$7 million could save lemurs from extinction
Could a website save the world's lemurs? Indri lemur (Indri indri). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally,…
New calendar celebrates primates and raises money for their survival
An interview with Corrin LaCombe, President of Primate Connections Cover of the 2015 Primate Connections Calendar. Humans, or Homo sapiens sapiens, are really just upright apes with big brains. We…
Four donors pledge $80 million for big cats
Four donors from around the world have pledged $80 million to cat conservation group, Panthera. The money will fund projects working to preserve tigers, lions, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards,…
The quiet zoo revolution
How the world's best zoos are working to save biodiversity in an age of extinction. Tiger meets human at the Minnesota Zoo. Physical spaces where people can easily encounter and…
The real cost of conservation: cheap protection rarely succeeds
Conservation efforts in less-developed and politically unstable countries are full of risk, according to a study published in PLOS ONE. The study, which looks at how to best evaluate conservation…
The lemur end-game: scientists propose ambitious plan to save the world’s most imperiled mammal family
Verreaux's Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), listed as Vulnerable, in a heated chase. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that…
Shoot to conserve: Corey Knowlton’s rhino hunt escalates the debate over trophy hunting and environmentalism
Corey Knowlton posing with a bongo he killed. Photo from Corey Knowlton's Facebook page. "After a long conversation with the FBI I have decided to temporarily suspend my activity on…
On edge of extinction, could drones and technology save the Little Dodo?
Little dodo baby found: conservationists boosted by discovery that species is breeding. Detail of new painting highlighting the Manumea or little dodo. Painting by: © Michael Rothman 2013. Almost nothing…
German government gives tigers $27 million
At a summit in 2010, the world's 13 tiger range states pledged to double the number of tigers (Panthera tigris) in the wild by 2020. Today, non-tiger state Germany announced…
Microsoft founder funds Africa-wide elephant survey to measure ivory poachers’ toll
Beginning next year, light planes and helicopters will undertake the first ever continent-wide aerial survey of Africa's vanishing elephant populations. The hugely ambitious initiative, which will count elephant herds in…
Celebrities aim to raise $1.6 million to keep orangutan forests from the the chopping block in Borneo
Sir David Attenborough, Bill Oddie and Chris Packham are supporting an effort to save the orangutan from extinction by raising £1m in just two weeks. Orangutans in their natural environment…
Leonardo DiCaprio raises over $38 million for conservation
Film actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, raised a stunning $38.8 million for global conservation efforts Monday night through an all-star art auction at Christie's in New York City. Commissioning 33 works of…
Conservation without supervision: Peruvian community group creates and patrols its own protected area
"Rural dwellers are not passive respondents to external conservation agents but are active proponents and executers of their own conservation initiatives."—Noga Shanee, Projects Director for Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC), in…
Featured video: time to meet The Lonely Dodo
A new short animation (see below) highlights the plight of today's most endangered species by focusing on one which is already extinct: the dodo. The animation, produced by Academy award-winning…
Forging zoos into global conservation centers, an interview with Cristian Samper, head of WCS
For the Wildlife Conservation Society's new CEO, scientific principles and working partnerships are key to conservation. A Man of Science: Dr Cristian Samper, CEO of the WCS. The Wildlife Conservation…
Tigers gobble up 49 percent of India’s wildlife conservation funds, more imperiled species get nothing
Bengal tiger in Rantgambhore National Park. Photo by: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen. Nearly half of India's wildlife budget goes to one species: the tiger, reports a recent article in Live Mint.…
Bloodsucking flies help scientists identify rare, hard-to-find mammals
The face of the blue bottle fly (Calliphora vomitoria). New research shows how this carrion-eater carries the mammals of the forest in his stomach. Photo by: J.J. Harrison. Last year…
Wealthy nations, excluding U.S., pledge to double funds for biodiversity
Biodiversity-rich rainforests make way for palm oil plantations in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Although negotiations came down to the wire, nations finally brokered a new deal at…
India pledges over $60 million for biodiversity, but experts say much more needed
A black buck in Mahavir Harini Vanasthali National Park near Hyderabad, India. The black buck is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List. Habitat loss and poaching remain…
Saving the world’s species from oblivion will cost around $80 billion a year, but still a good deal
The mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz) is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. If the world is to conserve its wealth of life—species great…
Thousands of scientists hold mock funeral in Canada to highlight nation’s “death of evidence”
View Larger Map The tar sands as seen from Google Earth near Fort McMurray, Alberta. Carrying signs that said 'Stop Harper's War on Knowledge' and 'Scientists Shouldn't Wear a Muzzle,'…