Conservation

A blue shark

Scientists Search for the Most Dangerous Places to Be a Shark

In a bid to stop the populations from dwindling, scientists are turning to big data

Conservationists Give New Life to 350-Year-Old Map of Australia

Created in 1663, the map reflects early knowledge of a mysterious continent

Floating sea pen designed to hold captured vaquitas

Critically Endangered Vaquita Porpoise Dies After Capture in Latest Rescue Effort

Conservationists are attemping a risky last-ditch plan to move the remaining creatures to a sanctuary in the Gulf of California

Thirty-Three Migratory Species Get New Protections

Among the newly protected creatures are lions, chimpanzees, giraffes and whale sharks

“And bats with baby faces in the violet light / Whistled, and beat their wings”—T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

How a Deadly Flesh-Eating Fungus Helped Make Bats Cute Again

A silver lining to the worldwide epidemic of white nose syndrome: People like bats more now

Surprising Footage Captures Arctic Jellyfish Lurking Under the Ice

The creatures were previously thought not tough enough to survive the harsh winters

Lugworm "casts" on a beach.

Scientists Need Your Help Peeping on the Lugworm’s Weird Mating Habits

UK scientists are recruiting volunteers to look for the critters’ “sperm pools”

In the 20th century, humans exterminated the gray wolf population of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, the largest island on the west coast of North America. The animals repopulated the island by the end of the century, and now live side by side with people.

No One’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf—And That’s a Problem

On Vancouver Island, habituation to humans has made wolves aggressive, fearless and more prone to clashes with people

7,500 frogs captured by smugglers were rescued from their trips to plates

Thousands of Turkish Frogs Rescued From Smugglers

A delicacy often exported to European countries, frogs are a tightly regulated commodity in the country

A juvenile Western chimpanzee in the Bossou Forest of Mont Nimba, Guinea.

Western Chimpanzees Have Declined By 80 Percent Over The Past 25 Years

The largest population of these animals—the only critically endangered chimp subspecies—sits in a region riddled with bauxite mines

Over Three Quarters of Flying Insects Disappear From German Nature Preserves

A combination of habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change may be behind the dramatic three-decade decline

All But Two Adélie Penguin Chicks Die in "Catastrophic" Breeding Season

A WWF official described it as "Tarantino does Happy Feet"

"Syria, Souk of Aleppo"

In the Souk of Aleppo, with a Mamluk portal leading to a courtyard to the right, 2008

25 Images Capture at-Risk Heritage Sites of the Latest World Monuments Watch

The World Monuments Fund shines a light on landmarks in over 30 countries and territories that are in desperate need of conservation

Watch First Video of Sand Cat Kittens Romping in the Wild

The elusive kittens were documented sitting under a bush in the Moroccan Sahara last April

An African Elephant in Tanzania

The UK May Implement a Near-Total Ban on Its Ivory Trade

Though the ivory trade was banned internationally in 1990, the UK permits the sale of items crafted before 1947

Today's Galapagos tortoises mostly feature dome-shaped shells, like the one shown here. But researchers have found some that have the saddleback-shaped shells and longer necks that once characterized extinct Floreana and Pinta tortoises.

The Island Where Scientists Bring Extinct Reptiles Back to Life (Nope, Not That One)

Reviving a long-dead Galapagos tortoise will take Jurassic Park-esque tactics—but have humans already intervened too much?

The brown rat is among the few hundred animal genomes that have been sequenced. Only 8.7 billion more to go...

How Scientists Decide Which Animal Genomes to Sequence

There are an estimated 8.7 million species on Earth–it's unlikely scientists will ever sequence them all

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Diver Explores Beautiful Blue Hole Hidden in Plain Sight

After spotting the feature while perusing Google maps, a marine biologist set out to experience and capture it in all its cerulean glory

Panda Habitat Is Severely Fragmented, Placing Pandas at Risk

Despite recent habitat improvements, roads and development are isolating panda populations

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Wolf Pups Spotted Near Rome for the First Time in Decades

The animals were once hunted to the brink of extinction, but are now recovering

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