Mongabay

BANGKOK — Cambodian journalist Ouk Mao, whose reporting on illegal logging has seen him attacked both physically and legally, was arrested May 16. Ek Cheat, Mao’s wife, spotted an unmarked white Lexus pull up outside their home in Stung Treng province…

The United States of Kailasa maintains that it is a real nation. With this title, over the last three years, they have traveled to different countries in South America to look for productive lands where they can settle. They did so in Paraguay and Ecuador, and…

MANANG, Nepal — In Bhakra village of western Nepal’s Manang district, 72-year-old Buddhist nun Tashi Lama sits in silence, chanting as she turns her prayer wheel. Ever since she took her vows at 25, her mornings begin with prayers and the lighting of sang,…

A new study finds that scientists have likely underestimated heat stress on coral reefs in the South Atlantic Ocean, further raising concerns for coral bleaching amid climate change. The study notes that while the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific have…

Most countries that pledged to reduce the number of birds being illegally killed along an important migratory route in Europe and the Mediterranean region are failing to do so, a new report shows. For the report, conservation organizations BirdLife…

Deep in the rainforest, the monkeys are yodeling. Their wild calls echo across the foliage, sending signals of sex and survival. For decades, scientists have studied why they make these sounds, but are just beginning to understand how. A new study asks how…

The Republic of Congo has one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world, but “uncontrolled gold mining” in recent years could harm the country’s biodiversity, especially in the Sangha region, Mongabay’s Elodie Toto reported in a video published in…

Flamingos, often pictured standing still with their heads submerged in water, make for a pretty picture. But peep underwater, and you’ll find the tall, elegant pink birds bobbing their heads, chattering their beaks, and creating mini tornados to efficiently…

Wildlife conservation activists have welcomed an update to China’s list of officially sanctioned medicines, which drops 13 traditional formulas containing pangolin parts. The move offers the world’s most trafficked mammal a better shot at survival and has…

Where are the salamanders hanging out? Answering that question has been Jake Kushner’s mission — especially in the face of a proposed project by an energy company that will lay a transmission line right through areas where these amphibians are thought to…

Every third Friday of May is Endangered Species Day. More than 900 known species are already extinct to date, while at least 28,500 others are listed as endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. As the…

SOUTH SIBERUT, Indonesia — As night falls over the Siberut jungle, a fire crackles inside the Tateburuk clan’s wooden home, or uma. The walls are covered in traditional Mentawai carvings of forest creatures — birds, lizards, monkeys and gibbons — a…

Fish farms boomed globally in recent decades — more than half the world’s seafood now comes from aquaculture — but it’s not a boom all environmentalists support. One argument that critics of industrial aquaculture make is that the fishmeal and fish…

A “remarkably well-preserved” fossil discovered in Brazil, dating back 113 million years, is now the oldest ant to have ever been found by scientists, a new study has revealed. The ancient fossil was found preserved in a limestone and “represents the…

Come hear the hargila’s speech With a cry of the heart’s eyes Hear o hear me out Please do not chop down our trees Do not erase our forests How are we going to keep living How are we going to keep living The voice of 43-year-old Daibaki Saikia, a resident…

Multinational palm oil-buying companies could be doing more to address financial inequities in their global supply chains that perpetuate challenges for smallholder farmers, according to a new report from sustainable development watchdog Solidaridad. The…

A symbol of Brazil’s Ceará state and present on its official coat of arms since 1897, sail rafts known as jangadas are 80% of the fishing vessels in the state, but they could lose ground to wind turbines installed at sea. The matter is relevant because…

In Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory and across other parts of the Amazon Basin, illegal gold mining has metastasized into a transnational criminal enterprise. What starts with illegal deforestation and mercury poisoning ends with laundered gold…

The carbon credit certifier Verra has placed the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project under review for a second time, it confirmed to Mongabay in an emailed statement. Until the review is completed, the project will not be permitted to sell any credits it…

The Brazilian government blocked 545 rural properties in the Amazonian state of Pará from selling crops and livestock both domestically and internationally, citing illegal deforestation, according to a May 6 announcement by the Ministry of Environment and…

Nearly a third of all antibiotics that people consume end up in the world’s rivers, a new study finds. This could potentially harm aquatic life and impact human health by promoting drug resistance, researchers say. Antibiotics, critical for treating various…

Malagasy scientist Lily-Arison René de Roland has been announced as the winner of this year’s Indianapolis Prize, which recognizes “extraordinary contributions to conservation efforts.” In its announcement, Indianapolis Zoo, which presents the award,…

The mass invasion of a new insect, the whitefly, in Bangladesh’s agricultural farms — especially in coconut, banana and guava farms — has put farmers at risk due to its devastating effects on crops. How the insects are entering the country is yet to be…

Authorities managing one of the last protected areas on Earth that still hosts Sumatran tigers must do more to deter poaching and promote alternative livelihoods for local communities, a new study suggests. Poaching remains the top threat to the survival of…

The Kinabatangan River is the last major area in Malaysian Borneo’s Sabah state with a semblance of forest corridor linking the interior rainforest with mangroves on the east coast, according to Marc Ancrenaz, scientific director of Sabah-based NGO Hutan.…

A new Human Rights Watch report alleges abuse and human rights violations in an Indigenous community in Malaysia’s Sarawak state. The report finds Malaysian timber company Zedtee Sdn Bhd (Zedtee) destroyed culturally valuable forests without the consent of…

BARRA DO MAMANGUAPE — Brazil. It’s hard to imagine today, but manatees were once hunted and eaten. These gentle sea mammals were considered a delicacy in Brazil, with their meat consumed by local fishermen and their skin and oil exported to Europe during…

In February 2025, rangers at Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in partnership with the Okapi Conservation Project, successfully brought an okapi to Epulu, site of the reserve’s headquarters. It’s the first okapi (Okapia johnstoni)…

Lake Malawi’s fish stocks are declining, but one community stands apart: around Mbenje Island, a traditional fisheries management plan has ensured thriving fish populations for generations, Mongabay contributor Charles Mpaka reports. Landlocked Malawi is…

Open any ecology textbook and you’ll find the Canada lynx, the snowshoe hare, and their wildly oscillating population cycles offered as a classic example of the intimate relationship between predator and prey. The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a handsome,…