Mongabay
Mongabay.com: With a target on their bellies, can California’s sturgeon survive?
California’s green sturgeon and white sturgeon face numerous threats from dams, harmful algal blooms and overfishing. White sturgeon are highly prized for their eggs, which are made into caviar. Their numbers have dropped so precipitously that they’re now being considered for protection under the California Endangered Species Act. The state banned commercial sturgeon fishing in…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Snares: Low-tech, low-profile killers of rare wildlife the world over
BY LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED Aug. 18, 2022– Snares are simple, low-tech, noose-like traps that can be made from cheap and easily accessible materials such as wire, rope or brake cables. Easy to set, a single person can place thousands, with one report warning that snares “are a terrestrial equivalent to the drift nets that have…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Two threatened whale groups had a mini baby boom, but not because of lockdown
Banner image: Right whale Catalog #3125 skim feeding in Cape Cod Bay. Credit: Anderson Cabot Center/New England Aquarium. Collected under NMFS Permit #14233. Two threatened whale groups had a mini baby boom, but not because of lockdown BY LAUREL NEME ON 5 OCTOBER 2021 Two rare whale groups — southern resident killer whales in the Pacific…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Life and new limbs: Creative thinking, 3D printers save injured wildlife
Beauty the eagle before and after the prosthetic beak. Image courtesy of Janie Veltkamp. Life and new limbs: Creative thinking, 3D printers save injured wildlife BY LAUREL NEME ON 5 MAY 2021 Prosthetics for injured animals are becoming increasingly possible and accessible thanks to 3D printing. Historically, artificial devices for wildlife have been expensive and very…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Taylor and Tate: Canine-human teams rescue Australia’s fire-ravaged koalas
Ryan Tate and his English springer spaniel Taylor take a break from searching. Photo courtesy of Ryan Tate. Taylor and Tate: Canine-human teams rescue Australia’s fire-ravaged koalas BY LAUREL NEME ON 28 MAY 2020 Specially-trained koala detection dogs joined rescue teams during and after the catastrophic Australian bushfires to help find the injured marsupials quickly and increase…
Read MoreMongabay.com: What does it take to discover a new great ape species?
An adult Tapanuli orangutan, by Andrew Walmsley. What does it take to discover a new great ape species? Geneticists, morphologists and behavioral scientists reveal the inside story of how their research led to the description of the Tapanuli orangutan. BY LAUREL NEME ON 19 FEBRUARY 2019 Mongabay Series: Great Apes, Southeast Asian infrastructure In a paper published November 2017,…
Read MoreMongabay.com: New Species of orangutan threatened from moment of its discovery
A juvenile Tapanuli orangutan, photo by Andrew Walmsley. New Species of orangutan threatened from moment of its discovery While scientists worked to confirm Tapanuli orangutans were a distinct species, pressure was mounting on the apes’ habitat. BY LAUREL NEME ON 20 FEBRUARY 2019 Mongabay Series: Great Apes, Southeast Asian infrastructure In a November 2017 article, an international team of…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Sudden Death of Juvenile Zoo Elephant Raises Anew Issues of Life in Captivity
by Laurel A. Neme on 4 October 2017 Warren, a young male elephant, died recently during a dental procedure at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. Warren was one of 18 wild elephants captured from Swaziland 18 months ago and brought to three U.S. zoos in a controversial move. Shortly after Warren’s arrival in March 2016, he lost a…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Innovative technology creates safe haven for rhinos
28 November 2016 / Laurel Neme Unveiled last week, the new system integrates a set of technologies — Wi-Fi, thermal cameras, biometrics, closed-circuit televisions, and sensors — to create a security network across an entire game reserve. The new technology system — called Connected Conservation — is a joint initiative between two international technology companies: Dimension Data…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Unknown, ignored and disappearing: Asia’s Almost Famous Animals
Often called the most beautiful of the monkeys, the Red-shanked Douc langur of Southeast Asia hasn’t benefited much from its good looks. It is barely known to the public or most conservationists and is Endangered. Photo by Art G. on flickr CC BY 2.0 The Sumatran rhino, like the orangutan and tiger, is an example…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Tripa’s Trials: protecting key orangutan habitat through the courts
First posted on 2016-04-13 Mongabay Series: Great Apes 13th April 2016 / Laurel A. Neme Prime Sumatran orangutan habitat is under attack by oil palm companies, but conservation NGOs are learning to use the law to halt that destruction. Many developing countries, such as Indonesia, have fairly good environmental laws against deforestation and protecting threatened species, such as orangutans.…
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