Singapore biobank offers backup plan for pangolins
SINGAPORE — A cloud of condensation rises as Shangari Sekar, the assistant laboratory manager for Mandai Wildlife Group, carefully lifts a ladle filled with vials from the center of a…
Captive Breeding News
A Bali farm lights up the night with a one-of-a-kind firefly lab
BALI, Indonesia — “We didn’t have electricity in our village of Taro, near Ubud, until I was 12 years old,” says conservationist Wayan Wardika. To find their way through the…
Vietnam’s mammals need conservation within and outside their range: Study
Many species of mammals, either extinct in the wild or teetering close to it, have been successfully restored to parts of their range: the scimitar-horned oryx in northern Africa, black-footed…
China’s plans to trace wildlife trade risks inflaming trafficking, critics warn
Chinese authorities are considering changes to wildlife trade regulations that govern the live trade in 18 parrot and reptile species, several of which are gravely threatened by poaching and illegal…
Small snails make big comeback in French Polynesia
On the tropical island of Moorea in French Polynesia, a species of snail about the size of a Skittle candy is cause for celebration. On September 2024, researchers found adult…
We know how many okapi live in zoos. In the wild? It’s complicated
Revered by the Indigenous Mbuti and Efe tribes as a spiritual symbol and uplifted by the Democratic Republic of Congo as a national one, the okapi is deserving of a…
Institutional conflict puts successful Spix’s macaw reintroduction at risk
This is the second in a two-part report about the reintroduction of the Spix's macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, and the uncertain future of its return. Read…
For ‘extinct’ Spix’s macaw, successful comeback is overshadowed by uncertainty
This is the first in a two-part report about the reintroduction of the Spix's macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, and the uncertain future of its return. Read…
Spotted softshell turtle release boosts reptile conservation in Vietnam
Vietnam’s struggling population of spotted softshell turtles received a helping hand in December 2023 when researchers released 50 captive-bred hatchlings into a freshwater lake in a northern province. Now, new…
Gharial conservation plan leaves Nepal fishing communities searching for new jobs
KATHMANDU — Fifty-six year-old Kaluram Bote has awaited the end of February, which marks a crucial time for gharial breeding in Chitwan, between Nepal’s Terai and hilly regions. Rowing his…
Nepal’s gharial population rises, but threats to the crocs persist
KATHMANDU — The start of 2024 has brought some good news, tempered with warnings, for Nepal’s critically endangered gharials, the fish-eating crocodiles with the comically bulbous snouts. Officials at Chitwan…
New calf brings new hope, and new concerns, for embattled Sumatran rhinos
The Sumatran rhino became a little safer from extinction over the Thanksgiving weekend. On Nov. 25, at around 4 a.m. local time, first-time mother Delilah gave birth to a healthy…
For Vietnam’s rare reptiles, lack of captive populations may spell doom
Vietnam is the meeting point of two incredibly biodiverse ecoregions, where the tropical ecosystems of Southeast Asia merge seamlessly with the temperate biomes of mainland Asia. Across a terrain of…
A forest gave Cambodia’s captive elephants a new life. Now they’re paying it back
PU TROM, Cambodia — The quiet life that Sambo leads today seems as distant from her past plight as the searing-hot streets she once trod as a tourist attraction in…
Sumatran tiger arrives at Tacoma captive-breeding program
A known breeding Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) has made its way to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington state, in hopes it will produce more cubs of…
Rare turtles hatch from eggs rescued from flood-prone Nepal riverbank
KATHMANDU — When conservationist Bed Bahadur Khadka roamed the banks of the Rapti River near Chitwan National Park to monitor gharials released from a breeding center in August 2020, he…
Raise-and-release program keeping Nepal’s gharials alive can be improved, study says
KATHMANDU — A spark of good news for the gharial crocodile (Gavialis gangeticus) in Nepal last month shouldn’t obscure the challenges that remain in conserving the critically endangered species, experts…
Return of the king? Pakistan moves to bring gharials from Nepal to its rivers
KATHMANDU — Pakistan is aiming for the return of an apex predator not seen in the country in nearly four decades: the gharial crocodile (Gavialis gangeticus). According to the WWF…
Study casts doubt on sustainability of regulated blood python snakeskin trade
JAKARTA — If you own a luxury fashion item made with snakeskin, there’s a good chance it came from a blood python in Indonesia, where the species isn’t considered threatened.…
Year of the Tiger: Illegal trade thrives amid efforts to save wild tigers
Anything goes in a Laotian “Special Crime Zone,” a haven for illegal wildlife, narcotics and human trafficking. Asia’s wild tigers remain imperiled, say conservationists, as “tiger farming” continues in Asia.
It’s a girl: Super rare Sumatran rhino born in captive-breeding center
Indonesia has reported the birth of a new Sumatran rhino calf in a captive-breeding program aimed at saving the critically endangered species from extinction. The female rhino was born March…
New study highlights hidden scale of U.S. illegal tiger trade
When the Netflix documentary series Tiger King aired in 2020, it sparked widespread discussions about the number of captive tigers in the U.S. Subsequently, many people were startled to find…
Greater Mekong primates struggle to cling on amid persistent threats: Report
When scientists described the Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa) as a species new to science in 2020, it was already staring extinction in the face. Fewer than 260 of the fluffy…
Wild release marks return of giant forest tortoises to Bangladesh hills
Bangladesh’s population of one of the world’s largest tortoise species received a boost last month when researchers and villagers released 10 captive-bred juveniles into the evergreen forests of the Chattogram…
Tiger farms doing little to end wild poaching, Vietnam consumer study shows
Acting on a tipoff, Vietnamese police pried open a basement door in Nghe An province and flicked on the light switch. Videos from the August 2021 raid show officers filing…
Indonesia ranks high on legal wildlife trade, but experts warn it masks illegal trade
JAKARTA — A recent analysis of the legal wildlife trade in the last 46 years puts Indonesia, a biodiversity hotspot in Southeast Asia, among the top 10 exporters of live…
Snapshot of hatchlings raises hopes for Siamese crocs in northeast Cambodia
They say you should never smile at a crocodile. But that’s exactly what happened on Sept. 9 when a team of researchers discovered a group of eight Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus…
Low genetic diversity is part of rhinos’ long-term history, study says
Scientists have debated the evolution of the world’s five living rhinoceros species ever since Charles Darwin addressed the question in a treatise in the mid-1800s, predating On the Origin of…
Captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos: Where the program stands today
Indonesia is today home to the last holdout populations of Sumatran rhinos, a species that once ranged across much of southern Asia. Official figures, which paint a more optimistic picture…
‘What’s your real footprint on the animal world?’: Q&A with author Henry Mance
Many of us love animals. At least, we think we do. We may serve our cats gourmet food and let them sleep in our beds. We may buy our dogs…
Philippine forest turtles stand a ‘good chance’ after first wild release
MANILA — The Philippines’ most traded turtle species, and among the world’s rarest, received a bit of a population boost as researchers introduced two juveniles in the wilds of the…
Do we love elephants enough to let them live free? (commentary)
Elephants are always the prime attraction. In zoos, circuses, and safaris, elephants are the number one draw. They make an impression with their playfulness and intelligence, their docile nature despite…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Samoa’s new marine spatial plan protects 30% of the country’s ocean
- Tuna fishing devices drift through a third of oceans, harming corals, coasts: Study
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- ‘Colombia’s Amazon peoples provide solutions’: Interview with José Homero Mutumbajoy
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
