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

A forest may burn to the ground, but beneath the ashes, a pangolin is already rebuilding.

Pangolins are best known for their misfortune. As the world’s most trafficked mammal, their numbers have been decimated by poaching for scales and meat. But a recent study underscores what’s at stake beyond the species itself: pangolins play a vital role in ecological recovery, particularly in landscapes ravaged by fire, reports Spoorthy Raman.

Chinese pangolins (Manis pentadactyla), researchers have found, act as ecosystem engineers. Their burrowing activity, previously recognized for aerating soil and providing shelter for other wildlife, also accelerates biodiversity recovery in burned forests. The study, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, observed that pangolin burrows in fire-damaged forests of southern China provided refuge for surviving animals and created conditions that encouraged plant regrowth.

Scientists monitored pangolin burrow sites across two years, comparing them with control sites absent of burrows. The results were striking. Vegetation was more diverse and abundant at burrow sites, with 58 plant species recorded, compared to 47 at control sites. Animal life was similarly richer, with burrow sites hosting nearly 1,000 individuals across 35 species, including birds, small mammals and reptiles. The burrows’ stable temperature and humidity proved particularly valuable, providing shelter for species left exposed by the fires.

The findings bolster the case that pangolins contribute to ecosystem resilience, particularly in the face of climate-driven wildfires. Yet, despite their ecological importance, all eight pangolin species teeter on the brink of extinction, largely due to the illegal wildlife trade.

China has increased protections for pangolins in recent years, including restrictions on their use in traditional medicine. But conservationists warn that enforcement remains uneven, and rewilding efforts, while promising, remain in their infancy.

If pangolins disappear, their burrows will fall silent, taking with them an unseen network of life. The study’s message is clear: preserving pangolins is not just about saving a species — it is about sustaining entire ecosystems.

Read the full story by Spoorthy Raman here.

Banner image of a Chinese pangolin by Sarita Jnawali of NTNC – Central Zoo via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

A court in Indonesia has sentenced a man to five years in prison for the killing of a critically endangered Sumatran tiger in September last year in North Sumatra province. 

“As far as I know, it’s the heaviest sentence ever imposed for crimes involving protected wildlife in Indonesia,” Iding Achmad Haidir, chair of the Sumatran Tiger Forum, told Mongabay Indonesia.

Judges at the Mandailing Natal District Court also fined the accused, Aman Faisal Tambunan, 200 million rupiah (almost $12,000).  

Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) are the most endangered subspecies of tiger in the world, with an estimated 400-600 individuals remaining across the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Aman stood accused of subjecting a young female tiger to a slow death, court documents showed.

According to the documents, on Sept. 9, Aman discovered a female tiger, around 18 months old, ensnared in one of the many traps he had set in a forest around Hutarimbaru SM village in Kotanopan subdistrict. He then attached a second snare, assaulted the animal and recorded photos and videos of the tigress before leaving her in the forest.

She was found dead in the forest two days later. A postmortem revealed sepsis and organ damage, as well as myiasis in an open wound on the front leg caused by the wire snare. 

Aman claimed that the snares he had set were meant to catch wild boars. However, prosecutors proved that Aman had targeted animals with high commercial value.

“As long as the demand for body parts of endangered and protected animals on the black market is still high, hunting and trading will continue to occur,” said Rudianto Saragih Napitu, security lead at Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry.

Adre Wanda Ginting at the North Sumatra provincial prosecutor’s office said the extent of wildlife crime in the province required extensive criminal penalties.

“Hopefully, severe punishment will prevent them repeating their actions, as well as being a deterrent to others against doing anything similar,” Adre said. 

Mongabay Indonesia reported that police in two other provinces in March arrested at least 11 people with wildlife crimes, after a tiger was butchered in Riau province, and alleged traffickers were detained handling body parts in the semiautonomous province of Aceh.

The latter sting included the arrest of a man who had previously been sentenced to prison for tiger poaching, and appeared to have returned to the illegal wildlife trade upon his release.  

Tigers endemic to the islands of Java (Panthera tigris sondaica) and Bali (Panthera tigris balica) became extinct last century due to forest loss and predation.

This story was first published here in Indonesian on April 15, 2025.

Banner image: A Sumatran tiger killed by a snare in Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatra province. Image by Ayat S Karokaro/Mongabay Indonesia.

Coral reefs around the world have been subjected to unprecedented heat stress since early 2023. A new report finds heat-related coral bleaching has damaged corals in more than 80 countries, making it the most extensive bleaching event ever recorded, with no clear end in sight.

Between January 2023 and April 2025, heat stress impacted 84% of coral reefs worldwide, from the Mesoamerican Reef in the Caribbean to so-called supercorals in the Red Sea, an area previously believed to be resilient to damage caused by extreme temperatures.

“The fact that this most recent, global-scale coral bleaching event is still ongoing takes the world’s reefs into unchartered waters,” Britta Schaffelke, coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, said in a statement.

Scientists officially confirmed the bleaching event in April 2024, making it the fourth such global event since 1998. It comes on the heels of the third global bleaching event that ended just six years earlier, in 2017, impacting 68% of coral reefs. The short recovery time between events makes it difficult for corals to adequately rebuild.

Coral bleaching happens when water temperatures become too warm and corals expel the colorful algae that live inside them, leaving reefs a ghostly white. Thousands of fish and other marine species are left without a safe habitat. These vibrant ecosystems support roughly a quarter of all marine life at some point in their life cycle.

“Bleaching is always eerie — as if a silent snowfall has descended on the reef — there is usually an absence of fluttering fish and an absence of the vibrant colors on the reef,” Melanie McField, a Smithsonian scientist who directs a coral monitoring program for the Mesoamerican Reef, said in a statement.

Oceans absorb roughly 90% of the excess heat from climate change driven by fossil fuel emissions. As a result, waters have been warming with each passing decade. In 2024, the world saw the highest average sea surface temperatures on record, 0.6° Celsius (1.1° Fahrenheit) above the 1981-2010 baseline.

“The magnitude and extent of the heat stress is shocking,” McField added. “Some reefs that had thus far escaped major heat stress and we thought to be somewhat resilient, succumbed to partial mortalities in 2024.”

For Peter Thomson, the U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean, the path to protecting coral reefs is clear: curb emissions. “There are many reasons for the demise of coral reefs, but let’s not beat around the bush,” he said in a statement. “If we want coral reefs to survive, we must drastically reduce our emissions and keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius [2.7°F].”

Banner image: Coral bleaching in Ningaloo, Australia, in February 2025. Image courtesy of Daniel Nicholson/Ocean Image Bank.

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

The queuña forests in Peru, once covering vast stretches of the mountains, have dwindled to a mere fraction of their former glory, leaving behind a landscape where biodiversity and water security hang in the balance. This ecological collapse has triggered an unforeseen consequence: wild animals, displaced by deforestation, are edging closer to Indigenous communities, sparking conflict between people and predators reports Mongabay contributor James Hall.

The puma, the Peruvian desert cat and the Andean cat have found themselves at odds with humans as they encroach on these shrinking habitats. It’s not the cats themselves that are the root of the problem, as biologist Cindy Hurtado notes, but the loss of their prey. As vizcachas and deer vanish, domestic livestock become the next best meal.

The impact on local livelihoods has been significant, particularly for the women of the Quechua village Licapa. In this community, where men often leave to find work in the cities, women remain behind, caring for children and shepherding small flocks of alpacas, chickens and guinea pigs. The loss of these animals to wildcats is not just a matter of inconvenience; it is a direct threat to the family’s income.

“We thought [the wildcats] were bad animals,” recalls Alicia Ccaico. The traditional response was predictable: The fewer wildcats, the better. Yet, in Licapa, this entrenched view has begun to shift, thanks to a project driven by Indigenous women, led by Quechua biologist Merinia Mendoza Almeida and cat expert Jim Sanderson.

What began as a hesitant experiment has blossomed into a full-fledged movement: Mujeres Quechua por la Conservación. More than 30 women gather at monthly meetings to discuss their experiences, learn about the ecosystem and explore solutions that balance the needs of both humans and wildlife. These gatherings are more than just conservation efforts; they are spaces of empowerment in a society where women’s voices have often been muted.

Simple measures, like fortifying chicken coops, have mitigated conflicts with smaller cats. But tackling the puma problem has required more nuanced strategies, including reducing grazing pressures on the forest. The results have been promising, and the project’s emphasis on Indigenous women has begun to dismantle long-standing patriarchal barriers in the region.

As researcher Rocio Morales points out, this project is a rare example of how integrating Indigenous women into conservation can break down social and political barriers. And the involvement of children in these activities ensures that the seeds of conservation are already being sown in the next generation. In the highlands of Licapa, where the past and future converge, a new chapter is being written — one where coexistence, rather than conflict, might just be the legacy left behind.

This is a summary of: How a fun women’s gathering led to small wildcat conservation in Peru’s Andes

Banner: Puma. Courtesy of Mujeres Quechua por la Conservación.

New Zealand experienced heavy flooding and damage due to Cyclone Tam last week through this weekend.

What started out as a tropical low hovering over the South Pacific Ocean nation of Vanuatu was upgraded to Cyclone Tam on April 14 by the Fiji meteorological service, media reported. The cyclone then moved southeast toward New Zealand, bringing winds of 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) to northern parts of the country, including to the city of Auckland.

Northland, the northernmost region of New Zealand, saw some 3,500 homes lose power by April 15 as the cyclone downed trees and power lines.

One yacht reportedly sank. Strong winds also left the cruise ship Royal Princess stuck at the Port of Auckland for a few days.

The cyclone’s impact peaked on April 17, with more than 8,700 homes affected in Northland. Cellphone towers were damaged and multiple flights and ferry services were suspended.

The Coromandel Peninsula was isolated for a night after a major highway was flooded, and at least one person had to be rescued after being stuck in a car amid rising waters, local media reported.

By April 18, New Zealand’s MetService said “the worst is over for the northern regions” and reported that Northland experienced winds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph). By then, some places like the Pinnacles, Golden Cross and Glenbervie had been hit with more than 200 millimeters (8 inches) of rain.

However, even as the cyclone was expected to further weaken, heavy rain continued on April 19. In Auckland, around 750 lightning strikes were reported and 150 emergency calls were made, a report said.

Cyclone Tam also caused “wild surf conditions” on beaches in neighboring Australia, media reported, killing at least five people over the weekend.

On April 21, New Zealand’s MetService announced the start of better weather as it posted online: “Cyclone Tam this, Cyclone Tam that, Cyclone Tam to get outta here! While there is still a severe thunderstorm watch over the central North Island, Tam is continuing to weaken and sunshine will become a more common sight over the next couple of days.”

Utility company Wellington Water warned people to stay out of the water after wastewater overflowed at the Moa Point, Seaview and Titahi Bay treatment plants. The same news report mentioned that an Auckland resident found an eel in his garage after flooding, which was promptly returned to the nearby creek.

Meteorologist Alec Holden was quoted telling local media that while Cyclone Tam had remained in New Zealand longer than expected, the weather should improve soon. “It is gradually losing steam, we’ve seen the worst of the rain at this point, although that does not mean the rain has stopped currently, but we are most certainly on the easing trend.”

Banner image of Cyclone Tam via New Zealand MetService.

The government of Laos has for the first time shut down a farm where live bears were harvested for their bile, after convincing the farm’s owner to voluntarily hand over three bears.

The rescued Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), two males and one female, are now being quarantined at the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, operated by Australia-based NGO Free the Bears, which participated in the rescue.

“This is an important milestone for both Free the Bears and our government partners, showing that it is possible to close a bear bile farm and signalling that Laos is increasing its capacity and commitment to take on those who are illegally exploiting wildlife for profit,” Rod Mabin, Free the Bears communications director, told Mongabay by email.

Bile farms, found across Southeast Asia, usually hold Asian black and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) in cages. Bile is extracted from their gall bladders using a syringe, for use in Asian traditional medicine as a supposed treatment for liver and kidney disease. Mabin said that while the active compound Ursodeoxycholic acid found in bear bile is scientifically proven to address liver or bile duct diseases, it can easily be synthesized in a laboratory. “There is no legitimate reason to extract bile from bears or keep bears in bile farms.”

It’s also illegal to hunt, possess or trade bears and their body parts in Laos under a 2007 wildlife law, but Mabin said a loophole exempts bile farms established before the law’s enactment.

Moreover, bile farms can only be closed when there are rescue facilities available to accept the bears, which can’t be released into the wild. “Rescued bears often have broken teeth and claws, skin conditions, infected wounds, malignant cancers, damaged eyes or blindness, stunting and poor body condition with wasted muscles,” Mabin said. “It is only in recent years that sufficient sanctuary space has become available to rescue more bears and close down farms.”

The three recently rescued bears are also expected to suffer lifelong health issues due to a poor diet and regular bile extraction. Veterinarians are monitoring their progress, and after about a month in quarantine, the bears will be released into the sanctuary’s natural outdoor habitat, which includes climbing platforms, pools, caves and swings.

“We ‘enrich’ their environment to encourage them to explore and interact with their surroundings, stimulate their highly intelligent minds, and give them choices to help them feel more in control of their environment. This ultimately leads to healthier and more content bears,” Mabin said.

The NGO previously spotted 20-30 caged bears in the now-closed bear bile farm, called Kao Liaw, in Laos’s capital, Vientiane, but Mabin said they don’t know what happened to the rest. Concerned about the remaining three bears, the Laos government and the charity visited the farm and convinced the owner to hand over the bears and close the farm, Mabin added.

Banner image of the rescued bears, courtesy of Free the Bears.