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Conservation

A harbor porpoise surfaces near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Marine Biologists Solved a Wildlife Mystery From the Walkway of the Golden Gate Bridge: How the Harbor Porpoise Mates

The dolphin-like marine mammals returned to San Francisco Bay in 2008 after a decades-long absence from the area. Scientists took the rare opportunity to closely observe their behavior, and what they uncovered might help at-risk porpoise populations

A koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, with her babies at Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, 2011

This Amazing Archive of Animal Photography Reveals 18,000 Species and Counting. Here’s How Joel Sartore Built His ‘Photo Ark’

For 20 years, the National Geographic photographer has showcased Earth’s animals in a series of striking images that make even the tiniest creatures look immense

A surfer rides a wave during a competition in the Ngor district of Dakar, Senegal, the most westerly point of mainland Africa.

Big Waves Meet Biodiversity: Why Surfing Paradises Could Offer a Key Opportunity for Marine Conservation

A recent mapping study examines places in northwestern Africa where coastal ecosystems overlap with surf breaks, highlighting areas that could support recreation, the environment and local economies, if protected

Nine Lives eluded capture for three years.

Notorious Feral Cat That Feasted on Rare New Zealand Ducks Captured After Three-Year Hunt

The gray tabby, known as Nine Lives because it eluded capture so many times, had devastated efforts by conservationists to reintroduce the birds to the wild

The dominant female wolf of Yellowstone's Canyon pack on February 26, 2015

Rooted in the American West: Food, History and Culture

Yellowstone Is Among the World’s Best Places to See Wild Wolves. Here’s the Story of the Animal Called Both ‘Public Enemy’ and Cultural Icon

A century ago, resident wolves were eliminated from the park. In 1995, biologists brought them back, marking a historic reintroduction of a top carnivore

The Watts Towers, a 17-structure architectural landmark, were built between 1921 and 1954. 

The Iconic Watts Towers in Los Angeles Will Get a $22 Million Campus Expansion Ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics

Five acres of green space will surround the 17-structure landmark, a folk art masterpiece that an Italian immigrant built over the course of three decades

A male elk in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada

Heading to a National Park? Watch Out for Elk. They Attack People Way More Often Than Bears Do, According to a New Study

While many people worry about grizzlies, an analysis of almost 3,000 encounters with aggressive wildlife in Canadian national parks and historical sites found that the huge ungulates were responsible for more than half of them

Experts attached a satellite transmitter to Pancake's shell, which will track its location for up to 90 days.

Good News

An Endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Named Pancake Makes a Triumphant Return to the Ocean After Months of Rehabilitation

The cold-stunned turtle was rescued last fall on Cape Cod and has since made a full recovery. The reptile, whose sex remains unknown, is estimated to be between 2 and 5 years old and weighed 11 pounds at the time of release

In the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, a juvenile Bengal tiger steps from the shadows of mangroves into a tidal creek. This photo was highly commended in the mammals category.

Mangroves Are Key to Coastal Ecosystems. See 20 Breathtaking Photos That Reveal How the Trees Support Wildlife and Face Threats

The Mangrove Photography Awards honor images that show off the beauty—and the fragility—of these valuable intertidal forests

When they hatch, echidna puggles are about the size of a jellybean and weigh half as much as a mini marshmallow.

Good News

Double Puggles: See the Adorable ‘Twin’ Echidnas Born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

The two babies hatched this year to one mother during the same breeding season—an extremely rare occurrence, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Gray whales, like this one that washed up dead in Los Angeles in April 2025, are grappling with malnutrition and ship strikes.

Nearly 150 Gray Whales Have Been Found Dead Along North America’s Pacific Shore This Year, Prompting Scientists to Sound the Alarm

The population of eastern gray whales, which migrate annually along the West Coast between the Arctic and Mexico, has been declining in recent years. Conservationists say 2026 could be one of the deadliest years on record for the marine mammals

Researchers came up with the new count by studying insect biodiversity in a conservation area in Costa Rica.

Earth Might Be Home to 20 Million Insect Species—More Than Three Times as Many as Previously Thought, a Study Suggests

Recent estimates have come to the consensus that our planet hosts roughly six million species. But new research reveals that those counts may be drastically underestimated

Bartlett Frost's Declaration of Independence diorama, copy after John Trumbull

America's 250th Anniversary

To Recreate One of the American Revolution’s Most Famous Paintings, This Artist Painstakingly Crafted Miniature Wax Figures of the Nation’s Founders

Bartlett M. Frost’s diorama is modeled after John Trumbull’s depiction of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence. Newly conserved, the work is now on view at the National Portrait Gallery

A North Atlantic right whale swims with dolphins around its head in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary east of Boston.

Speed Limits for Ships Protect Endangered Right Whales From Vessel Strikes. Could the Animals Survive Without Them?

Since 2008, rules requiring ships to slow down to avoid collisions with North Atlantic right whales have reduced fatalities of the critically endangered animals. Now, NOAA is calling the regulations into question, raising concerns for the mammals’ future

How an ebonyshell mussel becomes a button

How One German Button Maker Searched the Rivers of the American Midwest for the Shells That Could Make Him a Fortune

John Boepple settled in Muscatine, Iowa, where he produced pearl buttons made from freshwater mussel shells. His innovations brought economic prosperity to the town—and disaster to the local mussel populations

A young male bongo photographed in Maasai Mau, Kenya

Trail Camera Photos Capture Rare Antelopes in a Kenya Forest Where Conservationists Once Feared They Had Vanished

Fewer than 100 mountain bongos are thought to live in the wild, and the new discovery reveals a crucial habitat for the critically endangered creatures

The blue-fronted lorikeet was first described based on seven specimens collected in the 1920s.

Cool Finds

This Colorful Parrot Had Been Seen Only Once Over the Past Century. Birders Just Rediscovered It in an Unexplored Indonesian Forest

First described in the 1920s from seven specimens, the blue-fronted lorikeet hadn’t been spotted since 2014. Bird-watchers on a recent trek snapped photos of the rare bird and captured the first known audio recordings of its calls

After being declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s, Przewalski's horses are slowly making a comeback.

‘Playful Youngster’: See the Rare, Endangered Przewalski’s Horse Born at the Bronx Zoo

The foal was born on April 21 and is now romping around with the rest of the herd in the zoo’s seasonal Wild Asia Monorail exhibit. It belongs to a species whose members are often considered the last truly wild horses

A sihek, or Guam kingfisher, chick born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Four Rare Guam Kingfisher Chicks Hatch at Virginia Facility, Making an ‘Incredibly Valuable’ Addition to the Small Population of Extinct-in-the-Wild Birds

The species, also known as the sihek, was wiped out from its native Guam and kept alive in captivity. Conservationists released some birds on Palmyra Atoll in 2024, and they have been thriving so far

The Cerne Abbas Giant lies on a hillside.

England’s Most Famous Naked Giant Will Glow White Again, Thanks to Help From Hundreds of People Performing a Ritual of Restoration

The Cerne Abbas Giant, a 180-foot-tall geoglyph in southern England, is getting a new layer of chalk

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