As one of the world’s largest consumers of pangolin products, primarily in traditional medicine, China’s domestic market plays a critical role in the survival of these gentle creatures. However, questions…
A survey has found populations of elephant, gorillas and chimpanzees in and around two national parks in southeastern Cameroon has remained relatively stable since 2016. Conservation officials have welcomed this…
KIKORONGO, Uganda — What do you do if you’re neighbors with an elephant? In western Uganda, the answer is: You build a fence. And not just any fence. One that…
Among New Guinea’s rainforest inhabitants is a group of birds called pitohuis, chatty songbirds that stand out for their loud, attractive songs. But there’s more to these birds than their…
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,…
Evolution has perfected the world’s sharks and rays for more than 420 million years. Unlike the ammonites or pterosaurs that they once shared the oceans with, sharks and rays persevered…
A researcher described four new species of tarantulas, including one new genus, from India's Western Ghats, a chain of mountains running along the country's west coast. "Most people in India…
TAOLAGNARO, Madagascar – Acting on a tip from a village informant, Fabian met a colleague at the edge of the spiny forest reserve just after nightfall. Together, they cycled quietly…
TAOLAGNARO, Madagascar – Gabriel Andriamanjaka holds the radiotracking aerial aloft and marches into a spiky forest thicket. Branches whip around his body as he pushes through in pursuit of his…
Wildlife trafficking remains a pressing threat to the survival of countless species, with sharks, pangolins, rhinos, birds, big cats and others among the hardest hit. Mongabay’s extensive reporting aligns with…
On one Saturday in August 2023, news of a jaguar (Panthera onca) death shook the small streets of the Amazonian town of Ixiamas in Bolivia. It was all community members…
Pangolins have the dubious distinction of being the most trafficked mammals in the world. Yet as often as they wind up in wildlife seizures, authorities and conservationists have no universal…
KITABU, Uganda — It’s mid-afternoon in Kitabu, a small town nestled in the hills of western Uganda at the foot of the Rwenzori mountains. Neatly manicured plots of beans and…
On June 13, 1959, the Waata hunter Galogalo Kafonde surrendered himself to colonial Kenya’s “Field Force,” Africa’s first militarized antipoaching unit. For centuries, the ethnic Waata had hunted elephants. Killing…
The dense tropical forests, isolated mountain peaks and limestone karst caverns of the Greater Mekong region yielded a remarkable 234 new-to-science species in 2023, according to a new report compiled…
Cockfighting has been illegal in Costa Rica for more than a century, but this violent tradition persists underground across the country. To make the birds deadlier, their owners often tie…
PHUM RIANG, Thailand — The sea is quiet except for the swish of the longtail boat cutting sharply through the waves. Fishermen Sutham Abmanee and Komsan Witan, from Phum Riang…
Turkmenistan is set to join the global wildlife trade convention as of January, in a move that could bolster conservation efforts in Central Asia. This makes Turkmenistan the 185th party…
In July this year, conservationists from North Carolina Zoo in the U.S. and the Grumeti Fund in Tanzania went searching for a white-backed vulture in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park that…
Camera-trap surveys have documented a sizeable but struggling population of Sumatran tigers clinging on in unprotected forests in Indonesia’s Aceh province. The study is the most robust evidence to date…
Authorities in Indonesia have rescued more than 6,500 wild birds being trafficked from the island of Sumatra and destined for Java, in what’s been hailed as the single largest seizure…
Orchids, known for their flamboyant petals, deceptive mimicry and fascinating lifestyles, have captivated biologists and horticulturists for centuries. With nearly 30,000 described species, they form one of the plant kingdom’s…
CANAIMA, Venezuela – Along Venezuelan roads, you come across a variety of wildlife, from parrots and parakeets to sloths and monkeys. The trade in threatened species has become so normalized…
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…
JAKARTA — In Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, conservation groups and authorities have built canopy bridges that stitch back together primate habitat, including for orangutans, that were fragmented by roads over…
KATHMANDU — A snow leopard found well outside its mountainous habitat in Nepal at the start of this year may have gotten lost while seeking out new territory, a new…
With recent conservation efforts and the involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities in managing protected areas, forest elephant populations are on the verge of stabilizing,in at least one national…
LAMONGAN, Indonesia — Sulaiman is so practiced at stripping a zebra shark that he can skin the animal in just a few minutes. He sticks a knife into the meter-long…
High rates of inbreeding among hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa spell trouble for their future, according to a newly published study. The study found that despite wide differences…
Honduras this year launched a plan to eliminate deforestation by 2029, with a special focus on recovering land used by criminal groups for timber trafficking. Officials have already carried out…
Taman Negara, Peninsular Malaysia's premier national park, is celebrated for its extraordinary biodiversity centered around a 130-million-year-old tropical rainforest that’s believed to be the world’s oldest. Within it, a remarkable…
A growing trend for macabre dead bat ornaments sold via online merchants, many of them based in the United States, is driving unsustainable harvesting from the wild. A new study…
