Amazon’s male white bellbird has the loudest recorded call
When the male white bellbird sings, it’s not just loud: it’s ear-splittingly loud. In fact, the call of this Amazonian bird is the loudest recorded call among all bird species…
Why is Europe rewilding with water buffalo?
This post is part of Saving Life on Earth: Words on the Wild, a monthly column by Jeremy Hance, one of Mongabay’s original staff writers. At the end of…
These rare pigs can dig it. With a tool, that is. And moonwalk too
PARIS — Priscilla grabs a piece of tree bark and uses it to dig the dirt in front of her. It’s classic tool use, the kind of thing primates are…
As climate crisis deepens, wildlife adapts, maybe with lessons for us
Recent studies of Twitter posts have shown that people can be quick to shrug off extreme weather as normal. However, researchers are also finding that some wildlife — maybe better…
Audio: Humpback whales across the Pacific Ocean are singing the same song
Today we speak with Jim Darling, a marine biologist who is here to play us some recordings of remarkably similar humpback whale songs from around the world. Listen here: …
Manta rays are social creatures who are choosy about their friends
It turns out that manta rays might be as picky about their friends as you or me. Researchers have found evidence of structured social relationships among wild, free-ranging reef manta…
Audio: The superb lyrebird’s song, dance and incredible vocal mimicry
It’s summer in the North and we’re on holiday! So for today’s show, we replay one of our favorite Field Notes episodes, featuring field recordings of the superb lyrebird, an…
World’s largest frog moves heavy rocks to build nests, study finds
The world’s largest known living frog species doesn’t build ordinary nests. It does a lot of heavy lifting, sometimes moving large stones and rocks weighing more than half its weight…
Tests show multi-rotor UAVs can improve cetacean behavioral studies
A New Zealand-based research team assessing the utility of small, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to survey and study humpback whales determined that video data collected from a UAV improved…
Audio: Listen to the first-ever recordings of right whales breaking into song
Today we speak with Jessica Crance, a research biologist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who recently discovered right whales singing for the first time ever. Listen…
Recreational divers help researchers track movements of rare stingray
The smalleye stingray may be the largest of marine stingrays, but the species remains a mystery. It’s believed to be widely distributed across the Indo-West Pacific and has been recorded…
Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats
The global trade of products that come at the expense of tropical forest is driving many primate species closer to extinction, a new study suggests. The research, published June 17…
Leopards get a $20m boost from Panthera pact with Saudi prince
Wild cat conservation group Panthera has signed an agreement with a member of the Saudi royal family to help protect leopards worldwide, especially perhaps the rarest subspecies in the world,…
Out on a limb: Unlikely collaboration boosts orangutans in Borneo
BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA NATIONAL PARK, Indonesia -- In the heart of Indonesian Borneo, a dwindling population of orangutans is getting a new lease on life thanks to a group of…
Tiny tracking tags help decode how echolocating bats navigate
While we fumble and crash without any light, bats zipping away in the dark, effortlessly skirting obstacles and pouncing on prey, seem magical. To better understand this ability of bats…
In a first, chimps found bashing tortoises against trees to get at the meat
Chimpanzees in Gabon's Loango National Park have tortoises on their menu. For the first time, researchers have observed the great apes vigorously smashing forest hinge-back tortoises (Kinixys erosa) against tree…
For migrating songbirds, ‘baby shark’ is more than just an annoying tune
During a routine shark survey in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2010, ecologist Marcus Drymon caught a small tiger shark. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about it.…
The health of penguin chicks points scientists to changes in the ocean
It’s hard to imagine how the oceans might operate without the sway of human activity. The recent assessment by the U.N. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found…
Social media enables the illegal wildlife pet trade in Malaysia
It might seem harmless enough at first. The big eyes and the rambunctious, bounding play of the tiny cats and monkeys on your social media feed draw you in, and…
’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
Life on this planet, in all its wide diversity, is disappearing more quickly now than it has at any time in human history, and some 1 million species of plants…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- ‘Weird’ police probe rules Indonesian activist died in drink-driving crash
- Suspicions of murder in death of Indonesian environmental activist
- Oil palm, cattle and coca take a toll on Colombia’s indigenous Jiw
Indonesias forest guardians
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Amazon infrastructure
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
Asian rhinos
- Malaysian attempt at Sumatran rhino IVF fails on low quality of sperm
- At India’s Assam Zoo, decades of experience lead to rhino-breeding success
- For India’s flood-hit rhinos, refuge depends increasingly on humans
