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Endangered Species

Caribou herd mountain crossing in Alaska Range.

New Research

How Killing Moose Can Save Caribou

Conservation often requires difficult decisions

Usually the massive creatures rest between hunting dives on floating ice. But as ice becomes increasingly scarce, the creatures are forced ashore.

Melting Sea Ice Forces Walruses Ashore in Earliest Gathering Yet Observed

As ice melts, the Pacific walruses are losing their icy resting platforms

A green bluebottle fly, part of the Calliphoridae family of carrion flies.

How Fly Guts Are Helping Researchers Catalog the Rainforest

These tiny, buzzing lab assistants provide scientists with a treasure trove of conservation data

Christina Gebhard prepares to measure a condor's wingspan

Behind the Scenes: Skinning Condors in the Name of Science

One intrepid reporter documents the careful science, artistry and gross factor of a very strange party

Snooty, World’s Oldest Captive Manatee, Dies in Accident

The 69-year-old sea cow was the mascot for the South Florida Museum

Bile bears on a farm in Vietnam

Trending Today

Vietnam Commits to Shut Down Bear Bile Farms

Though the new agreement is promising, the practice remains prevalent throughout China and southeast Asia

As the American Buffalo Declined, Its Symbolism Rose

Over the years, the American buffalo, or bison, has been a symbol of the American frontier

Coral reefs, like this one off the coast of South Africa, are rich both in hue and aquatic sounds.

Coral Reefs Sound Like Popcorn, and That’s a Good Thing

The oceans boast a vibrant soundscape, but we may be slowly silencing their symphonies

Southern Resident orcas frolic in Puget Sound.

New Research

Two Thirds of Southern Resident Orca Pregnancies Fail

But now scientists think they know why

The endangered blobfish, once named world's ugliest animal, has leveraged its unusual looks to win the Internet's adoration. Can other less-traditionally appealing creatures do the same?

Future of Conservation

When It Comes to Conservation, Are Ugly Animals a Lost Cause?

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but good marketing can do wonders

Grizzly in Yellowstone National Park

Trending Today

Yellowstone Grizzly to Be Removed From Endangered Species List

Their numbers have grown from 136 animals in 1975 to roughly 700 today

The olm, or cave dragon, is the largest cave-adapted animal in Europe. These strange creatures spend their entire lives in caves, and face threats from pollution runoff from agriculture and chemical plants on the surface.

Future of Conservation

Cave Dragons Exist—And Saving Them Could Be Key to Protecting Drinking Water

New DNA techniques are letting researchers track down the largest, strangest cave animals in the world

Cool Finds

Endangered Balkan Lynx Kitten Photographed for the First Time in a Decade

There are less than 50 of these critically endangered cats left in the wild

Trending Today

Eagles Adopt—Not Attack—a Red-Tailed Hawk Chick

Bird lovers are watching with bated breath to see if the eagles will keep feeding the little guy or turn him into dinner

Puntung wallowing in mud as a calf.

One of Malaysia’s Last Sumatran Rhinos Has Died

After performing emergency surgery on Puntung, experts realized that the abscess was caused by cancer

Typhlonus nasus, the Faceless Cusk

Cool Finds

“Faceless” Fish Found off the Coast of Australia

The rare creature was dredged up from some 13,000 feet below the surface

Hyalinobatrachium yaku

New Research

This Glass Frog’s Heart Is Visible Through Its Skin

The new species of frog has a transparent underside, offering a glimpse of its beating heart inside

DNA barcoding, as the name suggests, was designed to make identifying a species as simple as scanning a supermarket barcode.

Future of Conservation

The Key to Protecting Life on Earth May Be Barcoding It

An easier way to read DNA is helping scientists tease apart species and ecosystems in nuanced ways

Ornithologist John Gould's illustrations of finches collected by Charles Darwin on the Galápagos Islands show the physical differences that the men relied on in dividing them into different species.

Future of Conservation

What Does It Mean to Be a Species? Genetics Is Changing the Answer

As DNA techniques let us see animals in finer and finer gradients, the old definition is falling apart

A little protection over here, please?

Future of Conservation

How America Can Help Save a Non-American Species: The Mighty Giraffe

Giraffes aren’t native to the U.S. But listing them as an endangered species could offer them much-needed protection

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