Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Conservation

Guam kingfishers tend to incubate for 21 to 23 days. This female emerged from her shell after 22.

This Royally Adorable Baby Kingfisher Perpetuates a Species Extinct in the Wild

A fine soon-to-be-feathered friend joins the menagerie at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

A whale is captured by the Yushin Maru, a Japanese harpoon vessel.

Japan Killed 112 Pregnant Whales in the Name of Scientific Research

The country claims the catch is to obtain a range of data on the creatures

Trending Today

DNA Survey of Life in Loch Ness Will Hunt for Its Monster Resident

The goal is to catalog the lake’s diversity of life—including any oversized, prehistoric reptiles

Large-antlered muntjac

Rare Sighting of Small, Critically Endangered Deer Reported in Vietnam

The camera trap images of two large-antlered muntjacs offer a glimmer of hope for the species

First Yellowstone Grizzly Hunt in 40 Years Will Take Place This Fall

In a controversial move, Wyoming will allow a limited take of the once-endangered species

The inscription unveiled when the tape was removed

Future of Art

Tape-Removing Gel May Be a Game Changer for Art Restoration

The newly developed hydrogel helps dissolve tape adhesive, one of the stickiest challenges for art conservation and restoration experts

Najin, one of only two female northern white rhinos left in the world, walks in the pen where she is kept for observation.

Can the Northern White Rhino Be Brought Back From the Brink of Extinction?

One beloved African breed is extinct in the wild, but scientists still hope to rescue it from oblivion

“Game abundant, especially rhinoceros,” explorer Henry Morton Stanley noted in the 1870s. Today is different. This blindfolded calf awaits transport.

The Dangerous Work of Relocating 5,000-Pound Rhinos

The race is on to save the species: Ride along with an armed convoy deep into the Okavango Delta

New Research

Hundreds of Blue Whales Are Permanent Residents Off New Zealand’s Coasts

Survey and genetic data show the whales of South Taranaki Bight are a unique population of non-migratory blue whales

Elephants walk across the road in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania.

One-Third of the World’s Protected Areas Are Threatened by ‘Intense’ Human Pressure

And that spells trouble for global biodiversity

Canada Is Now Home to the World’s Largest Stretch of Protected Boreal Forests

The province of Alberta has announced the creation of four new protected parks

A very happy World Bee Day to you. Let's talk pollinators.

How to Protect Your Local Pollinators in Ten Easy Ways

As the first annual World Bee Day looms, insect and garden lovers are abuzz with excitement

Sacred Sites Can Also Be Hotspots of Conservation

Protecting burial grounds, temples and churchyards can bolster wildlife and forests

The woman behind the gun

Keeping Feathers Off Hats–and On Birds

A new exhibit examines the fashion that led to the passage, 100 years ago, of the Migratory Bird Act Treaty

Russell and his partner Maureen Enns befriended wild bears, spending months each year living among them—romping, swimming, and fishing.

Charlie Russell, a Naturalist Who Lived Among Bears, Has Died at 76

He hoped to show that bears are not inherently aggressive animals

Can Bringing Back Mammoths Help Stop Climate Change?

Scientists say creating hybrids of the extinct beasts could fix the Arctic tundra and stop greenhouse gas emissions

Guzmán and his team were only able to pinpoint the whale shark's whereabouts when it rose to the surface to feed.

What the Longest Known Whale Shark Migration Ever Tells Us About Conservation

Researchers in Panama tracked a specimen via satellite over an unprecedented 12,516 miles

Scientists Have a New Way of Knowing How Many Sharks Are in the Sea

The predators are elusive, but marine ecologists are finding more of them by analyzing the “environmental DNA” in ocean water samples

Most White Sands moths are white to blend in with their environment, but a select few black species have evolved as well.

Dissecting Moth Genitals In the Name of Science

How “moth evangelist” Eric Metzler uncovered hundreds of moth species in the barren dunes of New Mexico

The striking Banggai cardinalfish is a popular collector's fish. It's also an endangered species in the wild.

Why You Can Walk Into a Store and Buy a Nearly Extinct Animal

By commercializing species, humans wield a far bigger influence than they think over the fate of wild plants and animals

Page 48 of 73