Endangered Species

For the first time in 16 years, a pair of golden-headed lion tamarins were born on the morning of October 7, 2021. New mom Lola carries the new infants on her back and cradles them close to her body. 

Zoo's Historic Newborn Tamarin Twins Cling to Mom, Doing What Healthy Babies Do

Keepers worked with breeding parents Lola and Coco, who soon “become very interested in each other”

Single penguins will snag mates, and couples, both new and established, will start breeding around January or February.

The South African Town Where Penguins Rule

A colony of 1,000 breeding pairs of African penguins nests on the beaches and in the gardens of Simon's Town

Viewers can watch mom Rosalie care for her five newborn cheetah cubs on a live streaming webcam.

Five Cheetah Cubs Born at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Viewers can watch mother cheetah caring for her newborn babies on a live-streaming webcam

Some conservationists have held out hope for species like the ivory-billed woodpecker, which was last spotted in 1944.

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and 22 Other Species Declared Extinct

Many organisms included in the latest declaration were feared to be lost long before the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was first passed

The snail darter, a small fish that stopped construction of a federal dam project, is no longer threatened with extinction and can come off the Endangered Species List, wildlife officials say.

This Tiny, Endangered Fish Stopped Construction of a Federal Dam in 1975. Now, the Species Has Finally Recovered

The snail darter is no longer in threat of extinction and can be removed from the Endangered Species List

Emperor penguins are the world's largest penguin, standing almost four feet tall and weighing around 88 pounds. They live almost exclusively in Antarctica and need sea ice to survive.

Climate Change Poised to Push Emperor Penguins to the Brink of Extinction

Study estimates 98 percent of colonies will be quasi-extinct by 2100 unless the world drastically reduces its greenhouse gas emissions

The butterflies have experienced major losses in populations on both the East and West coasts.

Climate Change Is Decimating Monarch Populations, Research Shows

Western monarchs have lost 99.9 percent of their numbers since the 1980s

Little is known about the zombie frog and its cousins. They are rather plump with narrow mouths and pointed noses. The small, nocturnal amphibians of the genus Synapturanus live mostly underground.

How the Newly Discovered, Mud-Loving 'Zombie' Frog Got Its Name

German team discovers new amphibian species and two others deep in Amazon rainforest

Genetic tests reveal that the Shark Bay mouse (pictured) from Shark Bay, Western Australia, is actually a living population of Gould's mouse, which had been thought to be extinct for more than a century.

Australian Mouse Presumed Extinct for More Than a Century Found Alive on Island

The living Shark Bay mouse turned out to be genetically identical to the formerly extinct Gould’s mouse

A Chinese mountain cat photographed in a field of grass.

Elusive Chinese Mountain Cats Aren't Domestic Cats' Ancestors

Past genetic studies on feline domestication hadn't included this wildcat native to the Tibetan Plateau

A Florida manatee swimming near the surface.

Florida's Manatees Are Dying at an Alarming Rate

Experts say starvation appears to be the main cause of death. Polluted waters are likely smothering the manatees’ favorite food: seagrass

Tinier whales threaten the species’ survival because smaller whales do not have as many offspring. Nursing mothers who entangle themselves in nets also produce smaller calves.

Humans, We've Shrunk the Whales

North Atlantic right whales born today are three feet shorter on average than whales born in 1980—and commercial fishing could be to blame

A Libo leopard gecko (Goniurosaurus liboensis). After this species of cave gecko was first described in 2013, it quickly appeared online for sale.

Reptile Traffickers Often Target Newly Described Species

Traders trawl recently published scientific papers to get the names and locations of animals to sell to collectors

A wild giant otter photographed in the Bermejo River in Argentina's El Impenetrable National Park. This is the first time the species has been seen in Argentina in more than 30 years.

Giant River Otter Spotted in Argentina for First Time in Decades

The first wild sighting of the species in Argentina since the 1980s, this surprise offers hope to conservationists looking to bring the otters back

Individuals located in the Comoros Islands may have descended from the coelacanth population in Madagascar.

Madagascar May Be Stronghold for Ancient Fish With 420-Million-Year History

Fishermen from the island nation caught a number of rare coelacanths off the coast using gillnets

The California condor was included on the first list of endangered species published by the federal government.

After Last Year's Deadly Fires, the California Condor Soars Once Again

A colossus of the sky, the bird of prey was nearly gone when biologists rescued it from extinction. Then came a terrible new challenge

A California condor photographed in Tehachapi, California where this past week a group of the endangered raptors descended on a woman's back porch.

Group of Critically Endangered California Condors Trash Woman's Deck

The group included 15 to 20 of the massive birds, which amounts to nearly 10 percent of the remaining wild population

Researchers propose storing genetic material from each of Earth's 6.7 million species of known organisms to safeguard life on our planet from annihilation.

Sending DNA From Earth's 6.7 Million Species to the Moon to Safeguard Life

Researchers propose constructing a 'lunar ark' to provide our planet with a 'reset button' in the event of a world-ending catastrophe

A young male in Lassen County, California, wears a collar that transmits his location. He was in a litter of four pups born in the area in 2019.

The Wolf That Discovered California

Nearly a century after the last wolf was eradicated in the state, a lone female arrived and established a pack. Not everyone is cheering

The Oyapock river, between Brazil and French Guiana, is one of the few waterways that a new paper identifies as being relatively undamaged by humans.

One-Third of Freshwater Fish Species Are at Risk of Extinction

Humans have severely damaged more than half of the world’s rivers

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