Underwater ultrasound scanner to support manta conservation
Not all fish lay eggs. Female guppies, a common aquarium fish, can “drop” between two and 200 babies over several hours, and male seahorses typically hold eggs inside a brood…
Conservation Technology News
Wildtech provides news and information on how the conservation community can better leverage technology. Mongabay is a non-profit.
Earth’s hidden tree-microbe network mapped for the first time ever
Underneath the ground, hidden from view, there’s a massive network of fungi and bacteria hard at work in close partnership with tree roots. In exchange for food from the trees,…
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…
Models, maps, and citizen scientists working to save the Great Barrier Reef
Any aquarist who has tried to grow a variety of the colorful Acropora coral in a hobby tank knows how delicate they are – “not for beginners.” And yet this…
Hunting for rare plants in inaccessible spots: Q&A with drone pilot Ben Nyberg
Sometimes looking for rare plants can mean taking extreme steps. And for decades, botanists at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), a nonprofit based on the island of Kauaʻi in…
New map shows warming waters where coral reefs could be under threat
The ocean is increasingly becoming too hot to handle. And coral reefs are suffering as a result. Above-normal sea surface temperatures due to human-induced climate change are creating conditions that…
Counting on eDNA for a faster, easier way to count coral
Faster and cheaper Surveying and studying coral takes a lot of work. It’s usually done manually, which requires wet suits and air tanks and SCUBA gear and people. But it’s…
’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…
‘Landscape of fearlessness’: bushbuck emboldened following top-predator decline in Mozambique
The ‘landscape of fear’ is not a new term among biologists. From the now-iconic study of how elk and bison gradually adjusted their vigilance levels after wolves were reintroduced into…
Changing energy use in rural Africa with power from solar, clean stoves…and women
For many energy and environment problems that developing rural communities face, there exists a plausible technological solution. In communities that are economically or geographically isolated, tools that can save time,…
Drone rediscovers Hawaiian flower thought to be extinct
In January this year, a drone surveying a cliff face in a remote part of Kalalau Valley on the Hawaiin island of Kaua‘i chanced upon something unexpected: In one of…
Mobile app encourages Indian fishers to free entangled whale sharks
When fisherfolk in India’s westernmost state of Gujarat find a whale shark tangled in their fishing nets, it’s an unwelcome sight. They can’t legally harvest the protected species, yet the…
Creating a high-tech island to save one of the world’s rarest birds
In 1995, there were only 51 kākāpō left on Earth, and it seemed that the giant flightless parrots were headed for extinction. Once abundant in New Zealand, the ground-dwelling kākāpō…
‘Judas’ snakes lead scientists on a high-tech Easter egg hunt for pythons
Remember that 3-meter (17-foot) pregnant Burmese python recently captured by wildlife authorities in southern Florida? These snakes, invasive to North America and destructive to native wildlife, are cryptic in both…
Lift-off for thermal-imaging system to estimate wildlife populations
A prototype system to identify rare species in real time using thermal-imaging cameras mounted on unmanned aircraft, or drones, passed its latest test when it successfully identified orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)…
How a sheriff in Brazil is using satellites to stop deforestation
Before becoming the chief of police at the Police Specialized in Crimes Against the Environment (DEMA) in the northern Brazilian state of Amapá, Leonardo Brito had never worked in the environmental field…
Solving the mystery of the UK’s vanishing hen harriers
Gliding over the moors of England in search of prey, the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) may never have suspected it would itself fall prey to a greater predator—man. Scientists have…
Cloud seeding bears no rain in Sri Lanka
A recent attempt to induce rain amid a prolonged drought in Sri Lanka has fallen short, but that hasn’t stopped the government from embracing the project, to the dismay of…
Virtual Reality 360-degree video: An “empathy-generating machine” for conservation outreach?
People of all ages love wildlife videos, whether it’s seeing previously unheard-of species, species interactions, or baby animals at play. New video technology that films in 360 degrees brings viewers…
Climb confirms that the world’s tallest tropical tree tops 100 meters
There’s a new record for the tallest tree in the tropics, and the scientists who found it say it could add to our understanding of how and why some trees…
Indonesia oil slicks highlight weak enforcement against bilge dumping
JAKARTA — Two ships have been spotted allegedly dumping waste oil in the sea off the eastern coast of Sumatra, highlighting what activists say is poor enforcement against marine pollution…
Those kicks were fast as lightning: Kangaroo rats evade deadly snake strikes
A student-led research team from three California universities has shown that desert kangaroo rats frequently avoid predation by rattlesnakes through a combination of speedy reaction times, powerful near-vertical leaps, and…
Crab season to be cut short in California to protect whales and turtles
Whales and sea turtles off the coast of California will have less time to contend with possible entanglements in crab fishing gear in 2019, after a one-and-a-half-year lawsuit settlement shortened…
Virtual reality tool gives viewers the vision of a nocturnal primate
Other animals see the world quite differently from us humans. Researchers at Dartmouth College teamed up with a student-based technology lab to develop an interactive virtual entry into the vision…
New research teases apart complex effects of naval sonar on whales
Whales can behave quite differently in response to sonar depending on where they live and what they’re doing, new research has found. The pair of studies, on different species and…
Combining artificial intelligence and citizen science to improve wildlife surveys
A research team testing the capacity of both citizen scientists and machine learning algorithms to help survey the annual wildebeest migration in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania found that both…
AI and drone-based imagery improve power to survey cryptic animals
Koalas are Australian icons, known globally for their fuzzy ears, broad wet nose, and love of eucalyptus leaves. They are also cryptic, slow-moving creatures that live high in the leafy…
Genetic test reveals Baltic flounder migration routes and a new species
The waters of the eastern Baltic Sea around Finland are home to the flounder, a flatfish with both its eyes on one side of the head that uses its camouflage…
Something smells fishy: Scientists uncover illegal fishing using shark tracking devices
In April 2015, researchers headed out to the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean to service acoustic receivers they had dotted around the archipelago, and to download tag data from…
Reducing human-elephant encounters with calls, texts, and digital signs
In India, few animals carry the kind of cultural symbolism that elephants do. Human-elephant interaction boasts a rich history dating back centuries. Nevertheless, such a long association has also included…
