<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=wildlife&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/wildlife/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:40:27 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Wildlife</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/wildlife/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Fishers bear deep costs of plastic pollution in Vietnam, but could help turn the tide</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2026 08:40:27 +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/20/2026/09/16081601/Banner-Repairing-fishing-nets-in-coastal-Vietnam.-Image-courtesy-of-3SIP2C-project-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329844</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Marine, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Solutions, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastic bags and bottles, aquaculture feed bags, nylon netting and ropes don’t sound like the makings of a healthy fishing haul. However, nets replete with these items are a near-daily reality for the majority of fishers interviewed by researchers during a recent study in Vietnam. Plastic waste causes small-scale fishers in Vietnam to lose an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastic bags and bottles, aquaculture feed bags, nylon netting and ropes don’t sound like the makings of a healthy fishing haul. However, nets replete with these items are a near-daily reality for the majority of fishers interviewed by researchers during a recent study in Vietnam. Plastic waste causes small-scale fishers in Vietnam to lose an average of $3,421 per vessel, per year, in lost fishing time, reduced catch efficiency and damaged gear, the study assessing the economic impacts of plastic debris on fishing livelihoods found. This represents a 10-25% reduction in the annual income of vessel owners. Fishers interviewed for the study reported that they had significantly increased their fishing efforts in recent years in response to the combined pressures of overexploited fish stocks and plastic pollution. “Before, 6-7 hauls were enough [to turn a profit],” one interviewee told the researchers. “Now it takes 20-25 hauls.” The study also highlights how fishers could play a significant role in solutions tackling the plastic pollution crisis, including through “fishing for litter” programs that pay fishers modest financial incentives to bring back plastic bycatch for disposal and processing on land. “When you see firsthand the sheer volume of [plastic waste] in Southeast Asia, and how it directly impacts people’s lives and livelihoods, it crystallizes very clearly why we need to address this,” study co-author Michel Kaiser, a professor of fisheries conservation at Heriot-Watt University in the U.K., told Mongabay in an interview. “Fundamentally, turning off the source of the plastic is key, but&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329844</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Electric fences that kill and the Maasai trying to save Kenya’s last giant pangolins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 05:50:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pauline Kairu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14160539/1.-Giant_Ground_Pangolin_BlackandWhite_willbl-tpp-42-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crime, Endangered Species, Governance, Mammals, Pangolins, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Naserian, a giant ground pangolin, lived for about two years in Kenya’s last remaining stronghold for this animal, Nyekweri Forest. When researchers from The Pangolin Project began tracking her in 2025, they observed her threading her way through a landscape where forests, farms and fences increasingly intersected. Each night, she emerged from the darkness of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Naserian, a giant ground pangolin, lived for about two years in Kenya’s last remaining stronghold for this animal, Nyekweri Forest. When researchers from The Pangolin Project began tracking her in 2025, they observed her threading her way through a landscape where forests, farms and fences increasingly intersected. Each night, she emerged from the darkness of Nyekweri Forest and moved through a shifting mosaic of woodland, farms and grazing lands on the western fringes of Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. Researchers watched on computer screens from their outpost near the reserve, tracking Naserian’s GPS signal as she followed familiar paths across a patchwork of privately owned parcels of land. Then one night, the signal stopped. A team from the Kenya-based pangolin research organization headed to the site. Naserian lay dead beneath an electrified fence. After years navigating a changing landscape, a single charged wire had ended her life. A landscape closing in Giant ground pangolins (Smutsia gigantea) are endangered across their fragmented Western and Central African range, with their numbers decreasing. Kenya’s only known population resides in Nyekweri, but it isn’t the safest place for them. Since 2022, researchers have recorded 15 deaths in the area, including 14 by electrocution on electric fences. With fewer than 30 believed to remain in Kenya, every death carries outsized consequences. The giant ground pangolin — the largest of the eight species, all of which live in Africa and Asia — occurs naturally at low densities. They normally give birth to just one offspring at&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Decline of migratory birds spurs calls for coordinated conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 14:09:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Wilson Odhiambo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14122724/Bar-headedGoose.Anser_.indicus_-%C2%A9NejibAhmedShutterstock-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329611</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Europe, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Transmigration, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — The decline of many migratory bird populations is a red flag that ecosystems around the world are under increasing pressure, conservation experts warn, adding it’s time for governments to come together and coordinate conservation efforts across national borders. Representatives from governments, conservation agencies, NGOs, financial institutions, and donors gathered in Nairobi from Sept. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — The decline of many migratory bird populations is a red flag that ecosystems around the world are under increasing pressure, conservation experts warn, adding it’s time for governments to come together and coordinate conservation efforts across national borders. Representatives from governments, conservation agencies, NGOs, financial institutions, and donors gathered in Nairobi from Sept. 8-11 for the Global Flyways Summit, hosted by BirdLife International in collaboration with Nature Kenya to address the growing threats facing migratory birds and the habitats they depend on. BirdLife presented the latest edition of its quadrennial “State of the World’s Birds” report, which reported that 45% of migratory bird species are declining, while about one in nine faces the threat of extinction. Shorebirds and seabirds were identified as among the groups experiencing particularly severe declines. A great snipe (Gallinago media) in Nigde, Türkiye. These near threatened snipes breed in Scandinavia and western Russia, and spend their winters at sites across West, Central, and East Africa. According to the IUCN, this species’ numbers are declining rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting pressure. Image © Koray Öğreten via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). The Red List Index of species survival for migratory birds, with examples of species uplisted and downlisted and the main factors driving these changes. Image courtesy of BirdLife International, 2026. The conservation organization said the main pressures include loss of habitat, agriculture, hunting, pollution, and climate change. Stuart Butchart, BirdLife International’s chief scientist, said these threats cannot be addressed effectively in individual countries&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329611</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Panama looks to science, fishers, and the law to protect its sharks and rays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 11:47:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14102837/4-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329577</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bycatch, Certification, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Protected Areas, Rays, Sharks, Solutions, Sustainability, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO CAIMITO, Panama — It’s a late April morning and the Tabor, an industrial fishing boat, is sailing around Chepillo Island in Panama Bay. Under the eyes of the crew, Yehudi Rodríguez, a marine biologist specializing in sharks, and sailor Joel Cordoba free a large black devil ray from a purse seine net and launch [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO CAIMITO, Panama — It’s a late April morning and the Tabor, an industrial fishing boat, is sailing around Chepillo Island in Panama Bay. Under the eyes of the crew, Yehudi Rodríguez, a marine biologist specializing in sharks, and sailor Joel Cordoba free a large black devil ray from a purse seine net and launch it back into the water. As they work with the biologist, the sailors, around a dozen of them, joke among themselves. Tabor is part of the Promarina S.A. fleet, a Panamanian company that produces fish oil and fish meal, authorized to catch only small open-ocean fish, or pelagics, such as sardines and herrings. Every two weeks, Rodríguez, a professor of biology at the University of Panama and director of the Shark Defenders NGO, analyzes bycatch — marine species not targeted but accidentally caught by fishers — freeing sharks, rays, and other animals entangled in the purse seine nets of Promarina vessels. “It’s an emotion to see a huge Mobula for the first time and liberate it in the ocean,” Rodríguez, 49, tells Mongabay after freeing the devil ray, which weighed an estimated 100 kilograms (220 pounds). Just a few hours later, Hermes, 18, the youngest sailor on the crew and nicknamed Mbappé after the French football star, helps Rodríguez liberate another ray, both taking care to avoid being hit by the animal’s venomous barb. Before returning an animal into the water, Rodríguez follows a short protocol:  she records the coordinates of the bycatch location, identifies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329577</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Against the odds, endangered dolphins survive in Bangladesh’s polluted river</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 10:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Md Jahidul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14095844/ganges-river-dolphin-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329579</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river virtually lifeless for fish. However, in the Buriganga, where native fish species have essentially vanished, endangered Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) continue to persist. A recent study published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity found that around 20 dolphins live in the river. Researchers conducted the study for 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024, and systematically surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) stretch of this heavily polluted river that skirts the southern edge of Dhaka. “The Buriganga is not a usual place for dolphins, where native fishes have largely vanished. Leaving the river full of invasive suckermouth catfish [Hypostomus Plecostomus, locally called sakar fish],” one of the researchers, Md. Aminur Rahman, told Mongabay. “When we found [the dolphins], we were amazed at how it was possible. Because the river is not livable for fish. Around the year, we didn’t track any dolphins only during two of the months, but all the other 10 months we tracked them.” The highest number of dolphins were seen in December, and throughout the winter season, and none were seen in October 2023 or between July and August of 2024. The dolphin groups averaged 4.18 individuals, higher than in earlier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329579</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pacific bluefin tuna will get some help as countries agree to new harvest strategy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 08:59:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/13160625/b.-BANNER-GP01Y3H-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329570</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine Animals, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, and Tuna]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) concluded on Sept. 4 with an agreement to adopt a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna. The agreement aims to ensure sustainable management of this species, which has only recently recovered after decades of overfishing. But the commission fell short of establishing a harvest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) concluded on Sept. 4 with an agreement to adopt a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna. The agreement aims to ensure sustainable management of this species, which has only recently recovered after decades of overfishing. But the commission fell short of establishing a harvest strategy for other tuna species — bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin — managed under the convention. “A proposal was adopted … and that’s really great progress,” Dave Gershman, a senior officer for international fisheries at the U.S.-based think tank The Pew Charitable Trusts, who took part in the meeting as an observer, told Mongabay. The commission approved the plan for Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) after 10 years of research and mediation. The plan establishes science-based rules to support the stock&#8217;s complete recovery and long-term protection while taking into account impacts on the broader ecosystem. “You want to have these things in place when times are good so it’s there when you need it,” Gershman said. The 104th meeting of the IATTC took place in Lisbon from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. One of five main regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) responsible for tuna and tuna-like species, the commission is tasked with managing six tuna stocks, associated species and their ecosystems throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean, from Canada south to Chile. There are more than a dozen RFMOs in the world, with some overlapping geographically but managing different fish stocks. The map shows the five best-known&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329570</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biodiversity corridor payments boost household incomes in Vietnam’s Annamite mountains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 02:00:47 +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/20/2026/09/13113754/Banner_Original_WW1304086-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329528</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community Forests, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Funding, Governance, Habitat, Indigenous Peoples, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Protected Areas, Research, Sustainable Forest Management, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists say connecting existing protected areas through biodiversity corridors is vital in many landscapes to prevent further loss of species and habitats. Yet the households living inside conservation areas often face stark financial tradeoffs associated with lost access to resources, sometimes making new designations controversial. A recent study from the rugged mountains of central Vietnam, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists say connecting existing protected areas through biodiversity corridors is vital in many landscapes to prevent further loss of species and habitats. Yet the households living inside conservation areas often face stark financial tradeoffs associated with lost access to resources, sometimes making new designations controversial. A recent study from the rugged mountains of central Vietnam, however, suggests that biodiversity corridors can bring significant economic benefits to the households who live inside them. The study, published in Conservation Science and Practice, analyzed interviews with 120 families living in four villages in Quang Nam and Thua Thien provinces within the Annamite mountain range to find out how financial incentives tied to two biodiversity corridors connecting isolated protected areas affected people’s lives and livelihoods. Households inside biodiversity corridors earned substantially more, mainly from conservation-linked payments, than those outside them. However, they also made less money from forest resources due to greater restrictions on how they could use their land. The researchers say their findings underscore how conservation-linked payments and other longer-term benefits from living near flourishing forests, such as water purification, healthy pollinator populations and conservation-based jobs, can help communities recoup income they once derived from forest exploitation. “By providing regular financial benefits from forest protection, programs like PFES [Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services] create incentives for communities to maintain forest cover and reduce pressures on critical habitats,” study lead author Nguyen Van Tri Tin, a conservation scientist at Southern Cross University in Australia at the time of the study, told Mongabay in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329528</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How burnt coconut helped discover new to science endemic species in Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Sep 2026 14:13:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/12093329/Banner-1.-Spiny-Mouse-Mus-dumbara.-Suyama-Boyagoda-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329510</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Mountains, Research, Rodents, and Species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO —  As dusk settled over the paddy fields at Puwakpitiya, a village on the northern edge of Knuckles Mountain Range locally known as Dumbara mountains in Central Sri Lanka, researchers began laying traps along the uneasy boundary between farmland and forest. They were targeting small terrestrial mammals moving through the landscape. On the ground, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO —  As dusk settled over the paddy fields at Puwakpitiya, a village on the northern edge of Knuckles Mountain Range locally known as Dumbara mountains in Central Sri Lanka, researchers began laying traps along the uneasy boundary between farmland and forest. They were targeting small terrestrial mammals moving through the landscape. On the ground, drift fences were created to lead animals to pitfall traps, while box style Sherman live traps were baited with feed. But the usual rodent lure — peanut butter — failed to attract the mice in Sri Lanka, so the researchers instead turned to something more familiar to the local mice — pieces of burnt coconut. On  March 11, 2004, one of the pitfall traps caught a small mouse that looked different. Six days later, a second specimen was caught in a baited trap. Both were females, not larger than a child&#8217;s palm, with fulvous-gray pelage broken by spiny guard hairs and a slender, naked tail longer than the head and body. Externally, the animal resembled Mayor&#8217;s mouse (Mus mayori), a species endemic to Sri Lanka’s highlands, but differed in tail length and head shape, offering initial clues about a new species. The species is so far known only from Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, and the image shows Puwakpitiya, the village from where researchers found the first specimens of Dumbara spiny mouse (Mus dumbara) after they set traps along the forest edge beside a sprawling paddy field. Image courtesy of Suyama Boyagoda. The two mice&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329510</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Migratory bird species increasingly at risk, report finds, but there is still hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 13:54:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11125304/Image_5_Lesser-and-Greater-Flamingos-at-Lake-Natron-%E2%94%AC%D0%B9-Akshita-Rabdiya-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, and Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Migration, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, billions of birds take to the skies, responding to changing seasons, navigating to breeding sites or escaping the cold of winter. The newest edition of BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds report says 45% of migratory bird species are in decline — 11% are threatened with extinction, the authors write. Launched at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, billions of birds take to the skies, responding to changing seasons, navigating to breeding sites or escaping the cold of winter. The newest edition of BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds report says 45% of migratory bird species are in decline — 11% are threatened with extinction, the authors write. Launched at the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sept. 11, the report is the first to focus on migratory birds. Migratory birds are sensitive indicators of wider ecosystem health, the report’s lead author Lucy Haskell, senior science officer at BirdLife, told Mongabay in an interview. They play a vital role in connecting ecosystems, cultures and people. “This report is about migratory birds, but it also serves as a warning about the state of the planet in general,” she said. Invasive species, agricultural expansion, climate change, residential and commercial development and hunting are major threats facing multiple species across the globe. The report found that seabirds and shorebirds are particularly threatened, while species that depend on marine habitats, forests and coastal wetlands are also increasingly imperiled. An Egyptian vulture in Spain. This species’ ongoing recovery is an example of how concerted conservation action can have a positive impact, experts say. Image © Lars Petersson. Last year, the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, officially confirmed the extinction of the slender-bill curlew, last seen in Morocco in 1995. It’s a poignant example of the pressures facing birds the world over, the experts say. Seven other migratory avian&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329459</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous knowledge x tech in the search for a tiny Amazon monkey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 10:40:18 +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/20/2026/09/11083700/Pygmy_marmoset_Peter_Kerrawn_B-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329438</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Business, Camera Trapping, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Culture, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Education, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Monitoring, Monkeys, Pet Trade, Pets, Primates, Technology, Trade, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How do you search for the world&#8217;s smallest monkey? Earlier this year, Nicolás Schuldt Durán took on this task after he was approached by members of an Indigenous community in Ecuador. Ever since, he’s been tapping into the knowledge of the Siekopai people and combining it with passive acoustic monitoring technology to look for pygmy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you search for the world&#8217;s smallest monkey? Earlier this year, Nicolás Schuldt Durán took on this task after he was approached by members of an Indigenous community in Ecuador. Ever since, he’s been tapping into the knowledge of the Siekopai people and combining it with passive acoustic monitoring technology to look for pygmy marmosets. Spoiler alert: They’re still looking for this elusive species. Working in the Siekoya Remolino community in Ecuador, Durán is collaborating with Indigenous community members to track pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea), locally called leoncillo, and gather data on where they live and how they’re faring. “The community has already been setting up camera traps and running a territorial monitoring program to catch hunters and loggers,” Durán, founder of conservation technology organization Neblina Labs, told Mongabay in a video interview. “This is just adding one more tool to their toolkit to monitor biodiversity.” Pygmy marmosets are threatened by the illegal pet trade as well as deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. Image by David Reece via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Pygmy marmosets, native to the western Amazon Basin, are so small that an adult weighs only 140-150 grams (about 5 ounces), or the weight of a small apple. They live high up in trees and are known for their high-pitched calls, including whistles that are often in the ultrasonic range and which they use to communicate with one another. Classified as vulnerable to extinction, these primates are threatened by the illegal pet trade as well as deforestation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329438</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Javan rhinos survive eruption in Indonesia, but single habitat leaves species vulnerable</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 01:33:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/06081629/Fk7E_IMG_20231005_174838-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329426</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, In-situ Conservation, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, Megafauna, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhinos appear to be safe despite an ongoing eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau near their last remaining habitat, conservation authorities said. Ardi Andono, head of Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the world’s only wild population of Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), said on Sept. 7 that the rhinos’ habitat had been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhinos appear to be safe despite an ongoing eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau near their last remaining habitat, conservation authorities said. Ardi Andono, head of Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the world’s only wild population of Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), said on Sept. 7 that the rhinos’ habitat had been minimally affected by vibrations and noise from Anak Krakatau, which began erupting on Sept. 4. Mount Anak Krakatau, an active volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the park on Java’s southwestern tip, and its recent eruption sent ash across parts of both islands, disrupting air travel and prompting some schools and fishing activities to halt. “The Javan rhinos remained safe and still appear normal,” Ardi told Mongabay in a WhatsApp message, adding that his park rangers continue to stand on guard. A female calf of the Javan rhinoceros with her mother. Image courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The number of Javan rhinos remaining in the wild is disputed. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates the current minimum population of Javan rhinos at about 50, a figure used by conservation groups such as Save the Rhino International, while Indonesia’s forestry ministry puts the population at 87 to 100. The government’s figures have previously faced scrutiny after a 2023 investigation by Indonesian environmental group Auriga Nusantara found that rhinos not seen by camera traps for years, including some later&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329426</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon Fund grantees fear a new funding freeze after Brazil’s election</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 17:34:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10150522/1_Ricardo-Oliveira-_Instituto-Mamiraua-pirarucu-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329406</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Monitoring, Politics, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The fund helped Brazil reach a 10-year low in deforestation, but conservationists are bracing for a potential sharp policy U-turn.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, the Amazon Fund chose to support a project in the Brazilian Amazon helping 614 families engaged in babassu coconut breaking in 11 traditional communities. Encroached on by soy farming and cattle ranching, the families in the state of Tocantins would receive financial support to keep producing oil, flour and handicrafts from this unique Amazonian fruit while reinforcing their role as guardians of the forest. But the promise was short-lived. Jair Bolsonaro took office as Brazil’s president in January 2019, and immediately set his far-right agenda to work dismantling the country’s environmental frameworks and freezing the Amazon Fund’s contributions. The fund was created in 2008, with initial donations from Norway and Germany to reward Brazil for its success in reducing Amazonian deforestation. Over the last 18 years, it has benefited 288,000 people and supported 144 projects in forest restoration, sustainable production, firefighting, inspections and monitoring of environmental crimes, and Indigenous issues. “It is one of the world’s leading funds for investing in projects that protect the rainforest,” said Rayandra Araújo, climate policy specialist at Talanoa, a Brazilian climate think tank. When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva replaced Bolsonaro, returning to the presidency in January 2023, he revived the Amazon Fund’s operations. The babassu coconut breaker project, led by the group Alternatives for Small-Scale Farming in Tocantins (APA-TO), was again considered and began implementation in April 2026. “The project was on hold for almost 10 years,” says Selma Yuki Ishii, the project coordinator and technical director at APA-TO. With Lula,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329406</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Offshore wind may be good for the climate but can it be good for the ocean, too?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 16:38:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08151406/1-Greater-Gabbard-offshore-wind-farm-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Marine, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, Offshore Wind, Renewable Energy, Seabirds, Wildlife, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part Three in a Mongabay series about trends in the offshore wind industry. Part One describes the sector’s untapped potential and gaps between installed energy generation capacity and climate goals. Part Two describes challenges the sector faces in scaling up to meet climate goals. Offshore wind farms are growing in number, with many [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part Three in a Mongabay series about trends in the offshore wind industry. Part One describes the sector’s untapped potential and gaps between installed energy generation capacity and climate goals. Part Two describes challenges the sector faces in scaling up to meet climate goals. Offshore wind farms are growing in number, with many experts saying this renewable source of energy is vital to tackling climate change. But many of the same experts caution that responsible construction is required to avoid potentially large impacts on marine ecosystems as farms proliferate in the coming years. On one hand, offshore wind farms can provide an ecological boon by acting as de facto marine reserves that limit fishing, including harmful practices like bottom trawling. They can also be refugia for fish like sharks and rays, crustaceans and other species, as their structures act as artificial reefs. But offshore wind farms also have a host of negative impacts across their life cycle, from construction to decommissioning. Birds and bats risk collision with offshore wind turbines and loss of habitat to farms, while some marine mammals avoid wind farms or change behavior due to their presence. Bass Rock, Scotland, is home to the world’s largest colony of northern gannets (Morus bassanus). The offshore Berwick Bank Wind Farm is expected to have a significant impact on populations of seabirds like the gannets, as well as guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and puffins. Image by Stephen Magee/RSPB. Over the past two decades, offshore wind farm numbers have increased, particularly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Forgotten fauna’: Little known river sharks and rays face increased extinction risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 15:48:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10135017/BANNER-e-Xingu-River-Stingray-031-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329379</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Marine Animals, Research, Science, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Vashishti River, originating in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats and flowing into the Arabian Sea along India’s western coast, has long supported traditional fishing communities. But in 2023, local fishers encountered something entirely unexpected. As they hauled a gill net into a boat, a gray body, still making faint movements, emerged tangled in the mesh, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Vashishti River, originating in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats and flowing into the Arabian Sea along India’s western coast, has long supported traditional fishing communities. But in 2023, local fishers encountered something entirely unexpected. As they hauled a gill net into a boat, a gray body, still making faint movements, emerged tangled in the mesh, and then another surfaced beside it. By the time the net was lifted aboard, three bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) were tangled inside. The video of the incident quickly spread across social media, drawing renewed scientific attention to the presence of sharks in inland and estuarine waters. “This is the first documented report of sharks from the Vashishti River, although historically sharks and rays have been recorded from several major Indian river systems,” Priyankar Chakraborty, an independent marine and wildlife researcher in India, told Mongabay. Across India, dozens of species of sharks and rays (collectively known as elasmobranchs) have been reported as inhabiting estuaries and rivers, but while species such as the bull shark are relatively well documented, many others are known from only a handful of records, leaving major gaps in understanding, Chakraborty said. Globally, around 60 species of sharks and rays spend at least part of their lives in inland waters. Yet compared with their marine counterparts, these species have received remarkably little scientific attention, even though many are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, Michael Grant, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Australia and member of the IUCN Species Survival&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329379</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s high-altitude wildernesses &#038; wildlife are increasingly under threat (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-high-altitude-wildernesses-wildlife-are-increasingly-under-threat-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-high-altitude-wildernesses-wildlife-are-increasingly-under-threat-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2026 19:49:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Geraldine WerhahnSabita Gurung]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08101747/10-Pallass-cat-kittens-in-Mongolia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329285</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Livestock, Mammals, Mountains, Natural Resources, Pasture, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Changes like increasing geological and glacial instability driven by the warming climate are a growing concern across the Himalayas. Our hearts go out to the thousands of families across Nepal, China, and around the world grieving their loved ones and searching for those missing after the recent catastrophic flash flood at the Nepal-China border. Though [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Changes like increasing geological and glacial instability driven by the warming climate are a growing concern across the Himalayas. Our hearts go out to the thousands of families across Nepal, China, and around the world grieving their loved ones and searching for those missing after the recent catastrophic flash flood at the Nepal-China border. Though nearly 400 kilometers (almost 250 miles) to the northwest of the recent flash flood zone, our study area in Nepal’s Limi Valley in Upper Humla — a landscape with several villages and a rich wildlife heritage, that we have spent years trying to understand and protect — is also affected by such changes. Limi Valley has been wild for as long as we&#8217;ve studied it, but not anymore. After many days of travel to reach the study area recently, our team was excited to check on the Himalayan wolves, to see if its family would be denning in the same spot as last year. We found no wolves. Instead, we found thousands of sheep and goats, trailed by herders from lower-lying villages, free-ranging herd dogs, and patches of burning vegetation. A Himalayan wolf in its natural habitat in Limi Valley, northwestern Nepal. Photo courtesy of Himalayan Wolves Project. Every season we return, there is less wild left to find. Upper Humla’s once-pristine high-altitude habitats are suffering from human encroachment advancing at an unprecedented pace, pushing wildlife into ever-smaller pockets of shrinking habitat. While formal protection of this unique ecosystem has been on the political agenda&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-high-altitude-wildernesses-wildlife-are-increasingly-under-threat-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-high-altitude-wildernesses-wildlife-are-increasingly-under-threat-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329285</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vantara works with lobbyist tied to Trump Jr. and pro-hunting groups</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/vantara-works-with-lobbyist-tied-to-trump-jr-and-pro-hunting-groups/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/vantara-works-with-lobbyist-tied-to-trump-jr-and-pro-hunting-groups/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2026 10:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28134946/imgonline-com-ua-FrameBlurred-VhBkv70B1PrWP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327730</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, North America, South Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crime, Governance, Politics, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Checkmate Government Relations, a lobbying firm founded by a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr., recently represented Vantara, a controversial private Indian zoo that has been in the spotlight over the questionable origins of some of its more than 150,000 animals, which include protected and endangered species. Tristan Breijer, the head of the U.S.-based lobby [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Checkmate Government Relations, a lobbying firm founded by a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr., recently represented Vantara, a controversial private Indian zoo that has been in the spotlight over the questionable origins of some of its more than 150,000 animals, which include protected and endangered species. Tristan Breijer, the head of the U.S.-based lobby firm Checkmate&#8217;s London office, sent an unsolicited email “representing the Vantara initiative in the United Kingdom,” sometime before July, according to a source who asked not to be named. Breijer is a lobbyist and has a history of representing pro-hunting groups in Europe. Vantara is a massive private zoo that sprawls over 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares): It&#8217;s about four times the size of Central Park in New York City and is run by Anant Ambani, the son of one of Asia’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani. The zoo, which claims to be an animal rescue facility with about 2,000 species, came under scrutiny after media reports surfaced that it allegedly acquired endangered animals illegally. A report by CITES, the global treaty that regulates commercial international trade in endangered wildlife, flagged irregularities in some of its animal imports. Vantara has denied wrongdoing and India’s top court dismissed similar allegations after an investigation last year. Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, at Vantara. Image by Bohoindian via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). In the email allegedly sent by Breijer, he invited the recipient to a roundtable meeting hosted by Vantara on the sidelines of the Animals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/vantara-works-with-lobbyist-tied-to-trump-jr-and-pro-hunting-groups/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/vantara-works-with-lobbyist-tied-to-trump-jr-and-pro-hunting-groups/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327730</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rescuers scramble to save orangutans as El Niño-boosted fires spread across Borneo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rescuers-scramble-to-save-orangutans-as-el-nino-boosted-fires-spread-across-borneo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rescuers-scramble-to-save-orangutans-as-el-nino-boosted-fires-spread-across-borneo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2026 07:03:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rendy Tisna]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/09065221/orangutan-named-Sampurna-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329232</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Disasters, El Nino, Endangered Species, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Great Apes, Impact Of Climate Change, Orangutans, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — As a strengthening El Niño fuels wildfires across much of Indonesia, NGO and government conservationists are at work in forests here trying to save an increasing number of orangutans from burning landscapes. “Seven individuals were rescued through August,” said Heribertus Suciadi, spokesperson for Yayasan International Animal Rescue Indonesia (YIARI), a Borneo-based NGO [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — As a strengthening El Niño fuels wildfires across much of Indonesia, NGO and government conservationists are at work in forests here trying to save an increasing number of orangutans from burning landscapes. “Seven individuals were rescued through August,” said Heribertus Suciadi, spokesperson for Yayasan International Animal Rescue Indonesia (YIARI), a Borneo-based NGO working to establish and maintain sustainable orangutan populations. The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is one of three orangutan species in the world, and the only one found on the island of Borneo. All three species of orangutan are critically endangered and native to Indonesia. The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) are both found on the island of Sumatra. The most recent assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, estimated just over 100,000 Bornean orangutans remained in the wild. But that survey was conducted in 2016, and conservationists estimated a projected decline in the Bornean species population of around 86% between 1950 and 2025. Researchers attribute this population collapse over three generations to habitat loss and direct killing. Orangutans also reproduce exceptionally slowly, with Bornean females typically giving birth to a single offspring about every seven to eight years, making populations particularly slow to recover from losses. In addition, major wildfire crises accelerate the decline. “Recurrent forest fires, especially in peat forests, cause additional sharp declines about once every decade,” the IUCN noted. Indonesian meteorologists expect an intense fire season through October as climate forecasts point to a strengthening El&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rescuers-scramble-to-save-orangutans-as-el-nino-boosted-fires-spread-across-borneo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rescuers-scramble-to-save-orangutans-as-el-nino-boosted-fires-spread-across-borneo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329232</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>To save Europe’s raptors, conservationists say, look to West Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-save-europes-raptors-conservationists-say-look-to-west-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-save-europes-raptors-conservationists-say-look-to-west-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2026 06:07:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08110537/26665739020_70b432d5a3_o-Western-Marsh-Harrier-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329065</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Europe, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Migration, Monitoring, Raptors, Research, Tracking, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2020, a juvenile osprey was fatally shot in Ghana. The bird, one of hundreds of raptors killed in similar circumstances across West Africa every year, had been fitted with a leg ring by the British Trust for Ornithology in Scotland the previous year. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) were locally extirpated in Scotland in the early [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2020, a juvenile osprey was fatally shot in Ghana. The bird, one of hundreds of raptors killed in similar circumstances across West Africa every year, had been fitted with a leg ring by the British Trust for Ornithology in Scotland the previous year. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) were locally extirpated in Scotland in the early 1900s due to persecution, and the bird killed in Ghana was part of a population reintroduced to that part of the U.K. beginning in the 1990s. Tim Mackrill, an osprey expert and director of the Scotland-based Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said the bird’s death points to the need for a conservation approach that spans migratory birds’ entire habitat. “If you&#8217;re not thinking of the whole flyway of migratory routes, connectivity, and then where the birds are actually wintering, then conservation efforts for that species are really not sufficient.” Many raptor species, such as ospreys, return to the same wintering site year after year. “They are literally faithful to the same tree, whether it&#8217;s in Ghana, whether it&#8217;s in Guinea, or whether it&#8217;s in Gambia,” Mackrill said. Raptors such as ospreys travel in large numbers from Europe to West Africa during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Image by Eileen Fonferko via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0) Millions of birds travel from Europe to Africa each year, spending the Northern Hemisphere’s coldest months in warmer climates far to the south. “People put a huge amount of effort into restoring raptors and protecting them in Europe, and that is a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-save-europes-raptors-conservationists-say-look-to-west-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-save-europes-raptors-conservationists-say-look-to-west-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329065</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singkil peat swamp: The embattled orangutan capital of the world</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singkil-peat-swamp-the-embattled-orangutan-capital-of-the-world/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singkil-peat-swamp-the-embattled-orangutan-capital-of-the-world/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 19:04:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/04195723/AM8I3043-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328824</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Destruction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Great Apes, Habitat Degradation, Illegal Logging, Mammals, Orangutans, Peatlands, Primates, Protected Areas, Tropical Deforestation, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep within Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, one of the most important peat swamp forests left on Earth is being cleared, drained, and burned. The Singkil peat swamp is the largest of three remaining coastal peat swamp forests on Sumatra’s west coast, alongside Kluet and Tripa. Together, these extraordinary peatlands form what’s been called “the orangutan capital [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep within Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, one of the most important peat swamp forests left on Earth is being cleared, drained, and burned. The Singkil peat swamp is the largest of three remaining coastal peat swamp forests on Sumatra’s west coast, alongside Kluet and Tripa. Together, these extraordinary peatlands form what’s been called “the orangutan capital of the world,” supporting some of the highest densities of Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) ever recorded. But Singkil is being destroyed. A worker inside the Singkil peat swamp, a legally protected wildlife reserve and crucial orangutan habitat, July 2026. Image by Global Conservation. The Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve is nationally protected under Indonesian law. Clearing forest and establishing oil palm plantations inside the reserve is illegal. Yet forest is being cleared and burned, peat is being drained, and canals are being dug into the swamp, lowering water tables and transforming ancient forests into land for agriculture and oil palm. Satellite investigations have documented extensive illegal clearing and plantation expansion inside the reserve. And Indonesia’s fire season has now begun. Fires are lit and illegal clearing is taking place in the Singkil peat swamp, Leuser Ecosystem. Image by Global Conservation. An orangutan seen in the Leuser Ecosystem, the last place on earth where tigers, orangutans, elephants and rhinos still coexist. Image by Global Conservation. For peatlands, fire can be devastating. Once drained, peat dries out and becomes highly flammable. Fires can smolder deep underground for weeks or even months, continuing to burn beneath the surface and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singkil-peat-swamp-the-embattled-orangutan-capital-of-the-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singkil-peat-swamp-the-embattled-orangutan-capital-of-the-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328824</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why is Amazonian wildlife turning up at a Bangkok market?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 14:03:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Dickie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/07110651/1.-POSSIBLE-BANNER-DSC05680-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328961</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, South America, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Crime, Environmental Law, Ethics, Governance, Health, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Pet Trade, Pets, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK, Thailand — In the narrow alleys of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, the world’s wildlife is for sale. Ensnared in jungles, fished out of rivers and plucked from wetlands across the globe, hundreds of exotic species are packed onto transcontinental flights only to end up on display in what experts say ranks as one of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK, Thailand — In the narrow alleys of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, the world’s wildlife is for sale. Ensnared in jungles, fished out of rivers and plucked from wetlands across the globe, hundreds of exotic species are packed onto transcontinental flights only to end up on display in what experts say ranks as one of the largest wildlife markets on Earth. Here, alongside Thai milk tea vendors and mango sticky rice stalls, visitors need only veer a few steps from the tourist path to end up in the market’s “Pets” zone — an arguably liberal use of the term. This section of the market hosts a menagerie of domestic and wild animals alike, often crammed into cages with little water and no respite from temperatures that soar beyond 32° Celsius (90° Fahrenheit). From Africa, there are spurred tortoises, fennec foxes, gray parrots, serval cats, and ball pythons. Giant bush babies retail for 48,000 baht (about $1,450), with signs advertising the nocturnal African primates as &#8220;newly arrived.&#8221; Miniscule meerkats dressed in tutus, sometimes presented in petting zoo sandboxes, are among the most plentiful animals at Chatuchak. Masked palm civets, sugar gliders, squirrels, rainbow lorikeets, and eclectus parrots are on offer from Asia and Oceania. As are baby raccoons, prairie dogs, iguanas, goats, cats, baby pigs, among others. Much of the planet is represented in this market; meerkats, like the one pictured here, hail from Southern Africa and are dressed up to be sold as an adorable pet. Image by Gloria Dickie. To&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-amazonian-wildlife-turning-up-at-a-bangkok-market/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328961</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Birds know no borders’: Interview with BirdLife Africa’s Alex Ngari</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/birds-know-no-borders-interview-with-birdlife-africas-alex-ngari/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/birds-know-no-borders-interview-with-birdlife-africas-alex-ngari/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 07:36:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Wilson Odhiambo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08072428/PallidharrierCircus.macrourus_OmskRussia2026_YaroslavBurmatovINaturalistBYNC4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329044</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Chad, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Conservation, Habitat Loss, Migration, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, twice a year, millions of birds belonging to hundreds of species fly between breeding grounds in Europe and Asia and their non-breeding habitats in Africa. Scientists have surprisingly sparse knowledge of exactly where many species actually go — or what risks and obstacles the migrating birds encounter along the way. Populations of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, twice a year, millions of birds belonging to hundreds of species fly between breeding grounds in Europe and Asia and their non-breeding habitats in Africa. Scientists have surprisingly sparse knowledge of exactly where many species actually go — or what risks and obstacles the migrating birds encounter along the way. Populations of the vulnerable curlew sandpiper, which breeds in in Siberia, for example, appear everywhere from South Asia to East and Southern Africa during the northern hemisphere winter. “One important fact that we all need to understand is that migratory birds do not belong to any one country, but are a shared global heritage, and their survival requires a borderless safety net,” says Alex Ngari, who manages the migratory birds and flyways program for BirdLife Africa. “These birds know no borders, which means that the conservation methods that we develop must be aware of that fact, and every country has a responsibility to protect them.” Until recently, what monitoring there was relied on ringing — but piecing together birds’ year-long itinerary depends on where someone encounters a ringed bird, on that person knowing what the band on its leg means, and details of the encounter reaching some coordinating authority. As lighter and more reliable electronic tags that can be fitted to birds to record and broadcast their locations have become available, researchers have started to gather more detailed information about migratory pathways. This type of tracking is still relatively expensive, however, especially for tags small enough for small-bodied&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/birds-know-no-borders-interview-with-birdlife-africas-alex-ngari/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/birds-know-no-borders-interview-with-birdlife-africas-alex-ngari/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329044</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Panama’s Darién, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2026 15:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[María Paula Rubiano A.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/15163740/panama_240512162306_0722-e1768495168974-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328986</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity credits, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Ecosystems, Finance, In-situ Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Jaguars, Monitoring, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Elsa Quiroz saw the spotted body of a jaguar appear on her son’s computer screen, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d only seen them in books,” she said. In late 2025, a camera captured the animal crossing a semi-abandoned path in Puerto Lara, a an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama’s Darien forest, close [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Elsa Quiroz saw the spotted body of a jaguar appear on her son’s computer screen, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d only seen them in books,” she said. In late 2025, a camera captured the animal crossing a semi-abandoned path in Puerto Lara, a an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama’s Darien forest, close to the Pan-American Highway, an area known for its rich biodiversity. The community was aware of how many birds lived around them, but not of the jaguars. Samuel Cheucarama, Quiroz’s son, reviews each photo taken by the two cameras installed in Puerto Lara every two weeks. He was as astonished as his mom when he first saw the extent of the biodiversity concealed within Puerto Lara’s forest, which covers an area less than twice the size of New York City’s Central Park. He reels off the list: agoutis, spotted rabbits, turkeys, margays, white-headed monkeys, among others, all found within this wilderness of just 600 hectares, or less than 1,500 acres. Cheucarama’s work is a small part of a wider project promoting nature-based economic alternatives in four communities managing a combined 18,000 hectares (about 44,500 acres) of tropical forest in eastern Panama. Although the Panamanian government has made efforts to reduce deforestation in Darién National Park, deforestation from illegal logging and agricultural expansion has increasingly been putting communities under pressure, with little to no support from local and national authorities. As a result, communities have been exploring alternatives to make their conservation efforts economically viable. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328986</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Heritage status for South Sudan parks will be a boon for the birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/world-heritage-status-for-south-sudan-parks-will-be-a-boon-for-the-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/world-heritage-status-for-south-sudan-parks-will-be-a-boon-for-the-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2026 06:09:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/06200359/MM10358_20250611_03030-1920-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328926</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Sudan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Antelope, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Habitat, National Parks, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The onset of the rains in South Sudan around April each year is accompanied by a remarkable avian spectacle. “There are so many storks that they kind of look like flies in the sky,” said Megan Claase, a conservation manager with African Parks, the organization that manages the Boma and Badingilo national parks in partnership [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The onset of the rains in South Sudan around April each year is accompanied by a remarkable avian spectacle. “There are so many storks that they kind of look like flies in the sky,” said Megan Claase, a conservation manager with African Parks, the organization that manages the Boma and Badingilo national parks in partnership with the South Sudanese government. The vast flocks congregating in the skies above Boma and Badingilo include African openbills (Anastomus lamelligerus), Abdim’s storks (Ciconia abdimii), and other birds moving across Africa in sync with the changing seasons. “I think it’s a very productive system after the first rains,” Claase told Mongabay, citing as an example the large blooms of winged alates that emerge from termite holes and are eaten by a wide variety of birds, including the storks. “It’s just such a haven for migratory species.” Wetlands at Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape, South Sudan. Image © Marcus Westberg. As the rains persist and much of the landscape becomes waterlogged, an abundance of invertebrate food is produced, Claase said. That includes snails and other mollusks eaten by the openbills, named for the curious gap in their bills that help them to grip their slippery prey. The Boma and Badingilo parks and surrounding areas are all part of a massive interconnected ecosystem of wetlands, swamps, woodlands, and grassy plains, which Claase said lies at the heart of Africa’s largest intact savanna system. This landscape, around the size of North Korea, is home to an estimated 6 million antelopes,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/world-heritage-status-for-south-sudan-parks-will-be-a-boon-for-the-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/world-heritage-status-for-south-sudan-parks-will-be-a-boon-for-the-birds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328926</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tanzania’s first official wildlife corridor links savanna elephants to rainforest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tanzanias-first-official-wildlife-corridor-links-savanna-elephants-to-rainforest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tanzanias-first-official-wildlife-corridor-links-savanna-elephants-to-rainforest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 19:42:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/04193627/Corridor_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328811</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, flagship species, Forests, Hope and optimism, Landscape Restoration, Mammals, Megafauna, Rainforests, Ungulates, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[African savanna elephants in southern Tanzania have an unusual habit: They climb mountains. Up to 1,000 of the pachyderms spend part of their time in the Udzungwa Mountains, clambering up and down steep slopes that are clad in lush, closed-canopy rainforest. “They go everywhere,” said Trevor Jones, director of strategy and development at the Southern [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[African savanna elephants in southern Tanzania have an unusual habit: They climb mountains. Up to 1,000 of the pachyderms spend part of their time in the Udzungwa Mountains, clambering up and down steep slopes that are clad in lush, closed-canopy rainforest. “They go everywhere,” said Trevor Jones, director of strategy and development at the Southern Tanzania Elephant Program (STEP), a conservation group. “They can negotiate really quite surprisingly steep gradients that you wouldn’t expect, even to the point [of] occasionally, in the rainy season, sliding down on their bums when a particular slope is too steep.” But some also migrate from the mountains to more typical savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) habitat that lies to the east, across the Kilombero Valley, in Nyerere National Park. A satellite image of the corridor traversing the Kilombero Valley, from the Magombera Forest Reserve in the east to the Udzungwa Mountains in the west. Darker green dots inside the corridor are signs of maturing forest trees planted since 2023. Image courtesy Reforest Africa/Google Earth Researchers like Jones have been trying to understand why these herds have historically used such different parts of the landscape. “It’s a very adaptive population that’s using that mosaic of habitats and resources, from montane forest to lowland forest, and then miombo woodland and open bush in Nyerere,” Jones told Mongabay. “I’m sure some of [the habitats] are crucial for different time periods or different circumstances; in drought, for example, they might have to move to the [mountains] where there would&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tanzanias-first-official-wildlife-corridor-links-savanna-elephants-to-rainforest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tanzanias-first-official-wildlife-corridor-links-savanna-elephants-to-rainforest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328811</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Marine conservation collides with mining in Indonesia’s biodiversity-rich Moramo Bay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/marine-conservation-collides-with-mining-in-indonesias-biodiversity-rich-moramo-bay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/marine-conservation-collides-with-mining-in-indonesias-biodiversity-rich-moramo-bay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 16:48:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[La Ode Risman Hermawan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/04163930/2.-Aktivitas-tambang-batu-gamping-berbatasan-langsung-dengan-KKD-Teluk-Moramo-2400x890-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328786</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Southeast Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Governance, Illegal Mining, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Pollution, Protected Areas, Saltwater Fish, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SOUTH KONAWE, Indonesia — A marine protected area in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province is home to a critically depleted population of humphead wrasse. The species presence helped the area gain its protected status, but mining permits overlap parts of the conservation zone and line its coast. A 2024 government survey, published the following year, found [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SOUTH KONAWE, Indonesia — A marine protected area in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province is home to a critically depleted population of humphead wrasse. The species presence helped the area gain its protected status, but mining permits overlap parts of the conservation zone and line its coast. A 2024 government survey, published the following year, found just 22 humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) across 10 sampling stations — an average density of 1.17 fish per hectare — in the Moramo Bay regional conservation area in Southeast Sulawesi’s South Konawe district. It recorded no fish at three sites where the species was still observed in 2018. Officials and researchers say the bay’s coral reefs face mounting pressure from sedimentation, pollution, vessel activity and other threats, but no study has established a direct link between mining and the wrasse’s decline. “In a polluted area … this fish will definitely disappear,” Sasanti Retno Suharti, a coral reef fish ecology researcher who has been researching humphead wrasse since 2006, told Mongabay Indonesia in August. “It will move far away into deeper waters.” “If it is no longer there, eventually the crown-of-thorns starfish will take over and feed on the corals,” she added. “The ecosystem will be damaged.” &nbsp; The presence of humphead wrasse was one reason Southeast Sulawesi first proposed Moramo Bay as a regional conservation area in 2011. The proposed area expanded to 21,786 hectares (53,834 acres) in 2016 from 10,371 hectares (25,627 acres) in 2014. In 2021, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/marine-conservation-collides-with-mining-in-indonesias-biodiversity-rich-moramo-bay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/marine-conservation-collides-with-mining-in-indonesias-biodiversity-rich-moramo-bay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328786</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal gold mining continues in Indonesia’s Aceh despite government crackdown pledge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-gold-mining-continues-in-indonesias-aceh-despite-government-crackdown-pledge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-gold-mining-continues-in-indonesias-aceh-despite-government-crackdown-pledge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 11:15:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/06094908/Nagan-Raya1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328689</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Global, Indonesia, Leuser Ecosystem, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Great Apes, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAGAN RAYA, Indonesia – Two weeks after government and law enforcement leaders vowed to crack down on illegal gold mining in the semiautonomous Indonesian province of Aceh, local communities on the ground say excavators are still at work in the forest interior. “Excavators continue to access the verges of the rivers. Similarly, fuel and supplies [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAGAN RAYA, Indonesia – Two weeks after government and law enforcement leaders vowed to crack down on illegal gold mining in the semiautonomous Indonesian province of Aceh, local communities on the ground say excavators are still at work in the forest interior. “Excavators continue to access the verges of the rivers. Similarly, fuel and supplies keep being sent to this mining site,” Amran, a community leader from Seunagan in Nagan Raya district, told Mongabay Indonesia. Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, is Indonesia’s westernmost region and home to crucial high-conservation-value tropical forests and peatlands, including the Leuser Ecosystem, a stronghold for Sumatran elephants, orangutans, rhinos, sun bears, and tigers. Yet these habitats remain under pressure from lucrative extractive industries. In late July, top government, security, and law-enforcement officials in Aceh convened to order all illegal gold mining in the region to be halted by Aug. 17, Indonesia’s independence anniversary. However, sources on the ground around some of Aceh’s known illegal mining locations told Mongabay Indonesia that many of these operations continued working as normal as of late August. “Diesel is always out of stock at gas stations because it’s being used by the heavy equipment digging for gold by the riverbanks and on the mountainside,” said Razali, who lives in Fajar in South Aceh district. At a mining site in Pidie district, people reported still seeing the tarpaulin shelters used by miners. “If it&#8217;s just an announcement, it won&#8217;t have any effect,” Hamdani, a resident of Tangse in Pidie district,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-gold-mining-continues-in-indonesias-aceh-despite-government-crackdown-pledge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-gold-mining-continues-in-indonesias-aceh-despite-government-crackdown-pledge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328689</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study analyzes danger of parasites to Bengal tigers in South Asia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/study-analyzes-danger-of-parasites-to-bengal-tigers-in-south-asia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/study-analyzes-danger-of-parasites-to-bengal-tigers-in-south-asia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 09:15:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03140621/Sundarban_tiger_swimming-e1788444411184-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328586</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Diseases, Mammals, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A typical roundworm measures roughly 2.7% of the average length of a Bengal tiger or weighs just three-millionths of one percent of the largest of the world’s big cats. Though these parasites do not pose a major threat to Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris), researchers across South Asia, the cat’s native range, warn that parasitic infections [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A typical roundworm measures roughly 2.7% of the average length of a Bengal tiger or weighs just three-millionths of one percent of the largest of the world’s big cats. Though these parasites do not pose a major threat to Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris), researchers across South Asia, the cat’s native range, warn that parasitic infections can act as silent killers, particularly when the big cats are weakened by poor nutrition, injury or other diseases. South Asia is home to roughly 4,367 Bengal tigers: 3,682 in India, 429 in Nepal, 131 in Bhutan and 125 in Bangladesh, according to the latest estimates. The IUCN lists the Bengal tiger as an endangered species, although it is classified as critically endangered in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi researchers, analyzing fecal samples collected from wildlife across the Sundarbans mangrove forest, detected the highest parasite infection rate in Bengal tigers. A study published by the Bangladesh Forest Department in July makes recommendations to address the issue. Sultan Ahmed, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Sylhet Agricultural University and one of the authors of the study, told Mongabay, “The most important recommendation is to keep the mangrove forest away from human interference.” Assigned by the Forest Department, the researchers collected fecal samples in two phases in 2024 and 2025. According to their analysis, the highest parasite infection rate, 85.3%, was detected in Bengal tigers, followed by 84.9% in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), 73.6% in deer and 66.7% in wild pigs. In molecular analysis, roundworms (including&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/study-analyzes-danger-of-parasites-to-bengal-tigers-in-south-asia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/study-analyzes-danger-of-parasites-to-bengal-tigers-in-south-asia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328586</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Key tree species boost Amazon forest restoration, new study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 18:55:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074352/1.-LEAF-MPEG_Centro-Capoeira-cortado-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328521</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Biology, Business, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Science, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Drones, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Forest Regeneration, Forestry, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Land Grabbing, Mitigation, Plants, Research, Resource Conflict, Restoration, Science, Secondary Forests, Solutions, Species, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Technology, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Regrowing Amazon forests face a quiet collapse if fast pioneer trees die without stronger successors.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A few tree species are key to restoring biodiversity and carbon storage in deforested areas of the Brazilian Amazon, suggests an article published in June in Global Change Biology. Researchers examined 102 plots under natural regeneration in four municipalities in Pará state — Bragantina, Marabá, Paragominas and Santarém — and concluded that a range of 15 to 25 species accounted for nearly half of the trees present and half of the plots’ carbon stocks. ​Among these species are the embaúba (Cecropia palmata), the tatapiririca (Tapirira guianensis), the ingá-vermelho (Inga alba), and the araticum-bravo (Annona exsucca). ​This relatively short list of hyperdominant species could “guide assisted restoration and enrichment strategies” in the Amazon, the researchers said, and help Brazil meet the goal of restoring 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of forests by 2030, an area roughly the size of North Korea. ​“These areas are already restoring [ecological] services and biodiversity,” Fernando Elias, a researcher in Pará&#8217;s Emílio Goeldi Museum and the coordinator of the study, told Mongabay. “That is why it is so important to understand how these forests behave.” According to Elias, the Brazilian Amazon has more than 140,000 square kilometers (around 57,000 square miles) of regrowing forests in areas previously deforested, known as secondary forests. In many cases, these lands have been abandoned after being used for cattle ranching. ​Most of it has the potential to recover naturally, without the need to plant a single seed. Close monitoring, however, is necessary to control fires, cattle ranching and land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328521</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A ‘lost’ Philippine pigeon reappears after 20 years — but its forest is disappearing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 17:28:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03173737/MBH-Camera-Trap-01_cover-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328564</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Camera Trapping, cameras, Conservation, Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A camera trap on the Philippine island of Mindoro has photographed one of the country’s rarest birds, confirming that the critically endangered Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon still survives in the wild. Captured in August in the Puerto Galera rainforest, the image is the first confirmed photograph of the species Gallicolumba platenae in two decades, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A camera trap on the Philippine island of Mindoro has photographed one of the country’s rarest birds, confirming that the critically endangered Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon still survives in the wild. Captured in August in the Puerto Galera rainforest, the image is the first confirmed photograph of the species Gallicolumba platenae in two decades, according to the nonprofit organization Center for Conservation Innovation Ph Inc. (CCIPH). “For an extremely rare and secretive species, a single image can carry enormous weight,” CCIPH researchers wrote in a Sept. 3 announcement. “It confirms that the bird continues to survive within the landscape.” Juan Carlos Gonzalez, an ornithologist and curator for birds at the Museum of Natural History at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, independently confirmed that the image shows a Mindoro bleeding-heart. “This record not only proves that this very rare species continues to persist in these steep rainforests, but solidifies the importance of Puerto Galera as a UNESCO biosphere reserve and an important sanctuary for this critically endangered species,” Gonzalez told Mongabay by email. Mindoro Bleeding-heart captured via camera trap. Image courtesy of CCIPH. Alex Berryman, who oversees species conservation assessments for Asia at the NGO BirdLife International, also separately confirmed the identification. “There is no doubt that this refers to a Mindoro bleeding-heart,” Berryman told Mongabay by email. Berryman said the orange-red spot on the bird’s otherwise white chest, together with the iridescent green plumage on its head and neck, make it readily identifiable. Gonzalez also pointed to its blue-green&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328564</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From seizure to sentence: Weak prosecution leaves tigers vulnerable to trafficking in Southeast Asia: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 13:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28035444/1.-Sumatran-tiger-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327188</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Global, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Business, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Health, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Medicine, Organized Crime, Poaching, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Traditional Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When tiger poachers and traffickers are apprehended in Southeast Asia, they frequently get away without consequences: Fewer than half of arrests and seizures in the cat’s Southeast Asian range countries are backed up by penalties or convictions, according to a recently published report by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When tiger poachers and traffickers are apprehended in Southeast Asia, they frequently get away without consequences: Fewer than half of arrests and seizures in the cat’s Southeast Asian range countries are backed up by penalties or convictions, according to a recently published report by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC, and WWF International. This means there’s little deterrent for a lucrative illegal industry that’s driving tigers toward extinction, experts say. Black market trade in their skins, bones, teeth and other body parts is an extremely lucrative business; most are headed to China, the top consumer. Researchers assessed publicly available records related to 259 tiger-related seizures in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos between 2019 and 2024 — seven of the 10 countries where wild tigers still survive. Heather Sohl, the tiger trade lead at WWF and a co-author of the report, noted that these cases represent just a fraction of the trade, “only those which were intercepted and reported.” That level of wildlife crime could have a “massive impact” on wild tiger populations, she said. Based on their findings, the study’s authors are calling for a raft of measures to strengthen sentencing in an effort to fight the international criminal organizations that mastermind tiger trade and other wildlife crime in the region. A young Bengal tiger walks along a path through elephant grass in India’s Kaziranga National Park. Image by Steve Winter/Big Cat Voices. Little deterrent for tiger poachers and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 07:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074809/HoodedVultureNecrosyrtes.monachus_JoshVanDerMeulenINaturalistCCBYNCND4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328452</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Chad, Nigeria, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Poaching, Poisoning, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known from only one protected area, and white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) are now presumed to be locally extinct, with the last bird in the country seen in 2019. “We’re now in a situation where it’s much harder to find vultures,” Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), said in an interview. “But if you go to the markets you’ll see them, and you know people are finding them.” In neighboring Benin, a major hub for the trade and use of vulture parts, unpublished market data collected by Abiola Chaffra, a research associate with the IBCP, counted 883 vultures for sale in nine markets surveyed in 2023. Surveys conducted between 2025 and 2026 found 535 for sale in 24 markets. “The fact that vultures continue to be sold, including in southern Benin where their numbers have declined sharply or they have even disappeared from the wild, shows that there is still significant pressure on these species,” Chaffra said. Following the surveys in Togo, the IBCP conducted awareness campaigns around slaughterhouses and worked with local authorities and site managers to protect vultures in 2024 and 2025. “During our awareness-raising activities, many people were unaware of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328452</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Damselfish-assisted repair of wounded corals surprises scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 12:36:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02091808/Damselfish-closeup-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328280</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Corals share a close bond with the fish dwelling among them and the algae living within them. According to a new study, that relationship could be even stronger than previously known, with fish aiding coral tissue repair and damage recovery, particularly in higher-stress environments. The study, published on July 8 in Biology Letters, concluded that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Corals share a close bond with the fish dwelling among them and the algae living within them. According to a new study, that relationship could be even stronger than previously known, with fish aiding coral tissue repair and damage recovery, particularly in higher-stress environments. The study, published on July 8 in Biology Letters, concluded that the yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus), a type of damselfish, helps heal injuries on Pocillopora spp., a genus of stony coral largely found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. “Surprisingly, we found that the bigger the wound, the faster the recovery,” said Hayden Vega, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, in the U.S. Previous research has shown that coral-dwelling fish aid in the cleaning of coral wounds and help corals tolerate warming oceans. But the new evidence of wound healing via tissue repair suggests that interactions between these organisms could be more beneficial than previously thought, especially under stressful conditions. Yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus) damselfish swim around coral in French Polynesia. Image © mndiminuco via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). “These positive interactions between species under stress end up creating a network of resilience in ecosystems,” Vega told Mongabay during a Zoom call. Vega thinks this sort of supportive relationship could extend beyond yellowtail dascyllus and coral. He hopes the findings will prompt researchers to look more deeply at mutualistic benefits shared between other marine species, particularly in warming oceans, with research results then applied to conservation management plans. This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328280</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>