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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=herps&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/herps/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2026 20:57:34 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Herps</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/herps/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Aztec methods and crocodiles: How biologists are restoring mangroves in Mexico</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2026 17:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Laura Allen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/30152724/Cocodrilo4-Morelets-crocodile--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334543</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Herps, Mangroves, Reptiles, Restoration, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2017, Omar Trujillo Santos was sitting in a small wooden boat holding a crocodile, its skin soft like a snake. He helped untie the reptile, a juvenile Morelet’s crocodile, and carefully guided it into the dark water. It swam off to find a new home in the Alvarado Lagoons System in Veracruz, southeastern Mexico, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2017, Omar Trujillo Santos was sitting in a small wooden boat holding a crocodile, its skin soft like a snake. He helped untie the reptile, a juvenile Morelet’s crocodile, and carefully guided it into the dark water. It swam off to find a new home in the Alvarado Lagoons System in Veracruz, southeastern Mexico, completing the final phase of a mangrove restoration project. Studies suggest Mexico, a country rich in mangroves, has experienced the highest degree of mangrove loss in the Americas. Conservation and reforestation efforts seek to reverse this loss, yet many projects fail to restore a mature forest. Seedlings and young trees too often die due to improper planting techniques or unsuitable sites. Led by REVIVE, a nonprofit that works to boost biodiversity in the region, the Veracruz project aims to restore not just trees, but the mangrove ecosystem as a whole by employing Aztec-inspired planting methods to rebuild forests and using crocodiles to help maintain them. According to REVIVE, this technique has resulted in a fully restored forest. Conservationists involved in the project say they hope this success encourages others to consider how crocodiles could be used to benefit future mangrove restoration projects. Omar Trujillo Santos stands in front of a chinampa planted with mangrove seedings grown in a nursery. Image from Soto et al., 2026 (preprint) (CC BY 4.0). An ancient technique In 2006 when biologist Aníbal Ramírez Soto began working with mangroves in the wetlands around the Alvarado lagoons, he planted mangrove seedlings in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334543</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Legal gaps allow rampant pet trade, poaching reptiles and amphibians towards extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 15:55:07 +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/20/2026/10/15152757/Lehmanns-poison-frog-Oophaga-lehmanni.-Credit_-%C2%A9%EF%B8%8FJonathan-Vanegas-WCS-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332764</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Herps, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Pet Trade, Pets, Poaching, Reptiles, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Spain’s law enforcement agency, the Civil Guard, announced on Sept. 25, 2026, that it seized 209 reptiles from breeding facilities in Jérica and Sot de Ferrer (Castellón), including critically endangered iguanas endemic to Fiji. Nearly half of the reptiles were protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. They also seized unlicensed handguns and nearly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Spain’s law enforcement agency, the Civil Guard, announced on Sept. 25, 2026, that it seized 209 reptiles from breeding facilities in Jérica and Sot de Ferrer (Castellón), including critically endangered iguanas endemic to Fiji. Nearly half of the reptiles were protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. They also seized unlicensed handguns and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition. Authorities arrested three individuals — two men aged 48 and 51 and a 37-year-old woman — on a litany of charges: Belonging to a criminal organization, wildlife-related offenses, smuggling, money laundering and illegal weapons possession. The alleged traffickers reportedly smuggled reptiles from the wild in the Americas, Africa and Asia, and then bred them without permits, the authorities said. They added that these reptiles were then sold at European reptile and trade fairs, mixing smuggled animals with legally acquired animals — a practice called laundering that’s prevalent in wildlife trade. In this way, traffickers exploit the “legal gray area surrounding documentation that certifies the animals&#8217; origins,” the authorities said in a press release. The Spanish case is just one recent example among a slew of seizures and arrests involving rare tortoises, endangered turtles, poisonous frogs, endemic iguanas and many other protected reptiles and amphibians worldwide. The trade is lucrative — estimated to be worth some $2.5 billion — and comes with little risk. It’s often unregulated. Smugglers are rarely caught, and if they are, they get off by paying a small fine, which is absorbed as the cost of doing business.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332764</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers uncover hidden routes and patterns of Amazon wildlife trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/researchers-uncover-hidden-routes-and-patterns-of-amazon-wildlife-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/researchers-uncover-hidden-routes-and-patterns-of-amazon-wildlife-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 17:36:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/14163904/Podocnemis-unifilis_tracaja_Valdemir-Cunha-_-Greenpeace-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332625</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Business, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Fish, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Pet Trade, Pets, Reptiles, Research, Trade, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rare fish and turtles sell for pennies at home, fetching fortunes in distant global markets.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Home of the world&#8217;s largest biodiversity, the Brazilian Amazon is one of the main hubs for international wildlife trafficking. Every day, thousands of animals are taken from the rainforest to be sold in other parts of the country and abroad. Despite its key role in this illegal market, there is still a lack of information about wildlife trafficking in the region. ​ Data on animal seizures is scattered at the municipal, state and federal levels. The lack of an integrated system, along with the region&#8217;s vast territories and porous international borders, makes it difficult to get a full picture of wildlife trafficking in the rainforest. ​ “Every river you travel on in the Amazon will have traffic incidents,” conservation intelligence specialist Antônio de Carvalho, from the conservation NGO WCS Brazil, told Mongabay in a phone interview. ​ WCS Brazil is currently working on a Global Wildlife Trafficking Observatory, which will rely on artificial intelligence to gather information about wildlife trafficking from news websites and academic researchers. The goal is to support the work of investigators, environmental agents and journalists. ​ “A lot of data on seizures is lost because the seizure is simply carried out and the animals are released right there on the spot, and that doesn’t even make it into official statistics,” Carvalho said. The zebra pleco (Hypancistrus zebra) lives only in a small stretch of the Xingu River, in Pará, and is highly coveted as an ornamental fish. Image courtesy of Birger A. In another attempt to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/researchers-uncover-hidden-routes-and-patterns-of-amazon-wildlife-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/researchers-uncover-hidden-routes-and-patterns-of-amazon-wildlife-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332625</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A study unravels the genetic mystery of a cobra divided by sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 15:41:15 +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/20/2026/10/13150621/1.-Indian-cobra.-Photo-credit-Bhasuru-Prabashwara-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332444</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Culture, Education, Herps, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s spectacled cobra (Naja naja) carries a two-million-year-old genetic mystery, and a new study finds that the island’s cobras form a genetically distinct lineage, reopening a taxonomic question raised by a Sri Lankan zoologist nearly nine decades ago. The study also established that the spectacled cobra has evolved from an African ancestor [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s spectacled cobra (Naja naja) carries a two-million-year-old genetic mystery, and a new study finds that the island’s cobras form a genetically distinct lineage, reopening a taxonomic question raised by a Sri Lankan zoologist nearly nine decades ago. The study also established that the spectacled cobra has evolved from an African ancestor that reached the region via the Middle East. The story dates back to 1939, when Sri Lankan zoologist P. E. P. Deraniyagala described a distinctive form of the spectacled cobra with additional eye-like markings on its hood. He named it Naia naia colour var. polyocellata. At the time, it was treated as a color morph of the Indian spectacled cobra than a distinct subspecies native to Sri Lanka. Deraniyagala returned to cobra taxonomy in 1945, proposing several geographical races of the spectacled cobra across the Indian subcontinent, and in 1960, revisited cobra taxonomy. Subsequent morphological work, however, consolidated these geographical forms under Naja naja. Then, in 2022, the question was reopened. A genetic study proposed resurrecting Deraniyagala’s polyocellata as a separate species as Naja polyocellata, after finding substantial genetic differences between Sri Lankan cobras and the Indian mainland cobras. An albino cobra is a snake with a genetic mutation that causes a complete lack of dark pigments, and such unusually colored cobras are reported more often in some regions than others. Image courtesy of Dushantha Kandambi. However, that proposal was challenged the following year. In 2023, herpetologists Wolfgang Wüster of Bangor University, U.K., and Frank&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New releases a leap forward for endangered frog in southern California</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 19:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30104452/Image-3_-Adult-southern-mountain-yellow-legged-frogs-inside-tank-at-L.A.-Zoo-bio-secure-amphibian-headstarting-facility_photo-co-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331219</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Endangered Species, Frogs, Habitat, Herps, Invasive Species, Reintroductions, Research, Rewilding, Science, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Frog release days always start early, at about 4 a.m., so that staff can get up to the site before the day gets too hot, said Erin Lundy, manager of conservation initiatives at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the U.S. The first challenge is catching the frogs. A newly morphed southern mountain yellow-legged frog [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Frog release days always start early, at about 4 a.m., so that staff can get up to the site before the day gets too hot, said Erin Lundy, manager of conservation initiatives at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the U.S. The first challenge is catching the frogs. A newly morphed southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) is about an inch long, fast, and very good at squeezing into cracks, Lundy said. It can take a couple of hours for staff to scoop them all up from the tanks. Lundy prefers grabbing them with gloved hands, though others use nets. The aquarium has been rearing southern mountain yellow-legged frogs since 2021, as part of a multi-agency, 20-plus-year conservation effort for the species, a Southern California amphibian listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Head-starting the frogs by ushering them through metamorphosis in captivity boosts their odds of survive, Lundy said. This year’s cohort arrived at the aquarium late last summer as 2-month-old tadpoles from the Los Angeles Zoo, where they were bred. Through winter and into spring, aquarium staff watched as their limbs erupted and tails slowly reabsorbed. By August, most were ready for life in the wild. (Metamorphosis for this species takes from one to five years in the wild, and is highly variable in captivity. Those that did not fully metamorphosize by the release date will be held back and released as larger adults next summer). Developing southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) embryos inside eggs at&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331219</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global experts gather in Sri Lanka for historic first World Congress on Snakes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 16:12:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30152244/Dendrelaphis-wickrorum-full-body-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331281</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conflict, Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Habitat Loss, Herps, Research, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KANDY, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s cultural capital of Kandy will step into the global scientific spotlight from Oct. 1 to 4, 2026, as it hosts the inaugural World Congress on Snakes (WCS 2026). Taking place at the Grand Kandyan Hotel, the congress is a landmark event, marking the first international conference dedicated entirely to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KANDY, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s cultural capital of Kandy will step into the global scientific spotlight from Oct. 1 to 4, 2026, as it hosts the inaugural World Congress on Snakes (WCS 2026). Taking place at the Grand Kandyan Hotel, the congress is a landmark event, marking the first international conference dedicated entirely to snake biology, conservation and public health. More than 400 delegates from 25 countries, including more than 300 international scientists, ophiologists — experts in the branch of zoology concerned with the study of snakes — and medical experts, are expected to attend the four-day event on the Indian Ocean island. They will be joined by more than 100 local researchers to address critical ecological challenges and the rising global crisis of snakebite envenomation. Sri Lanka was chosen as the host nation owing to its extraordinary and unique reptilian diversity. The island is home to 112 snake species, more than 63 of which are endemic and found nowhere else on Earth. &#8220;This congress establishes Sri Lanka as the epicenter of global snake research and conservation policy,&#8221; said Anslem de Silva, congress chairperson and a global authority on herpetology. &nbsp; The World Congress on Snakes 2026 (WCS26) is the first of its kind and will host more than 500 delegates to discuss snake biology, evolution and conservation. Image courtesy of the WCS26. For decades, snake research has been marginalized within broader herpetological forums and the WCS 2026 aims to provide a dedicated, standalone platform for these ecologically vital&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331281</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka’s disappearing snake charmers carry a legacy of fear and fascination</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 18:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28164856/1-Snake-charmers-A-Snake-Charmer-in-Sri-Lanka-c-Jerzy-Strzelecki-via-Wikipedia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331088</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Reptiles, Snakes, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – For generations, the sight was familiar in towns and villages across Sri Lanka of a man playing a flute sitting on his haunches next to a woven basket, from which a cobra raised its gently swaying hood, drawing a curious crowd of onlookers. The performance appeared almost magical, as the cobra would seem [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – For generations, the sight was familiar in towns and villages across Sri Lanka of a man playing a flute sitting on his haunches next to a woven basket, from which a cobra raised its gently swaying hood, drawing a curious crowd of onlookers. The performance appeared almost magical, as the cobra would seem to have been charmed by the flute’s notes, moving its hood rhythmically like performing a dance. But behind the spectacle was a community with its own traditions, knowledge and relationship with snakes — one that is quickly fading away. Known locally as the Ahikuntika, this small nomadic tribe is also referred to as Sri Lanka’s gypsies or Sri Lankan Telugus. They’ve traditionally traveled from place to place, and men have performed as snake charmers and monkey performers, with the women primarily associated with fortune-telling or soothsaying. Historical accounts describe temporary settlements and an itinerant lifestyle in which families moved between communities to earn a living through performances and traditional livelihoods. Today, however, snake charming has become rare. A group of snake charmers perform with their cobras. Image courtesy of Anslem de Silva. “During our childhood, we could regularly see snake charmers. They were often seen near markets, while groups of itinerant performers would also travel from village to village, announcing their arrival by beating a small hand drum,” recalled 75-year-old retired schoolteacher Chandrasena Liyanarachchi. Sri Lankans have a long-inherited fear of the venomous cobras (Naja naja), yet also accord them cultural significance, and often watch&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sri-lankas-disappearing-snake-charmers-carry-a-legacy-of-fear-and-fascination/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World’s smallest crocodile in high demand for bushmeat trade in Nigeria</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/worlds-smallest-crocodile-in-high-demand-for-bushmeat-trade-in-nigeria/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/worlds-smallest-crocodile-in-high-demand-for-bushmeat-trade-in-nigeria/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 11:07:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amir Sadiq]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17103100/DwarfCrocodileOsteolaemus.tetraspis_EricDeRedelijkheid-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330046</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Herps, Hunting, Over-hunting, Poaching, Reptiles, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The African dwarf crocodile is the world’s smallest living crocodile. These reptiles, nocturnal predators of crabs, gastropods and the occasional fish or small mammal, can reach 2 meters (6.6 feet) in length. They are found in dense swamps and flooded forests across large parts of West and Central Africa. Despite being listed as vulnerable on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The African dwarf crocodile is the world’s smallest living crocodile. These reptiles, nocturnal predators of crabs, gastropods and the occasional fish or small mammal, can reach 2 meters (6.6 feet) in length. They are found in dense swamps and flooded forests across large parts of West and Central Africa. Despite being listed as vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List, the African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) has not been assessed by the conservation organization for 30 years. Anecdotal evidence suggests the crocodile’s numbers have declined sharply in many places where they were formerly common due to over-harvesting and destruction of their habitat. “The dwarf crocodile is particularly well-suited for the commercial trade,” ecologist Mitchell Eaton wrote in 2008. “Its small size and slow metabolism allow it to be captured and transported live over long distances without the need for refrigeration.” These unfortunately convenient characteristics have made the species a prized target for hunters across the reptiles’ range and conservationists fear this is putting crocodile populations under unsustainable pressure. Researcher Israel Ogorode with a dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) at the Uwa bushmeat market in Benin City, Nigeria. Image courtesy of Israel Ogorode. For a study published in August in the journal BMC Zoology, conservation biologist Israel Ogorode and colleagues surveyed sales of African dwarf crocodiles at three markets in the Niger Delta, aiming to collect data about how many of the reptiles are sold — and who is doing the selling. Ogorode and the researchers visited three bushmeat markets in the Niger&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/worlds-smallest-crocodile-in-high-demand-for-bushmeat-trade-in-nigeria/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330046</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous rangers pull killer ‘ghost nets’ from Australia’s northern coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:02:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31195439/aad44e0a-4b0b-4d7d-8261-c4daa88bad1d-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Oceans, Sea Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a wheel of hard plastic — once a net perhaps 60 meters (about 197 feet) long, now breaking into the microplastics that will outlast us all. “So, the entire Groote Eylandt is Aboriginal freehold land,” Eden, who manages the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea rangers, told Mongabay. “It&#8217;s spoken for by Indigenous Australians. So, they&#8217;re not beaches that anyone can just go to. There&#8217;s so much cultural value to these beaches. There&#8217;s so much significance. There are songlines, there are art sites … And I guess that&#8217;s the drive to try and protect it and move this debris. And it&#8217;s such an eyesore.” Aside from general cleanup, the team has its eyes on ghost nets: Discarded fishing nets that end up floating adrift, entangling sea life and gathering trash along their paths. Across northern Australia, Indigenous rangers are the working to retrieve the lost and abandoned fishing gear that keeps killing long after it is retired. Removing a ghost net on Australian beach. Photo courtesy of Timothy Hillier/Agency Project. Getting a net off a beach is slow, physical work. Some have sat for years, buried deep or wound around driftwood and rock. One net can take hours,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Inspiring young herpetologists in Sri Lanka: Interview with Anslem de Silva</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 14:53:33 +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/20/2026/08/25122934/3.-in-the-field-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327246</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Education, Herps, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Lizards, Reptiles, Science, and Tropical Conservation Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan-born conservation biologist and National Geographic explorer Ruchira Somaweera is internationally recognized for his award-winning wildlife research, photography and storytelling. Despite his global achievements, Somaweera treasures an old journal copy containing a prophecy. When he was 13 years old, Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus with a handwritten note [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan-born conservation biologist and National Geographic explorer Ruchira Somaweera is internationally recognized for his award-winning wildlife research, photography and storytelling. Despite his global achievements, Somaweera treasures an old journal copy containing a prophecy. When he was 13 years old, Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus with a handwritten note which read: “One day you will be a great herpetologist,” signed by Anslem de Silva. “Almost 30 years ago, I got hooked into herpetology after reading a series of newspaper articles written by de Silva on Sri Lankan snakes in a local science publication. Those articles inspired me to prepare a small booklet on snakes as my school science project. Most of the herpetologists of my generation were groomed by de Silva, and hundreds, if not thousands, of students have been inspired by him, just like I was,” Somaweera told Mongabay. In 1995, Ruchira Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus from Anslem de Silva with the signed inscription: “One day you will be a great herpetologist.” Image courtesy of Ruchira Somaweera. Anslem de Silva is widely regarded as as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka, having dedicated more than six decades to studying the island’s reptiles and amphibians. His pioneering research, publications and conservation efforts have transformed scientific understanding of Sri Lanka’s remarkable herpetofauna. Sri Lanka’s herpetofauna represents the island’s extraordinary diversity of reptiles and amphibians, including snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, frogs, toads and caecilians, with many species found nowhere&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327246</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why a New England city is building tunnels to protect an imperiled salamander</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-a-new-england-town-is-building-tunnels-to-protect-an-imperiled-salamander/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-a-new-england-town-is-building-tunnels-to-protect-an-imperiled-salamander/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2026 18:29:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alex Megerle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/22153217/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324331</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Forest Fragmentation, Habitat, Herps, Infrastructure, Roadkill, Roads, Salamanders, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S. — It’s a mild March night in Keene, New Hampshire, and the salamander brigade is out in full force. A constellation of flashlight beams wink and flash along a dark street, as rain falls onto the jackets and reflective vests of the assembled crew. Tonight, a veritable army of amphibians is trekking [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S. — It’s a mild March night in Keene, New Hampshire, and the salamander brigade is out in full force. A constellation of flashlight beams wink and flash along a dark street, as rain falls onto the jackets and reflective vests of the assembled crew. Tonight, a veritable army of amphibians is trekking from the upland forests, where they spend the winter, toward the wetlands where they breed. In their path lies a two-lane asphalt road, North Lincoln Street. Animals need to move for a variety of reasons, but in a world crosshatched by motorways, that’s not an easy task. Each spring in Keene, wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) and spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) must navigate roads to reach their natal spawning grounds. This particular road in Keene is routinely closed to cars during nights of amphibian migration. At other crossing sites in the region, volunteers are the only thing standing between these slow-moving critters and the danger posed by passing traffic. Carrying animals across the road by hand gets the job done, but it’s limited by human availability and energy. The hope has always been that “crossing brigades are the first step, not the last step,” said Brett Amy Thelen, who organizes these efforts and serves as science director for the Harris Center for Conservation Education, a regional nonprofit. That hope is being realized: Thelen and her salamander squadron are at the center of a new initiative to build small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-a-new-england-town-is-building-tunnels-to-protect-an-imperiled-salamander/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-a-new-england-town-is-building-tunnels-to-protect-an-imperiled-salamander/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324331</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Activists allege Cambodia has resumed sea sand exports to Singapore</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/activists-allege-cambodia-has-resumed-sea-sand-exports-to-singapore/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/activists-allege-cambodia-has-resumed-sea-sand-exports-to-singapore/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 08:40:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/21082924/RESIZED-Photo-by-Drone-of-CMR-sand-barges-on-Trapang-Roung-river-2-July-202614-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324184</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, International Trade, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Rivers, Saltwater Fish, Trade, and Turtles]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Environmental activism group Mother Nature Cambodia on July 14 posted a new video alleging that Cambodia has quietly resumed sand exports to Singapore after the trade was banned in 2017. The prohibition followed a scandal involving environmental degradation along Cambodian rivers linked to shipments of sand sold to Singapore for land reclamation projects. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Environmental activism group Mother Nature Cambodia on July 14 posted a new video alleging that Cambodia has quietly resumed sand exports to Singapore after the trade was banned in 2017. The prohibition followed a scandal involving environmental degradation along Cambodian rivers linked to shipments of sand sold to Singapore for land reclamation projects. In its latest video, Mother Nature Cambodia documented sand dredgers operating in waterways in Koh Kong province in Cambodia’s southwest, with footage appearing to show barges belonging to Catalyst Marine and Resources (Cambodia), a Singaporean-directed sand mining company that’s been registered in Cambodia since December 2024. Footage shows large-scale sand mining operations, including barges bearing the logo of Catalyst Marine and Resources, dredging sea sand from the coastal waterways of Koh Kong. Catalyst Marine and Resources’ barges were then tracked by Mother Nature Cambodia to two large cargo boats located just off the coast of Koh Kong Krao, Cambodia’s largest island, which is largely controlled by the Cambodian navy. Tracking devices on the cargo boats show those vessels are bound for Singapore, reigniting old fears that environmentally unsustainable sand dredging has resumed in Koh Kong to fuel land reclamation projects. “I have many questions, but today I will ask just one to Minister [of Mines and Energy] Keo Rattanak,” Lisa Mean, an activist with Mother Nature Cambodia, asks in the group’s latest video. “When did you quietly scrap the 2017 ban on sea sand exports?” Lisa then called on Cambodians to join the activist group&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/activists-allege-cambodia-has-resumed-sea-sand-exports-to-singapore/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/activists-allege-cambodia-has-resumed-sea-sand-exports-to-singapore/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324184</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How a community is helping sea turtles hatch in the Philippines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 17:23:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rachel Duckett]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17164527/olive-ridley-hatchlings-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323904</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Herps, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, Solutions, Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Jerald Mahusay was a kid, he and his friends saw turtle eggs so often, they treated them like toys. “We were always playing with the eggs,” Mahusay recalled of his childhood in Santo Niño, a village in the Philippines’ Palawan province. “We didn’t know why they are important.” Mahusay’s relationship with turtles has changed. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Jerald Mahusay was a kid, he and his friends saw turtle eggs so often, they treated them like toys. “We were always playing with the eggs,” Mahusay recalled of his childhood in Santo Niño, a village in the Philippines’ Palawan province. “We didn’t know why they are important.” Mahusay’s relationship with turtles has changed. In 2023, he started working as a patroller for the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE), an NGO that conducts marine research around the country, including a turtle monitoring project in Palawan. This year, Mahusay was promoted to head of the local patrol unit and research assistant for LAMAVE’s turtle project. Santo Niño is located in San Vicente, an agriculture and fishing municipality that is a vital nesting ground for olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. However, nesting turtles here face a myriad of challenges. The most prevalent is a largely unchecked stray dog population, but higher tides and more frequent storms caused by climate change loom large, as do plans to develop the area for mass tourism. LAMAVE patrollers find a predated nest in Santo Niño, San Vicente, Palawan, April 2026. Image by Rachel Duckett for Mongabay. On patrol During peak nesting season, volunteers and local patrollers walk more than 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) in five shifts each night and early morning. When they find a turtle, they’ll wait for her to finish nesting, shooing away dogs when necessary. Before she re-enters the water,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323904</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil lists the Amazon river turtle as endangered for the first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:37:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15173950/BANNER-n.-%C2%A9-Andres-Camilo-Montes-Correa-original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323320</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Herps, Reptiles, Rivers, Turtles, Turtles And Tortoises, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A food staple and once a common sight, the Amazon turtle is now officially endangered as its population halves.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A traditional food source for Amazonian communities, freshwater turtles have been included in Brazil&#8217;s list of fauna threatened with extinction for the first time. The cágado-iaçá, or six-tubercled Amazon River turtle, had its risk elevated from near threatened to endangered in a new national list recently released by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Known in the Amazon as tracajás, freshwater turtles have been classified as nearly threatened for a long time, but it&#8217;s the first time that one of its species was classified as endangered, said Marília Marini, general coordinator of conservation strategies at ICMBio, the Brazilian agency in charge of conservation units. &#8220;For the Amazon, the main highlight is the inclusion of the tracajá,&#8221; Marini told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;That is a more delicate situation, because it also involves [traditional] communities that use them [for subsistence]. So, great care is needed regarding communication and how to direct actions — ensuring they don&#8217;t negatively affect those communities that have historically coexisted with the area.&#8221; Despite protection programs and conservation efforts, cágado-iaçá&#8217;s (Podocnemis sextuberculata) populations over the past 36 years — equivalent to three generations — declined by more than 50% in Amazonas and western Pará states, which accounts for approximately 70% of the species&#8217; total distribution, leading to an endangered classification, according to ICMBio&#8217;s Biodiversity Extinction Risk Assessment System (SALVE). Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Rafael Bernhard via iNaturalist (CC BY 4.0). Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323320</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A marine protected area can ban fishing boats. It cannot stop drifting gear</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-marine-protected-area-can-ban-fishing-boats-it-cannot-stop-drifting-gear/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-marine-protected-area-can-ban-fishing-boats-it-cannot-stop-drifting-gear/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 10:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13102355/dFADs-GP015S4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323159</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Protected Areas, Sea Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When fishing gear invades marine protected areas.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For a marine protected area, a line on the map is supposed to carry legal weight. It tells fishing vessels where they may not go. It tells managers where their authority begins. It tells governments what they have promised to protect. In the open ocean, that line can be hard to defend. Fish move through it. Currents cross it. Plastic and lost gear drift into it. A reserve may be closed to fishing vessels and still receive the debris of industrial fishing. A recent paper in Science Advances shows how serious that problem has become for one widely used fishing technology: drifting fish aggregating devices, or dFADs. These are floating rafts, often fitted with satellite buoys and echosounders, that help purse seine fleets find and catch tuna. Tuna and other species gather around floating objects. For fishing companies, dFADs make a mobile and unpredictable ocean easier to search. For protected areas, they create a different problem. A dFAD can be deployed outside a reserve, drift into it, aggregate fish, entangle wildlife, break apart, sink, or wash ashore on reefs and beaches. It can do this without a vessel crossing the boundary. It can also do it without being visible to managers, since buoy data are usually controlled by fishing companies. Intersection between 88,359 tracked dFAD buoys (pink) with existing MPAs showing where dFADs have likely entered (red) or not (blue); (E) MPAs and shark sanctuaries where dFAD strandings were identified with count (circle), observed but not counted (red diamond), or&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-marine-protected-area-can-ban-fishing-boats-it-cannot-stop-drifting-gear/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-marine-protected-area-can-ban-fishing-boats-it-cannot-stop-drifting-gear/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323159</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Official tied to commercial breeding to represent US at global wildlife trade meeting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/official-tied-to-commercial-breeding-to-represent-us-at-global-wildlife-trade-meeting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/official-tied-to-commercial-breeding-to-represent-us-at-global-wildlife-trade-meeting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2026 20:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/11193438/RRL-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323166</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Lemurs, Politics, Reptiles, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Jenifer Chatfield, a high-ranking U.S. official whose family breeds wild animals for profit, will reportedly lead the U.S. delegation attending next week’s meeting of CITES, the global wildlife treaty, in Geneva, Switzerland, multiple sources told Mongabay. Chatfield, who serves as the Department of the Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Jenifer Chatfield, a high-ranking U.S. official whose family breeds wild animals for profit, will reportedly lead the U.S. delegation attending next week’s meeting of CITES, the global wildlife treaty, in Geneva, Switzerland, multiple sources told Mongabay. Chatfield, who serves as the Department of the Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, is expected to attend the 34th meeting of the CITES Animals Committee, scheduled July 13-17. Sources, who wished to remain anonymous because of the fraught political climate in the U.S., informed Mongabay that Chatfield will participate as one of the six-member delegation attending the Animals Committee and Plants Committee meeting. These two scientific advisory bodies evaluate biological and taxonomic information about various animal and plant species to help CITES regulate international trade in endangered species. The committees meet twice between the every-three-year Conference of the Parties, which gathers all CITES signatories to vote on proposals. Chatfield, a board-certified veterinarian, appointed to her position in May 2025 by the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, will be leading a delegation of five scientists and another staff member from the U.S. Department of State, Mongabay has learned. This would be the first time such a delegation would be headed by a political appointee rather than a biologist well-versed in the sciences of conservation and taxonomy. “Usually, it is the chief of the U.S. CITES Scientific Authority who is the head of delegation,” said Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the U.S.-based NGO Wildlife Conservation Society.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/official-tied-to-commercial-breeding-to-represent-us-at-global-wildlife-trade-meeting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/official-tied-to-commercial-breeding-to-represent-us-at-global-wildlife-trade-meeting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323166</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tiwi rangers eradicate invasive tropical fire ants in Australia’s Melville Island</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rangers-eradicate-invasive-tropical-fire-ants-in-australias-tiwi-islands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rangers-eradicate-invasive-tropical-fire-ants-in-australias-tiwi-islands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2026 19:31:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/22184547/Solenopsis_geminata_Francois-Brassard_LR-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321598</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation Solutions, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Sea Turtles, Seabirds, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DERBY, Australia — While Spanish sailors packed in dirt to stabilize the bottom of ships sailing from the Americas in the 16th century, they were unaware that they were also helping tiny stowaways aboard. Research suggests that tropical fire ants sailed across the Pacific Ocean, joining Europeans over the centuries as they landed and colonized [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DERBY, Australia — While Spanish sailors packed in dirt to stabilize the bottom of ships sailing from the Americas in the 16th century, they were unaware that they were also helping tiny stowaways aboard. Research suggests that tropical fire ants sailed across the Pacific Ocean, joining Europeans over the centuries as they landed and colonized landmasses across the world. Then, in the early 2000s, tropical fire ants (Solenopsis geminata) were detected on Melville Island in the Tiwi Islands, a picturesque archipelago off the coast of Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory. Here, they were able to flourish, according to researchers, and have since become naturalized in parts of the Australian tropics while dominating the environment, eating small mammals, and potentially deterring nesting birds. “The ants have a huge impact on native birds and animals on the Tiwi Islands,” said Stanley Tipungwuti, a ranger on the islands where most identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. But after two decades of effort, and the work of the Tiwi Ranger team, tropical fire ants are deemed no more on Merville Island: In 2025, the species was completely eradicated, according to Ben Hoffmann, who was part of the eradication program from its inception. That same year, the Tiwi Island Rangers received the Territory Indigenous Natural Resource Management Award in Darwin for their efforts. The Tiwi Rangers were the 2025 winners of the Territory NRM Indigenous Natural Resource Management Award. Image by the Territory Natural Resource Management Award, supplied by Tiwi Resources. Hoffmann, principal research&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rangers-eradicate-invasive-tropical-fire-ants-in-australias-tiwi-islands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rangers-eradicate-invasive-tropical-fire-ants-in-australias-tiwi-islands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321598</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mona Khalil, who left safety in Europe to protect sea turtles in Lebanon, was killed by an Israeli airstrike</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mona-khalil-left-safety-in-europe-to-protect-sea-turtles-in-southern-lebanon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mona-khalil-left-safety-in-europe-to-protect-sea-turtles-in-southern-lebanon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jun 2026 07:59:53 +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/20/2026/06/21074513/Mona-Khalil-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321527</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Lebanon and Middle East]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Herps, In-situ Conservation, Murdered Activists, Obituary, Reptiles, and Sea Turtles]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At night on Mansouri beach, the first evidence was often a track in the sand. The beach lies south of Tyre, near the border with Israel, where checkpoints, shelling, and evacuation orders have long shaped daily life. It is also one of Lebanon’s important nesting grounds for loggerhead and green sea turtles. The turtles come [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At night on Mansouri beach, the first evidence was often a track in the sand. The beach lies south of Tyre, near the border with Israel, where checkpoints, shelling, and evacuation orders have long shaped daily life. It is also one of Lebanon’s important nesting grounds for loggerhead and green sea turtles. The turtles come ashore after dark. They dig, lay, cover, and return to the water. For the hatchlings, the distance from nest to sea is only a few yards. It is still dangerous. Dogs and foxes dig up eggs. Crabs and birds take the young. Lights from roads and resorts pull them away from the water. Plastic drifts offshore. Fishing nets catch adults that have survived for decades. Even a footprint can trap a turtle no bigger than a child’s palm. Mona Khalil gave much of her life to that narrow strip of beach. She was 76 when she died on June 19 from wounds sustained after an Israeli airstrike struck her home at Mansouri beach earlier that month. Her assistant was also injured, suffering severe burns. The house, known to visitors and volunteers as the Orange House, had been the base of her conservation work for more than 25 years. Mona Khalil in 2004 in Lebanon. Photo by Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images She had not set out to become a conservationist. Born in Lagos to Lebanese parents, she later left Lebanon during the civil war. In the Netherlands she worked as a porcelain restorer, a trade that required&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mona-khalil-left-safety-in-europe-to-protect-sea-turtles-in-southern-lebanon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mona-khalil-left-safety-in-europe-to-protect-sea-turtles-in-southern-lebanon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321527</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vanilla, fake eggs and nausea: How Australian scientists are training foxes to avoid turtle nests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/vanilla-fake-eggs-and-nausea-how-australian-scientists-australia-are-training-foxes-to-avoid-turtle-nests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/vanilla-fake-eggs-and-nausea-how-australian-scientists-australia-are-training-foxes-to-avoid-turtle-nests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 13:50:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Norman Bermúdez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/16174914/Turtles-Wodonga-26-of-28-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Canids, Conservation, Environment, Herps, Predators, Reptiles, Research, Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researcher Ligia Pizzatto dug a small hole in the ground on the sloping banks of Ryan’s Lagoon in southeast Australia. She carefully placed an egg inside the hollow before covering it with soil, then reached for a large spray bottle and doused the area with a fine mist. The scent of vanilla filled the air, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researcher Ligia Pizzatto dug a small hole in the ground on the sloping banks of Ryan’s Lagoon in southeast Australia. She carefully placed an egg inside the hollow before covering it with soil, then reached for a large spray bottle and doused the area with a fine mist. The scent of vanilla filled the air, oddly sweet against the smell of damp earth and eucalyptus trees. While looking for another spot to repeat the process, Pizzatto came across a scattering of small bones, flat and almost geometrical in shape. “Turtle bones,” Pizzatto said. “Probably eaten by a fox.” These bones are a small sign of a much larger crisis. Freshwater turtle species that are native to Australia’s Murray-Darling River Basin are increasingly under threat, their populations collapsing under pressure from introduced predators. Not only do foxes kill turtles that venture onto land — typically nesting females — but they also dig up their nests to eat their eggs. Pizzatto, a biologist at La Trobe University in Victoria, is testing an innovative approach to intervene — one that doesn&#8217;t require killing a single fox. Young broad-shelled turtle found by Ligia Pizzatto during fieldwork. Broad-shelled turtles are classified as endangered in Victoria. Image by Ligia Pizzatto. Freshwater turtles under threat The Murray River is the longest in Australia; its course marks the boundary between the states of Victoria and New South Wales in the country’s southeast. This river and its basin are a major biodiversity hotspot and home to three native turtle&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/vanilla-fake-eggs-and-nausea-how-australian-scientists-australia-are-training-foxes-to-avoid-turtle-nests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/vanilla-fake-eggs-and-nausea-how-australian-scientists-australia-are-training-foxes-to-avoid-turtle-nests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Teeming with turtles: Cabo Verde island sees 80-fold increase in nesting loggerheads</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/teeming-with-turtles-cabo-verde-island-sees-80-fold-increase-in-nesting-loggerheads/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/teeming-with-turtles-cabo-verde-island-sees-80-fold-increase-in-nesting-loggerheads/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 16:36:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[André Habet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/15192409/b.-%C2%A9-Roberto-Pillon-via-iNaturalist-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321257</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Hope and optimism, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Sea Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, night patrol teams on Boa Vista, the third-largest island in the Cabo Verde archipelago, started noticing a change along the beaches: The loggerhead turtles were arriving in significantly larger numbers than usual. In previous years, each team, comprised of staff and volunteers from local conservation NGO Cabo Verde Natura 2000 (CVN2), encountered between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, night patrol teams on Boa Vista, the third-largest island in the Cabo Verde archipelago, started noticing a change along the beaches: The loggerhead turtles were arriving in significantly larger numbers than usual. In previous years, each team, comprised of staff and volunteers from local conservation NGO Cabo Verde Natura 2000 (CVN2), encountered between five and 10 female turtles (Caretta caretta) a night. But now, the teams were each recording between 20 and 30 females a night. By 2021, that number had grown to between 30 and 40. A recent study published in Biological Conservation confirms the upward trend: An 80-fold increase in the population of loggerheads nesting at three of Boa Vista’s beaches over 27 years, from 1998 to 2024. The authors of this first long-term study of Cabo Verde’s nesting loggerheads ascribe the remarkable trend to decades-long conservation efforts at the local and national level. Loggerheads, which primarily inhabit temperate and subtropical regions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, are long-lived, slow-maturing migratory animals. With a lifespan of 80 years or more, female loggerheads take decades to reach sexual maturity. The global loggerhead population has declined by 47% over the past three generations, according to the last IUCN Red List assessment, where it remains listed as a globally ‘vulnerable’ species. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, largely attributes this decline to anthropogenic pressures such as habitat loss, marine pollution, bycatch, poaching and multiple climate change-driven impacts. Loggerhead turtle eggs. Image by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/teeming-with-turtles-cabo-verde-island-sees-80-fold-increase-in-nesting-loggerheads/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/teeming-with-turtles-cabo-verde-island-sees-80-fold-increase-in-nesting-loggerheads/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321257</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How trade bans and local conservation helped save a dazzling blue gecko</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 06:43:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/06063558/TurquoiseDwarfGecko_MorogoroTanzania_ArdgardINaturalistBYlarge-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320662</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forests, Habitat Loss, Herps, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Reptiles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first time [at] a fair, it was about 600 euros per specimen,” or about $700, Dennis Rödder, a herpetologist at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Germany, told Mongabay in a video call. “I think within three or four years, the species appeared everywhere across Europe. You could buy them in every pet shop.” Turquoise dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus williamsi) grow to a length of 6-9 centimeters (about 2.5-3.5 inches) and are known from only two small patches of forest in Tanzania: The Kimboza and Ruvu forest reserves. These protected areas cover a combined 34 square kilometers (13 square miles). Adult females have a green-brownish color that mimics the leaves of the trees they live in, but the males’ skins are a vivid contrasting blue, one of the rarest colors in nature, meant to stand out and attract females. Turquoise dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi). Image © Simon via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Active during the day, and so fiercely territorial they evict their young hatchlings from their home trees soon after birth, this species lives exclusively on screwpines (Pandanus rabaiensis), a tree found in Kenya and Tanzania. Standing anywhere from 3-20 meters tall&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320662</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists race to study the Amazon’s frogs before they disappear</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/scientists-race-to-study-the-amazons-frogs-before-they-disappear/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/scientists-race-to-study-the-amazons-frogs-before-they-disappear/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 May 2026 19:45:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago da Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/12192320/fc4a5294-9326-47c3-ab99-0eeae5c82be9-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319270</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Freshwater, Frogs, Rainforests, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MANAUS, Brazil — Crouched over the leaf litter, where dry leaves accumulate on the forest floor, a researcher tries to capture a distinct croak using a directional microphone. Identifying the sound of a small frog is often one of the conclusive proofs that a new species has been found. It’s nighttime. He wears long clothing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MANAUS, Brazil — Crouched over the leaf litter, where dry leaves accumulate on the forest floor, a researcher tries to capture a distinct croak using a directional microphone. Identifying the sound of a small frog is often one of the conclusive proofs that a new species has been found. It’s nighttime. He wears long clothing as protection against mosquitoes and ants, and boots to keep his feet dry. Finding amphibians in the Amazon doesn’t require high-tech equipment; it actually dates back to explorations by early-20th-century naturalists. That’s how biologist Igor Kaefer, a professor at the Federal University of Amazonas in Brazil, describes a typical day of fieldwork in search of amphibians in the Amazon. Kaefer was part of a group responsible for describing Amazophrynella bilinguis in 2019. The very description of the little toad gives an idea of ​​how difficult it is to find: females measure about 2 centimeters (less than an inch), and their brown head and back make them “disappear” among the leaves and branches. Home to an estimated 1,525 species of amphibians, the Amazon Basin is the most diverse ecosystem in the world when it comes to frogs, an order that includes toads and tree frogs. However, occurrence records have been confirmed for only about 810 of those. So going into the field and finding a new-to-science species is not unlikely. “In almost every inventory conducted in a remote area, you come back with more than one new species for synthesis,” Kaefer says. But finding a species&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/scientists-race-to-study-the-amazons-frogs-before-they-disappear/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/scientists-race-to-study-the-amazons-frogs-before-they-disappear/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319270</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Facebook is a hub for illegal wildlife trade, and that’s by design, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 11:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01050735/Tiger-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Gibbons, Illegal Trade, Law, Leopards, Mass Extinction, Pangolins, Regulations, Sea Turtles, Social Media, Technology, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With just the click of a button or a swipe on a phone, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, including rare or endangered animals. From quirky shark trophies to exotic live birds, contraband rhino horns or ivory, buyers can flock to e-commerce platforms and find them all. Traffickers hide behind their screens while profiting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With just the click of a button or a swipe on a phone, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, including rare or endangered animals. From quirky shark trophies to exotic live birds, contraband rhino horns or ivory, buyers can flock to e-commerce platforms and find them all. Traffickers hide behind their screens while profiting from online sales of protected species as these animals dwindle in the wild. “It&#8217;s the largest wildlife market,” said wildlife trade researcher Chris Shepherd from the Center for Biological Diversity. “It&#8217;s easy, it&#8217;s convenient; you can operate anonymously from the comfort of your home. You don&#8217;t have the expenses of setting up a shop.” Online commerce in illicit wildlife products continues to grow, involving more species and wider geographies. It’s an illicit industry run by kingpins with well-connected networks, and it’s hard to prosecute. Catching online criminals is extremely challenging. “Wildlife markets have moved from physical locations into online locations, and that&#8217;s mirroring broader trends in the global economy,” said Simone Haysom, director of environmental crime programs at the Swiss-based organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. In a recent report, Haysom and her colleague Russell Gray analyzed online wildlife trade data from April 2024 to March 2026. They focused on 10 countries across three continents, places where environmental crime and internet use are high, making them fertile grounds for online wildlife trafficking. They found some 266,535 wildlife products posted on 61 online marketplaces, worth about $66 million. About 75% of the nearly 22,000 ads&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318531</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Linking habitats strengthens wildlife microbiomes, helps fight disease: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2026 14:29:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23133143/4-Atlantic-Forest-frog-Dendrophryniscus-haddadi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318009</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Conservation, Diseases, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Freshwater, Frogs, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Microorganisms, Planetary Health, Research, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease. This troubling finding could also apply to a host of other species, the study researchers say, but may also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease. This troubling finding could also apply to a host of other species, the study researchers say, but may also have positive implications for conservation to counteract the problem. Habitat split, first associated with amphibian decline in a 2007 study, occurs when multiple “classes” of aquatic and terrestrial habitat — such as forests, streams and ponds — vital to a species’ life cycle are separated by human activities (such as agriculture), causing the species to decline. Studies have already shown that this phenomenon is a driver of localized frog extinctions in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. In the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists investigated the effect of “habitat split” on the microbiome of four frog species (Haddadus binotatus, Rhinella ornata, Boana faber and Ischnocnema henselii), all dwelling in the highly fragmented Atlantic Forest. They found that where forest and aquatic habitats are linked, frogs are more likely to host skin microbes that inhibit the deadly fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus, known as chytrid, is responsible for large-scale declines of hundreds of amphibian species across the globe. Importantly, the skin microbiome of frogs living in areas where these habitats were split hosted fewer pathogen-fighting microbes, leaving the frogs more susceptible to infection. Two of the frog species sampled also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318009</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wetland destruction for mining, oil palm tied to crocodile attacks in Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wetland-destruction-for-mining-oil-palm-tied-to-crocodile-attacks-in-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wetland-destruction-for-mining-oil-palm-tied-to-crocodile-attacks-in-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2026 14:01:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taufik Wijaya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23095951/Buaya-muara2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317964</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangka Belitung, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Illegal Mining, Mining, Plantations, Pollution, Reptiles, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKA, Indonesia — Residents of a centuries-old coastal settlement in the world’s largest tin-mining outpost — Bangka Island — fear that the environmental damage over just a few decades is behind a frightening rise in reports of violent deaths. In February, local fisher Jauhari became the latest person here on Bangka’s west coast to be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKA, Indonesia — Residents of a centuries-old coastal settlement in the world’s largest tin-mining outpost — Bangka Island — fear that the environmental damage over just a few decades is behind a frightening rise in reports of violent deaths. In February, local fisher Jauhari became the latest person here on Bangka’s west coast to be killed by an estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The 40-year-old was likely the 21st victim in the last five years, according to local wildlife charity Alobi Foundation. The saltwater crocodile — the world’s largest reptile — can exceed 6 meters (20 feet) in length weighing up to 2 tons (4,400 pounds) and live more than 70 years. On Bangka Island, it ordinarily lurks quietly beneath the surface of estuaries and lagoons. “This has happened because many swamps and tributaries that are the habitat of estuarine crocodiles have been damaged by illegal tin mining, and then turned into oil palm plantations,&#8221; Suhadi, who lives in western Bangka’s Menduk village, told Mongabay Indonesia in late March. The Menduk wetlands, formerly home to estuarine crocodiles, have been converted into palm oil plantations and illegal tin mines. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. For some local people, 40-year-old Jauhari’s passing was a signal of how environmental damage can introduce new forms of violence into communities, a pattern that will intensify as climate pressures compound. One study published in the journal Biological Conservation in 2023 counted 665 cases of crocodile attacks in Indonesia in press reports from 2017 to 2019. Indonesia accounts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wetland-destruction-for-mining-oil-palm-tied-to-crocodile-attacks-in-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wetland-destruction-for-mining-oil-palm-tied-to-crocodile-attacks-in-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317964</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Oil spill continues in Gulf of Mexico vulnerable habitats, while Pemex admits fault</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-spill-continues-in-gulf-of-mexico-vulnerable-habitats-while-pemex-admits-fault/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-spill-continues-in-gulf-of-mexico-vulnerable-habitats-while-pemex-admits-fault/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2026 11:33:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Caitlin Cooper]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/22111835/AP26085839385231-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317934</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Oceans, Oil Spills, Politics, Pollution, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In Nautla, a municipality on the coast of the Mexican state of Veracruz, soft folds of sand await sea turtles as their annual nesting season begins between April and June. But instead of the miniature olive-green turtles — the Kemp’s ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) that show up here are the world’s smallest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In Nautla, a municipality on the coast of the Mexican state of Veracruz, soft folds of sand await sea turtles as their annual nesting season begins between April and June. But instead of the miniature olive-green turtles — the Kemp’s ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) that show up here are the world’s smallest species of their kind — sticky black discs the size of coins dot the coastline. Along a 1-meter (3-foot) section of beach, Nautla resident Ricardo Yepez Gerón, director-general of the Yepez Foundation, an NGO focused on sea turtle conservation, said he could count approximately 100 of these spots. “To remove the oil that has [washed up] on these beaches … let’s be honest, the coastline is too long,” Yepez Gerón told Mongabay in a video interview. “You need one person for every 10 meters [33 ft].” Similar reports of tar stains on the beaches of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche, along the southern arc of the Gulf of Mexico, have cropped up since early March. According to a late March report from the Coral Reef Network of the Gulf of Mexico, what appeared to be an oil spill had impacted 933 kilometers (about 580 miles) of shoreline — and at least seven of nine natural protected areas, ANPs by their Spanish acronym, in the Tabasco, Veracruz and Tamaulipas states, according to Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Mexico’s secretary of environment and natural resources. For 67 days, the government denied any wrongdoing as various scenarios circulated regarding the source&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-spill-continues-in-gulf-of-mexico-vulnerable-habitats-while-pemex-admits-fault/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-spill-continues-in-gulf-of-mexico-vulnerable-habitats-while-pemex-admits-fault/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317934</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Laos, ancestral spirits are helping save one of the world&#8217;s rarest crocodiles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 13:36:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/24223626/Monks-at-Crocodile-release--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Tropical Forests, Water, Wetlands, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When village conservation teams find a Siamese crocodile nest in the Xe Champhone wetlands of central Laos, they move fast, collecting eggs within 24 hours before poachers, predators or floods can reach them. But before they touch the eggs, there’s a ritual, and offerings are made to the spirits. With the spirits appeased, villagers carry [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When village conservation teams find a Siamese crocodile nest in the Xe Champhone wetlands of central Laos, they move fast, collecting eggs within 24 hours before poachers, predators or floods can reach them. But before they touch the eggs, there’s a ritual, and offerings are made to the spirits. With the spirits appeased, villagers carry the eggs to hatch in the village, where the baby crocs&#8217; chances of hatching are nearly five times higher than in the wild. Oudomxay Thongsavath, program manager at Wildlife Conservation Society and a native of the region, has been involved with the program since its start. He told Mongabay that locals make an offering and explain to the spirits, “We collect the egg, we incubate it in the village, and we return your children back to your area … Please take care of them. Make sure they are safe in the future when they go back to their habitat.&#8221; Fewer than 1,000 though Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis) are estimated to survive in the wild.  Photo courtesy of WCS. Of the world&#8217;s 27 crocodilian species, the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) is among just four classified as critically endangered. Fewer than 1,000 are thought to survive in the wild. Locals say that to harm a Siamese crocodile is to risk illness, misfortune or death. Not because the crocodiles are particularly dangerous (as crocodiles go), but because these scaly beings are the living embodiment of their ancestors. That spiritual connection to crocodiles, upheld for generations in a landscape&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon waterway noise threatens unique social life of giant river turtles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/amazon-waterway-noise-threatens-unique-social-life-of-giant-river-turtles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/amazon-waterway-noise-threatens-unique-social-life-of-giant-river-turtles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Mar 2026 15:27:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/16173959/Camila_Ferrara_baby_turtle_in_Purus_River-AUTHORIZED-FOR-ONLY-THIS-STORY-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315800</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Noise Pollution, Pollution, Rivers, Transportation, Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Hatchlings talk inside their shells to time their birth, but the roar of massive barges may soon drown out their sound.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s just a sweet, squeaky sound, like that of a rubber duck. For scientists, however, it could have various meanings, ranging from “Time to spawn!&#8221; to “Come on, little ones!” to “Time to migrate!&#8221; Researchers studying the Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis expansa), South America&#8217;s largest turtle, found that hatchlings begin communicating even before birth, probably to agree on the best time to break out of the eggs and burrow up from the sand to the beach. “The Amazon turtle is one of the most social species of turtles in the world,” Camila Rudge Ferrara, the researcher who first proved the turtle’s communication skills, told Mongabay. “They migrate in groups, lay eggs in groups, and hatch in groups,” added the coordinator of the Chelonian Conservation Program in the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society in Brazil (WCS Brasil). Soon, however, the chatter of Amazon river turtles in the Tapajós River, a major tributary of the Amazon, may be disrupted by the noise of dredgers, ferries and boats circulating in the river: An ambitious waterway is being planned to ship minerals and grains to the port in the city of Santarém, in Brazil’s Pará state. “The frequency of the sound, dredging and boats may interfere with the turtles&#8217; communication,” Ferrara told Mongabay, but noted that scientists haven’t yet been able to establish this as fact. “The high-frequency underwater noise will disrupt the migration of these animals.” The latest conservation assessment for the species is expected to declare it endangered on the IUCN Red List,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/amazon-waterway-noise-threatens-unique-social-life-of-giant-river-turtles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/amazon-waterway-noise-threatens-unique-social-life-of-giant-river-turtles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315800</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Outlook for migratory species worsens amid habitat loss &#038; avian flu, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/outlook-for-migratory-species-worsens-amid-habitat-loss-avian-flu-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/outlook-for-migratory-species-worsens-amid-habitat-loss-avian-flu-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Mar 2026 16:03:11 +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/20/2026/03/12132145/Sea-Turtle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315646</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Arctic, Asia, Central Asia, Chad, East Africa, Europe, Global, Kenya, Serengeti, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Diseases, Elasmobranchs, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Jaguars, Mammals, Mapping, Migration, Mining, Poaching, Sea Turtles, Sharks, Species, Turtles, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From shorebirds flying between their Arctic breeding grounds and southerly foraging ranges to freshwater fish returning to native spawning streams, migratory animals are struggling. About half of all migratory species populations protected under a global treaty are now in decline, with the situation worsening in just the last two years, according to a new United [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From shorebirds flying between their Arctic breeding grounds and southerly foraging ranges to freshwater fish returning to native spawning streams, migratory animals are struggling. About half of all migratory species populations protected under a global treaty are now in decline, with the situation worsening in just the last two years, according to a new United Nations-backed report. When the first State of the World’s Migratory Species report was published in 2024, 44% of migratory species populations listed under the U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) were declining, according to data from the IUCN Red List, the world’s most comprehensive guide to global extinction risk. Since then, the proportion of imperiled CMS-listed species rose to 49%, according to updated Red List data and new research. Though the next status report isn’t due until around 2030, conservation advocates said the deteriorating situation required an interim report, as many countries are moving in the wrong direction when it comes to conserving wildlife that depend on various habitats to complete their life cycles. “This [interim report] is saying there are some alarming trends in the meantime; that we don’t want to wait six years to talk about this,” said CMS executive secretary Amy Fraenkel. Jaguars have no subspecies. Their range extends from Mexico to Argentina, but some populations are cut off, at risk of inbreeding and the demise that comes with it. Image by Gregoire Dubois. The convention, established in 1979, aims to conserve migratory species by protecting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/outlook-for-migratory-species-worsens-amid-habitat-loss-avian-flu-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315646</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can Singapore rewild its lost reptiles?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 02:06:34 +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/20/2026/03/04171924/Gimlett-s-reed-snake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Green, Herps, Lizards, Reintroductions, Reptiles, Restoration, Rewilding, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and interrupted life cycles, until absence becomes normal. A snake not recorded since 1904 leaves no trace in the soil, only a line in an archive. Selangor mud snake (Raclitia indica), which was rediscovered in Singapore in 2020 after an absence of 106 years. Photo credit: the Law Brothers Singapore’s ecological history is one of compression. Since the 19th century, most primary forest has been cleared for plantations, industry, and housing. Today only a sliver of original forest remains, surrounded by a landscape remade for human needs. Such transformation has exacted a toll on wildlife, especially terrestrial vertebrates. Estimates suggest that roughly a third of species across several groups have disappeared locally over two centuries. Snakes and lizards, however, tell a more complicated story. A recent analysis of Singapore’s squamates, the group that includes snakes and lizards, reconstructs a timeline of loss using historical records and statistical modeling. The pattern resembles two pulses of erosion. The first, in the early 1900s, coincides with the near-total conversion of primary forest. A second, smaller wave arrives late in the 20th century, as remaining secondary forests give way to rapid urbanization. Primary-forest specialists suffered most. Species able to tolerate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Justin Claude Rakotoarisoa, a guardian of Madagascar’s amphibians, has died, aged 45</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/justin-claude-rakotoarisoa-a-guardian-of-madagascars-amphibians-has-died-aged-45/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/justin-claude-rakotoarisoa-a-guardian-of-madagascars-amphibians-has-died-aged-45/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 00:04:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315023</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Frogs, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Herps, In-situ Conservation, Obituary, Reintroductions, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Madagascar, frogs are not background noise. They are a measure of how much forest still functions. The island holds an outsized share of the world’s amphibian diversity, and almost all of its frog species occur nowhere else. That concentration is both a wonder and a warning. When habitat thins, wetlands silt up, or disease [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Madagascar, frogs are not background noise. They are a measure of how much forest still functions. The island holds an outsized share of the world’s amphibian diversity, and almost all of its frog species occur nowhere else. That concentration is both a wonder and a warning. When habitat thins, wetlands silt up, or disease arrives, there is often no second refuge on another continent. Conservationists worry about many pressures at once: deforestation, fragmented marshes, wildlife trafficking, and the global spread of chytrid fungus, which has driven amphibian declines on several continents and has been detected in Madagascar. In such a setting, saving a frog can look like a technical exercise. It is also an organizational one. Keeping a species alive may require breeding rooms, quarantine protocols, and a steady supply of insects, plus patient negotiations with local communities and, at times, with the companies reshaping landscapes. Green Bright-eyed Frog (Boophis viridis) near in Andasibe, Madagascar. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler Justin Claude Rakotoarisoa was born in a village near Andasibe, an area inhabited by the indri lemur, whose haunting, whale-like song carries through the forest. As a young man he trained as a guide, part of a generation that saw ecotourism as a way to earn a living without dismantling the forest that drew visitors. Mitsinjo, the community organization he joined in the late 1990s, began as a local effort to manage a forest station and channel tourist income into conservation and development. It became more than that. As&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/justin-claude-rakotoarisoa-a-guardian-of-madagascars-amphibians-has-died-aged-45/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315023</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia hands record prison sentence to reptile smuggler in trafficking crackdown</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/australia-hands-record-prison-sentence-to-reptile-smuggler-in-trafficking-crackdown/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/australia-hands-record-prison-sentence-to-reptile-smuggler-in-trafficking-crackdown/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2026 21:16:05 +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/20/2026/02/25164933/Tiliqua_rugosa_5539-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314795</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Australia, Global, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Lizards, Reptiles, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The seizure of dozens of live Western blue-tongued lizards, bearded dragons and spiny-tailed skinks covertly packed into popcorn bags, biscuit tins and women’s handbags have led to the longest prison sentence ever doled out to a wildlife smuggler in Australia. On February 13, a New South Wales District Court sentenced 61-year-old Neil Simpson to eight [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The seizure of dozens of live Western blue-tongued lizards, bearded dragons and spiny-tailed skinks covertly packed into popcorn bags, biscuit tins and women’s handbags have led to the longest prison sentence ever doled out to a wildlife smuggler in Australia. On February 13, a New South Wales District Court sentenced 61-year-old Neil Simpson to eight years in jail for attempting to export 101 Australian reptiles to Hong Kong, Romania, South Korea and Sri Lanka. They were intercepted soon after being mailed, and investigators recovered several hundred more during subsequent searches of Simpson’s home. “This record sentence sends a strong message that profiting from illegally exporting our native wildlife will not be tolerated,” a spokesperson with Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said. In addition to Western blue-tongued lizards (Tiliqua occipitalis) and multiple bearded dragon and spiny-tailed skink species, Simpson trafficked shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa), Centralian blue-tongued skinks (Tiliqua multifasciata), desert skinks and narrow-banded sand swimmers (Eremiascincus fasciolatus). They were concealed in post packages shipped to international buyers. Each of the confiscated species is classified as a “regulated native specimen.” (Left) This Eastern Pilbara spiny-tailed skink was among hundreds of trafficked reptiles confiscated by Australian authorities that were intercepted en route to Asia and Europe or were seized at the home of Neil Simpson, who masterminded the operation. (Right) Numerous Australian reptiles were trafficked internationally by Simpson and others, according to officials, from at least 2018 to 2023, including this Southern Pygmy spiny-tailed skink. Both photos&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/australia-hands-record-prison-sentence-to-reptile-smuggler-in-trafficking-crackdown/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314795</doi>				</item>
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