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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=snakes&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/snakes/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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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 Snakes</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/snakes/</link>
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				<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top new species from 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2025 14:22:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/29141103/Screenshot-2025-12-28-at-5.12.22-PM-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312133</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Angola, Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, Cerrado, Global, Himalayas, India, Peru, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Climate Change, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystem Services, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Farming, Forests, Fungi, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Invasive Species, Marine, Mining, Oceans, Old Growth Forests, Pollution, Protected Areas, Ranching, Research, Science, Snakes, Species, Species Discovery, Swamps, Threatened species, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean&#8217;s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi. This year, researchers described a tiny new marsupial, a new Himalayan [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean&#8217;s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi. This year, researchers described a tiny new marsupial, a new Himalayan bat, an ancient tree, a bright blue butterfly, a parrot snake, and a fairy lantern plant, among others. &#8220;I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth,&#8221; Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Mongabay, &#8220;but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth&#8217;s species.&#8221; Some estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Unfortunately, many species may be threatened with extinction before they’re even formally named — victims of human activities like development and climate change. Some of these species could be food or medicine for humans, but each plays a unique role in Earth’s interconnected web of life. “We’re understanding more and more that every species on the planet has a role, and in one way or another, is linked to our well-being through the part they play in ecosystems,&#8221; said Boris Worm, a marine conservation biologist who co-authored a study that quantifies the number of undescribed species on land and in the ocean. “We can’t protect them … if we don’t know them.&#8221; Atlantic manta ray (Mobula yarae) with a diver off the coast of Mexico. Originally&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rapid urbanization, habitat loss are forcing the snakes out in Dhaka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rapid-urbanization-habitat-loss-are-forcing-the-snakes-out-in-dhaka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rapid-urbanization-habitat-loss-are-forcing-the-snakes-out-in-dhaka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Dec 2025 07:52:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tasmin Era]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/17072414/spectacled-cobra-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311511</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cities, Conservation, Environment, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Reptiles, Snakes, urban ecology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Nov. 1, in a residential area of Bangladesh’s bustling capital city, Dhaka, the NGO Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association rescued two adult Padma Gokhra snakes (monocled cobra, Naja kaouthia) along with seven snakelets and 17 eggs. In October, the NGO had rescued a Khoiya Gokhra snake (spectacled cobra, Naja naja) from a garden in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Nov. 1, in a residential area of Bangladesh’s bustling capital city, Dhaka, the NGO Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association rescued two adult Padma Gokhra snakes (monocled cobra, Naja kaouthia) along with seven snakelets and 17 eggs. In October, the NGO had rescued a Khoiya Gokhra snake (spectacled cobra, Naja naja) from a garden in the city’s Uttara residential area. Meanwhile, according to media reports, the government and private agencies have rescued 351 snakes from various densely populated areas from January to Nov. 1 this year, mostly from Dhaka and its surrounding areas. Consequently, the city’s residents have expressed worry and anxiety over the news of so many snakes being rescued from residential areas recently. According to a recent study, 89 snake species are found in Bangladesh. Of them, 30% are venomous. The study also mentioned that most snakes in Bangladesh are found in forests, wetlands and open areas, including rural homestead gardens, except for an insignificant number that inhabit urban areas. Experts that Mongabay spoke with said they fear that excessive unplanned urbanization is playing a major role in exposing snakes to humans, as the species is losing its habitat due to reduced waterbodies and the loss of shrubs, among other reasons. Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association rescued two adult monocled cobras along with seven snakelets and 17 eggs in November. Image courtesy of Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association. Destruction of habitats Md Sohel Rana, a herpetologist at Bangladesh Forest Department’s Wildlife Centre, Gazipur, told Mongabay, “Reduced waterbodies, deforestation, industrialization, urbanization and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rapid-urbanization-habitat-loss-are-forcing-the-snakes-out-in-dhaka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rapid-urbanization-habitat-loss-are-forcing-the-snakes-out-in-dhaka/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311511</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World&#8217;s smallest snake spotted by scientists in Barbados after 20-year absence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/worlds-smallest-snake-rediscovered-in-barbados-after-20-year-absence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/worlds-smallest-snake-rediscovered-in-barbados-after-20-year-absence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2025 15:57:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/23152655/snake-face-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303064</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Barbados and Caribbean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Rediscovered Species, Reptiles, Snakes, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;I was making a joke and in my head I said, &#8216;I smell a threadsnake,'&#8221; Justin Springer, Caribbean program officer for the NGO Re:wild, recalled. &#8220;I just had a feeling, but I couldn&#8217;t be sure because we turned over a lot of rocks before that and we saw nothing.&#8221; Springer’s intuition proved correct when his [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;I was making a joke and in my head I said, &#8216;I smell a threadsnake,'&#8221; Justin Springer, Caribbean program officer for the NGO Re:wild, recalled. &#8220;I just had a feeling, but I couldn&#8217;t be sure because we turned over a lot of rocks before that and we saw nothing.&#8221; Springer’s intuition proved correct when his colleague, Connor Blades, pried a rock loose from under a tree root. There, in the soil of central Barbados, they found both an earthworm and the world&#8217;s smallest snake. Scientists had been searching for the Barbados threadsnake (Tetracheilostoma carlae) for more than a year. Before this day, the tiny snake, which measures just 7.5-10 centimeters (3-4 inches) long and is about the width of a spaghetti noodle, had not been observed by scientists for 20 years. Barbados threadsnake photographed on a coin in 2005. Image © Blair Hedges, Penn State, via Wikimedia Commons. &#8220;Barbados threadsnakes are blind snakes, so they&#8217;re very cryptic,&#8221; said Blades, a project officer with the Barbados environment ministry, referring to the tendency of blind snakes to spend most of their time underground. &#8220;They&#8217;re quite rare also, it seems. There have only been a handful of confirmed sightings since 1889, so there are not many people who have ever seen it, unfortunately.&#8221; The expedition was conducted in March by the environment ministry and Re:wild as part of the Conserving Barbados&#8217; Endemic Reptiles (CBER) project. On an island where many endemic species have been driven to extinction, finding this rare snake is a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/worlds-smallest-snake-rediscovered-in-barbados-after-20-year-absence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/worlds-smallest-snake-rediscovered-in-barbados-after-20-year-absence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303064</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Exploring India, finding new species: Interview with biologist Zeeshan Mirza</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/exploring-india-finding-new-species-interview-with-biologist-zeeshan-mirza/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/exploring-india-finding-new-species-interview-with-biologist-zeeshan-mirza/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2025 14:57:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/31144211/IMG_8535-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296447</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Himalayas, India, and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Illegal Trade, New Discovery, Rainforests, Snakes, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A green pit viper named after Salazar Slytherin from Harry Potter, an unfamiliar snake found in an Instagram post, and twelve new species of day geckos from a single mountain range are few of the more than 60 new-to-science species found, identified and/or named by Indian biologist Zeeshan Mirza over the past decade. “I work [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A green pit viper named after Salazar Slytherin from Harry Potter, an unfamiliar snake found in an Instagram post, and twelve new species of day geckos from a single mountain range are few of the more than 60 new-to-science species found, identified and/or named by Indian biologist Zeeshan Mirza over the past decade. “I work on multiple taxa, but by far, snakes fascinate me more than any other group of organisms,” Mirza, who is pursuing a PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biology, Germany, where he studies developmental genetics in nematodes, told Mongabay. Mirza’s wildlife journey began in the urban forests near his home in Mumbai. “I was born and brought up in Mumbai, the Western Ghats were close; I did end up conducting extensive fieldwork in the Ghats,” Mirza said. What started as childhood curiosity evolved into systematic scientific expeditions that have expanded our understanding of India’s vast biodiversity. Mirza and his team found the Salazar’s pit viper (Trimeresurus salazar) in the Himalayas. Photo courtesy of Zeeshan A. Mirza The Western Ghats, an ancient mountain range running parallel to India’s western coast, served as a particularly rich hunting ground for Mirza. On one expedition, he found four new tarantula species. This UNESCO World Heritage Site harbors exceptional levels of species found nowhere else on Earth, though many remain undocumented and are threatened by human development. “[Some] species may not even get named before they go extinct,” he said. “One of the major conservation challenges I feel that threaten&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/exploring-india-finding-new-species-interview-with-biologist-zeeshan-mirza/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/exploring-india-finding-new-species-interview-with-biologist-zeeshan-mirza/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296447</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top new species from 2024</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2024 22:47:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/01222118/Image-1-Leopardus-tigrinus-pardinoides-Cuenca-3-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292398</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Australia, Cameroon, Central America, Chile, China, Global, India, Indonesia, Latin America, Malaysia, Mekong Basin, Pacific Ocean, Peru, South America, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Botany, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Plants, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountaintops of Southeast Asia, each new species shows us that even our well-known world contains unexplored chambers of life. This year, in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountaintops of Southeast Asia, each new species shows us that even our well-known world contains unexplored chambers of life. This year, in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo Landscape alone, scientists uncovered 27 new-to-science species, including four new mammals, during a two month expedition. Meanwhile, the Greater Mekong region yielded 234 new species, and scientists from the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new species globally. The ocean depths continued to surprise, with more than 100 potentially new species found on an unexplored underwater mountain off Chile&#8217;s coast. Two new mammal species were found in India this year, including the world’s smallest otter. Scientists estimate only a small fraction of Earth&#8217;s species have been documented, perhaps 20% at best. Even among mammals, the best-known group of animals, researchers think we’ve only found 80% of species.  Most of these hidden species are likely bats, rodents, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Members of Indigenous Awajun communities in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo assist scientists with their research, such as throwing cast nets to capture fish.  68 fish species were collected, including eight that are new to science. Photo courtesy of Trond Larsen/Conservation International. However, while species may be new to Western science, many have been well known to Indigenous peoples and local communities for generations. These communities often maintain sophisticated classification systems and deep ecological&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292398</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh introduces awareness initiatives to curb panic over Russell’s vipers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/bangladesh-introduces-awareness-initiatives-to-curb-the-panic-over-russells-vipers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/bangladesh-introduces-awareness-initiatives-to-curb-the-panic-over-russells-vipers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2024 08:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/14075903/russells-viper-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286101</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Education, Environment, Environmental Law, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Reptiles, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Russell’s viper was long thought to be nearly extinct in Bangladesh, where it is known as chandra bora, until about a decade ago. Wildlife biologists were unaware of the Russell viper&#8217;s (Daboia russelii) prevalence until 2013, even though the snake has been recorded in the region for a century. But its current comeback represents [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Russell’s viper was long thought to be nearly extinct in Bangladesh, where it is known as chandra bora, until about a decade ago. Wildlife biologists were unaware of the Russell viper&#8217;s (Daboia russelii) prevalence until 2013, even though the snake has been recorded in the region for a century. But its current comeback represents a grave danger to the local people&#8217;s lives. The viper is mostly seen in Bangladesh during the rice harvesting season. This year, the incidents of Russell’s vipers&#8217; insurgence and snakebites came to the forefront during the months of May and June, which is the country’s most important rice harvesting season of the Boro crop. Though there is no exact figure of the death toll due to Russell’s vipers&#8217; bites in the country, people are terrified of the snake across the country, especially those who work in agricultural fields. Consequently, when any snake is spotted, locals rush to kill it rather than trying to check if it is venomous or not. A study linked the snake&#8217;s insurgence with the intensified cropping pattern, which increased the number of rats — the snake&#8217;s primary food — in the field. This ensured an advantage that may have helped in the population increase of the snake, but it is hard to pinpoint the precise cause of this population boom in Bangladesh. According to the study, only nine districts — Dinajpur, Chapai Nawabganj, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore, Pabna, Rajbari, Chuadanga and Patuakhali — have recently reported sightings of Russell’s vipers, while earlier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/bangladesh-introduces-awareness-initiatives-to-curb-the-panic-over-russells-vipers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286101</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As climate change shakes up global map of venomous snakes, health risks abound</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/as-climate-change-shakes-up-global-map-of-venomous-snakes-health-risks-abound/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/as-climate-change-shakes-up-global-map-of-venomous-snakes-health-risks-abound/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2024 14:52:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzana Camargo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/05143406/Cobra-jararaca-09-e1720714058559-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285643</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Public Health, Reptiles, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Found in the forests of western sub-Saharan Africa, the West African Gaboon viper is considered one of the most venomous snakes in existence. Despite moving slowly, it can attack suddenly, both forward and sideways. Even a small dose of its venom can be deadly. In a future with higher temperatures, the geographical range of this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Found in the forests of western sub-Saharan Africa, the West African Gaboon viper is considered one of the most venomous snakes in existence. Despite moving slowly, it can attack suddenly, both forward and sideways. Even a small dose of its venom can be deadly. In a future with higher temperatures, the geographical range of this species, Bitis rhinoceros, could expand by 250%. As it migrates into new areas, there’s a growing risk of more people being bitten and an alarming environmental imbalance occurring. The projected displacement of the West African Gaboon viper is part of a study conducted by international researchers led by Pablo Ariel Martinez, a biology professor at the Federal University of Sergipe in Brazil. Using computer models with different climate variations for the coming decades, the group predicted what could happen to 209 species of venomous snakes by 2070. The result of their analysis was published in the medical journal The Lancet Planetary Health. It warns about the potential impacts of this change in the geographical distribution of snakes on public health and biodiversity. A West African Gaboon viper (Bitis rhinoceros). Image by ucumari photography via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) “Climate change affects species distribution because they have physiological tolerances — they can only survive and reproduce under certain climatic conditions,” Martinez says. “If the temperature increases, they can disperse in search of colder climates and migrate to areas further north or south of the planet. Species do not respond to political barriers.” The projections show that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/as-climate-change-shakes-up-global-map-of-venomous-snakes-health-risks-abound/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285643</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Studying snakes without rattling them? There’s now tech for that</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/studying-snakes-without-rattling-them-theres-now-tech-for-that/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/studying-snakes-without-rattling-them-theres-now-tech-for-that/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2024 16:19:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/28161632/rattle-snake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283899</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Baja California, California, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Environment, Herps, Reptiles, Research, Science, Snakes, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Monitoring and keeping track of snakes is a cumbersome task. Jeff Lemm knows the inefficiencies all too well. The herpetologist has been studying red diamond rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber) for years. In the early 2000s, he radio-tagged a few of the pit vipers in a bid to trace their movements. Since snakes don’t have appendages, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Monitoring and keeping track of snakes is a cumbersome task. Jeff Lemm knows the inefficiencies all too well. The herpetologist has been studying red diamond rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber) for years. In the early 2000s, he radio-tagged a few of the pit vipers in a bid to trace their movements. Since snakes don’t have appendages, the telemetry radios had to be surgically implanted, giving rise to time-consuming challenges. “Snakes have to come in and out of anesthesia, and there is a risk of infection,” Lemm, conservation program specialist at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), told Mongabay in a video interview. “You have to time it out so that you get the radios back in time before the battery dies, or else you would lose the snake.” Now, Lemm is working to reinvent how snakes are monitored and studied. He and his team at the SDZWA have collaborated with researchers at San Diego State University on a way to use tiny and noninvasive transmitters and accelerometers to study snakes. The transmitters can be attached to the base of the snake’s rattle, while the specially designed accelerometers are attached near the animal’s neck. “It is a game changer not having to catch the animal and bring it to the vet and wait for it to recover,” Lemm said. “We could do it right there in the field and get the snake back out and moving in half the time.” For years, telemetry radios had to be surgically implanted into the snakes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/studying-snakes-without-rattling-them-theres-now-tech-for-that/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283899</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Small, secretive &#038; highly venomous snake seen for first time in Nepal’s hills</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/small-secretive-highly-venomous-snake-seen-for-first-time-in-nepals-hills/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/small-secretive-highly-venomous-snake-seen-for-first-time-in-nepals-hills/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Feb 2024 06:53:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/01064505/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278412</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Citizen Science, Conservation, Environment, Herps, New Discovery, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU – In July 2022, Tujin Rai, an undergraduate biology student, saw a dead snake outside his home in Dhankuta in Nepal’s eastern hills. He was curious to identify it. Rai, who interns at the Kathmandu-based NGO Nature Conservation and Study Centre, posted the image of the snake on Facebook, where it was spotted by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU – In July 2022, Tujin Rai, an undergraduate biology student, saw a dead snake outside his home in Dhankuta in Nepal’s eastern hills. He was curious to identify it. Rai, who interns at the Kathmandu-based NGO Nature Conservation and Study Centre, posted the image of the snake on Facebook, where it was spotted by veteran herpetologist Karan Bahadur Shah. “Prof. Shah identified the snake as a lesser black krait (Bungarus lividus),” Rai, whose findings were published in the journal Reptiles and Amphibians, recently told Mongabay. “Prof. Shah told me that the snake had so far only been documented in Nepal’s plains,” Rai said, adding that he again encountered a juvenile of the same species on June 15, 2023, around the same location. The global conservation authority IUCN describes the lead-colored snake as “small, secretive, nocturnal and elapid” (having permanently erect fangs at the bottom of the mouth). Conservationists say these are characteristics that people are afraid of and lead to potential conflict with humans, especially as the snake is extremely venomous. A 2011 study documented a case of fatal envenoming caused by a lesser black krait bite in the Bhutanese refugee camp in eastern Nepal. According to the study, a 22-year-old woman, who was bitten by the snake, died after suffering a burning sensation in her body and respiratory distress due to paralysis. Kamal Devkota, a researcher specializing in snakes and not involved in the study, said that now that the snake has been described at higher altitudes, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/small-secretive-highly-venomous-snake-seen-for-first-time-in-nepals-hills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278412</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top species discoveries from 2023</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/photos-top-species-discoveries-from-2023/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/photos-top-species-discoveries-from-2023/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Dec 2023 15:36:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/27150956/chameleon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277110</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Australia, Brunei, Ecuador, Global, India, Japan, Madagascar, Pacific Ocean, Panama, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Botany, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Plants, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists named hundreds of new to science species this year, including an electric blue tarantula, two pygmy squids, a silent frog, and some thumb-sized chameleons. These newly uncovered creatures give us just a glimpse into the immense biodiversity yet to be found across the planet. “I think most people believe that we know most species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists named hundreds of new to science species this year, including an electric blue tarantula, two pygmy squids, a silent frog, and some thumb-sized chameleons. These newly uncovered creatures give us just a glimpse into the immense biodiversity yet to be found across the planet. “I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth … but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth’s species,” Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Mongabay in a March 2021 interview. Experts estimate only 10-20% of Earth&#8217;s species have been documented by Western science. This year, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 153 new plant, animal and fungi species. Since 2020 alone, researchers have classified 100,000 new plant and fungus species. However, at this pace, researchers say documenting all life could take centuries, and many species may go extinct before they’re even named. More than a million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, suggests the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as vulnerable or critically endangered with extinction as soon as they’re found. “There is something immensely unethical and troubling about humans driving species extinct without ever even having appreciated their existence and given them consideration,” Walter Jetz, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, told Mongabay, It’s important to note that although a species may be newly described by science, Indigenous people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/photos-top-species-discoveries-from-2023/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277110</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For Vietnam’s rare reptiles, lack of captive populations may spell doom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/for-vietnams-rare-reptiles-lack-of-captive-populations-may-spell-doom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/for-vietnams-rare-reptiles-lack-of-captive-populations-may-spell-doom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2023 06:42:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/21062217/Endangered-psychedelic-rock-gecko-Cnemaspis-psychedelica-by-Thomas-Ziegler-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273490</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Extinction, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat Loss, Herps, Karst, Lizards, Pet Trade, Reintroductions, Reptiles, Snakes, Traditional Medicine, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is the meeting point of two incredibly biodiverse ecoregions, where the tropical ecosystems of Southeast Asia merge seamlessly with the temperate biomes of mainland Asia. Across a terrain of mountain ranges, vast plains and limestone cliffs and caves, animals and plants have evolved into a rich diversity of forms. But more needs to be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is the meeting point of two incredibly biodiverse ecoregions, where the tropical ecosystems of Southeast Asia merge seamlessly with the temperate biomes of mainland Asia. Across a terrain of mountain ranges, vast plains and limestone cliffs and caves, animals and plants have evolved into a rich diversity of forms. But more needs to be done to protect key species groups, such as reptiles, from extinction, according to a new study. Researchers from Vietnam and Germany examining the status, threats and conservation priorities of Vietnam&#8217;s impressive total of 484 known reptile species found that many are excruciatingly rare and understudied and that most face serious threats from habitat loss and overharvesting for traditional medicine, the pet trade and human consumption. In their findings, published in Nature Conservation, the team provide a baseline assessment of the health of Vietnam’s reptiles, identifying a list of the country’s top 50 most threatened reptiles to guide future research and conservation efforts. They also earmark the country’s central Annamite Mountains range as the most important hotspot of reptile diversity in the country, home to 32 species found nowhere else on Earth. “Vietnam belongs to the global biodiversity hotspots, with a high number of species being discovered every year,” study co-author Thomas Ziegler, coordinator of biodiversity and nature conservation projects for Vietnam and Laos at Cologne Zoological Garden in Germany, told Mongabay in an email. “Our work group has described almost 90 new species of reptiles from Vietnam in the past two decades alone.” Mountainous, remote&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/for-vietnams-rare-reptiles-lack-of-captive-populations-may-spell-doom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273490</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>It had to be a snake: New species from Peru named after Harrison Ford</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/it-had-to-be-a-snake-new-species-from-peru-named-after-harrison-ford/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/it-had-to-be-a-snake-new-species-from-peru-named-after-harrison-ford/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2023 15:40:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/29152554/harrison-ford-snake-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272604</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Habitat Degradation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, New Discovery, Plants, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Remember Indiana Jones’ famous line &#8220;Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?&#8221; in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark? That iconic moment has taken on a new twist as the actor behind the adventurous archaeologist, Harrison Ford, has become the namesake of a newly described snake species. In the forests of Otishi National [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Remember Indiana Jones’ famous line &#8220;Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?&#8221; in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark? That iconic moment has taken on a new twist as the actor behind the adventurous archaeologist, Harrison Ford, has become the namesake of a newly described snake species. In the forests of Otishi National Park in Peru, scientists found a 40-centimeter (16-inch) snake with a unique appearance: pale yellowish-brown adorned with scattered black blotches. Its distinguishing features include a black belly and a vertical streak over its copper-colored eye. The scientists identified this previously unknown snake species using advanced genetic sequencing techniques. The snake species, described in a new paper as Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, lives in high-elevation wetlands in the southern regions of Peru. The name choice pays homage to Ford, who not only portrayed Indiana Jones and Hans Solo but is also a committed advocate for nature conservation. Ford holds the position of vice chair on the board of directors for the nonprofit organization Conservation International. The specimen was found and described by Edgar Lehr of Illinois Wesleyan University, along with colleagues Juan Cusi, Maura Fernandez and Ricardo Vera from the Museum of Natural History at Peru’s National University of San Marcos, and Alessandro Catenazzi of Florida International University. Naming species after celebrities is controversial, but Lehr said it could help bring attention to how many plants and animals are unknown to science, hopefully attracting more research funding. He said it&#8217;s important to document new species so we can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/it-had-to-be-a-snake-new-species-from-peru-named-after-harrison-ford/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-272604</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘What we need to protect and why’: 20-year Amazon research hints at fate of tropics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2023 14:44:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/20142420/7.-Andean-motmot-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271176</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Andes, Latin America, Peru, South America, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, carbon, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forests, Frogs, Migration, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, Snakes, Tipping points, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Top tropical ecologists have spent two decades studying the impact of climate change on a single transect in the Peruvian Andes, an area unparalleled in its biodiversity. They find that every species studied there is struggling against warming temperatures.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PILLCOPATA, Peru — The trail through the lowland rainforest was dark and muddy. A half-dozen headlamps provided darting pools of light. An occasional creek bisected the path. Excellent conditions for frog spotting. Alessandro Catenazzi, a conservation biologist at Florida International University and a leading herpetologist, was joined on this nighttime excursion by his graduate students and me. Seeing only leaf litter and underbrush where I shone my lamp, Catenazzi unfailingly spied tiny amphibians. Aside from a gorgeous poison dart frog, most were as yet unnamed species. But then … “This is a map frog,” Catenazzi said, gently placing it in my open palm; it tucked calmly there, barely the width of two fingers. “Its mottled skin resembles a map,” he added. The frog tensed and leapt from my hand into the darkness, a fitting metaphor for the scientist’s findings. Earlier in the day, Catenazzi had delivered a grim presentation on surging frog mortality to about 40 scientists at Manu Biological Stationwhere he’s been conducting research and observing changes to the southern Peruvian Amazon for decades. The group gathered in this remote jungle outpost had come from Europe, Canada, the U.S., U.K. and Latin America for the 20th anniversary meeting of the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group (ABERG). Alessandro Catenazzi, a leading herpetologist at Florida International University in Miami, hunts frogs with his graduate students in the lowland rainforest of the Manu Biological Station in early June. Regarding frogs at cloud forest elevations, he said, &#8220;We are witnessing a collapse&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271176</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rattlesnakes can calm down their friends, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/rattlesnakes-can-calm-down-their-friends-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/rattlesnakes-can-calm-down-their-friends-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jul 2023 17:09:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/12165857/BLM_Rattler-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270848</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Southwest United States and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Charismatic Animals, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If you stress out a rattlesnake, make sure it has a friend around. Much like humans, stressed snakes are calmed by a companion&#8217;s presence, according to new research. Stress can lead to increased hormone production, resulting in changes in the nervous system, immune response and behavior. Certain animals, like humans, can regulate their stress response [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If you stress out a rattlesnake, make sure it has a friend around. Much like humans, stressed snakes are calmed by a companion&#8217;s presence, according to new research. Stress can lead to increased hormone production, resulting in changes in the nervous system, immune response and behavior. Certain animals, like humans, can regulate their stress response when in the company of another animal of their species, which is referred to as social buffering. &#8220;We showed that when two snakes were together and experienced a stressful situation, they could buffer each other&#8217;s stress response, much like what happens to humans when they endure a stressful event together,&#8221; said Chelsea Martin, a Ph.D. student at Loma Linda University and first author of the study published in Frontiers in Ethology. Snakes can display complex social behavior, but the concept of social buffering in reptiles has yet to be extensively studied. &#8220;This dampening of the stress response has not been reported previously in any reptile species,&#8221; Martin said. The scientists examined how social buffering affected 25 wild Southern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus helleri), also known as black diamond rattlesnakes, in three different scenarios: when the snakes were alone, in the presence of a same-sex companion, and in the presence of a rope as an inanimate control object. The researchers used heart rate as a dependable indicator of acute stress levels and social buffering. They fitted electrodes near the snakes’ hearts and connected the sensors to a heart rate monitor. They then placed the snakes in a dark&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/rattlesnakes-can-calm-down-their-friends-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270848</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Resurgence of deadly Russell’s viper prompts Bangladesh to develop antivenom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/resurgence-of-deadly-russells-viper-prompts-bangladesh-to-develop-antivenom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/resurgence-of-deadly-russells-viper-prompts-bangladesh-to-develop-antivenom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2023 13:43:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/26133440/viper-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267897</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Reptiles, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the deadliest snakes on the Indian subcontinent is growing increasingly common in Bangladesh, spurring questions about the country’s preparedness to deal with venomous snakes in general. Russell&#8217;s viper (Daboia russelii) is responsible for nearly half of snakebites in neighboring India, but in Bangladesh, where it’s known as chandra bora, it was thought to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the deadliest snakes on the Indian subcontinent is growing increasingly common in Bangladesh, spurring questions about the country’s preparedness to deal with venomous snakes in general. Russell&#8217;s viper (Daboia russelii) is responsible for nearly half of snakebites in neighboring India, but in Bangladesh, where it’s known as chandra bora, it was thought to be an exceedingly rare species for more than a century. That changed in 2013, however, when a flurry of snakebite cases, many of them fatal, began to be reported, with most of those killed farmers working in their fields. A 2018 study recorded 20 deaths due to Russell’s viper bites between 2013 and 2016, and identified reports of bites from this species in 17 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. It attributed the snake’s “booming” population to improvements in irrigation systems, which allowed farmers to cultivate crops on their fields throughout the year, instead of only for part of the year as previously. That means that rats, the viper’s prey of choice, are also present in the fields year-round, where they feed on the crops. This in turn allows the vipers more opportunities for reproduction and population growth, according to study co-author Md. Farid Ahsan, a professor at the University of Chittagong’s Department of Zoology. Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) is responsible for nearly half of snakebites in neighboring India. Image courtesy of Venom Research Centre, Bangladesh. Experts also point to altered land use as another factor behind the resurgence of Russell’s vipers, especially in the snakebite hotspots&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/resurgence-of-deadly-russells-viper-prompts-bangladesh-to-develop-antivenom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267897</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Red coral kukri sightings in Bangladesh prompt call to save rare snake habitat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/red-coral-kukri-sightings-in-bangladesh-prompt-call-to-save-rare-snake-habitat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/red-coral-kukri-sightings-in-bangladesh-prompt-call-to-save-rare-snake-habitat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2023 13:04:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rafiqul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/24123401/4-red-coral-kukri-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267811</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Reptiles, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 21, as a landlord in Bangladesh&#8217;s northern district of Panchagarh was getting a pond dug, clearing a bamboo bush with a excavator, two orange snakes came slithering out from the disturbed earth. Locals of Sardarpara area of Atwari Upazila killed the two snakes immediately, thinking they might be dangerous. But these snakes, later [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 21, as a landlord in Bangladesh&#8217;s northern district of Panchagarh was getting a pond dug, clearing a bamboo bush with a excavator, two orange snakes came slithering out from the disturbed earth. Locals of Sardarpara area of Atwari Upazila killed the two snakes immediately, thinking they might be dangerous. But these snakes, later identified as red coral kukri, are harmless and nonvenomous. This was a rare sighting of this species here. Later, the excavator operator noticed more such snakes coming out from underneath. He asked the locals not to kill those, instead calling a local snake rescuer, Shahidul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Wildlife and Snake Rescue Team. He rushed to the spot and rescued six coral kukri snakelets and their mother. Afterward, Shahidul, locally known as a friend of snakes, released them into the wild. The rare snake was first spotted in Lakhimpur Kheri area of Uttar Pradesh state in India in 1936. Researchers described with the scientific name Oligodon kheriensis. The term kukri in the snake&#8217;s common name comes from the kukri, or curved knife, of the Gorkhas, as its teeth are curved like the blade. But, in Bangladesh, the red coral kukri was first found less than only three years ago, on Oct. 27, 2020, when locals in Boda Upazila in Panchagarh were digging soil at a bamboo patch. Since then, the species has often been spotted in Panchagarh and Thakurgaon districts, both close to the Himalayan belt. “I have rescued red coral kukri snakes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/red-coral-kukri-sightings-in-bangladesh-prompt-call-to-save-rare-snake-habitat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267811</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists make ‘rare’ new identification of snake family: Micrelapidae</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-make-rare-new-identification-of-snake-family-micrelapidae/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-make-rare-new-identification-of-snake-family-micrelapidae/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2023 09:15:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mactilda Mbenywe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/21075655/Micrelaps-vaillanti_KomboyoTsavo-West-NP_By-PK-Malonza-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267719</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, East Africa, and Middle East]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Evolution, Fellows, Herps, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, Species, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a rare turn of events, scientists have classified a new family of snakes. Just three known species belong to the newly identified Micrelapidae family. Scientists say these reptiles are thought to have slithered off the snake evolutionary tree 50 million years ago. They were previously considered part of the largest snake family, Colubridae, but [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a rare turn of events, scientists have classified a new family of snakes. Just three known species belong to the newly identified Micrelapidae family. Scientists say these reptiles are thought to have slithered off the snake evolutionary tree 50 million years ago. They were previously considered part of the largest snake family, Colubridae, but DNA tests in recent years showed otherwise. The snakes have slender, cylindrical bodies with smooth scales in regular rows and a short, pointed tail. They also feature small heads that blend with the neck, and often, black and yellow rings. The size of these snakes also varies depending on the species, but most are relatively small, ranging from about 15-60 cm (6-23 inches) in length. &#8220;Today we tend to assume that most large groups of animals, such as families, are already known to science, but sometimes we still encounter surprises, and this is what happened with Micrelapid snakes,&#8221; Professor Shai Meiri of Tel Aviv University&#8217;s School of Zoology says in a news release. Tel Aviv University researchers hailed these findings as a rare advance in modern science. They were part of a multinational team from Finland, the United States, Belgium, Madagascar, Hong Kong and Israel, including Meiri, who identified the Micrelapidae family. Their findings were published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution in March. &#8220;As far as we know the new family includes only three species, one in Israel and neighboring countries, and two in East Africa,&#8221; Tel Aviv University scientists say in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-make-rare-new-identification-of-snake-family-micrelapidae/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-make-rare-new-identification-of-snake-family-micrelapidae/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267719</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Newly described DiCaprio’s snake and others threatened by mining in Ecuador and Panama</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/newly-described-dicaprios-snake-and-others-threatened-by-mining-in-ecuador-and-panama/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/newly-described-dicaprios-snake-and-others-threatened-by-mining-in-ecuador-and-panama/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2023 20:35:17 +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/20/2023/02/23193816/Screen-Shot-2023-02-23-at-11.37.40-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265913</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Latin America, Panama, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Gold Mining, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Illegal Mining, Mining, New Discovery, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Snakes, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With its blood-red eyes and red, black and yellow scales, the Marley’s Snail-eating snake looks like it could end your life with a bite. But this delicate snake, Sibon marleyae, is harmless, as are the four other snail-eating snake species recently found in Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia. Researchers described these five new-to-science snakes from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With its blood-red eyes and red, black and yellow scales, the Marley’s Snail-eating snake looks like it could end your life with a bite. But this delicate snake, Sibon marleyae, is harmless, as are the four other snail-eating snake species recently found in Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia. Researchers described these five new-to-science snakes from the slopes of the upper Amazon Rainforest and the Chocó-Darién forests. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, conservationist Brian Sheth, and the NGO Nature and Culture International (NCI) chose the names for three of the new species to honor loved ones and to raise awareness about the threats these snakes face due to mining and deforestation. The descriptions of the new snakes are published in the journal ZooKeys. DiCaprio’s snail-eating snake (Sibon irmelindicaprioae) is found in Panama and Colombia and was named in honor of actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother, Irmelin. When threatened, these small snakes hide their head and produce a musky odor to repel predators. Image courtesy of Jose Vieira. Snail-eating snakes, as their name implies, prey on the snails and slugs that thrive along streams and in other soggy places. These snakes are arboreal, meaning they stick to the trees and can’t survive in areas without vegetation. The upper Amazon in Ecuador and Colombia and the Chocó-Darién rainforest of Panama, where the snakes were found, host a cornucopia of diversity — as well as some of the biggest deposits of gold and copper in the world. This is bad news for the tree-dwelling snakes. Copper and gold are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/newly-described-dicaprios-snake-and-others-threatened-by-mining-in-ecuador-and-panama/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265913</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 15 species discoveries from 2022 (Photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2022 17:52:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/11184718/FISHCirrhilabrus-finifenmaa_4%C2%A9-Yi-Kai-Tea-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264198</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Cameroon, Central America, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Global, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Latin America, Madagascar, Maldives, Pacific Ocean, Panama, Peru, South America, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Botany, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Owls, Plants, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Shipping, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A resplendent rainbow fish, a frog that looks like chocolate, a Thai tarantula,  an anemone that rides on a back of a hermit crab, and the world&#8217;s largest waterlily are among the new species named by science in 2022. In this well-trodden world, finding a new species is a glimpse of the uncharted riches of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A resplendent rainbow fish, a frog that looks like chocolate, a Thai tarantula,  an anemone that rides on a back of a hermit crab, and the world&#8217;s largest waterlily are among the new species named by science in 2022. In this well-trodden world, finding a new species is a glimpse of the uncharted riches of biodiversity still hidden around the globe. Scientists estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Even among the most well-known group of animals, mammals, scientists think we have only found 80% of species. Most of these hidden species are likely bats, rodents, shrews, moles, and hedgehogs. “Based on our analysis, a conservative estimate would be that there are hundreds of species of mammals worldwide that have yet to be identified,” Bryan Carstens, a professor at The Ohio State University, told Mongabay. This year, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences named 146 new species, including “44 lizards, 30 ants, 14 sea slugs, 14 flowering plants, 13 sea stars, seven fishes, four beetles, four sharks, three moths, three worms, two scorpions, two spiders, two lichens, one toad, one clam, one aphid, and one sea biscuit.” Around 2,000 new species of plants and fungi are found each year, according to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). These are potential sources of food, medicines, and other solutions. Unfortunately, many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction. “There is something immensely unethical and troubling&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264198</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal conservationists work to overturn ‘all snakes are venomous’ mindset</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/nepal-conservationists-work-to-overturn-all-snakes-are-venomous-mindset/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/nepal-conservationists-work-to-overturn-all-snakes-are-venomous-mindset/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2022 06:53:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/15063326/snakes-in-nepal-8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257239</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Human-wildlife Conflict, Reptiles, Snakes, Wildlife, Wildlife Rescues, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Kamal Devkota, who campaigns for snake conservation in Nepal, doesn&#8217;t always have an easy time convincing people of his cause. On one occasion, he recalled, as part of his door-to-door awareness campaign, he visited a family who had lost a member to a snake bite. &#8220;It was a difficult situation for us,&#8221; Devkota [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Kamal Devkota, who campaigns for snake conservation in Nepal, doesn&#8217;t always have an easy time convincing people of his cause. On one occasion, he recalled, as part of his door-to-door awareness campaign, he visited a family who had lost a member to a snake bite. &#8220;It was a difficult situation for us,&#8221; Devkota said. &#8220;They asked us why they should save the snakes that killed their family member.&#8221; Campaigners such as Devkota, vice-president of Nepal Toxinology Association, face a tough time in Nepal, especially during the monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons, when snakes venture out in search of food. That&#8217;s also the period when farmers head to the fields to sow corn and rice, especially in Nepal&#8217;s plains. A king cobra rescue. Image courtesy of Kamal Devkota. A recent study published in The Lancet Global Health found that 251 people out of 100,000 living in Nepal&#8217;s plains are bitten by snakes every year, around half of whom (49%) suffer from envenoming. About 8% of those bitten die, which means almost every neighborhood in the plains has lost someone to snakebite. But research into snakes in the country is limited, mainly due to a lack of funding, with conservation efforts largely focused on iconic megafauna such as Bengal tigers (Panther tigris tigris) and greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis). Of the 70-odd species of snakes found in Nepal, around 20, including various cobras (Naja spp.) and kraits (Bungarus spp.), are believed to be venomous. But public awareness about which species present&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/nepal-conservationists-work-to-overturn-all-snakes-are-venomous-mindset/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/nepal-conservationists-work-to-overturn-all-snakes-are-venomous-mindset/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257239</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study casts doubt on sustainability of regulated blood python snakeskin trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/study-casts-doubt-on-sustainability-of-regulated-blood-python-snakeskin-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/study-casts-doubt-on-sustainability-of-regulated-blood-python-snakeskin-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2022 14:47:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/02093229/23154642954_5770fcb01b_c-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256710</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangka Belitung, Indonesia, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Forests, Hunting, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Natural Resources, Pet Trade, Reptiles, Snakes, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — If you own a luxury fashion item made with snakeskin, there’s a good chance it came from a blood python in Indonesia, where the species isn’t considered threatened. But that’s likely not a real reflection of the snake’s status, with a new study showing there’s no evidence that the trade in the species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — If you own a luxury fashion item made with snakeskin, there’s a good chance it came from a blood python in Indonesia, where the species isn’t considered threatened. But that’s likely not a real reflection of the snake’s status, with a new study showing there’s no evidence that the trade in the species is sustainable. A center for the trade in blood pythons (Python brongersmai) is the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, where industrial-scale slaughterhouses kill and skin tens of thousands of the snakes annually, much of it to meet international demand. The practice is regulated by law in Indonesia, and exports are governed by CITES, the convention on the international wildlife trade. But little about the whole industry appears to be sustainable, or even legal, the study suggests. “The blood python trade, and specifically their trade in North Sumatra, was interesting,” study author Vincent Nijman, a professor of anthropology at Oxford Brookes University in the U.K., told Mongabay in an email. “[T]here were several research groups that, over the years, had visited the same slaughterhouses, recorded what was there, measured the same things (number of snakes, length, sex, etc.), and yet came to radical different conclusions” — some finding that the trade was sustainable, others hinting at an overharvest, and others calling it unsustainable. “In addition to that there was good data on their international trade, on their harvest quotas and on their export, so it was just a matter of bringing it all together,” Nijman said.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/study-casts-doubt-on-sustainability-of-regulated-blood-python-snakeskin-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/study-casts-doubt-on-sustainability-of-regulated-blood-python-snakeskin-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256710</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 15 species discoveries from 2021 (Photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Dec 2021 18:29:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/21182636/Screen-Shot-2021-12-21-at-12.26.13-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250851</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Ecuador, Global, Guiana Shield, India, Latin America, South America, Venezuela, West Africa, and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Ants, Bats, Biodiversity, Birding, Botany, Carnivores, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Orchids, Owls, Plants, Plastic, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Shipping, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With humans sending probes to Mars and the sun, one might think we’ve already explored the full extent of our own planet. But scientists say we’ve only begun to find and describe the riches here on Earth. “I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth … but in the best-case scenario, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With humans sending probes to Mars and the sun, one might think we’ve already explored the full extent of our own planet. But scientists say we’ve only begun to find and describe the riches here on Earth. “I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth … but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth’s species,” Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Mongabay in a March 2021 interview.  Moura is the co-creator of a study that maps out places in the world likely to hold the highest number of species unknown to science. As it turns out, there are a lot. This year, Mongabay reported on newly described species from nearly every continent, including a fuzzy orange bat from West Africa, tiny screech owls from Brazil, an acrobatic North American skunk, a snake from the Himalayas (found on Instagram), a new whale species in the Gulf of Mexico, an Ecuadoran ant whose name broke the gender binary, and an Australian “killer tobacco.” Map showing the portion of undiscovered species worldwide. Image by Mario R. Moura. (Moura and Jetz 2021) “Every year, as scientists explore the world’s ecosystems, search herbaria and fungaria, sequence organisms’ DNA and, increasingly, browse social media, they come across species of plants and fungi that have not been scientifically described,” says the “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020” report, released by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. However, though a species may be new&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250851</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Himalayan snake found via Instagram</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/new-himalayan-snake-found-via-instagram/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/new-himalayan-snake-found-via-instagram/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Nov 2021 20:26:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/18185407/Screen-Shot-2021-11-18-at-10.53.46-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249634</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Mountains, New Discovery, Snakes, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have found a snake species never before described by science — on Instagram! During the COVID-19 lockdowns in India, Virendar Bhardwaj, a master’s student at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, was home in Chamba, a six-hour drive away at the foot of the Himalayas. While exploring his own backyard, Bhardwaj began photographing the snakes, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have found a snake species never before described by science — on Instagram! During the COVID-19 lockdowns in India, Virendar Bhardwaj, a master’s student at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, was home in Chamba, a six-hour drive away at the foot of the Himalayas. While exploring his own backyard, Bhardwaj began photographing the snakes, lizards, frogs and insects around his house and uploading those photos to Instagram. In one of these posts, uploaded on June 5, 2020, Zeeshan A. Mirza, a herpetologist from the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru, in southern India, noticed an unfamiliar snake. The snake belonged to a group commonly called kukri snakes, so-called for their teeth which are curved like a kukri, or Nepali dagger. But this specimen didn’t match the common kukri snake of the region. Virendar Bhardwaj uploaded this photo of a snake in his backyard in India. It was later found to be an undescribed species. Screenshot from Instagram Photo by Virendar Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj was able to locate two of the snakes, enough for the team, which included Mirza and Harshil Patel of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat, western India, to begin the identification process. The work was put on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions, which made visiting labs and natural history museums difficult. But once the labs opened back up in early 2021, molecular data for the species confirmed it was indeed different from the common kukri snake. Morphological data from the literature, as well as computerized tomography&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/new-himalayan-snake-found-via-instagram/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/new-himalayan-snake-found-via-instagram/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For sea snakes, underwater sex is a washout more often than not</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/for-sea-snakes-underwater-sex-is-a-washout-more-often-than-not/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/for-sea-snakes-underwater-sex-is-a-washout-more-often-than-not/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2021 09:46:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jansen Baier]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/05090703/sea-snake-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=245567</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Fellows, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While watching underwater video of a male turtleheaded sea snake attempting to court a female, Jenna Crowe-Riddell noticed something shocking but not uncommon: the male got lost. After pursuing the female sea snake for several minutes along a reef off the coast of Australia, the male ended up about a meter (3 feet) away from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While watching underwater video of a male turtleheaded sea snake attempting to court a female, Jenna Crowe-Riddell noticed something shocking but not uncommon: the male got lost. After pursuing the female sea snake for several minutes along a reef off the coast of Australia, the male ended up about a meter (3 feet) away from the female. Suddenly, he had no clue where the female was located. For the next 10 minutes, Crowe-Riddell, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, watched as the male swam in circles, before ultimately giving up and losing the female entirely. “How do these snakes even find each other underwater? And once they do, how do they stay in contact?” Crowe-Riddell asked, wondering how these descendants of land snakes adapted to the challenges of mating underwater. A male turtle-headed sea snake begins courting efforts with a female. Image courtesy of Claire Goiran. Crowe-Riddell may have found an answer, or potentially several, outlined in a study published in June in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. In the study, she identifies multiple sexually dimorphic features — attributes exhibited in only one sex of the species — of the turtleheaded sea snake (Emydocephalus annulatus) that she hypothesizes stem from the evolutionary pressures of underwater mating. Understanding what makes underwater mating so difficult for these sea snakes begins with their evolutionary ancestor: the land snake. To locate each other above ground, snakes primarily use vision. But this becomes blurry underwater. A snake’s tongue, used for its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/for-sea-snakes-underwater-sex-is-a-washout-more-often-than-not/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-245567</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reptile traffickers trawl scientific literature, target newly described species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/reptile-traffickers-trawl-scientific-literature-target-newly-described-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/reptile-traffickers-trawl-scientific-literature-target-newly-described-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2021 20:09:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pavel Toropov]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/05/26192205/1-banner-image-768x447.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243039</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Animals]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, European Union, Germany, Global, Iran, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat Loss, Herps, Hunting, Illegal Trade, Lizards, Mass Extinction, Over-hunting, Overconsumption, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Turtles, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Within months of newly discovered species of snakes, geckos and turtles being described (along with their locations) by scientists, traders find and harvest the animals for sale on the Internet.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“What happens when a new species of gecko is discovered? Two Germans grab their suitcases and get on a plane,” says Sandra Altherr, telling an in-house joke. Altherr is a co-founder of Pro Wildlife, a conservation NGO in Germany. In the joke, the anonymous men with suitcases are reptile traders. Their objective is to get hold of the new species as quickly as possible and sell it to collectors. A single lizard, turtle or snake can fetch hundreds, even thousands of dollars. How do the traders know where to go? And why are Germans the butt of the joke? “Traders follow scientific literature, scanning it systematically, looking for new species,” says Altherr. A long-standing scientific convention helps their search: journals not only require a description of each new species found, but typically include the location where it was discovered. In addition, few know that Germany is a superpower in the reptile trade. “We have had the tradition of reptile keeping since the start of the nineteenth century,” explains Altherr. “The problem became huge over the last 2 or 3 decades. With technology and globalization, nature became available and accessible, and the Internet helps traders to get organized, to get in touch.” Mitchell&#8217;s rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchelii) from the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico on sale at Terraristika, the world’s largest reptile fair held in Hamm, Germany. An incredible variety of reptile species is on sale at Terraristika where reptile collectors often come to pick up orders they made online. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/reptile-traffickers-trawl-scientific-literature-target-newly-described-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/reptile-traffickers-trawl-scientific-literature-target-newly-described-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-243039</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deadly new snake named after mythical Chinese goddess of healing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/deadly-new-snake-named-after-mythical-chinese-goddess-of-healing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/deadly-new-snake-named-after-mythical-chinese-goddess-of-healing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2021 13:13:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/21124707/whitesnake-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=241875</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China and Myanmar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Herps, Snakes, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have described a new species of venomous snake, from one of the deadliest and most medically significant groups of snakes in Asia. The new reptile species, the Suzhen&#8217;s krait (Bungarus suzhenae), was previously grouped together with the many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus). However, after careful examination of the features and mitochondrial DNA sequence data from snake [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have described a new species of venomous snake, from one of the deadliest and most medically significant groups of snakes in Asia. The new reptile species, the Suzhen&#8217;s krait (Bungarus suzhenae), was previously grouped together with the many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus). However, after careful examination of the features and mitochondrial DNA sequence data from snake specimens collected between 2016 and 2019 from Yunnan province, China, researchers decided there were enough differences to warrant a new species. The findings are published in the journal ZooKeys. The new krait species, Bungarus suzhenae. Photo by Dr. Li Ding (CC-BY 4.0). An adult female Suzhen&#8217;s krait (Bungarus suzhenae). Photo from Chen et al 2021. The Suzhen&#8217;s kraits are found in rice fields and streams in monsoon forests at elevations from 800 to 1,560 meters (2,600 to 5,100 feet) above sea level in southwestern China and northern Myanmar. A distinct number of bands, variations in its teeth, and the shape of its hemipenes, or male reproductive organ, distinguish it from other members of the krait family. Understanding the differences between lethal snakes provides essential information for antivenin development and proper snakebite treatment, the authors say. Researchers believe it was this species of snake that killed famed herpetologist Joseph B. Slowinski during a 2001 expedition in northern Myanmar. &#8220;Three species of the black-and-white banded kraits from China were previously put under the same name — many-banded krait, which would hinder appropriate medical treatment,&#8221; the authors said in a statement. &#8220;It is very dangerous,&#8221; Gernot Vogel of the Society&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/deadly-new-snake-named-after-mythical-chinese-goddess-of-healing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/deadly-new-snake-named-after-mythical-chinese-goddess-of-healing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-241875</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Skin in the game? Reptile leather trade embroils conservation authority</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/skin-in-the-game-reptile-leather-trade-embroils-conservation-authority/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/skin-in-the-game-reptile-leather-trade-embroils-conservation-authority/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Apr 2021 14:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/19133711/AlligatorFarm_LA_USA_JMcArthur_20100516-0297-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=241732</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Indonesia, United States, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Intelligence, Animal Welfare, Animals, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Ethics, Herps, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, Species, Sustainability, Trade, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Shoes, watches, wallets and bags — anything made from exotic reptile skins — were plucked from the shelves in Selfridges, a high-end department store in the U.K., in February 2019. The move, according to the company, was motivated by a desire to “improve supply chain transparency and implement high standards of animal welfare” at a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Shoes, watches, wallets and bags — anything made from exotic reptile skins — were plucked from the shelves in Selfridges, a high-end department store in the U.K., in February 2019. The move, according to the company, was motivated by a desire to “improve supply chain transparency and implement high standards of animal welfare” at a time when customers were demanding humane alternatives to animal skin products. Now, in place of reptile leather, the store sells boots made from apple leather, and has launched a line of products using vegan wildflower down, grape leather and eucalyptus and seaweed fiber. In 2005, Selfridges also banned products made from fur. “The challenge of achieving transparency, particularly in python supply chains, presents a significant risk of inhumane practices in both the keeping and culling of animals,” Daniella Vega, Selfridge’s director of sustainability, tells Mongabay in an emailed statement. “Inhumane animal husbandry practices contravene Selfridges’ Ethical Trade Requirements.” Selfridges isn’t the only store to make big changes like this. In September 2020, luxury department store chain Nordstrom announced that it would phase out exotic skins by the end 2021. Fashion giants such as Chanel, Mulberry, Victoria Beckham, and Tommy Hilifiger, have also given reptile skins the boot. While reptile skin bans are being hailed a positive move for wildlife by some conservationists and animal welfare advocates, including renowned primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, others say that stripping exotic skins away from the fashion industry is actually doing more harm than good. In this counterargument, proponents&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/skin-in-the-game-reptile-leather-trade-embroils-conservation-authority/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-241732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Race against time’: Saving the snakes and lizards of Brazil’s Cerrado</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/race-against-time-saving-the-snakes-and-lizards-of-brazils-cerrado/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/race-against-time-saving-the-snakes-and-lizards-of-brazils-cerrado/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Feb 2021 18:12:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/02172229/4-BANNER-IMAGE-UNDESCRIBED-Apostolepis-768x456.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239185</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Cattle, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Farming, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Herps, Lizards, Mass Extinction, Plantations, Ranching, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Science, Snakes, Solutions, Soy, Species Discovery, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The native vegetation of Brazil’s vast savanna is rapidly being replaced by plantations and pastures. At risk along with the biome’s grasslands are hundreds of endemic, uniquely adapted reptile species. ]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Stenocercus canastra, a newly discovered lizard species found in Serra da Canastra National Park by Cristiano Nogueira. Image by Cristiano Nogueira. When Cristiano Nogueira first spied the creature hiding in an underground burrow, he thought he had found a “lost species.” Stenocercus tricristatus, a diminutive, distinctively-spotted, prehistoric-looking lizard, hadn’t been seen for 175 years, and was known to science by just a single specimen kept in a drawer at the Paris Museum of Natural History. An infamous Danish expat collector, M. Claussen, had collected it somewhere in central Brazil back then, but no one knew exactly where. Nogueira, a herpetologist and biogeographer, had traveled to Serra da Canastra National Park in Brazil’s southeastern Cerrado savanna just after a fire burned through: it’s the best time to find animals that are normally concealed by grasses in this rocky, highlands landscape. Upon closer study back in the lab, he and his colleagues determined the animal’s true identity. “It wasn’t the lost species,” Nogueira said. “This beautiful spiny lizard, with two horns on top of its head, was a new species.” That was in 2019. Remarkably, two decades into the 21st century, scientists are still discovering previously unknown species across central Brazil’s Cerrado biome. In 2000, when Nogueira first proposed field research there as a graduate student, his professors told him he wouldn’t find much. “That was a vision based on poor data and poor sampling,” he said. “It was considered a wasteland.” Ancient plateau and savanna in the western portion of Bahia state. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/race-against-time-saving-the-snakes-and-lizards-of-brazils-cerrado/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239185</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 15 species discoveries from 2020 (Photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-top-15-species-discoveries-from-2020/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-top-15-species-discoveries-from-2020/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2020 12:13:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/27225207/SD_Langur.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238311</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Frogs, Fungi, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Lemurs, Orchids, Salamanders, Snakes, Species Discovery, Spiders, Wildlife, and Year-end review]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In this well-trodden world, the discovery of a species new to science is an exciting event, a glimmer of the uncharted riches of biodiversity still hidden around the globe. “Every year, as scientists explore the world’s ecosystems, search herbaria and fungaria, sequence organisms’ DNA and, increasingly, browse social media, they come across species of plants [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In this well-trodden world, the discovery of a species new to science is an exciting event, a glimmer of the uncharted riches of biodiversity still hidden around the globe. “Every year, as scientists explore the world’s ecosystems, search herbaria and fungaria, sequence organisms’ DNA and, increasingly, browse social media, they come across species of plants and fungi that have not been scientifically described,” says the “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020” report, released in September by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). Many new species were described this year, including several snakes, frogs, insects, and even new primate species. Turning to the ocean, scientists spotted a beaked whale that may be a new species and a mysterious coiled siphonophore believed to be the longest animal ever recorded. This coiled siphonophore, found by the Schmidt Ocean Institute off the coast of Australia, is believed to be the largest animal ever recorded, measuring 46 meters (150 feet) in length. Photo via Schmidt Ocean Institute. Plants and fungi also continue to represent an underexplored frontier of diversity. This year, the RBG Kew named 156 plants and fungi from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the U.K. The Missouri Botanical Gardens recently named 10 charismatic plant discoveries from 2020, including a new species of ebony tree, a carnivorous sundew, and a new mint.  However, although a species may be new to science, that doesn’t mean it has never been seen or named. “Many species that are new to science are already known&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-top-15-species-discoveries-from-2020/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238311</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>[Photos] Tiny frog, venomous viper among 20 new species described in Bolivia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-tiny-frog-venomous-viper-among-20-new-species-described-in-bolivia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-tiny-frog-venomous-viper-among-20-new-species-described-in-bolivia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Dec 2020 10:43:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/14095110/ci_68870035-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=237836</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Bamboo, Biodiversity, Botany, Butterflies, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Orchids, Plants, Rainforests, Rediscovered Species, Snakes, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An expedition into the cloud forests of the Bolivian Andes has uncovered 20 species new to science, including a frog that may be the smallest in the Andes, a new venomous pit viper, four butterflies, and four orchid species. Along with the newly described species, the research team also “rediscovered” four species believed to be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An expedition into the cloud forests of the Bolivian Andes has uncovered 20 species new to science, including a frog that may be the smallest in the Andes, a new venomous pit viper, four butterflies, and four orchid species. Along with the newly described species, the research team also “rediscovered” four species believed to be extinct, including the devil-eyed frog (Oreobates zongoensis), not observed on record for 20 years, and a satyr butterfly (Euptychoides fida), not recorded for 98 years. The devil-eyed frog (Oreobates zongoensis) was rediscovered on the Zongo RAP expedition in Bolivia. This species was previously known only from a single individual seen more than 20 years ago in the Zongo Valley. Image © Trond Larsen. “These discoveries are the result of 14 days of intense field work spread across the rugged terrain, misty cloud forests and cascading waterfalls of the Zongo — a truly beautiful and diverse landscape,” Trond Larsen, director of Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), said in a statement. Larsen, along with Claudia Cortez, head of conservation and wildlife management for the municipal government of La Paz, led a group of 17 scientists into Chawi Grande, a locality belonging to the Huaylipaya community in the Zongo Valley, or “heart” valley, region, near the Bolivian capital, La Paz. The expedition was part of Conservation International’s RAP, which began in 1990 to collect information on biodiversity and ecosystem health rapidly to guide conservation policy- and decision-making. The Andean mountains of the Zongo Valley in Bolivia where&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-tiny-frog-venomous-viper-among-20-new-species-described-in-bolivia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-237836</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tradable by default: Reptile trafficking flourishes amid lack of protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/tradable-by-default-reptile-trafficking-flourishes-amid-lack-of-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/tradable-by-default-reptile-trafficking-flourishes-amid-lack-of-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2020 11:48:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/23084838/IMG_3488-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236072</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Green, Herps, Pet Trade, Pets, Regulations, Reptiles, Snakes, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2019, conservation scientist Alice Hughes traveled to Geneva to attend a meeting for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a multilateral agreement aimed to protect endangered wildlife and plants by either banning or limiting their international trade. When members proposed giving protection to various species of Asian songbirds and tropical fish, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2019, conservation scientist Alice Hughes traveled to Geneva to attend a meeting for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a multilateral agreement aimed to protect endangered wildlife and plants by either banning or limiting their international trade. When members proposed giving protection to various species of Asian songbirds and tropical fish, which were heavily traded as exotic pets, these proposals were denied, Hughes said. Instead, the focus remained on more charismatic, “high-value” animals. “In both cases, it was said to be too expensive to list that number of species, which basically got me thinking, &#8216;Well, if these species that are clearly under significant threat from trade are not being covered, how many other species that are in trade are [not being covered]?” Hughes told Mongabay. A tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), for which Indonesia has an annual CITES export quota of 3 million, according to Hughes. Many traded individuals come from the wild, and are sold locally for $1 each. Image by Benjamin Marshall. These concerns prompted Hughes and two colleagues, Benjamin Marshall and Colin Strine, to undertake a study on the global wildlife trade, focusing specifically on reptiles, to understand how unregulated and under-regulated trade can affect wild populations. The results were published last month in Nature Communications. “Reptiles were ideal as only 9% were monitored by CITES and much of the trade is online,” Hughes said. The researchers gathered data from three main sources: the CITES trade portal, wildlife import records from the U.S. Fish&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/tradable-by-default-reptile-trafficking-flourishes-amid-lack-of-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236072</doi>				</item>
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