Indonesia resumes release of captive wildlife amid COVID-19
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has lifted a moratorium on the release of captive wild animals, imposed earlier this year as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the…
In-situ Conservation News
A new sanctuary for the Sumatran rhino is delayed amid COVID-19 measures
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A much-anticipated plan to establish a new rhino-breeding sanctuary in northern Sumatra is one of many that has been put on hold in the wake of…
For Indonesia’s captive wildlife, lockdown measures may prove deadly
JAKARTA — Measures aimed at halting the spread of the novel coronavirus in Indonesia have meant tough times for Indonesia’s captive animals, both at wildlife rehabilitation facilities and in the…
Indonesian officials wield sharia law in defense of Sumatran rhinos
EAST LAMPUNG, Indonesia — The government of the Indonesian province of Aceh, notorious for public canings carried out under sharia law, plans to put that same strict Islamic jurisprudence to…
Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
EAST LAMPUNG, Indonesia — Efforts to breed the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in captivity have faced numerous challenges. Breeding programs have been plagued by mysterious deaths, reproductive health…
Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
EAST LAMPUNG, Indonesia — Officials in Indonesia say they hope to capture three Sumatran rhinos from the wild for a recently expanded sanctuary where experts are carrying out breeding attempts…
Scientists rediscover mammalian oddity in remote Vietnam
VIETNAM, July 2019 – I’m chasing a ghost, I think not for the first time, as night falls and I gather up my gear in a hotel in a village in…
Indonesia plans IVF for recently captured Sumatran rhino
EAST LAMPUNG, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities will make their first attempt at in vitro fertilization of a Sumatran rhino, aiming to boost the critically endangered species’ gene pool in the…
The ambitious plan to recover and rewild the feisty, dwarf cow
Don’t let appearances fool you. The animal pictured above — the dwarf cattle known as tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) from the island of Mindoro in the Philippines — may look cute;…
Sumatran rhinos to get a new sanctuary in Leuser Ecosystem
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government plans to build a third sanctuary for the captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos, a species on the brink of extinction. The proposed facility will be…
Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats
The global trade of products that come at the expense of tropical forest is driving many primate species closer to extinction, a new study suggests. The research, published June 17…
Leopards get a $20m boost from Panthera pact with Saudi prince
Wild cat conservation group Panthera has signed an agreement with a member of the Saudi royal family to help protect leopards worldwide, especially perhaps the rarest subspecies in the world,…
Out on a limb: Unlikely collaboration boosts orangutans in Borneo
BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA NATIONAL PARK, Indonesia -- In the heart of Indonesian Borneo, a dwindling population of orangutans is getting a new lease on life thanks to a group of…
Altered forests threaten sustainability of subsistence hunting
The way humans have changed the forests of Central and South America may be making it impossible for subsistence hunters to continue their way of life, according to two conservation…
The health of penguin chicks points scientists to changes in the ocean
It’s hard to imagine how the oceans might operate without the sway of human activity. The recent assessment by the U.N. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found…
Interest in protecting environment up since Pope’s 2015 encyclical
Just before Pope Francis released Laudato Si’, an encyclical, or formal letter from the pope, on the environment, on May 24, 2015, global concern for the environment seemed to be…
’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
Life on this planet, in all its wide diversity, is disappearing more quickly now than it has at any time in human history, and some 1 million species of plants…
Community buy-in stamps out elephant poaching in Zambian park
The elephant poaching epidemic continues to tear across the African continent. It’s even reached remote refuges in recent years, like the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, where poaching deaths began surging…
Scientists urge overhaul of the world’s parks to protect biodiversity
Countries should concentrate on outcomes instead of actions when they set aside areas for parks and reserves to shore up the loss of biodiversity, according to a group of scientists.…
Planning without action will see the Javan rhino go extinct (commentary)
On the evening of Dec. 22, 2018, a group of fishermen who had snagged a saltwater crocodile in their net brought it to Paniis beach in Pandeglang district on the…
To stop extinctions, start with these 169 islands, new study finds
Island-dwelling animals around the globe often face a common threat: alien species that compete with them for food, kill them and their young, and otherwise hamper their ability to survive.…
Malaysian state chief: Highway construction must not destroy forest
The chief minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah has called on construction crews working on the multi-billion-dollar Pan Borneo Highway project to avoid breaking up the region’s forests and…
Possible vaquita death accompanies announcement that only 10 are left
On March 13, scientists announced that around 10 vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) are left on Earth, just as the environmental group Sea Shepherd said it had found one of the porpoises…
New maps show where humans are pushing species closer to extinction
Animals around the globe are losing ground to farming and ranching, and their numbers are dwindling at the hands of human hunters. But the question of where to direct precious…
Proximity to towns stretches giraffe home ranges
Giraffes have to search a wider area for food and water when people live nearby, according to a recent study. “Giraffes are huge browsing animals that live in African savanna…
Deadly tsunami leaves Javan rhinos untouched, but peril persists
JAKARTA — A devastating tsunami that killed more than 400 people in Indonesia has left the last surviving population of Javan rhinos unscathed — but has highlighted once again the…
Face-to-face with what may be the last of the world’s smallest rhino, the Bornean rhinoceros (insider)
Nothing can really prepare a person for coming face-to-face with what may be the last of a species. I had known for a week that I would be fortunate enough…
Sending a message about rhino conservation in Nepal
Last May, a fire in Nepal's Chitwan National Park sent a clear message to the whole world. More than 4,000 wildlife parts from 48 different species, including 357 rhino horns,…
Signoff on rhino sperm transfer between Indonesia, Malaysia expected mid-May: Official
Hoping that sperm from one of Indonesia's rhinos can be used to fertilize Malaysia's last remaining female rhino, conservationists have been awaiting permission for the transfer for years.
Kaziranga’s rhino census finds the population is growing, but more slowly than expected
With an official count of 2,413 rhinos, the population was either undercounted or grew more slowly than expected — but a large number of calves is reason for optimism.
Save the Sumatran rhino ‘because we can’ (commentary)
Senior correspondent Jeremy Hance argues in an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald that we should save the Sumatran rhino, the world's oldest, smallest, and cutest rhino from extinction…
Bornean bearded pigs seen adapting to oil palm habitats, study finds
Bearded pigs in Malaysian Borneo appear to have adapted to oil palm plantations, a key driver of deforestation in the region, but still depend heavily on adjacent forests as their…
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
- Scientists, Māori experts uncover new insights into rare spade-toothed whale
- Coral reefs could survive climate change, but in altered state, study says
- Conservationists see progress for swordfish, problems for sharks at Atlantic fisheries summit
- As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist
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
- 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
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
Endangered Environmentalists
- 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
- Mongabay video screening at Chile’s Supreme Court expected to help landmark verdict in Brazil
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
