui Makai Network; Sheila Sarhangi, director of Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition; Bobbi-Jo Dobush, independent ocean policy consultant, Salt Horizon LLC; American Samoa Governor Pula’ali’i Nikolao Pula; Solomon Kahoohalahala, Indigenous Hawaiian elder, Maui Nui Makai Network; Jackie Dragon, senior oceans campaigner, Greenpeace USA; Arlo Hemphill, Greenpeace USA&#8217;s campaign lead on deep sea mining. Image courtesy of Greenpeace USA. BOEM received more than 76,000 public comments, most warning of environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-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-316722</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birutė Galdikas, primatologist who spent a lifetime studying &#038; defending orangutans, has died at 79</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birute-galdikas-primatologist-who-spent-a-lifetime-studying-defending-orangutans-has-died-at-79/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birute-galdikas-primatologist-who-spent-a-lifetime-studying-defending-orangutans-has-died-at-79/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2026 03:21:14 +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/20/2026/03/26032516/birute-galdikas-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Obituary, Orangutans, Primates, Reintroductions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the early 1970s, orangutans occupied an ambiguous place in science. They were known to exist, of course, but remained poorly understood, rarely observed, and difficult to study in the wild. Their forest habitat in Borneo and Sumatra was still vast, though already beginning to change. Logging roads were extending into areas that had long [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the early 1970s, orangutans occupied an ambiguous place in science. They were known to exist, of course, but remained poorly understood, rarely observed, and difficult to study in the wild. Their forest habitat in Borneo and Sumatra was still vast, though already beginning to change. Logging roads were extending into areas that had long resisted access. The outlines of a larger problem were visible, even if its scale was not yet clear. At the same time, a small group of researchers was beginning to reshape how great apes were studied. Fieldwork, rather than captivity, became the preferred approach. Long-term observation replaced short expeditions. The premise was simple but demanding: to understand animals that were hard to find, one had to remain in place long enough for them to become familiar with human presence. Into this setting came a young graduate student with an interest in human evolution and a determination to study orangutans in their natural habitat, despite doubts that such work was feasible. With limited funding and little infrastructure, she established a research station in a remote peat swamp in Indonesian Borneo in 1971. Over time, that station would become one of the longest-running field sites for any wild mammal. Galdikas in the field. Photo courtesy of Orangutan Foundation International (OFI). Birutė Galdikas spent the next five decades working from that base. Her early years were marked less by discovery than by persistence. Finding orangutans could take weeks. Observing them required learning to move through dense forest and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birute-galdikas-primatologist-who-spent-a-lifetime-studying-defending-orangutans-has-died-at-79/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Modest controls put on freewheeling squid fleet at South Pacific fisheries meeting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/modest-controls-put-on-freewheeling-squid-fleet-at-south-pacific-fisheries-meeting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/modest-controls-put-on-freewheeling-squid-fleet-at-south-pacific-fisheries-meeting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Mar 2026 14:22:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/12141145/a.-BANNER-Humboldt-squid-%C2%A9Joescience1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315645</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Forced labor, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A lower limit on the size of the fleet targeting jumbo flying squid in the South Pacific Ocean, improved controls at ports and the introduction of electronic monitoring systems on board vessels to rein in illegal practices and labor abuses: These were the main outcomes of the 14th meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A lower limit on the size of the fleet targeting jumbo flying squid in the South Pacific Ocean, improved controls at ports and the introduction of electronic monitoring systems on board vessels to rein in illegal practices and labor abuses: These were the main outcomes of the 14th meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), which concluded in Panama on March 6, marking steps toward tighter regulation of fisheries, especially for squid, in the vast swath of ocean the body manages. “It&#8217;s a part of the world&#8217;s largest squid fishery … so it was very positive that attention was being paid to it,” Dave Gershman, a senior officer on international fisheries at the U.S.-based think tank The Pew Charitable Trusts, who attended the meeting as an observer, told Mongabay just minutes after the closure. “But this is only the start of what&#8217;s needed to put in place science-based management.” The SPRFMO annual meeting took place in Panama City March 2-6. The intergovernmental organization includes 17 members (16 countries and the European Union) and was established in 2012 with the aim of ensuring the long-term conservation and better regulation of fishing activities (except for tuna fishing) in the high seas of the South Pacific, an area encompassing about 59 million square kilometers (23 million square miles). The most anticipated decisions at this year’s meeting concerned tightening regulation of the jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) fishery, following increased fishing activity and signals of declining stock. Decision-makers also took steps&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/modest-controls-put-on-freewheeling-squid-fleet-at-south-pacific-fisheries-meeting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315645</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>China’s Pacific squid fishery rife with labor, fishing abuses: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 15:47:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03141824/39-with-seabird-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Chile, China, East Asia, Ecuador, Global, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Forced labor, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Labor abuses including violence, debt bondage and withheld wages and medical care, overfishing, shark finning, marine mammal killings: A new report exposes bad practices and a weak regulatory framework governing the jumbo flying squid fishery in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. The report was launched on Feb. 19, just days before the annual meeting of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Labor abuses including violence, debt bondage and withheld wages and medical care, overfishing, shark finning, marine mammal killings: A new report exposes bad practices and a weak regulatory framework governing the jumbo flying squid fishery in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. The report was launched on Feb. 19, just days before the annual meeting of the commission of the South Pacific Regional Fishery Management Organisation (SPRFMO), the intergovernmental body that manages the fishery. The report drew on interviews with 81 fishers, mainly Indonesian sailors who worked between 2021 and 2025 on 60 Chinese vessels targeting jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the region. “Our interviews revealed that these vessels are engaged in widespread fisheries abuses and labor abuses,” Dominic Thomson, head of the investigation for U.K.-based NGO the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), told Mongabay. Jumbo flying squid, also known as Humboldt squid, are large-bodied animals averaging 50 to 80 centimeters (20 to 31 inches) in length. They concentrate in the South Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America, where they play a key mid-trophic role in the marine ecosystem, serving both as a predator of smaller species and as prey for sharks, swordfish, sperm whales, dolphins and other marine life. The species is among the most commercially important squid species, accounting for about 30% of global squid landings. The fishery involves South American countries fishing mainly within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs): Ecuador, Chile and Peru. The latter has for decades been the world&#8217;s leading producer. In the last decade,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315118</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Bank watchdog looks into Nepal cable car project amid Indigenous outcry</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2026 05:35:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/31141245/Plantation_PotoBy_Prabin-Seling-Sendow-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313239</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Development, Environment, FPIC, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, and Transparency]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A cable car line is being built to serve the mountaintop temple of Pathibhara Devi, a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus in eastern Nepal. But the area is also revered by the region’s Indigenous Yakthung (or Limbu) people, many of whom have objected to the clearing of trees that they say will weaken [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A cable car line is being built to serve the mountaintop temple of Pathibhara Devi, a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus in eastern Nepal. But the area is also revered by the region’s Indigenous Yakthung (or Limbu) people, many of whom have objected to the clearing of trees that they say will weaken the spiritual power that the site holds according to their beliefs. The World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) says it is looking into a complaint filed by the Yakthung people against the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group — for providing advisory support to a controversial cable car project in their ancestral land. The CAO recently confirmed to Mongabay that it had received the complaint filed in August 2025 and it meets the ombudsman’s criteria for formal registration. “As the Nepal cable car complaint met these criteria, it is now in the assessment phase of the CAO process,” Emily Horgan, communications and outreach lead at CAO, told Mongabay via email referring to the ombudsman’s policy of accepting a complaint if it concerns an IFC or MIGA (Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) project. Horgan said that the Pathibhara issue also falls within the CAO’s mandate to address potential environmental and social impacts of projects. The CAO’s registry states that the complaint was accepted for review on Dec. 12, 2025. Project developer Pathibhara Devi Darshan Cable Car Pvt. Ltd., part of the IME Group led by prominent Nepali tycoon&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313239</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>AI-centered conservation efforts can only be ethical if Indigenous people help lead them (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ai-centered-conservation-efforts-can-only-be-ethical-if-indigenous-people-help-lead-them-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ai-centered-conservation-efforts-can-only-be-ethical-if-indigenous-people-help-lead-them-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jan 2026 17:31:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Magali de BruynMcKalee Steen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/12/25114241/rainforest-rainbow-Sabah-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312697</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Environment, Ethics, Indigenous Peoples, Science, Technology, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In November, we joined more than 50,000 Indigenous and world leaders, diplomats, scholars and activists at the 30th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Brazil. Some of the most central discussions at “The People’s COP” revolved around the critical role Indigenous leaders and communities are playing in the future of global climate and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In November, we joined more than 50,000 Indigenous and world leaders, diplomats, scholars and activists at the 30th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Brazil. Some of the most central discussions at “The People’s COP” revolved around the critical role Indigenous leaders and communities are playing in the future of global climate and conservation movements, what we can learn from Indigenous groups as we build increasingly complex technologies to solve environmental problems, and where Indigenous voices can be better amplified and listened to. At COP30, attendees claimed that AI has enormous potential to effectively advance environmental data science to address some of our biggest challenges, including rising pollution, drastic biodiversity loss, worsening natural disasters, and more. At the same time, experts and Indigenous communities continue to raise alarms around AI ethics, privacy concerns and environmental impacts. This raises a critical question: How can we ensure that emerging technologies, including AI, will truly benefit the planet and the people who protect it? Understanding and upholding Indigenous digital sovereignty might be key. Many Indigenous communities embrace the use of drones and other technologies to monitor their territories, as shown by these Yanomami youths, and some are also now investigating the use of ethical artificial intelligence tools to support their cultural and environmental priorities. Image courtesy of Evilene Paixão/HAY. Indigenous digital sovereignty is the right of an Indigenous nation to govern the collection, ownership and application of its own data. Upholding Indigenous digital sovereignty in the environmental and climate fields means&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ai-centered-conservation-efforts-can-only-be-ethical-if-indigenous-people-help-lead-them-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ai-centered-conservation-efforts-can-only-be-ethical-if-indigenous-people-help-lead-them-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312697</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brigitte Bardot, who turned fame into a lifelong fight for animals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/brigitte-bardot-who-turned-fame-into-a-lifelong-fight-for-animals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/brigitte-bardot-who-turned-fame-into-a-lifelong-fight-for-animals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2025 14:24:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/28142248/brigitte-bardot-getty-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312127</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and France]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Celebrities, Green, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the second half of the 20th century, animal protection was often treated in public debate as a minor cause, sentimental at best and unserious at worst. It sat uncomfortably beside politics, economics, and diplomacy, and was rarely allowed to intrude on questions of trade, tradition, or national sovereignty. Those who tried to force it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the second half of the 20th century, animal protection was often treated in public debate as a minor cause, sentimental at best and unserious at worst. It sat uncomfortably beside politics, economics, and diplomacy, and was rarely allowed to intrude on questions of trade, tradition, or national sovereignty. Those who tried to force it into public debate were usually dismissed as eccentrics or moral scolds. One figure helped shift that balance by refusing to treat animals as a side issue. She did not argue from policy papers or institutional authority. She argued from outrage, persistence, and the leverage of fame, insisting that suffering without a human voice was still suffering, and that wild animals were among the most exposed of all. That figure was Brigitte Bardot. Known first as a film star, she abandoned cinema while still a global celebrity and redirected her public life toward animal advocacy. What distinguished her work was not only its longevity, but its scope. She did not limit her concern to pets or laboratory animals. From the 1960s onward, wildlife became a central focus of her activism. Her most consequential campaigns targeted the commercial seal hunt. Bardot traveled to the ice floes of Canada and later to Arctic regions, confronting hunters and drawing international media attention to the killing of harp seal pups. The imagery was powerful, but she framed the issue in blunt terms. In a statement widely reported by the Associated Press, she said, “Man is an insatiable predator.” The problem,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/brigitte-bardot-who-turned-fame-into-a-lifelong-fight-for-animals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/brigitte-bardot-who-turned-fame-into-a-lifelong-fight-for-animals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312127</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental defenders &#038; conservationists who died in 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/environmental-defenders-conservationists-who-died-in-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/environmental-defenders-conservationists-who-died-in-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Dec 2025 02:14:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/21212401/obituaries-2025-2560px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311798</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animal Welfare, Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Murdered Activists, Violence, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[I write short obituaries for people who spent their lives protecting parts of the natural world. I work on them in the margins of other responsibilities, yet they have become a constant. In 2025, I produced over 70. The people I write about are often described as conservationists, scientists, activists, or defenders. Those labels are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[I write short obituaries for people who spent their lives protecting parts of the natural world. I work on them in the margins of other responsibilities, yet they have become a constant. In 2025, I produced over 70. The people I write about are often described as conservationists, scientists, activists, or defenders. Those labels are accurate, but incomplete. What unites them is not a profession so much as a posture: they stood between something living and the forces wearing it down. They did so for decades, usually without much recognition and often at personal cost. Some of the names will be widely recognized. Others will mean little to most readers. That imbalance is part of the point. Public memory tends to favor visibility over impact, and charisma over endurance. Yet many of the most consequential figures in environmental protection work far from cameras and conferences. They negotiate land boundaries, calm conflicts, train rangers, translate science, or stay when leaving would be easier. Their influence is cumulative, and it rarely lends itself to headlines. Writing about death has a clarifying effect. Obituaries strip away what is temporary. What remains is a record of choices. Again and again, the lives I wrote about this year followed a similar arc: an encounter with a place or species, a long commitment to its survival, and years of persistence within systems that were often indifferent or hostile. Success, where it came, was partial. Failure was common. Quitting was always an option, and usually declined. These&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/environmental-defenders-conservationists-who-died-in-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/environmental-defenders-conservationists-who-died-in-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311798</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protected areas in Africa are vital but local perceptions vary (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/protected-areas-in-africa-are-vital-but-local-perceptions-vary-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/protected-areas-in-africa-are-vital-but-local-perceptions-vary-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2025 16:49:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Diane DetoeufHeidi KretserJessica L’RoeMichelle Wieland]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19153536/Indigenous-Mbuti-Peoples-going-for-a-communal-hunt-inside-the-Okapi-Wildlife-Reserve.-Photo-%C2%A9%EF%B8%8FBrent-StirtonGetty-Images-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311750</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Madagascar, and Republic of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Ethics, Forest Products, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation strategy, yet their social impacts remain contentious. The prevailing narrative often pits global benefits, like biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration, against local costs like restricted access to land and resources, particularly in lower-income nations. This antagonistic framing — the interests of local people vs. the interests of other people elsewhere (or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation strategy, yet their social impacts remain contentious. The prevailing narrative often pits global benefits, like biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration, against local costs like restricted access to land and resources, particularly in lower-income nations. This antagonistic framing — the interests of local people vs. the interests of other people elsewhere (or of other species entirely) — can lead to polarized politics with respect to PAs. There are valid reasons for concern, as increasing recognition of the problematic historical legacy of many protected areas created on the African continent rooted in colonial alienation, as well as ongoing human rights concerns in several PA systems, make it clear that PAs can cause harm. Many conservation organizations now recognize that it is critically important that efforts to protect land simultaneously protect the rights and interests of people living there, especially those of Indigenous and local communities. Yet, if we want to protect local interests, we must first understand them. We don’t know as much as we need to about the ways that protected areas can, and do, serve the interests of the people living near them. Harm is often more evident than benefits, particularly in the case of acute episodes of violence or evictions, so much has been described about how protected areas can cause harm. The village of Bapukeli at the entrance of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Democratic Republic of Congo. Indigenous hunter-gatherers divide their time between villages like this and camps deep in the forest. Image by Thomas Nicolon for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/protected-areas-in-africa-are-vital-but-local-perceptions-vary-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/protected-areas-in-africa-are-vital-but-local-perceptions-vary-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311750</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Costa Rica&#8217;s ‘shocking’ wildlife crisis: Nation must move to prevent animal electrocution (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/costa-ricas-shocking-wildlife-crisis-nation-must-move-to-prevent-animal-electrocution-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/costa-ricas-shocking-wildlife-crisis-nation-must-move-to-prevent-animal-electrocution-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Dec 2025 21:03:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elena Kukovica]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/17203029/elena-2-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311592</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Costa Rica, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Development, Energy, Environment, Ethics, Infrastructure, Mammals, Monkeys, Sloths, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Costa Rica is world-renowned for its commitment to preserving biodiversity and wildlife. The country’s fervor to protect its ecosystems recently earned it the Earthshot Prize for Protecting and Restoring Nature, a significant international recognition for environmental protection. However, even a country as environmentally conscious as Costa Rica apparently cannot steer clear of the ongoing spread [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Costa Rica is world-renowned for its commitment to preserving biodiversity and wildlife. The country’s fervor to protect its ecosystems recently earned it the Earthshot Prize for Protecting and Restoring Nature, a significant international recognition for environmental protection. However, even a country as environmentally conscious as Costa Rica apparently cannot steer clear of the ongoing spread of urbanization and deforestation that threatens local wildlife. As forests and jungles give way to new homes and roads, animals are forced to adapt to their new surroundings and human neighbors. A vast and deadly obstacle in this process is electrical wires and transformers, which cause fatal wildlife electrocutions. This deadly problem is primarily caused by the fact that most of Costa Rica’s electrical infrastructure is installed aerially using conductive materials that lack insulation (e.g., aluminum conductors without protection). Combined with the high voltages carried by these wires, this creates a highly hazardous situation, putting any living being at risk of electrocution when coming into contact. As animals face intrusions into their natural habitats and need to move, they begin using electrical wires like they typically use tree branches, particularly when crossing roads. Combining constant contact with high-voltage power lines, it is therefore not difficult to believe that electrocution is one of the biggest causes of wildlife deaths in Costa Rica. In particular, 6,262 reported cases of wildlife electrocution happened just between June 2022 and June 2023, with the most affected species among mammals being squirrels, foxes, monkeys, kinkajous and sloths. A howler monkey traverses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/costa-ricas-shocking-wildlife-crisis-nation-must-move-to-prevent-animal-electrocution-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/costa-ricas-shocking-wildlife-crisis-nation-must-move-to-prevent-animal-electrocution-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311592</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Unregulated tourism risks disrupting Timor-Leste’s whale migration</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2025 03:09:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/08160620/Maternal-sperm-whale-pod-too-close-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Timor, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Ethics, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Migration, Oceans, Tourism, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DILI, Timor-Leste — Whale tourism in Timor-Leste is booming. Tour operators report a healthy number of sightings and full bookings in the peak season of September to December, when hundreds of pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) make the journey through the Ombai-Wetar Strait on their way south to western Australia. Customers splurge $5,000 for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DILI, Timor-Leste — Whale tourism in Timor-Leste is booming. Tour operators report a healthy number of sightings and full bookings in the peak season of September to December, when hundreds of pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) make the journey through the Ombai-Wetar Strait on their way south to western Australia. Customers splurge $5,000 for a week of swimming with the lite version of the world’s largest animal in a country that has unmatched potential for whale watching, because of its deep, nutrient-rich waters close to the shore and relatively undisturbed marine environment. “For me, the whales represent the health of the ecosystem — they’re the most visible sign of something much bigger happening below the surface,” local conservationist and photographer Jafet Potenzo Lopes tells Mongabay in an interview. “When a blue whale or sperm whale passes along the coast, it’s not just a sighting; it’s a reminder that this coastline is still functioning in a way that many places have lost.” Timor-Leste’s marine mammal “superhighway,” traversed by migrating blue and sperm whales and resident pods of pilot whales, orcas and dolphins, attracts tourists from around the world. Operators are already fully booked for 2026 and 2027. “Even though [whale] encounters are never guaranteed, tourists will always try their luck,” says Rechelle Trasmonte, a Philippine national and dive organizer at Compass Diving, one of Timor-Leste’s six major whale tour operators. This season, however, serious concerns about malpractice have emerged. In an open letter shared with Mongabay in November, British underwater&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310754</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Myopic&#8217; fisheries managers toy with a new ‘tragedy of the commons’ (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/myopic-fisheries-managers-toy-with-a-new-tragedy-of-the-commons-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/myopic-fisheries-managers-toy-with-a-new-tragedy-of-the-commons-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 18:15:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Clover]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/09175811/meritt-thomas-I9y_6J-HhY8-unsplash_optimized_950_7577-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310924</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, England, Europe, European Union, Global, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Commentary, Ecosystems, Environment, Ethics, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The way the oceans are managed is meant to be like a successful medieval commons. Most medieval commons weren’t open-access, but commoners had distinct rights in law and committees organized the grazing. Commons were saved from overexploitation by the practice of “stinting”: commoners decided how many cows the pastures could stand and limited themselves accordingly. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The way the oceans are managed is meant to be like a successful medieval commons. Most medieval commons weren’t open-access, but commoners had distinct rights in law and committees organized the grazing. Commons were saved from overexploitation by the practice of “stinting”: commoners decided how many cows the pastures could stand and limited themselves accordingly. That way, commoners prevented the tragedy that befell those commons where access was open, where selfishness and lack of governance meant overgrazing prevailed, and the cows died. The ruin of commons that went unmanaged was a phenomenon first described in the 19th century by a fellow of the Royal Society, William Forster Lloyd. His observations were exhumed in the 1960s by a Californian ecologist, Garrett Hardin, who gave them a compelling headline, “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Hardin conceded that there were some well-managed commons, but also, crucially, that a well-managed common could evolve into a tragic one. When commoners perceive that other commoners are cheating, it becomes “every commoner for themselves.” “With an unmanaged common,” he wrote, “ruin is inevitable.” A Dutch super trawler. Image courtesy of Pierre Gleizes/Greenpeace. There are many analogies for a ruined terrestrial common, whether in the atmosphere as a result of carbon dioxide pollution, or in the oceans because of marine plastics. But arguably the largest in the world is caused by overfishing, where the absence of credible regulation endangers whole oceans and the billions of people who depend upon them. It is hard not to recognize several trending tragedies of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/myopic-fisheries-managers-toy-with-a-new-tragedy-of-the-commons-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310924</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Stricter rules adopted to protect sloths from pet trade and selfie tourism</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/stricter-rules-adopted-to-protect-sloths-from-pet-trade-and-selfie-tourism/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/stricter-rules-adopted-to-protect-sloths-from-pet-trade-and-selfie-tourism/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 13:36:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/08190645/1.-Neil-D_Cruze-Manaus-9376-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310800</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Costa Rica, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Defaunation, Illegal Trade, Pet Trade, Rainforest Destruction, Sloths, Threats To Rainforests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Known for their peaceful appearance and the impression that they&#8217;re always smiling, sloths now have extra protection to prevent their exploitation by a cruel and illegal pet trade. CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, agreed at its recent summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to include two sloth species in a list that imposes stringent requirements for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Known for their peaceful appearance and the impression that they&#8217;re always smiling, sloths now have extra protection to prevent their exploitation by a cruel and illegal pet trade. CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, agreed at its recent summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to include two sloth species in a list that imposes stringent requirements for their international trade. This means that all 185 parties to CITES (184 countries plus the European Union) will be subject to strict rules including a requirement that exporting countries provide studies proving that the transaction will not affect the species’ conservation. The two species newly listed in CITES Appendix II are Linné’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), native to the Amazon, and Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), which lives in the southern Amazon and parts of Central America. Two-fingered sloths are known to be more aggressive and faster than their three-toed relatives. The proposal to strengthen their protection came from Brazil, Costa Rica and Panama, as a way “to prevent illegal trafficking from increasing and its populations from declining.” According to delegates from the three countries, wildlife traffickers have been tearing the sloths from the forests to be presented as attractions in tourist itineraries through South America; some tourists even buy a baby sloth to take home as a kind of exotic pet. Researchers have recorded instances of this illegal trade in public markets in Iquitos, Peru, and Manaus, Brazil. “Demand for sloth species has increased in recent years, particularly for live animals taken from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/stricter-rules-adopted-to-protect-sloths-from-pet-trade-and-selfie-tourism/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310800</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Respecting uncontacted peoples can protect biodiversity and our humanity (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/respecting-uncontacted-peoples-can-protect-biodiversity-and-our-humanity-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/respecting-uncontacted-peoples-can-protect-biodiversity-and-our-humanity-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2025 21:17:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kerry Bowman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/16200510/Pueblos-en-aislamiento-en-la-frontera-Peru-Brasil-768x478.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310537</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Ethics, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Social Conflict, Social Justice, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep within the remaining tropical forests of the world, the last uncontacted peoples live in near-total isolation. Their very presence carries unintended yet powerful implications for all of us. Studies show that Indigenous territories — especially those of uncontacted groups — are among the least disturbed ecosystems on Earth. Protecting regions inhabited by uncontacted Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep within the remaining tropical forests of the world, the last uncontacted peoples live in near-total isolation. Their very presence carries unintended yet powerful implications for all of us. Studies show that Indigenous territories — especially those of uncontacted groups — are among the least disturbed ecosystems on Earth. Protecting regions inhabited by uncontacted Indigenous peoples is vital from both a human rights and environmental perspective; these territories represent some of the planet’s last intact ecosystems. The human dimension of respecting their isolation is a moral imperative, grounded in the fundamental rights to existence and self-determination. Equally significant are the longer-term environmental implications. Protected Indigenous lands function as natural sanctuaries of biodiversity, safeguarding countless plant and animal species, many of which remain undocumented by science. By preserving these untouched forests, the world also protects vast carbon sinks that regulate the planet’s climate and slow global warming. Malocas, or longhouses, of an Indigenous community living in isolation in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon. Image courtesy of ORPIO. In essence, ensuring the survival of uncontacted territories not only defends the autonomy of their inhabitants, it also sustains the living systems that uphold the Earth’s atmosphere, biodiversity and climate. In the western Amazon, the region holding the uncontacted peoples I know best, dense Indigenous territories rank among the most biodiverse places on Earth. They also hold the planet’s highest concentration of uncontacted peoples, and they are under increasing siege. While Peru and Brazil have designated large swaths as protected Indigenous land,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/respecting-uncontacted-peoples-can-protect-biodiversity-and-our-humanity-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-310537</doi>				</item>
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