In the last four decades, dugong (Dugong dugon) aggregations have been rarely reported from the geographically isolated, vast seascape of the Andaman Islands, India. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, hunting, coastal development, and habitat loss are the major causes of this change in the social system of dugongs in …
Wildlife advocates have welcomed the removal of the chiru, or Tibetan antelope, from the endangered species list, but plan to continue their protection program. A joint report by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Chinese Academy of Sciences published in June announced that the Tibetan antelope was no longer …
As countries build more hydropower projects, new research warns that massive dams pose an extinction threat to mammals, birds and tortoises—at least in the Amazon. Brazil’s Balbina Dam has turned what was once undisturbed forest into an artificial archipelago of 3,546 islands where many vertebrates have disappeared, according to a …
Mega hydropower projects in tropical forests pose a major emergent threat to terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity worldwide. Despite the unprecedented number of existing, under-construction and planned hydroelectric dams in lowland tropical forests, long-term effects on biodiversity have yet to be evaluated. We examine how medium and large-bodied assemblages of terrestrial …
Life on Earth is in trouble. That much we know. But how bad have things become – and how fast are events moving? How soon, indeed, before the Earth’s biological treasures are trashed, in what will be the sixth great mass extinction event? This is what Gerardo Caballos of the …
The oft-repeated claim that Earth’s biota is entering a sixth “mass extinction” depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the “background” rates prevailing in the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of …
A black bear has been spotted in Indiana for the first time in more than 140 years, state wildlife officials said on Tuesday. Paw prints and a scat pile found in northwest Indiana were left behind by a young male black bear that likely walked into the state from Michigan …
Eastern cougars that once roamed North America from Canada to South Carolina are extinct and no longer warrant federal Endangered Species Act protections, US wildlife managers have said. The proposal to remove so-called eastern cougars from the list of endangered and threatened species comes nearly 80 years after the last …
HCM CITY (VNS) — A bat with nightmarish fangs (Hypsugo dolichodon), the world's second longest insect (Phryganistria heusii yentuensis) and a colour-changing thorny frog (Graciaxal lumarius) were among the 70 new species found in Viet Nam in 2014, according to a report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). …
The frequency of cancer is postulated to be proportional to the number of cells an animal possesses, as each cell is similarly exposed to mutagens with every cell division. Larger animals result from more cell divisions with more mutagenic exposure, and hence are expected to have higher frequencies of cancer. …
Microbeads, those tiny plastic beads included in personal care products for exfoliating power, have been popular for a number of years, with a growing number of companies sneaking them into toothpaste, body scrubs, soap and more. That’s despite evidence that they cause significant environmental problems, an issue that’s led a …
Arctic marine mammals (AMMs) are icons of climate change, largely because of their close association with sea ice. However, neither a circumpolar assessment of AMM status nor a standardized metric of sea ice habitat change is available. We summarized available data on abundance and trend for each AMM species and …
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) depend on sea ice, where they hunt ice-associated seals. However, they are opportunistic predators and scavengers with a long list of known prey species. Here we report from a small fjord in Svalbard, Norwegian High Arctic, a sighting of an adult male polar bear preying on …
A “dementor” wasp named after the Harry Potter creatures, a stick insect more than half a metre long, and a colour-changing thorny frog are among new species discovered in South East Asia’s Greater Mekong region. The discoveries also include a bent-toed gecko which is the 10,000th reptile to be recorded …
Bushmeat hunting threatens biodiversity and increases the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission. Nevertheless, limited information exists on patterns of contact with wildlife in communities that practice bushmeat hunting, especially with respect to social drivers of hunting behavior. We used interview responses from hunters and non-hunters in rural hunting communities in …
Ian Fleming’s famous fictional spy is renowned for being a bit of a love rat. But now a real rodent has been discovered on the island of Hispaniola and it has been named James Bond's hutia - or Plagiodontia aedium bondi. The cat-sized animal weighs more than two lbs (1kg) …
Government has defended the sale of elephants to lessen pressure on resources following the surge in the mammal's population to around 54 000 against a carrying capacity of 15 000. Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said on Tuesday that various zoos in the developed world, including the United …
Standing on the gentle slope of one of the hills encircling the valley, he pointed out the African lovegrass. It's a weed which dominates the heavily cultivated soils of Scottsdale Reserve, a former grazing property 75 kilometres south of Canberra. Few trees have survived decades of farming. Instead it's the …
The United States has one of the oldest, best-established park systems in the world. But what if those public lands -- mostly created to preserve scenic natural wonders -- are in the wrong place to conserve the lion’s share of the nation’s unique biodiversity? A new study published this week …
A 10-year plan to tackle the rapid extinction rate of Australian animals has been launched, with scientists from across the country collaborating on ways to deal with the biodiversity loss. Conservation organisation Bush Heritage Australia is spearheading the initiative, that will involve 50 scientists from 15 universities working on 55 …
Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has invited the public to comment on amendments to the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations and species list. "The Department of Environmental Affairs has undertaken a substantial review of the TOPS Regulations, as well as the list of threatened or protected species that was …
