Interns News

The dense undergrowth of tropical forests presents a mysterious prospect to wildlife researchers. Often what is easily spotted does not represent the whole, and scientists in the past could spend…

A recent study, published in BioScience, details successful efforts by local citizens to monitor natural resources, and finds that citizens do the job just as effectively as trained scientists. The…

Warning: Some images below may contain graphic content. At best numbering roughly 2,800 individuals, the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is critically endangered. Yet population data has been notoriously difficult…

Thanks to a thin layer of tissue that covers the heart called the epicardium, zebrafish are able to regrow damaged cardiac tissue. New research has shown that the epicardium is…

A recent article published in the journal Biological Conservation details a research study led by University of Wisconsin physical anthropologist Dr. Stephanie Spehar which utilized game camera traps to identify…

Leopards occur in two forms: spotted and black — the black-coated version being the result of the presence of the dark-colored pigment melanin, a condition known as melanism and the…

Look up; look around. Look to the forests in your community. Odds are, they are secondary-growth forests (SFs), forests that regrow following major disturbances. These forests are becoming more common…

Since seabirds rely on healthy oceans to feed and thrive, scientists consider them excellent indicators of the marine ecosystem's health. But a recent study found that global seabird populations appear…

North Africa may not spring to mind as the home of an ape population, but the Barbary Macaque (Macaca sylvanus) still dwells there. The only remaining primate north of the…

Two traders of beaks from the helmeted hornbill were arrested in Sumatra, Indonesia, on June 12. During the arrest, authorities confiscated 12 beaks and the two suspects, known only as…

The Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is responsible for depletion of 40 percent of the coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef over the last 30 years, and currently can only…

a small number of corporations resemble tiger sharks in the fishing industry. These corporations could potentially have a seismic effect on the entire fishing industry and hold the power to conserve or collapse fisheries worldwide.

At least six species of wild cats live, and seem to do so harmoniously, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is critically endangered and…

The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of northeastern Australia – considered the largest living organism on earth – is currently under threat from a floating layer of microplastic particles,…

Countless lives have been saved by antibiotics since the middle of the 20th century. But their life giving potency is fading fast as bacterial resistance surges. Last year the United…

Lowland Forest profile characteristic of southern Yunnan Province’s threatened rainforests. Image Credit: Hua Zhu, 2008, Tropical Conservation Science. China’s southern Yunnan Province straddles the Myanmar border where the Mekong River…

Africa is famous for its lions and other large carnivores, but populations are dwindling and even vanishing all over the continent. A new study published in mongabay.com’s open-access journal Tropical…

When attempts to protect and restore endangered species in their natural habitats prove futile, an alternate strategy for conservationists is to breed the species in captivity and reintroduce them to…

Oil palm plantation in Papua, Indonesia. The country lost 1 million hectares of forest cover in 2013, according to one estimate. Photo credit: Agus Andrianto/ CIFOR. Eighteen million hectares of…

Conservation areas, such as national parks and nature reserves, are a key component of tropical forest conservation, safeguarding natural ecosystem processes and threatened species. However, many designated conservation areas include…

The rate of deforestation and species extinction are increasing worldwide, and substantial efforts are being made to establish new protected areas (NPAs), build local environmental organizations and improve management of…

The world’s tropical forests are threatened by deforestation due to agricultural, industrial and urban expansion; as well as by drought, fire, and disease, all worsened by climate change. Human reforestation…

Animal vehicle collisions (AVCs) take an incredible toll on wildlife worldwide. In the United States, for example, as many as 1.5 million deer, moose, and other ungulates are annually involved…

Invasive species are among the greatest threats to the world’s biodiversity, and amphibians rank among the most devastating vertebrate invaders. That’s why the discovery of the Asian toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)…

Global Forest Watch, a young online forest monitoring and alert system, provides free, near real-time data on deforestation and tree-cover loss around the world. It allows users to create customized…

Fencing is used to protect wildlife against poaching and human encroachment, and also to protect people and livestock from wildlife. As a conservation strategy, it has proponents as well as…

Starkist, Bumblebee, and the kitchily named Chicken of the Sea are among the most familiar brands of canned tuna on grocery store shelves. They also rank the worst in terms…

Coral reefs are the gardens of the ocean. Covering just a tiny fraction of the vast sea floor, they are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. However, global…

A laundry list of dangers threaten Amazonia’s few remaining uncontacted indigenous communities. Colonists and industry workers often grab tribal land for mining, logging, drug trafficking, or hydrocarbon extraction, which damage…

A butterfly in Malaysia. Photo credit: Bernard DUPONT. In choosing sites to target for protection, conservationists typically look for healthy ecosystems with high biodiversity — places with a great number…