endangered species

For the first time in four years, a litter of red wolf pups was born in the wild. The six pups were found in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina last week. The news brings hope for the species, which is currently listed as endangered. “As the sights and sounds of spring […]

Sea turtles face many threats, from ocean plastic pollution to the climate crisis. However, the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle faces a unique danger: Its spangled shell is highly desirable to create the falsely-named “tortoiseshell” material popular for trinkets and jewelry.  While selling real tortoiseshell is now illegal, the practice sadly persists. To fight back, […]

The spotted tree frog was already recovering from local extinction when the “Black Summer” wildfires of 2019 to 2020 raged through New South Wales (NSW) in Australia. Of 250 to 300 frogs once released into the wild, only about 10 survived.  But now, the critically endangered species is receiving yet another lease on life. The […]

With their branches reaching up like knobby arms with tufts for fists, western Joshua trees are an iconic part of the California desert ecosystem, and environmental advocates want to make sure they stay that way in the face of development and the climate crisis.  To that end, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a […]

The iconic saguaro cactus of the American Southwest may evince an image of a lonely figure in the desert, cylindrical arms stretched out and upward toward the sky in a friendly and somewhat lonely wave. But there are many other species of cactus — more than 1,500 — and not all of them thrive in […]

With a call that has been described as that of a “tin trumpet” and making a double tap sound with its long bill, the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is the third largest woodpecker in the world and the largest north of Mexico, according to All About Birds. The elusive woodpecker had apparently last been seen […]

This month, the world’s largest wildlife overpass — the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing — will begin construction across a multi-lane highway at Liberty Canyon in the Santa Monica mountains. The 210-foot long, 165-foot wide green bridge will allow animals like mountain lions, coyotes, snakes and toads to safely cross U.S. Highway 101 near Los Angeles, reported The Guardian.

Documents collected via the Official Information Act in New Zealand show that commercial fishers in the area have been killing or injuring sharks to retrieve their fishing gear, including hooks that cost as little as $1. The documents come from government observers who worked to oversee commercial longline fleets in the country from 2016 to […]