Australia News

You’re probably familiar with the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo — it was a box office hit that grossed nearly $400 million, after all. But you may be less familiar…

Author's note: The data that underpins this post is updated on a regular basis on Mongabay's rainforest site: Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Mammals, Reptiles, Vascular Plants. September 26, 2021 update: this…

Last week, the Australian government added 49 species of plants and animals to its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) list of threatened and endangered species. The new…

There is a new global norm emerging for tackling the trade in illegal wood, and it’s centered around due diligence, according to experts. Due diligence in the context of the…

Over-hunting is driving several species towards extinction. But the decline in wildlife populations affects more than just the animals in question. It can alter the carbon storage potential of tropical…

A new species of fat-tailed gecko has been discovered by scientists in Australia. The gecko, which was given the name Diplodactylus ameyi, is a specialized termite predator found in outback…

Fire is bad and needs to be stopped at all costs. That is the attitude European administrators brought to colonized lands stretching from Africa to Latin America and Australia during…

Brian pushes off from the rock wall, surfing along the pool's surface before plunging into its depths. Legs outstretched, Brian seizes a fish and swims quickly under a rock to…

The rising demand for fish, combined with unsustainable fishing practices, has put tremendous pressure on wild catches. Aquaculture -- cultivation of fish and shellfish -- has been trying to fill…

The northeastern Australian state of Queensland is home to lush tropical forests, unique wildlife, and rivers that feed into the largest reef system in the world. But researchers write that…

New research paints a sobering picture about the water crisis looming over our heads. Previous studies have estimated anywhere from 1.7 and 3.1 billion people are already living with severe…

Mongabay was born out of my love for rainforests so for this Valentine's day, I'm doing something a little different: posting a bunch of my favorite rainforest photos from the…

In Australia, a group of volunteers have spotted a rare albino green turtle hatchling. On Sunday, volunteers from the Coolum and North Shore Coast Care group were at Castaway beach…

On January 13, dry lightning strikes sparked off a series of fires in northwest Tasmania that spread quickly. So far, the fires have ravaged more than 107,000 hectares of land, according…

Over the last few decades, protected areas in tropical forests have expanded rapidly, both in number and extent. But do protected areas actually reduce deforestation? According to a recent study…

A coalition of conservationists, recreational fishers and farmers want Australia’s state and federal governments to get rid of European carp, or “Australia’s worst freshwater pest”, from Murray river, according to…

In 1996, researchers discovered a deadly cancer in Australia’s Tasmanian Devils. The transmissible cancer jumps from one Tasmanian Devil to another, and is often fatal to the animals. Since its…

Researchers are using diver-towed GPS buoys and underwater cameras to estimate the populations of rare fish in Tanzanian estuaries.

Drones will now hover above Australian coastal waters in a bid to reduce shark attacks, Australian government announced this week. The first drone trial began at Coffs Harbor in the…

Susan Laurance and colleagues at James Cook University in Australia wanted to study how different groups of plants in tropical forests are affected by drought. So a few months ago,…

Visitors to the tropics remember the bright colors. Take the blue-and-yellow macaw with its egg-yolk breast and turquoise back – “the usual gaudy colouring of the intertropical productions,” as Charles…

he sea is not our natural environment, but we’ve learned to enjoy it, seeking pleasure from the waves and cooling waters. Spending time in this environment, humans inevitably come into…

Scientists with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, have caught and tagged two adult speartooth sharks (Glyphis glyphis) in a remote corner of Australia…

round one third of amphibian species are considered globally threatened by the IUCN, due primarily to habitat loss, overexploitation for the wildlife and pet trades, climate change, and disease. Adding…

On September 26, scientists released 19 Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) — immunized against the deadly devil facial tumor disease — into the Narawntapu National Park in northern Tasmania. This is the…

Ocean acidification is troubling for most marine creatures. But some corals may have built-in protection mechanisms that could help them cope with changing ocean chemistry, a new study published this…

Amazing but overlooked bettongs: the case for Australia’s small hopper

There’s an echidna baby boom in Australia. In the last five years, an echidna captive breeding partnership between the University of Queensland and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Australia has produced 14…

hrough years of effort, scientists have assessed the conservation status of some 77,000 species of plants and animals via the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species. Scientific records on the…

t's like the plot of a science-fiction film: scientists develop killer robots to take out their targets with lethal injections. Only the targets in this case aren’t government enemies or…