Seeing the maligned urban rat in a new light: Q&A with Michael Parsons
“Wild rats are as different to laboratory rats, as probably a wolf is to a Chihuahua. That’s not an embellished analogy … The biggest misconception, I think, is that we…
If you think sharks are scary, blame Hollywood, new study suggests
David McGuire lived through the summer of Jaws in 1975 and saw the impact. As a surfer in Southern California, the upside was fewer people in the water. But McGuire,…
Studies debunk ‘nature is healing’ narrative from 2020 lockdowns
When the world went on lockdown, nature got a reprieve, or so it seemed. Dolphins swam in the Hudson River, Los Angeles’ famed smog dissipated, and wild animals were reportedly…
For sea snakes, underwater sex is a washout more often than not
While watching underwater video of a male turtleheaded sea snake attempting to court a female, Jenna Crowe-Riddell noticed something shocking but not uncommon: the male got lost. After pursuing the…
Rising temperatures further threaten already endangered African wild dogs
With extreme heat, African wild dogs are dying at a higher rate, according to scientists. New research, published in Ecology and Evolution in June, found that humans are responsible for…
In DRC, community ownership of forests helps guard the Grauer’s gorilla
In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) share their forest home with rural communities – which could help save their shrinking populations and…
Naming of new ant species from Ecuador breaks with binary gender conventions
Scientists describing a new species of ant, Strumigenys ayersthey, have broken with conventional naming traditions and used the pronoun “they” instead of the traditional male or female form to promote…
Private investors look to high-end tourism to fund conservation in Mozambique
When COVID-19 started to sweep across the world last year, conservationists feared that it would be a disaster for Africa’s wildlife. Tourism revenues evaporated, causing salary cuts and layoffs for…
From common to captive, Javan pied starlings succumb to songbird trade
The Javan pied starling (Gracupica jalla) is a captive in its own home. Thousands of these endemic songbirds once congregated in the safety of tall trees to roost after spending…
The secret bears of Bolivia’s lost dry forests
EL PALMAR, Bolivia — It was worth the journey. After sweating across the scrubby Bolivian mountainsides, stepping into the forest was like entering a different world. Twisted pino de monte…
Hantavirus study shows restoring forests can reduce zoonotic disease risk
The COVID-19 pandemic brought zoonotic diseases into the global spotlight in a way nothing has done for a century, even though zoonoses — diseases passed between humans and animals —…
Time is running out for embattled Pacific leatherback sea turtles
Clear-skied, low-wind summer days are rare off the coast of California. But they’re a blessing if you’re a researcher tracking down critically endangered leatherback sea turtles. Marine ecologists Scott Benson…
The U.S. reptile most at risk from rising seas is one you likely haven’t heard of
At just 5 centimers, or 2 inches, from nose to tail, the Florida reef gecko is so frail that handling it with bare hands is enough to tear its skin.…
Shark catastrophe points to failure to enact global biodiversity agreements
A near-sharkless open ocean could soon be a reality, according to Nathan Pacoureau, a postdoctoral researcher in the Earth to Ocean Research Group at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Pacoureau…
Dying of curiosity: Why people shoot harpy eagles
The rancher peers at an enormous bird high in the treetops. Reining in his horse, he squints upward. It’s not moving; maybe it will still be there when he gets…
In Japan, scientists look to the past to save the future of grasslands
On the wide-open plains of the Sugadaira and Minenohara highlands, red-budded great burnets dot the landscape amid lavender hues of Japanese lady bell flowers, relics of the last Ice Age…
Here goes nothing: Male spiders found giving females silk-wrapped zilch
How do you let your crush know you’re interested in taking things to the next level? If you’re a male spider, you may give the female in question a gift…
Wasting away: Sea urchins suffer deformities from plastic chemicals
A lone figure kneels at the high-tide line of Tregantle Beach. A 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) sweep of golden sands that hugs the coast of Cornwall in southwest England, Tregantle is bound…
On a Philippine island, a tricky balancing act between development and water
When rain falls on Bantayan Island, the supply of fresh water rises. If the rains fail, it becomes scarcer. The more than 120,000 residents of Bantayan and 22 nearby islets…
Threatened species caught in crossfire of ongoing land conflict in Myanmar
Reaching down into the Malay Peninsula, Myanmar’s southern Tanintharyi region is home to rainforests that support a unique assemblage of endemic and endangered species, including the endangered Malay tapir (Tapirus…
In search of the ‘forest ghost,’ South America’s cryptic giant armadillo
Since 2010, the Giant Armadillo Project has been dedicated to researching the world's largest armadillo, an animal that, despite its size and range across almost every country in South America, is one of the world’s least recognized animals.
They outlived dinosaurs, but can glass sponge reefs survive man-made warming?
When scientists first discovered glass sponge reefs in British Columbia’s waters in the late 1980s, they couldn’t have been more surprised. Prior to this, they believed that glass sponge reefs…
Keystone mammal plunges 87% in Mesoamerica
In 2000, Dr. Rafael Reyna-Hurtado spotted a herd of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) for the first time in the Mayan Forest. The sight, he says, took his breath away. Never…
From New Guinea to Florida, one of these crocs is not like the others
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida prides itself on having every species of alligator and crocodile in the world. By 2019, scientists had recognized 26 crocodilian species…
For the Mediterranean, the Suez is a wormhole bringing in alien invaders
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A hidden invasion is taking place beneath the waves of the Mediterranean Sea. In recent years, scientists have recorded more than 700 alien species in Mediterranean waters,…
Photos of wild tiger cubs in Thailand rekindles hope for species
Camera traps in eastern Thailand’s Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) forest complex have yielded photos of tiger cubs, providing long-awaited evidence that the big cat is breeding in this part of…
Costa Rica caterpillar decline spells trouble for ecosystems
Scientists have uncovered alarming declines in caterpillar diversity and their parasites across 22 years of monitoring in a protected forest in Costa Rica. In their study, published in Scientific Reports,…
In Afghanistan, a new national park carries hopes for conservation and peace
Ibrahim Abrar’s first visit to Afghanistan’s Bamyan province, where he encountered the Dar-e-Bozurk, or Grand Canyon, is an experience he says he’ll never forget. He describes it as “a vast…
Activists win reprieve, for now, for Dominican coastline eyed by developers
A coalition of environmentalists is fighting to prevent Spanish company Globalia from building an ecotourism resort bordering Cotubanamá National Park, one of the last remaining patches of pristine lowland rainforest…
Study finds new population of rare deer — but in Brazil’s Arc of Deforestation
Scientists have uncovered hidden populations of Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) in savanna enclaves on the southern edge of the Brazilian Amazon, hundreds of miles from any historically known population of…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- The Pantanal is burning again. Will it be another devastating year?
- Deforestation sweeps national park in Brazil as land speculators advance
- Drug trafficking threatens Indigenous Shipibo communities in Peru
- Fires rage in Bolivia’s Chiquitania region
Oceans
- Sea turtles: Can these great marine migrators navigate rising human threats?
- Researchers express alarm as Arctic multiyear sea ice hits record low
- With coral cover halved, curbing climate change is only way to slow the loss
- Faroe Islands to evaluate traditional hunt after slaughter of 1,400 dolphins
Amazon Conservation
- Amazon, meet Amazon: Tech giant rolls out rainforest carbon offset project
- Rich countries may be buying illegal gold that’s driving Amazon destruction
- New study offers latest proof that Brazilian Amazon is now a net CO2 source
- With their land on the line, Indigenous Brazilians gather for landmark ruling
Land rights and extractives
- ‘On the map’: App shines light on 5,000 ‘invisible’ families in Brazil’s Cerrado and beyond
- As illegal logging route in Peru nears Brazil, Indigenous groups warn of calamity
- Vale told Brazil communities they were in danger. They say Vale wants their land
- With their land on the line, Indigenous Brazilians gather for landmark ruling
Endangered Environmentalists
- The Kichwa woman fighting drug traffickers and loggers in the Peruvian Amazon
- Rights groups demand end to Cambodia’s persecution of green activists
- With Indigenous rights at stake in Brasília, a territory is attacked in Paraty
- Brazil’s Bolsonaro vowed to work with Indigenous people. Now he’s investigating them
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- From Flores to Papua: Meet 10 of Indonesia’s mangrove guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
Conservation Effectiveness
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- ‘Bad science’: Planting frenzy misses the grasslands for the trees
- A Malagasy community wins global recognition for saving its lake
- Scientists in Costa Rica are growing new corals to save reefs
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Plantations and roads strip away Papua’s forests. They’re just getting started
- Indonesian farmers refuse to budge for train line through karst landscape
- UNESCO calls for closure of road running through World Heritage park in Papua
- Indonesia’s Gorontalo road runs into forest, swerves environmental checks
