A noisy population of feral yellow-crested cockatoos living in the dense, urban landscape of Hong Kong may hold the genetic key to saving the species from extinction in Indonesia, according to a new study.

The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) is critically endangered in its native range in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, with fewer than 2,000 individuals remaining in the wild due to habitat loss and the pet trade. However, Hong Kong is home to roughly 200 of these parrots, or about 10% of the global population, which are descendants of escaped pets.

For the study, researchers conducted a genomic analysis of the city’s yellow-crested cockatoo population. They found that despite their small number and isolated urban environment, the feral cockatoos have unexpectedly high genetic diversity, comparable to other wild parrot populations.

“Instead of dismissing urban, introduced populations as ecologically redundant, we should view them as potential ‘Biodiversity Ark’ that can actively help prevent extinction,” study lead author Astrid Andersson of Hong Kong University said in a press release.

The researchers also compared the DNA of Hong Kong’s yellow-crested cockatoo population with museum specimens representing the species’ four recognized subspecies. They found the feral population is a genetic melting pot, carrying signatures from all subspecies. In particular, more than half of the sampled birds belong to a lineage linked to Lombok, an island in eastern Indonesia, where the species is now thought to be locally extinct. This makes the urban population a vital reservoir for genetic lineages that have vanished from their native range, the authors wrote.

They added that the urban birds could eventually support “genetic rescue” efforts in Indonesia by providing a source of genetically diverse individuals to boost dwindling native populations.

However, Hong Kong’s city cockatoo population faces a challenge, Andersson said. “The loss of over 60% of the cockatoos’ previously used nest sites in natural tree hollows in Hong Kong due to typhoons and pruning has created a housing crisis for these birds,” she said in the statement.

 To address this, the research team is collaborating with local schools and parks to install artificial nest boxes equipped with cameras to monitor breeding behavior. “By partnering with local schools, we are providing safe havens for breeding so we do not lose this globally important urban population,” Andersson said.

While the findings are promising, the authors emphasized that considerations of future translocations of Hong Kong’s cockatoos to Indonesia would require rigorous risk assessments regarding disease, biosecurity and behavioral differences between urban and wild birds.

Banner image: Yellow-crested cockatoos. Image by Sek Keung Lo via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

The West African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has formally designated its first two protected sites off its coast.

This comes less than a year after presenting its plans to establish a national network of eight marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 93 square kilometers (36 square miles) in the Gulf of Guinea.

The two MPAs include Ilhéu das Rolas–Malanza–Jalé, on the southern coast of São Tomé Island, and Santana, on the island’s eastern coast. Nilton de Sousa Pontes, minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, announced the official designation during the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya.

“These [newly protected] areas include critical coastal and marine habitats, such as mangroves, nesting beaches, rocky reefs and important fishing grounds, and support emblematic and threatened species including marine turtles, seabirds and other marine biodiversity,” João Pessoa, the country’s Director of Fisheries, told Mongabay via email.

Santana covers 7.4 km2 (2.86 mi2) of coastal waters, of which 1 km2 (0.4 mi2) is a fully protected no-take zone where industrial fishing and the collection of other marine resources are prohibited. The rest is reserved for authorized use by artisanal fishers using legal gear, scientific research and other low-impact activities.

Ilhéu das Rolas-Malanza-Jalé covers 55.8 km2 (21.54 mi2), with 8 km2 (3 mi2) under full protection from any extractive or destructive activities.

The remaining six MPAs will be located around Príncipe Island. They have been approved by the Council of Ministers and are awaiting promulgation by the president before publication in the Official Gazette, said Claricela Sequeira Tebús Andrade of Fundação Príncipe, one of the implementing partners of the national network of MPAs consortium led by the conservation NGO Fauna & Flora.

Five of the proposed sites will have mixed protection zones combining fully protected and partially protected areas, while one will be fully protected, Andrade told Mongabay.

Andrade said that the two MPAs already designated are important as they are located close to fishing communities and protect habitats essential for the conservation of marine biodiversity.

However, implementing them comes with challenges, particularly around fishing access, enforcement, and livelihood support, she added. There are still insufficient state technical resources, Andrade said, adding there is also a lack of awareness amongst fishermen about the use of certain fishing methods in sensitive habitats.

The MPAs will be co-managed by local communities, fishers, government institutions, civil society organizations and technical partners.

“Community participation is central to the management approach,” Pessoa said.

He added the next phase will focus on implementation, including preparing management plans, establishing co-management arrangements, raising awareness, strengthening monitoring systems, and improving enforcement capacity.

“The MPAs are not being created as paper parks, but as part of a broader effort to strengthen marine governance, fisheries sustainability, biodiversity protection and community resilience in São Tomé and Príncipe,” Pessoa said.

Banner image: Green turtle hatchlings on their way to sea. Image courtesy of Vasco Pissarra / Fundação Príncipe.

Record temperatures have been causing mass poultry deaths in western France since June 22, Reuters reported.

The heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit), is also behind the drowning of 40 people. Météo-France, the French national weather service, wrote in a statement that June 24 and 25 were the hottest days recorded in France since records began in 1947.

Yann Nedelec, head of ANVOL, a French poultry-sector organization, estimated that at least several hundred thousand poultry in both indoor and outdoor farms died, though he told Reuters it was too soon for a precise death count.

Chicken farmer Clement Blanchard, based in Saint-Andre-Goule-d’Oie, a commune in Pays de la Loire, told Reuters that around 700 of his chickens had died over the span of a few days, compared to an average death rate of one or two per day.

“We’re faced with the same thing with our animals as we ​are ourselves: they suffer enormously from the heat, and so at times like this there are abnormally high death rates,” he told Reuters.

Stéphane Delapré, a poultry breeder in Beauvoir-sur-Mer in Normandy, northwestern France, told AFP that the heat on June 22 had killed roughly half of his 17,600 chickens. 

“Half of the chickens died, suffocated by the heat: those that were in the buildings and also those that were under the trees,” he said. “In [my] 42-year … career, I have never seen anything like it.”

The Chamber of Agriculture in both Brittany and Pays de Loire, which together make up more than half of France’s poultry flock, recognized the mass mortality events over the last week.

French authorities exceptionally allowed pig and poultry farmers across western France to bury dead animals on location until July 1, pending environmental authorization, as animal collection services were overwhelmed.

“Poultry are animals that do not have a sweat gland, meaning they do not perspire. They therefore dissipate heat by breathing through their beaks,” Dominique Balloy, a veterinarian said in a statement released by ANVOL.

“This is why they are highly sensitive to rising temperatures: the hotter it gets, the faster their breathing rate accelerates,” she added.

Banner image: A chicken farm in France. Image courtesy of the Brittany Chamber of Agriculture.

A French court has delivered a landmark judgment against oil and gas giant TotalEnergies SE, holding it accountable for the carbon footprint associated with its global operations.

On June 25, the Paris Judicial Court ordered the multinational business to revise its vigilance plan in relation to its climate risk assessment. The order requires the company to include Scope 3 emissions, which encompasses those stemming from the use of its products and other indirect emissions, as well as measures to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with those activities.

The case was brought in 2020 by the civil society organizations Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa and France Nature Environnement, together with the city of Paris. It was heard in January 2026.

“The judgment sends a very clear message that fossil fuel companies are responsible for all of their emissions, including those generated by customers using their products,” Anne Stévignon, legal specialist in litigation and advocacy at Notre Affaire à Tous, said during an online press conference attended by Mongabay on the day of the ruling.

Stévignon added that the decision confirms France’s Duty of Vigilance Law applies to climate risks generated by multinational corporations. The 2017 legislation requires large French companies to publish and implement annual vigilance plans identifying risks to human rights, health and safety, and the environment throughout their global operations. They must also present measures to prevent or mitigate such risks.

The claimants had sought broader relief than the court granted. They argued that TotalEnergies should be required to align its business strategy with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. They also asked the court to order the company to reduce its fossil-fuel activities and adopt a more ambitious emissions-reduction trajectory.

However, the court deferred its decision on those claims and held that it must first assess the steps TotalEnergies takes to comply with the order.

“The tribunal considered that it must wait until the company has adequately modified its vigilance plan and identified the risk related to its oil and gas activities before being able to give an interpretation on these measures,” Stévignon said during the press conference.

The court also ordered TotalEnergies to pay €20,000 ($22,833) to each claimant in legal costs and scheduled a further hearing for Jan. 21, 2027.

In a statement provided to Mongabay, TotalEnergies said it “notes with satisfaction that, in its decision issued today, the Paris Judicial Court did not uphold the claims brought by the associations and the City of Paris, which sought to prohibit TotalEnergies from developing or undertaking new oil and gas projects or to require it to reduce its oil and gas production.”

While acknowledging the court’s order, the company reiterated that reducing emissions also depends on consumer choices, “such as purchasing an electric vehicle, a heat pump, or using biofuels.”

Banner Image: The claimants in front of the Paris Court in January. Image courtesy of Notre Affairs à Tous

Vietnamese environmental lawyer Dang Dinh Bach was released from prison on June 24 after serving a full five-year sentence for tax evasion, charges advocates say were a pretext to silence his activism against coal mining.

Bach, the founder and former director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center, was arrested in 2021 after he helped lead a 17-day protest against the expansion of coal mining in Vietnam. His release was confirmed by the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition (VCDC), a group of more than 30 international and regional human rights and climate justice organizations.

In a statement released through the coalition, Bach expressed his appreciation for the global campaign for his freedom. “I’m grateful to be back home and reunited with my family,” he said, noting that his immediate priority was reconnecting with his wife and his young son, who was only 2 weeks old when they were separated. “Thank you to everyone who has reached out and shown support.”

Bach’s legal work was highly influential in Vietnam’s environmental landscape. VCDC said he contributed to the country’s Environmental Protection Law and helped lay the groundwork for Vietnam’s $15.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). The VCDC noted that Bach’s expertise and dedication are vital to Vietnam’s climate goals, stating that such work is “best served by people of Bach’s expertise, integrity, and dedication working alongside government, not behind bars.”

While celebrating Bach’s release, the coalition said it remains concerned about his security. It has called on Vietnamese authorities to “guarantee full freedom of movement and safety to Bach and his family” as he recovers from a decline in health suffered during his imprisonment.

The VCDC described Bach’s release as a potential “step toward environmental progress [and] humanitarian values” for Vietnam as the nation navigates its transition toward a sustainable energy future. For now, Bach has requested privacy for the next several weeks to adjust to life outside of prison.

Banner image: Dang Dinh Bach speaking. Image via StandWithBach.org.

A positive case of Ebola disease has been identified in France, a first for the Western European country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the patient is a healthcare worker from the NGO Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) who contracted the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before returning to France.

“This case is a reminder of the risks faced by frontline defenders. Almost 80 health workers have been infected,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference on June 24, 2026, at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. “The risk to the rest of the world remains low.”

Since May 15, the DRC has been facing a new Ebola outbreak. This time caused by the Bundibugyo variant, a strain of the disease for which there is currently no approved treatment or vaccine. Since the outbreak was declared, the death toll has continued to rise. According to the latest figures, 1,048 confirmed cases have been reported, including 267 deaths.

Mongabay contacted the French Ministry of Health, which declined to comment. During an interview given by the health minister, Stéphanie Rist, on national television.

She said the infected health care worker had arrived in France at the very beginning of the illness. “He did not know he was sick; he showed no symptoms and was not contagious,” Rist said. “During the flight, he developed headaches and alerted the crew. He was taken into care upon landing and is currently in isolation at a hospital.”  

She added that five people who were on the flight with the doctor are considered “potential contacts cases” and have been placed in isolation to prevent any possible spread of the disease.

“Contamination prevention measures have been in place since the beginning of our intervention to protect our teams,” a statement from ALIMA said. “However, in a context of high viral circulation, where our medical teams are exposed, we are working to understand how the contamination may have occurred.”

Ebola is a zoonotic disease, like malaria or COVID, meaning it was originally transmitted from animals to humans. Although the animal source of the virus has not yet been identified, human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with bodily fluids including sweat, blood, saliva and semen. Infected individuals cannot transmit the disease until they develop symptoms, and they remain contagious as long as the virus is present in their blood.

WHO remains optimistic about the response to the outbreak. “More than 100 people have now recovered. With early detection and supportive care, many can survive this disease,” Ghebreyesus said during a media briefing on June 24. “Preparations are now complete for the trial of two therapeutics that is expected to start in DRC next week.”

Banner image: Relatives attend the funeral of an Ebola victim in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Friday, June 19, 2026. Image by Moses Sawasawa, Associated Press.