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Conservation

Sea otters use their agile, grippy forepaws to capture and pull apart prey. Raising their paws and back flippers out of the water also helps them stay warm.

Sea Otters May Be Small Marine Mammals, But Their Effect on an Ecosystem Can Be Huge

Their fur is so soft it almost led to their extinction, but otters’ recovery has been a boon to Pacific kelp forests, a key habitat for other sealife

Green sea turtles are rebounding, thanks to global conservation efforts.

After Decades of Decline, Some Good News Is Here for Green Sea Turtles

The International Union for Conservation of Nature no longer considers the marine creatures endangered and has instead reclassified them as a species of least concern

A close-up of a gum leaf skeletonizer caterpillar, also known as a "Mad Hatterpillar" because of its distinctive stacked head capsules, left behind with every molt. The photo won the invertebrate behavior category.

See 15 Wondrous Winning Images From the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

The eye-catching wildlife photos highlight both the beauty and the harsh realities of nature

Pine martens are shy, solitary creatures, but they play an important role in woodland habitats.

Watch These Shy, Adorable, Nocturnal Creatures Explore Their New Home After Being Reintroduced in Southwest England

Wildlife biologists recently released 19 pine martens into Exmoor National Park, where they’ve been locally extinct for more than a century

The epigenetic clock is emerging as a wildlife conservation tool.

This ‘Clock’ Could Warn of Hidden Stresses to Animals, Offering a Long-Sought Signal That a Population Is Nearing Collapse

The epigenetic clock measures biological age and could help scientists assess the health of polar bears, dolphins, baboons and other threatened creatures “while recovery is still possible”

Generations of bearded vultures return to the same nesting sites for centuries, offering archaeologists a glimpse into the past.

Generations of Bearded Vultures Stashed Humans’ Treasures, Including a 650-Year-Old Sandal, in These Bird Nests

Researchers recovered more than 200 human artifacts from historical nests in southern Spain

Large whales can get wrapped up in fishing lines, buoys, nets and other gear, which can lead to injuries and death.

U.S. Whale Entanglements Are on the Rise, New Data Shows

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed 95 large whale entanglement cases last year, a 48 percent increase from 2023

Bear 32, nicknamed Chunk, was crowned the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion.

After Two Years as Runner-Up, Chunk Is Finally Crowned Winner of Fat Bear Week

The brown bear heavyweight persevered through a jaw injury this year that will permanently hinder his ability to fight and hunt

Jane Goodall visiting a chimpanzee rescue center in 2018 in Entebbe, Uganda

Jane Goodall, Legendary Primatologist and Anthropologist, Dies at 91

She was considered the world’s leading expert on chimpanzees and was renowned for her global conservation efforts

The researchers captured "microlightning" as they bubbled methane and air through water.

What Actually Sparks Will-o’-the-Wisps? A New Study Traces the Science Behind the Mysterious, Wandering Lights

The ghostly phenomenon could be the product of a chemical reaction involving methane, researchers suggest

An 1844 illustration of mink

The Life, Loss and Lore of the Sea Mink

It might be among the first mammals to go extinct in North America after colonization. But can scientists prove it was even a distinct species?

Amazon data centers sit next to houses in Loudoun County.

A.I. Is on the Rise, and So Is the Environmental Impact of the Data Centers That Drive It

The demand for data centers is growing faster than our ability to mitigate their skyrocketing economic and environmental costs

This event marks the first time the leopard shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) has been documented mating in the wild.

Rare Trio of Leopard Sharks Spotted Mating in the Wild for the First Time, and a Snorkeling Scientist Captured a Video

Conservationists say the unexpected observation could inform efforts to protect or reintroduce leopard sharks, an endangered species

A historian inspects oysters from a reef on the Nansemond River, in Virginia.

Can Scientists Help Oysters Thrive Again?

Dredging and pollution devastated the once-bountiful reefs. Careful science may help bring them back

A jaguar, not the one documented in the new study, swims in the Pantanal in Brazil.

A Jaguar in Brazil Makes the Longest Recorded Swim by the Species, Traversing at Least 0.79 Miles Through Water

The new record could help conservationists strategize ways to consider feline movements during construction of hydroelectric dams

Inmate Willie H. feeds juvenile robins that are being rehabilitated in prison.

In Prisons Across Ohio, These Inmates Are Finding Meaning by Saving Orphaned and Injured Animals

The Ohio Wildlife Center’s hospital sends critters to five facilities for care before eventual release

The hats collected in 2025 are worth nearly $6,000.

More Than 300 Hats Have Been Pulled From Yellowstone’s Geothermal Features So Far This Year

Debris, garbage and clothing often ends up in the park’s hot springs, geysers, fumaroles and mudpots

The domestication of some species of bumblebee has had unintended consequences.

A Deep Look Into the Wild and Not-So-Wild World of Bumblebees

Over the past several decades the lives of the domesticated and native pollinators have increasingly overlapped

Ecological scent detection dog Circe searches for Canelo Hills ladies’ tresses in the tall vegetation

This Rare, Endangered Orchid Only Exists in Two Locations. Can Dogs, Cows and Fungi Help It Thrive?

A Smithsonian ecologist is trying to restore the plant, Spiranthes delitescens, which grows on Arizona’s sky islands

The researchers studied the genomes of thousands of ant specimens stored in museum collections.

Fiji’s Ants Are Struggling. Scientists Say They’re Part of the Broader ‘Insect Apocalypse’

New research finds that 79 percent of Fiji’s endemic ant species—those that are native to and only found on the archipelago—are in decline

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