Conservation’s unfinished business
Conservation often presents itself as a technical enterprise: how much land to protect, which species to prioritize, what policies deliver results. A recent paper in Nature argues that this framing…
Human-wildlife Conflict News
Fishing cats need hotspot-based conservation in Bangladesh, research shows
Wildlife researchers have confirmed the presence of endangered fishing cats in 158 subdistricts that cover about 32% of Bangladesh’s territory. At first glance, this may seem like charming news. But…
How Southern African farmers & elephants can both adapt to coexist
Elephants are considered a sacred totem by many in northwestern Zimbabwe, but they also frequently raid villagers’ crops near harvest time, says Agripa Ngorima, who has studied attitudes toward conservation…
Rapid urbanization, habitat loss are forcing the snakes out in Dhaka
On Nov. 1, in a residential area of Bangladesh’s bustling capital city, Dhaka, the NGO Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association rescued two adult Padma Gokhra snakes (monocled cobra, Naja kaouthia) along…
Small cat conservationists hail Uganda’s new Echuya Forest National Park
In what’s being called immensely good news for the African golden cat, often described as the continent’s most elusive and threatened wildcat species, Uganda’s Echuya Forest will become a national…
Corridors, not culls, offer solution to Southern Africa’s growing elephant population
Since being collared in Zambia two years ago, a young bull elephant known to researchers as Z16 has walked nearly 12,000 kilometers, or 7,500 miles — three times the distance…
Warmer climate triggers pest infestations in Bangladesh, India tea estates
The extended summers, delayed monsoons and shorter winters — collectively featuring a warmer climate — are triggering pest infestations across tea estates in Bangladesh and India. Entomologists have observed significant…
Asian golden cat range expands, but declines continue amid rising threats
A single camera trap image of an Asian golden cat, photographed in Nepal's Jajarkot district, has expanded this felid species’ range westward by nearly 400 kilometers (248 miles). Out of…
Women can help rebuild our relationship with lions: Voices from the land (commentary)
This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections…
Booming sea otters and fading shellfish spark values clash in Alaska
HOMER, Alaska — Roarke Brown, a charter boat captain since 1972 in this picturesque fishing village, remembers being able to tread out onto the Kachemak Bay mud flats at low…
IUCN downgrades guiña threat status, prompting conservation warning
The guiña, a small cat species found only in Chile and northern Argentina, has just been reclassified as of least concern by the IUCN. Until recently it was listed as…
Study busts big bad myth that wolves are growing fearless of humans
After years of being hunting to near-extinction, wolves are making a comeback in some of their historical ranges in Europe and North America. With their return comes a growing concern…
Fears of major locust swarms wane in the Sahel but agencies step up monitoring
NAIROBI — In May and June, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s commission for controlling desert locust outbreaks in West and Northwest Africa warned that heavy rainfall and vegetation in North…
Nepal’s Himalayan biodiversity struggles with new herds and highways (commentary)
A journey into Nepal’s Limi Valley is always profound. We at the Himalayan Wolves Project first visited the area more than a decade ago and were immediately struck by its…
African wildlife conservation is local communities’ burden (commentary)
“Never, ever say anything negative about an elephant or a gorilla. Elephants may attack people’s property, destroy their crops, and even kill them. Always take the side of the elephant.…
Fear & uncertainty grip Nigerian community after fatal elephant attack
When the going gets tough, the tough get going — but for people in the Itasin-Imobi community, the going has been tough for far too long. Situated in the midst…
In Brazil’s Pantanal, too many tourists may be the jaguar’s new predator
PORTO JOFRE, Brazil — When Oscar de Morais isn’t out tracking jaguars, you’ll find him aboard his houseboat moored along the banks of the São Lourenço River. He sits beneath…
Data debunks spike in Sri Lanka’s elephant killings, points at media hype
COLOMBO — In recent months, elephants have stolen the spotlight yet again in Sri Lanka’s mainstream and social media. The surge in attention to them began when a series of…
Learning to live with lions: Interview with Claw Conservancy’s Andrew Stein
Andrew Stein had been working across Africa for more than 15 years when he first heard of lion poisoning incidents in Botswana. In a bid to protect their livestock, communities…
It’s time to update the language of human-wildlife interactions (commentary)
Language shapes the way we view our world. In the field of wildlife conservation, even very subtle word choices drive peoples’ perceptions around individual species or situations. These word choices…
Conservationists warn of targeted poaching behind Sri Lanka’s leopard killings
POLONNARUWA, Sri Lanka — Wildlife conservationists have sounded the alarm that leopard poaching in Sri Lanka is being carried out more systematically than previously thought, following the arrest in early…
Bhutan’s new farm fencing program could be costly for wildlife (commentary)
On July 17, 2025, Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan’s oldest protected area, posted on its Facebook page: “Wild Friends Aren’t Always Friendly.” The message referred to a midnight incident in…
In rare triumph, camera traps snap endangered wildcats in Pakistan
Conservationists snapped images of two small wildcat species in Pakistan earlier this year: an Asiatic caracal (Caracal caracal schimitzi) and a sand cat (Felis margarita) — both which are incredibly…
Sri Lanka tusker death sparks euthanasia debate & calls for conservation solutions
COLOMBO — Bhathiya is a tusker whose towering presence once symbolized the majestic beauty of Sri Lanka’s wild elephants (Elephas maximus). But his life took a tragic turn when he…
Agencies race to prevent new food crisis as locusts return to northern Africa
NAIROBI — Swarms of desert locusts are moving across parts of North Africa. With unusually heavy rains in late 2024 supporting growth of vegetation, and rising temperatures since February 2025…
Study urges legal protection for Sulawesi’s endangered bear cuscus amid habitat loss
A new study has shown the first habitat suitability model for the endangered bear cuscus in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi, showing its limited and fragmented range, much of which is threatened…
As Thailand’s fishing cats face habitat loss & conflict, experts seek resolution
Pacing paw-to-paw, the fishing cat hisses. About twice the size of a domestic cat, its grey-green eyes fix on the keeper who carries a tub of tilapia on the other…
Ancient eco-friendly pilgrimage brings modern threats to Sri Lanka wildnerness
Kataragama, SRI LANKA — For centuries, barefoot pilgrims have walked through the arid jungles and lush forests of Sri Lanka’s east and south, following a sacred route to a fabled…
Bangladesh plans new ‘protected area’ for elephants in its conflict-prone northeast
In response to rising human-elephant conflicts, Bangladesh is planning to declare the elephant habitats in its northeastern parts a protected area for the species. The country is one of the…
Jaguar recovery unites Brazil and Argentina in conservation effort
The dark rosettes dotting the golden-brown fur of the jaguar are no longer a rare sight in Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park. In 2010, the protected area’s population of jaguars (Panthera…
Ecological crisis in Brazil’s Pantanal fuels human-jaguar conflict
Roberto Carlos Conceição Arruda recalls the moment in 2002 when an ordinary morning routine took a harrowing turn. It was around 8 a.m., in the remote mountainous region of Serra…
Tabby’s likely ancestor & Earth’s most widespread wildcat is an enigma
The Afro-Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica) is the world’s most widely distributed wildcat, but experts and information on the species are scarce. The species’ range is immense, stretching across most of…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellite data show burst of deforestation in Myanmar rare earth mining hotspots
- 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
Oceans
- Methane chasers: Hunting a climate-changing gas seeping from Earth’s seafloor
- Scientists call for stronger action to save Indonesia’s vanishing seagrass meadows
- Antarctic conservation summit closes with stalemate on MPAs & krill fishing rules
- Norway’s proposal to double krill harvests raises tension at Antarctic conservation summit
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
- Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests
- Amid Venezuela’s illegal gold heist are armed groups, gangs & elites, report says
- Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests
Endangered Environmentalists
- A killing with precedent: Kaiowá man’s murder fits a pattern in Brazil
- 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
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
