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Mongabay
Articles from Mongabay
mongabay.comHow a tiny blue gecko became a conservation comeback story
The Williams electric blue day gecko is rebounding in Tanzania thanks to trade restrictions, habitat restoration and local conservation efforts.
Teeming with turtles: Cabo Verde island sees 80-fold increase in nesting loggerheads
In 2018, night patrol teams on Boa Vista, the third-largest island in the Cabo Verde archipelago, started noticing a change along the beaches: The loggerhead turtles were arriving in significantly larger numbers than usual.
Urban wildlife is changing from the inside out
Cities are expanding faster than at any point in human history, and wildlife is adapting in remarkable ways. We often talk about visible changes like animals becoming bolder, shifting their diets, or altering their daily rhythms to avoid people.
Indonesia’s native hornbills are being hammered by online and offline trade
Among the many inhabitants of Southeast Asia’s dense rainforests are hornbills — a group of birds that stand out with their raucous call, large, ostentatious beak and colorful feathers. Indonesia harbors 13 species, the most of any country in Asia, three of which are found nowhere else. Hornbills are rapidly losing their homes as large […]
What the platypus can teach us about smarter conservation
The platypus offers a useful lesson in conservation: before acting, it helps to know where the animal still lives, and where risks are growing.
Avian flu strikes California’s northern elephant seals; area quarantined
Experts confirmed that seven young northern elephant seals on the beach at California’s Año Nuevo State Park carried a deadly form of avian influenza, H5N1, the first recorded infection in these seals. This highly contagious virus has circulated the globe since 2020.
Wildlife attacks and strange animal behavior — fake images spark conservation concerns
Conservationists warn that increasingly realistic AI-generated wildlife images and videos are spreading misinformation that can provoke fear, panic and hostility toward wild animals.
Honeyguide birds learn local human dialects
In northern Mozambique, local honey-hunters use vocal signals to communicate with wild honeyguide birds to locate and harvest honey. New research finds that human calls used across the region vary,
A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas
A new United Nations treaty governing biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction will enter into force on January 17th 2026, creating the first global framework to conserve life on the high seas.
Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife
Involuntary parks — areas made largely untenable for human habitation due to environmental contamination, war, border disputes or other forms of conflict and violence — have often unintentionally benefited nature, with flora and fauna sometimes thriving in the absence of people.
5 unexpected animal behaviors we learned about in 2025
Every year, researchers and people out in nature capture some aspect of animal behavior that’s unusual or unexpected in some way, changing how we understand the natural world. Here are five such examples that Mongabay reported on in 2025...
Camera traps in China capture first-ever footage of Amur tigress with five cubs
Camera traps installed in the world’s largest tiger reserve, in China, have captured footage of an Amur tigress and her five cubs for the first time.
The conservation ledger: What we lost and what we gained in 2025
2025 was a year shaped by both loss and persistence, marked by species formally declared extinct, hundreds of organisms newly described, and uneven conservation outcomes across forests, reefs, and the open ocean.
How are California's birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?
In the forests of the Sierra Nevada, the black-backed woodpecker is without parallel. The bird appears almost born of fire, thriving on the flames that flicker through California’s coniferous forests every few years.
Road to recovery: Five stories of species staging a comeback
Amid accelerating biodiversity loss and shrinking ecological spaces, it’s easy to lose hope. But every year, there are stories of optimism: of species that are making a comeback after being nearly wiped out.
A new frog species emerges from Peru’s cloud forests — and it’s already at risk
Deep within the cloud forests of the San Martín region of Peru lie two places so high, cold and remote that they remained virtually unexplored for decades. In 2022, and again in 2025, monitors from
Photos: Top new species from 2025
The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean’s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi.
Southeast Asia’s 2025 marked by fatal floods, fossil fuel expansion and renewed mining boom
2025 saw global conservation plunged into chaos, with an estimated $500 million in funding from the United States government abruptly slashed after Donald Trump returned to office. The ripples of Trump’s policies were felt across the world, disproportionately impacting countries with the least domestic conservation resources.
Tiny Caribbean island brings hope for critically endangered iguana
Over the past decade, Prickly Pear East, a small, privately owned island in the Caribbean, has become a beacon of hope for a critically endangered lizard. The islet, near the main island of Anguilla,
New study splits giraffe experts on future wild captures for zoos
Hybridization of captive giraffes in North American zoos may impact conservation, given the recent scientific consensus that giraffes are four distinct species, not a single species as previously thought.
When abandoned conservation projects are counted as progress, what are we protecting? (commentary)
COP30 has come and gone, leaving behind a familiar mix of new commitments and renewed political promises. But amid the declarations of progress, one issue that received almost backhanded attention is
In Brazil, a new label gives more visibility to deforestation-free beef
Amid growing pressure for beef supply chains to be deforestation-free, a new certification system in Brazil will allow meatpackers, importers and retailers to guarantee that the meat cuts they sell are not associated with deforestation.
Costa Rica's ‘shocking’ wildlife crisis: Nation must move to prevent animal electrocution (commentary)
Costa Rica is renowned for its comprehensive laws that safeguard forest cover and wildlife, protecting its status as a biodiversity hotspot that attracts millions of tourists every year. Yet wildlife rescue centers persistently point out that the level of care that authorities have promised has not yet been fully realized on multiple issues, including the issue of increasing electrocution deaths...
A rare right whale spotted off Ireland resurfaces near Boston
A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale first seen off Ireland has been re-identified near Boston, marking a rare transatlantic sighting.
Orangutans rescued from the wildlife trade undergo intensive re-training to return to the wild
Welcome to jungle school—where orphaned orangutans are learning the basics for survival that they will need for life in the wild.
How a tiny blue gecko became a conservation comeback story
The Williams electric blue day gecko is rebounding in Tanzania thanks to trade restrictions, habitat restoration and local conservation efforts.
Teeming with turtles: Cabo Verde island sees 80-fold increase in nesting loggerheads
In 2018, night patrol teams on Boa Vista, the third-largest island in the Cabo Verde archipelago, started noticing a change along the beaches: The loggerhead turtles were arriving in significantly larger numbers than usual.
Urban wildlife is changing from the inside out
Cities are expanding faster than at any point in human history, and wildlife is adapting in remarkable ways. We often talk about visible changes like animals becoming bolder, shifting their diets, or altering their daily rhythms to avoid people.
Indonesia’s native hornbills are being hammered by online and offline trade
Among the many inhabitants of Southeast Asia’s dense rainforests are hornbills — a group of birds that stand out with their raucous call, large, ostentatious beak and colorful feathers. Indonesia harbors 13 species, the most of any country in Asia, three of which are found nowhere else. Hornbills are rapidly losing their homes as large […]
What the platypus can teach us about smarter conservation
The platypus offers a useful lesson in conservation: before acting, it helps to know where the animal still lives, and where risks are growing.
Avian flu strikes California’s northern elephant seals; area quarantined
Experts confirmed that seven young northern elephant seals on the beach at California’s Año Nuevo State Park carried a deadly form of avian influenza, H5N1, the first recorded infection in these seals. This highly contagious virus has circulated the globe since 2020.
Wildlife attacks and strange animal behavior — fake images spark conservation concerns
Conservationists warn that increasingly realistic AI-generated wildlife images and videos are spreading misinformation that can provoke fear, panic and hostility toward wild animals.
Honeyguide birds learn local human dialects
In northern Mozambique, local honey-hunters use vocal signals to communicate with wild honeyguide birds to locate and harvest honey. New research finds that human calls used across the region vary,
A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas
A new United Nations treaty governing biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction will enter into force on January 17th 2026, creating the first global framework to conserve life on the high seas.
Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife
Involuntary parks — areas made largely untenable for human habitation due to environmental contamination, war, border disputes or other forms of conflict and violence — have often unintentionally benefited nature, with flora and fauna sometimes thriving in the absence of people.
5 unexpected animal behaviors we learned about in 2025
Every year, researchers and people out in nature capture some aspect of animal behavior that’s unusual or unexpected in some way, changing how we understand the natural world. Here are five such examples that Mongabay reported on in 2025...
Camera traps in China capture first-ever footage of Amur tigress with five cubs
Camera traps installed in the world’s largest tiger reserve, in China, have captured footage of an Amur tigress and her five cubs for the first time.
The conservation ledger: What we lost and what we gained in 2025
2025 was a year shaped by both loss and persistence, marked by species formally declared extinct, hundreds of organisms newly described, and uneven conservation outcomes across forests, reefs, and the open ocean.
How are California's birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?
In the forests of the Sierra Nevada, the black-backed woodpecker is without parallel. The bird appears almost born of fire, thriving on the flames that flicker through California’s coniferous forests every few years.
Road to recovery: Five stories of species staging a comeback
Amid accelerating biodiversity loss and shrinking ecological spaces, it’s easy to lose hope. But every year, there are stories of optimism: of species that are making a comeback after being nearly wiped out.
A new frog species emerges from Peru’s cloud forests — and it’s already at risk
Deep within the cloud forests of the San Martín region of Peru lie two places so high, cold and remote that they remained virtually unexplored for decades. In 2022, and again in 2025, monitors from
Photos: Top new species from 2025
The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean’s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi.
Southeast Asia’s 2025 marked by fatal floods, fossil fuel expansion and renewed mining boom
2025 saw global conservation plunged into chaos, with an estimated $500 million in funding from the United States government abruptly slashed after Donald Trump returned to office. The ripples of Trump’s policies were felt across the world, disproportionately impacting countries with the least domestic conservation resources.
Tiny Caribbean island brings hope for critically endangered iguana
Over the past decade, Prickly Pear East, a small, privately owned island in the Caribbean, has become a beacon of hope for a critically endangered lizard. The islet, near the main island of Anguilla,
New study splits giraffe experts on future wild captures for zoos
Hybridization of captive giraffes in North American zoos may impact conservation, given the recent scientific consensus that giraffes are four distinct species, not a single species as previously thought.
When abandoned conservation projects are counted as progress, what are we protecting? (commentary)
COP30 has come and gone, leaving behind a familiar mix of new commitments and renewed political promises. But amid the declarations of progress, one issue that received almost backhanded attention is
In Brazil, a new label gives more visibility to deforestation-free beef
Amid growing pressure for beef supply chains to be deforestation-free, a new certification system in Brazil will allow meatpackers, importers and retailers to guarantee that the meat cuts they sell are not associated with deforestation.
Costa Rica's ‘shocking’ wildlife crisis: Nation must move to prevent animal electrocution (commentary)
Costa Rica is renowned for its comprehensive laws that safeguard forest cover and wildlife, protecting its status as a biodiversity hotspot that attracts millions of tourists every year. Yet wildlife rescue centers persistently point out that the level of care that authorities have promised has not yet been fully realized on multiple issues, including the issue of increasing electrocution deaths...
A rare right whale spotted off Ireland resurfaces near Boston
A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale first seen off Ireland has been re-identified near Boston, marking a rare transatlantic sighting.
Orangutans rescued from the wildlife trade undergo intensive re-training to return to the wild
Welcome to jungle school—where orphaned orangutans are learning the basics for survival that they will need for life in the wild.
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