In a landmark deal for the protection of nature, nations meeting at the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal have reached a deal to protect 30 percent of Earth for nature by 2030. The goal of the Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework is to protect the planet’s rich yet threatened biodiversity. It also includes objectives for […]
The plains-wanderer is a small, critically-endangered bird with a tawny marking on its chest that can only be found in south-eastern Australia’s arid grasslands. It is estimated that only 250 to 1,000 of these speckled birds are left in the wild, according to Bush Heritage Australia. The plains-wanderer is at risk of impending extinction and […]
By David Shiffman One of the most fascinating challenges of endangered species management is the concept of shifting baselines — the idea that how much worse a problem has gotten, and what your recovery goal should be, depends on when you start measuring the problem. In many cases we need scientific data on the population […]
Nearly all species of sea turtles are considered endangered, according to WWF. Despite this, people have continued to poach them for food, medicine and luxury goods in astonishing numbers. The first ever global assessment of illegal sea turtle hunting to consider multiple countries and regions, published in Global Change Biology Wednesday, found that more than […]
By John R. Platt A few times a year, wildlife officials in Texas receive excited phone calls. “I just saw something that looks like a really big cat, or maybe a giant weasel,” a caller might say. “Was it a jaguarundi?” No, they’re not reporting a sighting of a mythical beast like the chupacabra. But […]
Butterflies overall are struggling in the UK, but one particularly endangered species is thriving. After being driven to extinction in the UK in 1979, the large blue butterfly had its best year in 2022 since record keeping began 150 years ago, the Royal Entomological Society announced Wednesday. The success is thanks to reintroduction efforts that […]
Currently in the U.S., only eight tree species have federal protections and are officially considered threatened or endangered. But a new study from researchers at the Morton Arboretum shows that far more tree species are vulnerable, with 11% to 16% of trees in the contiguous U.S. under threat of extinction. According to the researchers, the […]
The human imagination once transformed dugongs into mermaids. But now, human activity is pushing the gentle marine mammals into the realm of the imagination in a more sinister way. A new study published in Royal Society Open Science Wednesday found that the dugong (dugong dugon) is “functionally extinct” in Chinese waters. “The likely disappearance of […]
Endangered sea turtles have hatched on a chain of barrier islands off Louisiana for the first time in 75 years. The Louisiana government announced August 17 that the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) found evidence that endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles had hatched in the […]