All articles tagged with #conservation
A mother-daughter team with Citizens of the Reef identified the world’s largest known coral colony on the Great Barrier Reef—a Pavona clavus spanning about 111 meters and covering roughly 3,973 square meters—verified by underwater measurements and a 3D model; the exact location isn’t released to protect the site, and the find underscores the value of citizen science in reef monitoring amid ongoing bleaching.
The endangered kakapo, New Zealand’s flightless parrot, could set a record for chicks as a bumper native fruit crop spurs a rare breeding season; conservation efforts have lifted the population from about 50 to more than 200, with live nest monitoring and predator-free island shelters supporting the birds’ complex, infrequent breeding cycles.
Conservation charity Durrell says their Madagascar field teams have been caught up in two February cyclones (Fytia and Gezani), leaving communities without homes, food or clean water and damaging facilities for tortoises and lemurs. It is raising more than £50,000 for relief, with emergency aid delivered alongside Jersey Overseas Aid to help families rebuild and support conservation work.
A juvenile green sea turtle nicknamed Bob Moss was rescued in Vero Beach, Florida, arriving at Coastal Connections covered in red algae. Although initially thought to be cold-stunned, rescuers later found he sustained a fatal boat-strike injury and he died at the center. The case highlights the deadly impact of boat strikes on sea turtles (thousands die yearly) and reflects how more than half of Coastal Connections’ rescues involve strikes, underscoring the need for slower speeds in turtle zones and safer boating practices.
Scientists using an undersea camera recorded the first footage of a southern sleeper shark in Antarctic waters near the South Shetland Islands at about 1,600 feet depth and 2°C. The sighting challenges the assumption that Antarctic seas are too cold for sharks and suggests a warm deeper layer may enable occasional southward incursions; climate-change–related warming could drive more sharks toward the region, but data remain sparse, underscoring the need for further study of the Antarctic ecosystem.
England authorizes its first legally licensed beaver release into a river system, with two beavers released into a Cornwall pond as part of a broader plan to establish a self-sustaining, diverse population that could improve water management and biodiversity; the process remains costly and bureaucratic, but officials expect more catchment-wide releases in the coming years.
Aerial footage off Scotland’s Outer Hebrides captures enigmatic circular patterns thought to be formed by seagrass, highlighting the ongoing decline of seagrass meadows; despite past wasting disease and ongoing threats, NatureScot protections and localized recoveries in Loch Ryan, the Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth suggest a glimmer of revival, even as researchers probe the exact cause of the circles.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation reopening the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off Cape Cod to commercial fishing, reversing Obama-era protections and Biden-era restoration. Trump says appropriately managed fishing can occur without harming protected habitats and that the move will support the Maine lobster industry and reduce regulatory burdens, while environmental groups vow to challenge it in court and defend the monument’s protections.
A study of 160 Japanese giant salamanders from Hyogo Prefecture shows their diet shifts from aquatic insects when young to larger prey like fish, frogs, and freshwater crabs around 62 cm in length, making them top predators in the Ichi River ecosystem and informing conservation efforts to protect prey populations.
A global wildlife photo roundup this week features a mother and baby sloth in Costa Rica, iguanas immobilized by cold in Florida, a rescued hedgehog, and a variety of other standout moments from polar bears and finches to manatees, highlighting wildlife resilience and the power of nature photography.
Australian researchers发现 endangered Australian brook lampreys (Mordacia praecox) much farther north than previously known, on Fraser Island (K’gari) in Queensland, challenging the idea that lampreys are limited to southern regions and underscoring conservation concerns as climate-driven habitat changes threaten their streams; the finding, published in Endangered Species Research in 2024, could also inform neuroscience and evolutionary biology.
Colossal Biosciences is building a biovault inside Dubai’s Museum of the Future to store frozen tissue samples from up to 10,000 species, part of a broader biodiversity preservation effort that could also support future revival work. The UAE facility echoes seed vault concepts like the Arctic’s Svalbard and comes alongside other cryopreservation programs, but experts caution that cryobanking alone isn’t a substitute for habitat protection and call for clear governance and regulatory frameworks as it expands globally.
Conservationists are studying the feasibility of reintroducing the Dalmatian pelican, Europe’s largest flying bird, to historic UK wetlands (Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, Essex marshes, Somerset Levels) to boost habitat restoration and serve as an indicator of wetland health.
A rediscovered coastal marten (Humboldt marten) in northern California is estimated to number about 500 individuals, occupying roughly 5% of its historic range. Researchers used 135 remote cameras and 285 hair snares over 400 square kilometers to gather data, finding 28 males and 18 females and a density of about one marten per three square kilometers. The species favors complex, high-canopy forests with large trees, snags, and hollow logs. Habitat loss, climate change, and logging threaten its survival, underscoring the need for forest protection and continued monitoring.
A three-month study in northern California using 135 remote cameras and 285 hair snares estimates about 500 Humboldt/Coastal martens remain, occupying only about 5% of their historic range with a density of roughly one animal per three square kilometers. Genetic testing found 28 males and 18 females; cameras logged 86 photographs. Martens prefer high-elevation, old-growth forests with dense canopy and abundant coarse woody debris, and the findings will guide conservation as climate-change threats loom.