Conservation

Conservation is a major issue around the world with the impacts that humans have on natural ecosystems through activities from mining, building new cities and global warming. There are many conservation groups and efforts that lobby for the conservation of particular species (for example, the polar bear) or groups of animals (for example, tigers), while others are aimed at entire habitats, such as the Amazon rainforest. Conservation efforts can also aim to protect natural resources. Some conservation is done by setting aside national parks and wildlife preserves, while other conservation works targets specific threats to particular species. Read about various conservation efforts and issues below.

Related Topics: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species

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A Devils Hole pupfish looks directly into the camera, against a black background.

The Devils Hole pupfish is so inbred that it shouldn’t be alive

By Joanna Thompson published

New research reveals exactly how inbred the Devils Hole pupfish is.

Gursky’s spectral tarsiers (Tarsius spectrumgurskyae) in Tangkoko National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia sing morning duets, which scientists captured with autonomous devices and handheld digital recorders.

'Yoda' primates sing duets like opera stars

By Jamie Carter published

Scientists recorded the intricate songs of the small, leaping primates on an Indonesian island.

Lime-green Hyalinobatrachium nouns was named for the Nouns decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), a group that uses cryptocurrency to buy and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Crypto organization names newfound glass frog species — here’s why that's concerning

By Stephanie Pappas published

A new species of glass frog has been named by a cryptocurrency organization, triggering concern over the high environmental cost of crypto.

A photo of a Nepenthes pitcher plant.

Stop picking carnivorous penis plants, Cambodian environmental officials plead

By Patrick Pester last updated

The Cambodian Ministry of Environment has asked people to stop collecting a carnivorous plant that resembles a penis, after footage appeared on social media of people picking the rare plant.

Craugastor cueyatl on a Mexican 10-peso coin, which has a diameter of 1.1 inches (28 millimeters).

Newfound species of wee frogs found in Mexico can fit on your fingertip

By Mindy Weisberger published

Scientists recently described six new species of miniature frogs that inhabit forest floors in Mexico and Guatemala.

Sir David Attenborough attending a gala in New York on March 1, 2018.

Sir David Attenborough earns prestigious UN 'Champion of the Earth' award

By Harry Baker published

The 95-year-old broadcaster is just the fifth person to receive the honor.

Dodos once roamed the island of Mauritius, before humans arrived and drove the birds to extinction.

Facts about the dodo

By Vicky Stein published

Dodos went extinct more than a century ago, and they are an enduring reminder of human-caused extinction.

Tarantulas were among the over 300 living arthropods that authorities recently confiscated at Colombia's El Dorado International Airport.

More than 300 smuggled tarantulas, scorpions and giant cockroaches seized from luggage in Colombia

By Mindy Weisberger published

Authorities at Colombia's airport in Bogotá found and confiscated hundreds of arthropods that German travelers had illegally collected and stashed in a suitcase.

The choice of the long-tailed bat as Bird of the Year ruffled feathers among New Zealand bird aficionados.

Fowl play? 'Bird of the Year' winner in New Zealand contest is a bat

By Mindy Weisberger published

New Zealand's long-tailed bat recently earned a very unlikely accolade.

A new plan by wildlife officials in Australia aims to kill or remove more than 10,000 wild horses, also known as brumbies.

Australia plans to cull over 10,000 wild horses, but scientists say it's not enough

By Harry Baker published

Australian wildlife officials are planning to kill or remove more than 10,000 wild horses from a national park in New South Wales.

The pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), the North American woodpecker most similar in appearance to the now-extinct Ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), and often confused with it.

Scientists officially list 23 species as extinct, including the largest woodpecker in the US

By Harry Baker last updated

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed 23 species from the endangered species list because they have most likely gone extinct.

Footage of the last Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Australia, from 1933. The film was recently colorized by Composite Films in Paris.

Stunning colorized footage provides a glimpse of the last known Tasmanian tiger

By Mindy Weisberger published

Thylacines, once widespread in Australia, have been extinct for nearly a century, but newly colorized footage provides a glimpse of what they looked like in life.

Scientists recently found that a fungus resembling zombies' fingers is more widespread in Australia than anyone suspected.

Rare 'zombie fingers' parasitic fungus is hanging on (barely) in Australia

By Mindy Weisberger published

Scientists recently found that a fungus resembling zombies' fingers is more widespread in Australia than anyone suspected.

Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials in the world.

Tasmanian devils wipe out colony of little penguins in major conservation backfire

By Harry Baker published

Tasmanian devils introduced to Maria Island for their own conservation have created an ecological disaster in their new home by wiping out an entire population of little penguins.

A wild Tasmanian devil exploring the 1,000 acre sanctuary where the new joeys were born.

Wild Tasmanian devils born on mainland Australia for 1st time in 3,000 years

By Harry Baker published

Conservationists have confirmed the birth of seven wild Tasmanian devil joeys in mainland Australia for the first time in 3,000 years.

A Copiapoa solaris specimen is one of hundreds of cactuses that were recently recovered by Operation Atacama.

$1.2 million worth of rare, stolen cactuses confiscated and returned to Chile

By Mindy Weisberger published

Officials have returned stolen cactuses to Chile, after recovering the rare plants during two raids in Italy in 2020.

A close-up of the pheromone gland in a Stenophylla lobivertex female.

Dragon mantis females have a Y-shaped sex gland that moves like a tentacle and looks like a maggot

By Mindy Weisberger published

A two-pronged, pheromone-producing gland in female dragon mantises only pops up when they are ready to mate.

The amphibious Scolopendra alcyona lives near streambeds in the forests of the Ryukyu Islands in Japan.

Newfound species of amphibious giant centipede named for woman cursed by the gods

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

Researchers recently described a new species of amphibious giant centipede in an archipelago in Japan.

Since December 2020, nine giraffes have been carried by barge across the waters of Lake Baringo.

Mom & baby giraffe trapped on a sinking island rescued in months-long operation

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

A months-long rescue operation transported the last of nine stranded giraffes to their new home in a mainland sanctuary.

Scientific visualization of a blue whale’s movements in an area with a high level of boat traffic. The blue shape is a whale trying to feed while avoiding vessels in the Gulf of Ancud near Chile.

Stressful animation shows blue whale dodging hundreds of ships while trying to feed

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

Scientists recently animated the hazards of being a blue whale that's trying to avoid collisions with ships at sea.