CAPE TOWN — Western leopard toads have been listed as endangered since 2016. Andrew Turner, scientific manager for CapeNature, the government body that manages protected areas and conservation in South…
Encompassing some 7,400 square kilometers, or 2,860 square miles, along the Honduran border, Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is the largest biosphere reserve in Central America. It’s home to the Miskito…
Deep within the cloud forests of the San Martín region of Peru lie two places so high, cold and remote that they remained virtually unexplored for decades. In 2022, and…
In the late 1980s, something began to go wrong in places that were supposed to be safe. Protected cloud forests, buffered from chainsaws and bulldozers, started losing animals that had…
Founder's Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For much of the late 20th century, reptiles occupied an awkward place in…
On the beaches of Topsail Island in North Carolina, the sight of a sea turtle crawling ashore has long signaled both urgency and hope. For many years, a woman with…
On Rábida Island in the Galápagos, where red-tinged beaches meet ancient lava formations, Mares’s leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus maresi) is back. Once thought extinct on this island, a genetically distinct population…
KATHMANDU — Wildlife trafficking for the illegal pet trade in Nepal has made a significant shift online, according to recent research that attributes the trend to the rapid penetration of…
"I was making a joke and in my head I said, 'I smell a threadsnake,'" Justin Springer, Caribbean program officer for the NGO Re:wild, recalled. "I just had a feeling,…
ANTANANARIVO — At the end of April, a team of researchers scouring a scarred area of spiny forest in southwestern Madagascar came across three individuals of a critically endangered chameleon…
For about 2% of the world's amphibian species, it’s already getting too hot to survive in their natural habitats, according to a new study in Nature. If the planet keeps…
In the Mexican port city of Acapulco, in southwestern Guerrero state, human activities have put so much pressure on the most important lagoons that the mangrove areas in this city…
In a conservation milestone, 10 Siamese crocodiles were released this month into Cambodia’s Virachey National Park for the first time, as part of a decades-long effort to save the critically…
A green pit viper named after Salazar Slytherin from Harry Potter, an unfamiliar snake found in an Instagram post, and twelve new species of day geckos from a single mountain…
As Nepal’s reptiles are one of the least studied among the country’s diverse flora and fauna, researchers have long been saying that it could be home to numerous species waiting…
Satish Bhaskar was a curious man. From a very young age he was fascinated with the sea and the diverse marine creatures, especially turtles. When he learnt that sea turtles…
Within only a couple of weeks during their breeding season, more than 100 olive ridley turtles were found dead at Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar Beach. Conservationists blame the indiscriminate use of…
On Dec. 28, 2024, wildlife inspectors from Bangladesh’s Forest Department, following a tip-off, intercepted an intercity bus in Dhaka. They discovered two crates full of live turtles in the luggage…
Madagascar is home to weird and wonderful creatures that occur nowhere else on the planet. In many parts of the island, this biodiversity is under pressure due to wildlife trafficking,…
A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific…
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…
The Russell’s viper was long thought to be nearly extinct in Bangladesh, where it is known as chandra bora, until about a decade ago. Wildlife biologists were unaware of the…
KOH KONG, Cambodia — The recent discovery of 60 Siamese crocodile hatchlings in the southwest of Cambodia has sparked hope among conservationists, with the five successful nests highlighting the resilience…
KATHMANDU — Professor Karan Bahadur Shah is a distinguished researcher from Nepal, renowned for his extensive work in herpetology, the study of amphibians and reptiles. His career spans several decades…
Researchers have developed simple, sun-heated shelters that allow frogs to raise their body temperatures and fight off infections. These frog “saunas” may bring hope for populations threatened by a deadly…
Monitoring and keeping track of snakes is a cumbersome task. Jeff Lemm knows the inefficiencies all too well. The herpetologist has been studying red diamond rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber) for years.…
“We (humans) are trying to get under the skin of other species, trying to understand them on their terms. And the more we succeed, the more we discover a natural…
When lost or assumed-extinct species are rediscovered, they often face a long rocky road to population recovery — especially if they’re an amphibian.
This year, Bangladesh has seen its highest number of olive ridley turtle eggs, thanks to extensive conservation actions, including building awareness among local people and the vigilance of local conservation…
INTAG VALLEY, Ecuador — In Ecuador's lush tropical Andes, Silvia Vetancourt multitasks, her hands maneuvering crochet needles with swift precision as she navigates the rocky path to the old town…
DHAKA — In a breakthrough in saltwater crocodile conservation in the country, Bangladesh has started using a satellite tagging system to monitor the species’ movements, habits, and life span in…
When the last Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) died in 2016 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, its extinction garnered little media attention. Environmental journalist Jeremy Hance, a longtime Mongabay reporter…
