Researchers describe the kultarr as “Australia’s cutest mammal”: It’s eyes are quite large for its mouse-like head, it’s ears are perky and it has long, thin legs that allow it to run so fast that it looks like it’s hopping. A recent study has now confirmed that the insect-eating marsupial is not one, but three distinct species.

Previously, scientists considered Antechinomys laniger — referring only to the kultarr — as the sole species under the genus Antechinomys.

But in 2023, a genetic study reclassified another marsupial, the long-tailed dunnart (previously Sminthopsis longicaudata), as a second species under Antechinomys (A.  longicaudatus). The study also showed genetic differences between some kultarr specimens.

Building on that study, researchers examined kultarr specimens collected in museums in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth over the past century. Genetic analysis of the tissue samples along with the specimens’ body measurements confirmed that the kultarr, A. laniger, was actually three separate species.

“The three species of kultarr live in different regions of Australia and have different habitat preferences,” Cameron Dodd, study’s lead author from the University of Western Australia, told Mongabay by email. “Identifying them as different species will allow for more targeted conservation approaches that best suit the unique biology of each species, rather than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach which might not be optimal for any of the species.”

The eastern kultarr (A. laniger) is the smallest of the three species, with an average body length around 7.5 centimeters (3 inches). It is darker, has smaller ears and a less elongated snout as well. The eastern kultarr is found in parts of central New South Wales and southern Queensland.

The gibber kultarr (A. spenceri) is the largest and stockiest among the three, with an average body length of 9 cm (3.5 in). It has a bigger head and thicker, longer legs than the others. It inhabits the stony deserts of the “gibber plains” in southwest Queensland and northeast South Australia.

The long-eared kultarr (A. auritus) is sized between the other two but has the largest ear-to-head ratio of all kultarrs. It lives in the sandy deserts of central and western Australia.

The conservation status of the kultarr was last assessed in 2014, and it remains listed as least concern, although it is considered endangered in New South Wales. The authors write that with the taxonomic revision, all three species need new assessments.

Dodd said kultarrs, dunnarts and other marsupials are crucial for controlling insects after rains, “preventing both native vegetation and crops from being decimated by plague-like insect numbers.” The marsupials are also important food for birds and snakes.

He added the loss of these insectivores would severely degrade ecosystems already damaged by the decline of Australia’s fauna due to habitat clearing, hunting and the introduction of invasive cats and foxes that accompanied European settlement.

Banner image: (L-R) the eastern kultarr (image by Pat Woolley), the gibber kultarr and the long-eared kultarr (images by Ken Johnson).

GENEVA (AP) — Soccer faces growing challenges from extreme heat, as seen during the FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S. this summer. Rising global temperatures are making summer tournaments increasingly dangerous for players and fans. Scientists warn that continuing to hold events in June and July could lead to severe heat-related illnesses. FIFA introduced measures like extra water breaks and shaded benches but still faced criticism from players. Experts suggest shifting tournaments to cooler months, though this disrupts traditional soccer calendars. With the 2026 and 2030 World Cups scheduled in hot regions, addressing heat risks is becoming urgent as climate change worsens.

Read the full story by Graham Dunbar and Seth Borenstein, Associated Press, here.

Banner image: Palmeiras’ Vitor Roque sits on the side of the pitch in a cooling mist after being substituted during the Club World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Palmeiras and Botafogo in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries.

In a move hailed as a long-overdue conservation victory, Sri Lanka has formally declared Nilgala — a sweeping mosaic of grasslands, forests and sacred sites — as a protected forest reserve, reports contributor Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay.

Spanning more than 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres), Nilgala is now the largest intact savanna ecosystem in the country and one of its most ecologically diverse landscapes.

Nestled on the eastern edge of Uva province, Nilgala’s dry evergreen forests and isolated hills give rise to microhabitats that shelter flora and fauna found nowhere else on the island. Endemic reptiles, such as the Nilgala day gecko (Cnemaspis nilgala) and Cyrtodactylus vedda, thrive alongside culturally revered plants once used in royal Ayurvedic medicine.

“These features create diverse microhabitats that have allowed species typically restricted to the wet zone or cooler, mist-covered highlands to thrive here,” says ecologist Suranjan Fernando.

The region is not only biologically rich but spiritually resonant. Nilgala is the ancestral homeland of the Vedda people, Sri Lanka’s Indigenous forest dwellers.

“To the Vedda community, Nilgala is not just a forest, but a sacred living space where the spirits of our ancestors dwell,” says clan chief Suda Vanniyalaathto. At the June 2 declaration ceremony, the Veddas performed the traditional Kiri Koraha dance to honor the forest’s guardians.

Nilgala’s protection is the fruit of decades of activism. In 2014, amid fears of land conversion for agriculture, Buddhist monks and environmentalists staged a powerful protest by symbolically ordaining 1,000 trees. It worked. The trees were spared, and momentum for legal protection grew.

Yet threats linger. Land grabs and development interests continue to loom. Conservationists emphasize that community involvement will be key to Nilgala’s future. As Hemantha Withanage of the Centre for Environmental Justice puts it, “These community groups act as both guardians and first responders.”

Read the full story by Malaka Rodrigo here.

Banner image: Cnemaspis nilgala is a gecko found only in the rocky outcrop of Nilgala and is named after this unique habitat. Image courtesy of Suranjan Karunarathne.

Snow leopards are often called “ghosts of the mountains,” and for good reason: They’re notoriously difficult to spot. But researchers behind a recent study used a comprehensive set of methods — from following the cats’ tracks and droppings, to deploying camera traps over vast areas — to find that the region of Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas is home to roughly two-thirds of the country’s snow leopards, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India.

The researchers trekked across more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) of Ladakh’s landscape of high-altitude plateaus, rugged mountain ranges and cold deserts, carefully recording signs of snow leopard presence such as scat, paw prints and scrape marks. They also set up 956 camera traps.

The study “wasn’t limited to known hotspots or prime habitats,” said co-author Pankaj Raina, from the wildlife protection department in the regional capital, Leh. “This makes it the largest, most systematic, and most intensive effort ever undertaken across the snow leopard range.”

Based on the nearly 9,600 snow leopard signs and 126 individual snow leopards identified from the camera images, the team estimates there are about 477 snow leopards inhabiting the trans-Himalayan Ladakh, making up around 68% of India’s total snow leopard population.

The average density of snow leopards in Ladakh is around 1 per 100 square kilometers (3 per 100 square mile). But Hemis National Park and Nubra Shyok Wildlife Sanctuary showed higher densities of about 3 cats per 100 km2 (8 per 100 mi2).

Most snow leopard sightings were, however, outside protected areas, in landscapes shared with people and livestock. That points to the potential for conflict in these areas. Snow leopards typically prey on wild goat-like herbivores such as blue sheep, ibex and urials. But they sometimes also target domestic livestock, especially during winter when food is scarce.

Yet snow leopards and the local communities mostly coexist peacefully. This is both thanks to conservation initiatives, but also the communities’ cultural and sustainable pastoral practices.

“Snow leopards are not poached here,” said study co-author Yadvendradev Jhala, a senior wildlife scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India. “The combination of the Buddhist culture and economic incentives to preserve the species has allowed their population to increase in density.”

The snow leopards of Ladakh are, however, under stress from infrastructure development, including road and dam construction, as well as tourism and climate-driven changes in vegetation, Mahale reports.

Growing populations of feral dogs, which roam freely in large packs, are also an urgent threat as they attack both snow leopards and their prey.

“Ladakh has its own ecological and cultural context. Copy-pasting development models from elsewhere will not work,” Raina said.

Read the full story by Sneha Mahale here.

Banner image of a snow leopard by Ismail Shariff/Snow Leopard Trust via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL — As Brazil ramps up offshore oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River, the CEO of COP30 urged wealthy nations to be the first to cut back on both producing and consuming fossil fuels.

Ana Toni is Brazil’s national secretary for climate change at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and the executive director of the U.N. climate summit set to take place in the Amazonian city of Belém in November. She acknowledged Brazil’s own contradictions as the country pursues new oil projects but said countries such as France, the United States, Norway and Canada should bear the greater burden for phasing out fossil fuels.

“We [in Brazil] have our contradictions; that’s not an excuse and we must face them,” Toni said in a video interview at the conference of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism in São Paulo on July 11. “But if we are transitioning away from fossil fuels, which countries should start first? Should it be Brazil, Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria? Or Canada, the United States and Norway?”

Toni’s comments came amid expansion of Brazilian infrastructure projects and new fossil fuel exploration in the run-up to hosting COP30.

The new oil projects include approval for oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River, an area that partly overlaps the 9,500-square-kilometer (3,700-square-mile) Amazon Reef. The government also approved an auction for an oil block surrounding an Indigenous community near Brazil’s north coast.

According to Oil Change International, just four countries — the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway — account for 70% of planned fossil fuel expansion over the next decade. “Brazil is probably sixth or seventh. It’s important, and let’s talk about Brazil, but let’s also contextualize,” Toni said.

Toni added that burden is often disproportionately on oil producing countries, rather than on the oil consuming countries, which should also be held responsible. Despite not producing any oil, for example, 75% of Germany’s energy matrix came from fossil fuels in 2023. “Should it only be the producers at the table, or do consumers join too?” she questioned. “What is the cost of excluding them?”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defended fossil fuel exploration, saying he would not unilaterally halt exploring Brazil’s riches to the detriment of the nation’s development.

In June, Brazil’s oil regulator agency ANP auctioned off 34 blocks for exploration, largely to multinational corporations, including Chevron, ExxonMobil and China’s CNPC. More than half the blocks are in the Amazon Delta.

Banner image: Ana Toni, CEO of COP30, photographed in June. Image courtesy of Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil.

LILONGWE — Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has granted a presidential pardon to Lin Yunhua, a Chinese national sentenced to 14 years in prison for wildlife trafficking. Lin was among 37 inmates who received a presidential pardon as part of Malawi’s 61st independence anniversary celebrations on July 6. Conservationists have since expressed their disappointment, warning that Lin’s pardon might demotivate frontline officers working to protect Malawi’s wildlife.

“The news came as a shock to some of us,” Brighton Kumchedwa, director of Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, told Mongabay by phone. “For us in the conservation sector, we didn’t expect a high-profile wildlife criminal of his caliber to be set free like that.”

While authorities have not published the pardon list, news of Lin’s impending pardon started spreading as early as April this year. Authorities at the time described the possibility as speculation, but more recently British newspaper The Telegraph reported that prison officials familiar with the pardon list confirmed that both Lin and his wife, Qin Hua Zhang, were included.

Malawian authorities arrested Lin, Zhang and 12 other members of a notorious wildlife crime syndicate that operated across Southern Africa, in 2019. At the time, Lin and Zhang were found in possession of elephant tusks, hippopotamus teeth, pangolin scales and rhino horns, and their arrest was welcomed by local and international civil society, some describing it as “the destruction of the Lin-Zhang gang.” Zhang was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2020; Lin received a 14-year sentence in 2021.

Wildlife and environmental campaigners say pardoning the pair sets a bad precedent for the country’s efforts to combat wildlife crimes, undermining public trust in the justice system.

“We are alarmed by the release of a major wildlife trafficker,” Patricio Ndadzela, country director for Malawi and Zambia at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said in a statement. “This sends the wrong signal to criminal networks and could seriously impact morale among those on the frontlines of conservation.”

While Zhang has reportedly left the country, Lin remains remanded on charges of bribing a prison official and a judge, offenses he allegedly committed while incarcerated.

Officials said the presidential pardons were awarded in accordance with Malawian laws. In a statement, secretary for homeland security, Steve Kayuni, said the pardons were limited to prisoners who had demonstrated good conduct and met the prescribed guidelines, and that the president’s decision was a “selective exercise” of clemency.

Moses Chabuka, executive director of the NGO Neno Active Youth in Development (NAYODE), told Mongabay by phone that Lin and Zhang’s pardons may have been a diplomatic concession to China.

“From an international relations perspective, the move may reflect Malawi’s desire to strengthen its diplomatic ties with China, which has been a significant investor in various sectors within the country,” Chabuka said.

Banner image: Yunhua Lin, left, at the court in Malawi in 2021. Image courtesy of Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).