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Conservation

A dehorned rhino walks alongside a calf. 

Dehorning Rhinos Curbs Poaching, New Study Finds

Researchers in South Africa find that cutting the animals’ horns reduces poaching by almost 80 percent

Many of the coins are from the United Kingom, but some are from as far away as the United States and Asia.

Tourists Are Stuffing Coins Into the Cracks of the Giant’s Causeway, Damaging the Iconic Site in Northern Ireland

Authorities are urging visitors to stop wedging pocket change between the basalt columns, which are cracking and crumbling as the coins expand

Conservation work at Gran Pajatén

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover More Than 100 Structures Linked to a Mysterious Pre-Columbian Civilization in the Remote Peruvian Andes

Based in high-altitude urban centers, the Chachapoya resisted conquest by the Inca Empire for centuries

Before her rescue in 2010, the Asiatic black bear Suki had been kept in a shipping container with 18 other bears. Now, she’s known at her new sanctuary home as a bear who loves to climb up high and survey the open space.

These Asian Bears Were Cut Open for Their Bile. Here’s What’s Being Done to Rehabilitate Them

Veterinarians in Vietnam perform surgeries, prepare special diets and craft recovery routines for moon bears to give them a better life

A little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) is seen with white fuzz on its nose, a characteristic of the deadly white-nose syndrome.

A Fungal Disease Ravaged North American Bats. Now, Researchers Found a Second Species That Suggests It Could Happen Again

White-nose syndrome caused millions of bat deaths, and scientists are sounding the alarm that a second fungus could be disastrous if it reaches American wildlife

A grizzly bear walks along a road in Lake Louise, Alberta. 

To Reduce Human and Grizzly Bear Conflicts, Both Species Must Change Their Behavior

Rural Alaskan and Canadian communities are trying to get along with the large mammals

A mother and baby whale spotted swimming near Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. 

Humpback Whales Give Birth Much Farther South Than Previously Thought, Study Finds

Researchers in Australia found records of humpback whale calves more than 900 miles farther south than expected

A seal catches a salmon off the coast of Washington State. Scientists are working to determine how much salmon the seals eat.

Salmon in the Pacific Northwest Are Facing a New Threat: Booming Populations of Seals and Sea Lions

The mammals’ return to the region represented a conservation success story, but their appetite for endangered fish is upsetting the balance of a delicate ecosystem

The Blomberg’s tree boa was recently documented in southwestern Colombia for the first time, even as it loses habitat in the nearby rainforests of Ecuador.

This Elusive Snake’s Habitat Is Under Threat in Ecuador. Here’s How Conservationists Are Fighting Back

How do you protect an endangered serpent with a special talent for hiding in plain sight?

Grizzly 399 (left) reigned as the "Queen of the Tetons" until her death in October 2024.

Male Offspring of Grizzly 399—the ‘World’s Most Famous Bear’—Killed by Vehicle in Grand Teton National Park

The 5-year-old boar known as Grizzly 1058 was part of a rare litter of four cubs born in 2020

Sea cucumbers come in a multitude of colors.

Welcome to the Weird and Wondrous World of Sea Cucumbers

These spiny or slimy ocean creatures display an astonishing diversity of appearances, behaviors and lifestyles—and many are increasingly threatened

Roughly 230 film reels have been found in storage.

Cool Finds

London Zoo Discovers Hundreds of Old Film Reels Featuring ‘Zoo Oddities’ and Animal Celebrities

Zoo officials are looking for experts to help preserve and digitize the decaying film canisters, which date to between the 1960s and 1990s

This June, North Carolina's Jockey's Ridge is celebrating 50 years as a state park.

How an Indomitable Environmental Activist Saved the Outer Banks From Impending Development

Fifty years ago, Carolista Baum passionately fought to create Jockey’s Ridge State Park, an unusually biodiverse ecosystem of dunes, thickets and marshes

A researcher swabs a frog. 

Scientists in Australia Mapped the Genome of an Endangered Frog Species in an Effort to Save It

A deadly fungus threatens the southern corroboree frog, which needs a lot of help to survive

Scientists are working to unravel the best ways to save many types of seeds.

To Safeguard Threatened Plants, Scientists Must Master the Tricky Art of Seed Banking

Researchers are working to unravel the hidden biology of often-persnickety seeds as they age, sleep and awaken

The charismatic salamanders known as axolotls can survive in the wild despite being bred in captivity, according to a new study.

Captive-Bred Axolotls Can Survive in the Wild, Offering Hope for the Critically Endangered Amphibians

The popular salamanders are nearly extinct in the wild, where they are confined to a small system of canals in Mexico City. But a new study suggests released axolotls could thrive in their natural habitat as well as artificial wetlands

Eastern quolls went extinct on mainland Australia in 1963.

See Eastern Quolls Get Released on Mainland Australia in a New Bid to Re-establish the ‘Magic Little Animal’

Conservationists recently introduced 15 of the polka-dotted marsupials into a protected area of New South Wales

European gray wolves in Germany

Why Have European Wolves Recovered So Much in the Past Decade?

The predators have increased by almost 60 percent on the continent

Trevelyan is a former puppet maker, so making the curlew costume was relatively easy for him.

A U.K. Man Just Walked 53 Miles Wearing a Giant, Handmade Bird Costume. Here’s Why He Did It

As he trekked across the English countryside, 46-year-old Matt Trevelyan caused quite a stir with his attention-grabbing outfit

The broken walls of the villa are covered in frescoes, or paintings made on wet plaster.

Cool Finds

Conservators Are Puzzling Together Ancient Roman Murals Found in Hundreds of Pieces

Excavated from a nearly 2,000-year-old villa in Valencia, Spain, the broken-up murals once formed fresco decor

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