Beneath their prehistoric-looking shells, turtles conceal an extraordinary ability to hold their breath underwater, going without oxygen for hours, even months, at a time. This cellular-level capacity to survive underwater…
It started out as an interest in lacertids – a family of small lizards native to Asia, Europe, and Africa – an itch to “understand what was going on with…
Malaysian customs officials have seized 330 tortoises that were smuggle into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The tortoises, which included 325 Radiated tortoises as well as five Ploughshare tortoises, were…
On an island in Papua New Guinea, scientists say they have rediscovered a species of monitor lizard thought to be "lost" to science since the 1800s. The medium-sized lizard was…
DENPASAR, Indonesia — A recent spate of busts has placed Bali in the spotlight once again as a key domestic market for endangered sea turtles. In February, Bali marine police…
SUKAU, Malaysia – At first blush, the muddy waters of the Kinabatangan River in northern Borneo seem to laze through a hodge-podge of sleepy fishing and farming villages. The river…
On today’s program we speak with Crystal Davis, the director of Global Forest Watch, a near-real-time forest monitoring system created by the World Resources Institute. Mongabay has partnered with Global…
On the streets of Morocco, several species of lizards, tortoise and snakes are being sold openly for use in traditional medicine, a new study has found. Many of these species are…
While leatherback sea turtles typically do their nesting at night, a prospective mother turtle is sometimes up so late laying her eggs that she is still on the beach at…
In a video posted on YouTube on February 6, 2017, a woman fishes a juvenile shark out of the waters of the Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago-cum-national park off Brazil's…
A species has just three options in the face of environmental change: move, adapt or die. As global temperatures rise many species are shifting their ranges, particularly towards the cooler…
Islands possess many unique gifts from evolution. Their isolation from the mainland give them an identity all their own: these small pieces of land are often filled with species that…
Within the seemingly boundless Mysore Plateau of southern India, the newly-discovered Bangalore geckoella (Cyrtodactylus srilekhae) and Rishi Valley geckoella (Cyrtodactylus rishivalleyensis) pace – centred, unhurried, and only prone to flurries…
Indonesian police arrested five fishermen last week for trafficking 38 sea turtles from an important nesting site in the archipelago country’s eastern waters. Six of the turtles were dead. The…
When at risk, go naked. At least that’s the defense strategy of a newly described species of gecko that can shed its scales in the face – or in this…
The legal commercial exotic animal trade is a booming enterprise that ships ornamental fish, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians around the world. These pets, livestock and other animals can carry…
The Jeypore ground gecko (Geckoella jeyporensis) was first noted and described by a British colonel in 1877, but was not seen again for more than 130 years, and presumed extinct.…
The southern coast of Java — from Pelabuhan Ratu in the west to Puger Beach at the Indonesian island's eastern tip — is an important breeding ground for sea turtles.…
Discovering a new species is always exciting -- it shows that much of our world remains to be explored and described. This year, too, scientists discovered and described several thousand new…
A simple ink pen can conceal two or three freshwater fish larvae. Traffickers switch out the ink cartridge for water, transforming them into tiny tanks used to smuggle even tinier…
Bolivia introduced a general and indefinite ban on the wildlife trade two decades ago, but this measure has failed to stop the trafficking of wild animals. Birds, monkeys, turtles and…
Juan Manuel Carrión recalls that 30 years ago he was one of the first to warn that wildlife trafficking would become a major threat to Ecuador's biodiversity. "A foreigner would…
Melaka - The expanse of sand stretches hundreds of meters in both directions, featureless and flat, its dusty monotony alleviated only by the excavators, trucks and dredgers that dump sand…
Brazil is forging ahead with plans to build a vast hydropower dam complex in the heart of the Amazon that would convert the now remote and wild Tapajós river system…
Bombs and biodiversity can go hand in hand, a new study has found. Military training areas — used for the training of armed forces — can maintain biodiversity and even…
Global average temperatures have risen by about 1°C since 1880. But just one degree of human-induced warming has impacted nearly all aspects of life on our planet, concludes a new…
The world’s most endangered alligator -- the Chinese alligator -- is making a comeback. Scientists have recently photographed baby Chinese alligators swimming in Dongtan Wetland Park in Shanghai. Fewer than 150…
If current trends persist, the population abundance of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish could decline an average of 67 percent by 2020. That’s one of several sobering findings detailed…
Scientists have long proposed that the international trade in furs and skins that took off in the 20th century led to an “empty forest” scenario in the Amazon, but no…
Last week, the government of Belize announced that it would begin oil exploration in the Atlantic-Caribbean waters, very close to the world’s second largest reef system -- the Belize Barrier…
