Conservation

Ensuring a bountiful harvest will require some ingenuity.

How Will We Feed 9 Billion People on Earth of the Future?

This week's Generation Anthropocene reveals how seeds on ice and poisonous tubers may offer hope for food security

The Oldest Bald Eagle in the U.S. Was Killed by a Car Last Month

Here’s to you, 629-03142

Smithsonian Takes a Giant Step with Its First Kickstarter Campaign to Fund the Conservation of Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit

On the 46th anniversary of the historic moonwalk, the spacesuit that made it possible is headed to the conservation lab

A young black-footed ferret learns to hunt prairie dogs at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center

How Feeding Prairie Dogs Peanut Butter Could Help Save Ferrets from the Plague

The recovery of black-footed ferrets is threatened by plague

Conservationists Want You to Stop Building Rock Piles

Cairns have a long history and purpose, one that newer stacks sometimes subvert

A bontebok

Ever Heard of the Bontebok? It’s an African Animal Humans Nearly Destroyed, Then Saved

Part of this conservation success story relies on the bontebok’s inability to jump

Does she look like she would enjoy being jabbed with a needle? Conservationists have used assassin bugs to test the blood female Iberian lynx, like the mother picture above with her cubs, for pregnancy.

How Do You Give an Iberian Lynx a Pregnancy Test? Use an Assassin Bug

Researchers used the insects to keep tabs on population growth in the threatened species

Tissue samples in test tubes, like the one D.C. high school student Asia Hill is holding above, are wrapped tin foil and dropped into the team's portable liquid nitrogen tank.

These Scientists Hope to Have Half the World's Plant Families on Ice By the End of Summer

Teaming up with botanical gardens, researchers at the Natural History Museum are digging deep into garden plant genomics

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Bumblebees Are Getting Squeezed by Climate Change

Across North America and Europe, the insects are just not keeping up with shifting temperatures

Researchers Are Using Facial Recognition Software To Save Lions

Software algorithms offer a non-invasive way to track the big cats

The Yampa River in Dinosaur National Monument

Twenty of the West's Leading Water Managers Raft Colorado's Yampa River

In a historic drought, a group of decision makers take to the water to discuss the future of rivers

The Thomas Jefferson original granite base and obelisk is now complete with a Smithsonian-made reproduction of the marble plaque and on view at the University of Missouri.

Bringing Thomas Jefferson's Battered Tombstone Back to Life

The founding father's fragile grave marker has survived for centuries, enduring souveniring, a fire and errant repairs

Water, water, everywhere …

Here's How U.S. Groundwater Travels the Globe Via Food

Major aquifers are being drained for agricultural use, which means the water moves around in some surprising ways

As the price of their wool rises, vicuñas, like the one picture here near the ALMA telescope in Chile, faces threats from poaching gangs.

Poachers Are Killing Andean Camels for Their Wool

To meet a growing demand for vicuña wool in Europe and Asia, gangs are massacring herds of the animals in South America

To discourage the harmful trade that is having a catastrophic effect on elephant populations, nearly one ton of illegal ivory was crushed Friday, June 19, 2015, in Times Square.

Where Do Important Ivory Artifacts Fit in the Race to Save Elephants from Poaching?

The fight against poaching and trafficking came to a head in Times Square last week with the destruction of a one-ton cache of illegal ivory

A customs officer in Thailand examines specimens from a three ton ivory seizure, estimated to be worth $6 million.

DNA and Databases Help Untangle the Web of the Illegal Wildlife Trade

Two new data-driven approaches help identify key hotspots for poaching and trafficking

A village nestled inside the Brazilian Amazon.

Protecting Land in Brazil Reduces Malaria and Other Diseases

Areas under strict protection see the most benefit in shielding people from illness and infection

The Grevy's zebra (left) and the plains zebra may be tough to tell apart—until you examine their dietary preferences via their poop.

Big African Animals Are Pickier Eaters Than We Imagined

To the surprise of ecologists, plant-eaters manage to coexist on the savanna by each choosing different favorite foods

Texas longhorn cattle.

How "Meat Banks" Are Helping Farmers Preserve Precious Livestock

Frozen sperm and tissue are being stored to protect commercial animals and help save rare heritage breeds

What Makes the "Lion Whisperer" Roar?

He's famous for getting dangerously close to his fearsome charges, but what can Kevin Richardson teach us about ethical conservation—and ourselves?

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