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Endangered Species

A Florida manatee swimming near the surface.

Florida’s Manatees Are Dying at an Alarming Rate

Experts say starvation appears to be the main cause of death. Polluted waters are likely smothering the manatees’ favorite food: seagrass

Tinier whales threaten the species’ survival because smaller whales do not have as many offspring. Nursing mothers who entangle themselves in nets also produce smaller calves.

Humans, We’ve Shrunk the Whales

North Atlantic right whales born today are three feet shorter on average than whales born in 1980—and commercial fishing could be to blame

A Libo leopard gecko (Goniurosaurus liboensis). After this species of cave gecko was first described in 2013, it quickly appeared online for sale.

Reptile Traffickers Often Target Newly Described Species

Traders trawl recently published scientific papers to get the names and locations of animals to sell to collectors

A wild giant otter photographed in the Bermejo River in Argentina's El Impenetrable National Park. This is the first time the species has been seen in Argentina in more than 30 years.

Planet Positive

Giant River Otter Spotted in Argentina for First Time in Decades

The first wild sighting of the species in Argentina since the 1980s, this surprise offers hope to conservationists looking to bring the otters back

Individuals located in the Comoros Islands may have descended from the coelacanth population in Madagascar.

Madagascar May Be Stronghold for Ancient Fish With 420-Million-Year History

Fishermen from the island nation caught a number of rare coelacanths off the coast using gillnets

The California condor was included on the first list of endangered species published by the federal government.

Planet Positive

After Last Year’s Deadly Fires, the California Condor Soars Once Again

A colossus of the sky, the bird of prey was nearly gone when biologists rescued it from extinction. Then came a terrible new challenge

A California condor photographed in Tehachapi, California where this past week a group of the endangered raptors descended on a woman's back porch.

Group of Critically Endangered California Condors Trash Woman’s Deck

The group included 15 to 20 of the massive birds, which amounts to nearly 10 percent of the remaining wild population

Researchers propose storing genetic material from each of Earth's 6.7 million species of known organisms to safeguard life on our planet from annihilation.

Sending DNA From Earth’s 6.7 Million Species to the Moon to Safeguard Life

Researchers propose constructing a ‘lunar ark’ to provide our planet with a ‘reset button’ in the event of a world-ending catastrophe

A young male in Lassen County, California, wears a collar that transmits his location. He was in a litter of four pups born in the area in 2019.

Planet Positive

The Wolf That Discovered California

Nearly a century after the last wolf was eradicated in the state, a lone female arrived and established a pack. Not everyone is cheering

The Oyapock river, between Brazil and French Guiana, is one of the few waterways that a new paper identifies as being relatively undamaged by humans.

New Research

One-Third of Freshwater Fish Species Are at Risk of Extinction

Humans have severely damaged more than half of the world’s rivers

NOAA geneticist Patricia Rosel and Smithsonian marine mammal collection manager John Ososky examine the Rice’s whale skeleton at the Smithsonian whale warehouse in Maryland.

How the Rice’s Whale Became a New Species

The intact skeleton of a washed-up whale gave scientists the final pieces of evidence needed to make the designation

Myotis nimbaenis was named for the Nimba Mountains where it was found.

New Research

Newly Discovered Bat Species Has Halloween Colors

The six-ounce bat lives in abandoned mine shafts in Guinea’s Nimba Mountains

Seen here, conservation canine Betty White sniffs the ground while she trains to search for bumble bee nests.

Meet Ernie and Betty White: Two Conservation Dogs Sniffing Out Invasive Species in Wisconsin

These aren’t the only Labradors using their powerful sense of smell to aid in wildlife preservation efforts

Three of eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park show mild symptoms of a coronavirus infection

Gorillas at California Zoo Test Positive for Covid-19

Three iconic primates at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park show mild symptoms, including lethargy and runny noses

Scientists at the National Black-footed Conservation Center in Colorado inoculated 120 black-footed ferrets against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

Experimental Covid-19 Vaccine Reaches America’s Endangered Ferrets

Black-footed ferrets are close relatives of minks, which have seen coronavirus outbreaks on fur farms

Some 1,280 of these species will lose a quarter or more of their remaining habitat and 350 are projected to lose more than half of the areas they currently call home.

New Research

Agriculture’s Growing Footprint Could Threaten 17,000 Species With Habitat Loss

New research projects 1.3 million square miles of habitat will be converted to croplands by 2050

The flower of a newly discovered orchid species from Madagascar called Gastrodia agnicellus. It's looks are, shall we say, unconventional.

Behold the World’s Ugliest Orchid, According to Botanists

Surprisingly, the plant’s fleshy, brown flowers don’t smell so bad

America's eastern monarch population has fallen by about 80 percent, and the western population by 99 percent, but the Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't grant endangered status to specific populations of invertebrate species.

Why Monarch Butterflies Aren’t Getting Endangered Species Status

Monarch butterflies qualify for protections, but 161 other species have higher priority

Whales are especially vulnerable during the calving season since the mother-calf pairs float at the surface, raising their chances of encountering boats.

Biologists Celebrate the Births of Two Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Calves

With a population of around 366 whales, ‘every individual counts’ in coming back from the brink of extinction

Many types of mosses live in British Columbia.

Will the Slender-Yoke Moss Be Saved?

In the crush of conservation priorities, scientists grapple with how to help an endangered species with no obvious value

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