Endangered Species

A critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle nesting.

Planet Positive

Critically Endangered Sea Turtle Lays Eggs on Texas Beach

Conservationists were thrilled that the Kemp’s Ridley had nested in a new location, increasing its long odds for survival

Waves at Pōhue Bay

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Is Expanding by 16,000 Acres

The National Park Service is taking over stewardship of Pōhue Bay, an area full of cultural sites and endangered animals

The Rio Grande in central New Mexico

Rio Grande Runs Dry in Albuquerque

The river is an important water source for central New Mexico, and it's also home to the endangered silvery minnow

A California condor flies through Marble Gorge, east of Grand Canyon National Park in 2007

Good News

Four Critically Endangered Condors Released in Northern California

The Yurok Tribe has released one juvenile female and three males, the first birds to live in the region in more than 100 years

Monarch populations are declining.

Migratory Monarch Butterflies Are Listed as an Endangered Species

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the iconic North American butterfly is getting closer to extinction

Cheetahs are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with approximately 6,517 mature individuals left worldwide. 

Cheetahs Will Soon Be Reintroduced to India

The felines were declared extinct in the country in 1952

The Cascade red fox (which isn't always red) does not hibernate. Along with pocket gophers, voles, birds and snowshoe hares, it eats fruits and insects. 

Planet Positive

Where Fox News Is Hard to Come By

A mountain range in the Pacific Northwest is a last bastion for a unique canine

The eggs laid at at Galveston Island State Park were transported to an incubation facility, which will improve their chance of survival.

Good News

107 Critically Endangered Sea Turtle Eggs Found in Texas State Park

This is the first time in ten years that a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle has nested at the park

A Mexican wolf pup less than 14 days old is given a health check before being placed into a wild den in New Mexico.

Eleven Mexican Gray Wolf Pups Released Into the Wild

The pups were part of a cross-fostering program to boost genetic diversity in the endangered subspecies

Over the past decade, vaquita numbers plummeted from 576 to just ten individuals because of a rise in the illegal totoaba trade.

The Population of Vaquita Porpoises Has Dwindled to Ten, but a Rebound Isn't Out of the Question

If protected from illegal fishing, scientists say the critically endangered species has enough genetic diversity to recover

Spotted tree frogs are critically endangered in New South Wales.

Critically Endangered Spotted Tree Frogs Released Into the Wild in Australia

Bushfires, fungal disease, predation and other threats have pushed these amphibians to the brink of extinction

The Dixie Valley toad lives only in a remote Nevada valley. 

Nevada Toad Receives Rare Emergency Protection

The construction of a geothermal power plant could create problems for the amphibian

Officials found thousands of taxidermy animals in a warehouse outside of Valencia, including specimens of cheetah, leopard, lion, lynx, polar bear, snow leopard and white rhinoceros.

Police Find 1,090 Taxidermy Animals in a Private Collection in Spain

The animals include about 400 protected species

Cycads growing in Litchfield National Park in Australia.

Many of These Plants Older Than Dinosaurs Face Extinction

Cycads have changed a great deal since they first appeared around 280 million years ago, and habitat loss and illegal trade are now threats

An artists's take on the insect

The Quest to Find the World's Largest Bee

The rediscovery of Wallace’s giant bee uncovers disheartening truths about the tenuous fate of hidden insect species

Bald eagles are intensely social in spite of also being fierce predators. Some 500 live near the remote fishing port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Planet Positive

The Bald Eagle's Soaring Return Shows That the U.S. Can Change for the Better

The true meaning of a national symbol

Male Svalbard walruses cluster by the shore. Each weighs an average of about 3,000 pounds and is up to ten feet long.

Planet Positive

A Welcome Comeback for Norway's Walruses

A hunting ban has fostered the return of a nearly extinct species

A female Bornean orangutan carrying her son in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia.

Orangutan's Vocabularies Are Shaped by Socializing With Others, Just Like Humans

A new study reveals apes have distinct and flexible 'vocal personalities,' opposed to a fixed repertoire of calls

Africa was home to an estimated 5 million elephants a century ago, but today there are just 415,000 individuals left.

Elephant Tusk DNA Exposes Illegal Poaching Networks

The new study suggests a shift in major smuggling routes

Threats like hunting, habitat loss and the pesticide DDT contributed to the bald eagle's decline.

After 35 Years of Recovery Efforts, Bald Eagles Are No Longer Considered Endangered in Vermont

The state first listed the raptors as endangered in 1987

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