Conservation

A pod of orcas feeding in the Atlantic Ocean

Orcas Are Breaking Rudders Off Boats in Europe

These interactions around Spain and Portugal might be a trend among juveniles, scientists say

Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth babies need round-theclock care. Once they’re adults, they’ll be microchipped and released back into the rainforest.

Baby Sloths Are About as Cute As You Would Expect

A Costa Rica rescue center offers blankets and bottle-feeding at a nursery for these young animals

Dropping water levels in Lake Mead, a reservoir of the Colorado River, revealed this formerly submerged boat.

Western States Are Fighting Over How to Conserve Shrinking Water Supply

The Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million people, is drying up

In the Mediterranean Sea, ship strikes are the leading cause of death for sperm whales.

A New Detection System Could Save Sperm Whales From Ship Strikes

Scientists have developed a computational technique that can track whales in real time—and potentially prevent collisions

A critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle nesting.

Critically Endangered Sea Turtle Lays Eggs on Texas Beach

Conservationists were thrilled that the Kemp’s Ridley had nested in a new location, increasing its long odds for survival

ElSa is a prototype of a machine-learning-driven software that analyzes movement patterns in videos of humans and elephants.

This Teenager Invented a Low-Cost Tool to Spot Elephant Poachers in Real Time

Seventeen-year-old Anika Puri created a machine-learning-driven model that analyzes the movement patterns of humans and elephants

A California condor flies through Marble Gorge, east of Grand Canyon National Park in 2007

Four Critically Endangered Condors Released in Northern California

The Yurok Tribe has released one juvenile female and three males, the first birds to live in the region in more than 100 years

Cheetahs are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with approximately 6,517 mature individuals left worldwide. 

Cheetahs Will Soon Be Reintroduced to India

The felines were declared extinct in the country in 1952

V. boliviana is now the world’s largest known giant waterlily species, with leaves that can grow almost ten feet wide in the wild.

New Species of Giant Waterlily Is the Largest in the World

The discovery of the enormous plant type surprised researchers

In the midst of fire- and drought-ravaged savanna in southeastern Madagascar, a curiously lush green forest is home to myriad unexpected life-forms, including a species of mouse lemur.

Into the Forbidden Forest

Famed American biologist Patricia Wright explores an astonishing breadth of biodiversity in the wilderness of Madagascar

Struvite is a nuisance for wastewater treatment plants, as it can clog pipes and lines. But the crystal, which is high in phosphorous, nitrogen, and magnesium, makes an excellent slow-release fertilizer for seagrass.

Human Pee Might Just Be the Key to Saving Seagrass

Treating wastewater creates struvite—a nutrient-rich crystal that bolsters struggling seagrass beds

The Cascade red fox (which isn't always red) does not hibernate. Along with pocket gophers, voles, birds and snowshoe hares, it eats fruits and insects. 

Where Fox News Is Hard to Come By

A mountain range in the Pacific Northwest is a last bastion for a unique canine

Panama’s National Authority for the Environment (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente, ANAM) manages Coiba National Park, which is accessible via permit. Guests can book overnight lodgings in several air-conditioned cabins next to the ANAM ranger station.

How a Former Penal Colony in Panama Became a Biodiversity Hotspot

For decades, Coiba Island was inhabited by prisoners. Now, scientists and adventurous tourists visit a national park teeming with wildlife

Participants in First Nature Tours help mitigate damages from wildfires in Central Oregon.

Regenerative Tourism Invites Travelers to Get Their Hands Dirty

Vacations that allow tourists to participate in conservation activities, such as habitat restoration, are growing in popularity

Las Salinas in Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge

These Salt Flats in Puerto Rico Are Cotton-Candy Pink

The distinct color of Las Salinas comes from a combination of algae, bacteria, salt and water

Asian elephants

Scientists Are Using YouTube to Understand How Elephants Mourn Their Dead

The research is part of a growing trend of using crowdsourced videos to learn about elusive or hard-to-study animals

Up to 50 percent of the world's tarantula species are involved in wildlife trade, including 25 percent of species described since 2000.

The Black Market Is Crawling With Spiders, New Study Finds

More than 1,200 species of spiders, scorpions and other arachnids are involved in the wildlife trade

A female saltmarsh sparrow in a New Hampshire wetland is held by University of New Hampshire graduatet student Talia Kuras. The circular device reads the transponder-containing indentification tag on the bird's leg. 

Saving the Imperiled Saltmarsh Sparrow

Conservationists are racing to rescue a delightful coastal animal from rising seas

Genetically, each species were different, but the team also found differences in the skull shapes, the levels of bone formation in the skeleton, and the number of warts on the hands and feet. (Pictured: C. cueyatl)

Six New Miniature Frog Species Discovered in Mexico

The amphibians are found under leaf litter and hatch fully grown

Since 2017 when the Smithsonian Institution launched its first Earth Optimism Summit, marine biologist Nancy Knowlton notes that positive change is happening. “The price of renewable energy is cheaper than ever, electric vehicles are finally on the verge of taking off, and the world seems ready to protect 30 percent of its lands and water,” she says.

A New Surge of Earth Optimism Takes Center Stage at This Year's Folklife Festival

The challenges are many, but evidence shows that positivity emboldens global conservation efforts

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