EartherConservation

We’d Brave the Post Office to Use These Amazing New Shark Stamps

A set of new shark-themed stamps including species of global conservation concern could make your next trip to a post office somewhat exciting—if you live in Canada, that is. Five shark species that inhabit Canadian waters are highlighted in Canada Post’s latest set of stamps. From the enormous basking sharks to the elusive, long-lived Greenland … Continued

ScienceBiology

Jaguar Escapes New Orleans Zoo Enclosure, Kills At Least Seven Other Animals Before Capture

A three-year-old male jaguar named Valerio escaped its enclosure at New Orleans’ Audubon Zoo on Saturday and was successfully sedated and captured, but not before it managed to maul and kill several alpacas, an emu, and a fox, CNN reported. According to CNN, zoo staff reported seeing Valerio outside his enclosure at around 7am local … Continued

EartherConservation

Eight Critically Endangered Black Rhinos Are Dead After Botched Translocation [Updated]

In news that is appalling even by the standards of 2018, multiple outlets are reporting that eight black rhinos are dead after an attempt to translocate them to a wildlife park in southern Kenya last month. Black rhinos are the third most endangered rhino species on Earth, with only 5,000-5,500 of the majestic creatures left, … Continued

EartherConservation

Salamanders May Not Be as Screwed as We Thought

Hidden throughout Southern Appalachia is the world’s most diverse salamander population. But while these small amphibians have long been considered vulnerable as climate change shrinks suitable habitats, new research suggests that in at least some parts of the salamander capital of the world, the creatures may be able to hack their way into surviving a hotter … Continued

EartherConservation

Some Coral Reefs Need Poop, Study Finds

Bird turds can tell you a lot about an island. For instance, is it smelly or not? But also, how are the coral reefs doing? Research published on Wednesday in Nature shows that at least for one archipelago, the shittier the island the healthier the reefs and fish around them. That insight is crucial for conservationists … Continued

EartherConservation

Science Takes a Baby Step Toward Baby Northern White Rhinos

A team of scientists received a flurry of press attention this week when they announced they’d created rhino embryos in the lab—a step along the path to bringing the northern white rhino back from functional extinction. This is an important achievement, but no one breakthrough will save the northern white rhino despite what some headlines have … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

This Story About Lions Killing Poachers Is Brutal

I think we can all agree that hunting rhinos is a bad idea, but at least two suspected poachers learned that the hard way earlier this week. In a showcase of nature’s brutality, the BBC reports rangers at the Shibuya game reserve in South Africa stumbled on a pretty gruesome find on Tuesday: the mangled … Continued

EartherEarth Science

You Should Visit a Rainforest

I’m as hopelessly plugged in as the next person, but every so often I dream of giving up Twitter and Amazon Prime for good, and getting lost in a tropical rainforest. My love affair with the tropics began at age 19, when I jetted off to Ecuador for a summer paid for with my saved-up … Continued

EartherConservation

How a Winter With Elk Changed My Life

Before Kanye slapped an iPhone shot of the Tetons on his new album, but after we ruined Niagara Falls, in part prompting the creation of an entire system of protected federal land, I spent a winter in Jackson, Wyoming working under what I can safely say is the best job title I’ll ever have: sleigh … Continued

EartherConservation

More Shipping in the Arctic Is Bad News for Narwhals

The Northwest Passage—the fabled maritime shortcut from the Bering Straight to the eastern Canadian Arctic—is increasingly becoming a real thing as climate change causes an Arctic meltdown. But as these icy waters become more and more navigable, the marine mammals who call them home face new threats. A study published Monday in the Proceedings of … Continued

EartherConservation

North America’s Largest Coral Reef Is No Longer in Danger

A couple weeks ago, I met some corals for the first time off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. It was pretty rad. Now, I have a newfound appreciation for the animal and any good news about it. So here’s some: The Belize Barrier Reef is no longer on the World Heritage Committee’s List of World … Continued

EartherConservation

Scientists Have Invented Craigslist For Shark Livers

In order to save endangered species, biologists are often forced to take a step that feels counterproductive: sacrificing wild specimens for study. Now, a pair of grad students have devised a virtual tissue bank that could help reduce the number of rare plants and animals killed in the name of science. Tens of millions of … Continued

EartherConservation

Forest Fires and Dank Weed Are Pushing These Cuties Toward Extinction

The Humboldt marten was once a denizen of vast swaths of old growth forests in Northern California and Southern Oregon. But rampant logging has shrunken its habitat, pushing the objectively adorable little predator into small isolated populations and amplifying other threats, like cannabis growth and wildfires. On Tuesday, conservation groups petitioned Oregon for both state … Continued

EartherConservation

Tropical Forests Were Lost at a Near-Record Rate in 2017

Tropical forests had a pretty shitty year in 2017. They were battered by hurricanes, lit up by wildfires, and logged over. All told, 39 million acres of tropical tree cover disappeared in 2017, marking the second largest annual decline in tree cover in the tropics on record. The finding that a Bangladesh-sized hunk of forest … Continued

EartherConservation

Wow, Americans Are Actually Getting Better at Conserving Something

It’s not every day we hear Americans are doing an okay job on the conservation front, but that appears to be the case when it comes to water usage. A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report finds U.S. water consumption is at its lowest level in more than 45 years. Americans withdrew 322 billion gallons … Continued

EartherConservation

Feral Cats Are Slaughtering Australia’s Reptiles

Feral cats are an ecological scourge, wreaking havoc on wild mammal, bird, and reptile populations. That doesn’t make the impact of these rogue floof monsters on Australia’s reptile population any less astonishing, though. Every year, feral felines kill some 466 million reptiles in Australia’s natural ecosystems, according to a new paper in Wildlife Research. When … Continued

ScienceBiology

Baby Giant Manta Rays Grow up Together in This Newly Discovered Nursery

Marine biologist Joshua Stewart was scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico when he spotted a baby manta ray—an unexpected find, given that juveniles are extremely rare and seldom observed by humans. After analyzing other divers’ juvenile sightings, he and his colleagues determined a specific section of the Gulf to be a nursery for oceanic … Continued

EartherConservation

First Manta Ray Nursery Ever Discovered Shows Marine Protected Areas Matter

Manta rays are among the most charismatic undersea megafauna, but there’s still a lot we don’t know these flat, ginormous sea-dogs. Now, in trying to understand how their populations are connected in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have made a wild discovery. In Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which sits about 110 miles southeast … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Snapchat’s New Coral Lenses Transport You Under the Sea

Snapchat lenses might be considered “fun”—the collection of augmented reality animations you can add to your real-world snap includes a llama falling over and a head-banging cockatoo—but rarely do we think of them as educational. A team of animators is now trying to change that with a new set of lenses that raise awareness about … Continued

EartherConservation

You Need These Award-Winning Nature Photos Right Now

Amid the toxic wasteland that is daily life, it’s important to step back and remember our world is still a place of wonder. And so I implore you to take a moment and do that with the winners of the Nature Conservancy’s annual photo contest. This year’s contest attracted a record-breaking 57,489 photographs taken by … Continued