Chitwan city using Indo-Nepal wildlife corridor for waste dump
CHITWAN, Nepal — One of Nepal’s biggest cities on the northwestern fringes of Chitwan National Park has been dumping its municipal waste in a forest that serves as an international…
Mammals News
Farmers in Nepal and India see red as blue bulls raid their crops
LUMBINI, Nepal — Three years ago, Ram Chandra Kurmi, a farmer from the village of Gaidahawa in south-western Nepal, abandoned his small vegetable plot . The 39-year-old, who once supported…
The environmental toll of the M23 conflict in eastern DRC (Analysis)
The resurgence of the M23 (March 23 movement) rebel group has once again drawn global attention to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The humanitarian crisis—millions displaced, thousands…
In a seasonally flooded Amazon forest, jaguars take to the trees
“It’s amazing, it’s amazing! I have no other word to describe it.” That’s how biologist Marcos Roberto de Brito defines the thrill of seeing a jaguar up close for the…
In Australia’s little-known rainforests, tradition and science collaborate for good
The Kimberley, the northernmost region of Australia’s largest jurisdiction, Western Australia, is remote and difficult to access due to its rugged terrain. With a permanent population of just 40,000 in…
‘Some people will die’: Conversations with Nigeria’s gorilla hunters
On a night in 1997, Benjamin Dauda killed a gorilla for the first time. Shrouding his lanky frame in dark fog, he stalked a foraging troop, finally dispatching his bullet…
Study links African lion survival to prey availability
BLANTYRE, Malawi ― African lions are declining due to the decrease in their herbivore prey, necessitating the need for increased prey protection measures to reverse this trend, a study says.…
Pangolin burrows are biodiversity magnets in burnt forests, study shows
Pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammals, hit the headlines more often for the illegal trade in their scales and meat than for their cherished role in their environment. As insectivores,…
Getting rewilding right with the reintroduction of small wildcats
For the briefest moment earlier this year, the Eurasian lynx — extinct in the U.K. for thousands of years — returned to the wild in Scotland. But this release wasn’t…
As elephant conflict shifts, Nepal’s border village offers clues for coexistence
SUNDAR HARAICHA, Nepal — A bundle of firewood lay abandoned on the path, a silent witness to tragedy. Nearby, a red shawl, once wrapped around Chandra Kumari Limbu, remained. The…
Conservation groups look for new strategies, tech to halt vaquita decline
MEXICO CITY — Fewer than 10 vaquitas, the world’s smallest porpoise, survive in the wild today, experts say. Illegal fishing has decimated their population in the Gulf of California, the…
Wave of arrests as Madagascar shuts down tortoise trafficking network
ANTANANARIVO — Authorities in Madagascar have arrested 19 people on suspicion of trafficking tortoises, part of intensifying efforts in the country to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade. The…
Forest of rare trees in Zanzibar now earmarked for ‘eco-resort’
MICHEWENI, Tanzania — Botanists have found a stand of rare trees in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago not known to grow wild anywhere else in Africa. The intsia trees (Intsia bijuga) were…
Mammals, birds in Vietnam’s rare coastal forests revealed by camera traps
In 2019, scientists rediscovered a species of miniature deer long lost to science within the dry coastal forests of southern Vietnam’s Nui Chua National Park. A victim of snaring, the…
Sun, sand and skulls: Bali tourism trade peddles threatened primate skulls
Charmed by the picturesque beaches and enchanting temple complexes, millions of tourists flock each year to the tiny Indonesian island of Bali to experience its unique culture and art. When…
Nearly 20,000 animals seized in global wildlife trafficking crackdown
Big cats, birds, primates and pangolins were among the nearly 20,000 threatened or protected animals rescued in a recent global operation against wildlife and forestry traffickers. Led by Interpol and…
In Nepal’s Chitwan, elephant’s shooting, death raises eyebrows
KATHMANDU — On the morning of Feb. 5, a soldier deployed at the Chitwan National Park shot a wild elephant (Elephas maximus) after it allegedly attacked an elephant patrol attempting…
World’s smallest otter makes comeback in Nepal after 185 years
KATHMANDU — Scientists have for the first time in 185 years confirmed the presence of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal, thrilling conservationists and researchers looking for clues to its…
Chimps remember, for years, the location of ant nests that provide food
Wild chimpanzees have long been known to rely on their powerful memories to know where and in what trees they can find ripe wild fruit. Less has been understood about…
Has the Moo Deng craze helped wild pygmy hippos at all? (analysis)
2024 was a chaotic year. The year was, once again, the warmest on record globally, according to the World Meteorological Organization, with multiple climate disasters around the globe. The year…
CITES secretariat urges suspension of Cambodian long-tailed macaque trade
The trade of endangered long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) from Cambodia should be suspended, according to recommendations announced Jan. 14 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild…
Lures that attract seed-dispersing bats could aid tropical reforestation
Attracting seed-dispersing bats to degraded landscapes and aiding in tropical forest restoration efforts has long been an alluring prospect for conservationists: potentially a cheaper, less labor-intensive technique than media-hyped plantings…
How a Nepali border village learned to live with migratory wild elephants
BAHUNDANGI, Nepal – The heavy thud against the glass window sent Krishna Bahadur Rasaili’s heart racing. Stepping outside, he saw his granary lay in ruins, and an elephant was feasting…
Nigeria’s new coastal highway runs over communities & biodiversity hotspots
On Apr. 30, 2024, as the sun rose over Lagos, bulldozers rolled in to the Oniru waterfront, a popular leisure hub, where they cleared kiosks, restaurants and other beachside businesses.…
To conserve chimps, understand their genetic traits and local adaptations, says study
NAIROBI ― Understanding the genetic traits of chimpanzees and how they help them adapt to unique conditions in different habitats is critical to maintaining their resilience and ensuring long-term survival,…
Increase in gibbon trafficking into India has conservationists worried
With oversized and inquisitive eyes, an infant-like expressive face, and a palette of thick, furry coats ranging from beige to black, gibbons tick all the right boxes to be called…
‘An oval with legs’: In search of Tanzania’s tiny island antelope
PEMBA ISLAND, Tanzania — Pemba Island’s Ngezi Forest Reserve, a complex of moist evergreen and coastal forests, mangroves and heathland in the Zanzibar archipelago, is the last refuge of the…
Growing conservation and community: Interview with Ngezi reserve chief
The people living around the Ngezi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, off the coast of Tanzania, depend on its resources for many things: timber for building materials, a place to…
Conservation corridors provide hope for Latin America’s felines
The jaguar moves between patches of forest in the Mesoamerican Corridor across Central America. Meanwhile, the majestic Colombian Massif still serves as a refuge for the oncilla, while the puma…
Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys were found in only two places on Earth. Now it’s one
Conservationists searching for Vietnam's critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, one of the world's most threatened primates, have found no sign of the species in one of the two forest patches…
Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bat finally confirmed in Bangladesh
DHAKA — Scientists have published the first record of the great Himalayan leaf-nosed bat in Bangladesh, dropping another pin on this wide-ranging species’ distribution map across Asia and highlighting the…
Photos: Top new species from 2024
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…
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
- Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
- Peruvian fishers sue for additional compensation after big December oil spill
- Smuggling networks exploit migrant debt to fuel tiger poaching in Malaysia, study shows
- Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia: 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
- ‘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
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
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
