Apr. 13, 2021 (NationalGeographic) -As early morning fog lifts off the Baja California coastline, Alushe Camacho steers a small fishing boat through a mangrove-lined estuary, his eyes fixed on the horizon. During most of the year, Camacho hunts grouper, sole, and hammerhead sharks. Today he’s in search of gray whales.

But over the last three years, Camacho and others have noticed ominous changes. The whales are arriving in the estuary later in the year, and many appear malnourished, the jagged outline of vertebrae visible on their typically fatty backs. More whales than usual have been washing up dead along the shore.

Apr. 9, 2021 (ZME Science) -The Arctic is currently warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet and unsurprisingly, Arctic animals are desperately struggling to cope with the changes. All the creatures in the food chain are affected, but predators suffer even more, as they see their usual hunting grounds reduced year by year.

Apr. 7, 2021 (GEORGIA RECORDER) -A rare prehistoric looking turtle only found in south Georgia and north Florida might soon gain federal protection after struggling to rebound.

The announced this week that it has proposed listing the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.The announcement kicks off a public comment period that will wrap up this June.

Apr. 6, 2021 (ZME Science ) -Since the disease was first reported 50 years ago, sightings have expanded to several areas. According to the CDC, this disease is present in at least 24 states in the United States and has also spread internationally — there are likely more cases we don’t know about yet.

The disease was first noticed as veterinarians were reporting deer just “wasting away” — suffering from weakness, dehydration, weight loss, and confusion, among others. Deer suffering from this dreadful disease lose their fear of humans and coordination, appearing like “walking zombies”, hence the name.

Apr. 1, 2021 (Center for Biological Diversity) -In a series of letters delivered today, conservation groups urged the United States and international authorities to use sanctions to pressure Mexico to save the vaquita, whose population has dwindled to just 10 remaining animals. Despite repeated promises for decades, the Mexican government has failed to stop the use of deadly gill nets that are entangling, drowning and killing these porpoises — driving them to extinction.

Mar. 31, 2021 (The Guardian) -After two years spent turning over thousands of rocks in search of the Cupola gecko, New Zealand lizard expert Ben Barr had been starting to wonder: “Am I ever going to find this thing?”

But this month, in the Nelson Lakes national park at the top of the South Island, he lifted another rock – and there it was.

Mar. 26, 2021 (ZME Science) -The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is now listed as Critically Endangered and the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. They’re more in danger than they have ever been, and it’s mostly due to habitat reduction and ivory trade.

Mar. 20, 2021 (ZME Science) -Once on the brink of extinction, the recovery of the American bald eagle has now turned into one of the most successful conservation stories in the United States.

A report by the US Fish and Wildlife Service showed that the population of the eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), a national symbol of the US, has quadrupled since 2009 — and it’s all because of the long-term conservation efforts across the country.

Mar. 20, 2021 (ZME Science) -The usually gets 20 new gorilla adoptions over the weekend. But since last Saturday it has received over 3,500 adoptions worth $350,000. Most were done out to fictional names. The funds will go towards field programs to track, monitor, and study gorillas.

Mar. 9, 2021 (ScienceNews) -When Isabel Hyman heads out in coming weeks to the wilds of northern New South Wales, she’s worried about what she won’t find. Fifteen years ago, the malacologist — or mollusk scientist — with the Australian Museum made an incredible discovery among the limestone outcrops there: a tiny, 3-millimeter-long snail, with a ribbed, dark golden-brown shell, that was new to science.

Mar. 8, 2021 (Sarasota Herald Tribune) -On a recent Saturday, the Stasiks witnessed the famine in real time along the banks of Manatee Cove Park on Merritt Island, Florida. The paradise they once padded through in this remote, mangrove- lined cove now looks lost – like an elephant graveyard. Except there are manatee bones that litter the shoreline, not tusks.

Mar. 4, 2021 (Science Magazine) -A comprehensive survey of corals has turned up billions of colonies across the Pacific Ocean. The work—based on actual head counts, satellite data, and informed estimates—suggests many species are not in immediate danger of extinction, and the census could help conservationists and policymakers make better decisions about how to protect reefs.

Mar. 3, 2021 (The Guardian) -The greyish brown pygmy hog (Porcula salvania), with its sparse hair and a streamlined body that is about the size of a cat’s, is the smallest wild pig in the world, and also one of its rarest, appearing on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list as endangered.

Mar. 2, 2021 (USA TODAY) -Rhonda Bomwell had never used a flea and tick collar before. Pierre, her 9-year-old Papillon service dog, was mostly an indoor animal.

Still, her veterinarian recommended she purchase one, so Bomwell went to the pet store near her home in Somerset, New Jersey, and selected Bayer’s Seresto collar.

A day later, on June 2, 2020, Pierre had a seizure, collapsing while Bomwell was making dinner. Lying on his back, the dog stopped breathing and his eyes rolled back.

Mar. 2, 2021 (Center for Biological Diversity) -More than 170 groups today urged Congress to significantly increase the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s budget for endangered species conservation from $291.7 million to $592.1 million — an increase of about $300 million over last year’s budget.

According to the Service’s own data, hundreds of endangered animals and plants receive less than $1,000 a year for their recovery. Many species receive no funding at all from the agency.

Mar. 2, 2021 (INHABITAT) -Manatee mortality in Florida has shot up this year, with 358 recorded deaths in January and February. Last year, the first two months had a combined total of 143 deaths — less than half this year’s current toll. Conservationists worry that the manatees are starving to death.

Some causes of 2021 manatee deaths are known and include boat strikes, cold stress and natural deaths. But many have died for unknown reasons. Pat Rose, director of Save the Manatee Club, suspects one of these reasons is a sea grass shortage. “It’s something we’ve never really seen before,” Rose said. “It looks like we have a substantial number of manatees that are starving.”

Feb. 26, 2021 (ZME Science) -The amount of energy required by polar bears and narwhals to survive in the warming Arctic has increased by 3-400% in recent decades, according to a new study — and it’s pushing them to extinction.

Feb. 24, 2021 (WCSNewsroom) - One of the newest residents at the Bronx Zoo is an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) named Amos. His bold personality and friendly demeanor will surely make him a favorite among those who are able to meet him though a Bronx Zoo in-person or virtual Animal Encounter session.

Amos arrived at the Bronx Zoo at the end of 2020. His story is even bigger than his personality. In 2016 Amos was found in the Port of Corpus Christi with drooping wings and unable to fly. He was brought to the Wildlife Rescue Center at the nearby Texas State Aquarium where radiographs revealed that both wings were broken. Veterinarians determined that he had been shot in both wings, likely while in flight.

Feb. 22, 2021 (Center for Biological Diversity) -A Fresno County Superior Court judge has rejected an effort by construction and real estate interests, along with the city of Hesperia, to strip away legal protections that currently apply to the imperiled western Joshua tree.

“This is a critical victory for these beautiful trees and their fragile desert ecosystem,” said Brendan Cummings, the Center for Biological Diversity’s conservation director and a Joshua Tree resident.

Feb. 20, 2021 (Deutsche Welle) -The scaly anteaters native to Asia and Africa were originally blamed for transmitting COVID-19 to humans. DW takes a look at the critically endangered creatures that are susceptible to coronaviruses and trafficking.

Feb. 19, 2021 (ZME Science) -Belgian wildlife photographer Yves Adams was on a two-month expedition in the South Atlantic towards Antarctica at the end of 2019 when he came upon a dazzling sight that made him rub his eyes. There he was, as a lone dandelion, a “never before seen” yellow penguin among a colony of 120,000 king penguins. These breathtaking photos speak for themselves.

Feb. 19, 2021 ( INHABITAT ) -While the brutal winter storms across the U.S. are difficult for humans, they also put wildlife at risk, particularly cold-blooded reptiles, like sea turtles. Fortunately, instead of staying home and trying to keep warm during massive power outages, volunteers in coastal Texas are braving stormy waters and cold weather by boat or on foot to haul in cold-stunned sea turtles.

The story includes a slideshow.

Feb. 19, 2021 (ZME Science) -Scientists have resurrected a black-footed ferret after it died more than three decades ago — well, sort of. Using modern techniques, the dead ferret’s DNA was used to produce a perfectly healthy clone, marking the first time scientists have cloned an endangered species in the United States.

Feb. 17, 2021 (The Revelator) -Oceanic sharks and rays live so far from land that the average person is unlikely to ever see them. But these species, which live in the vast open ocean, are also among the most revered, and include the great white shark and the giant manta ray. For millennia, their remoteness has allowed these species to largely avoid humans. But since the early 1950s, industrial-scale fishing fleets have been able to reach distant waters and gradually spread to exploit the entire global ocean.

Feb. 11, 2021 (ZME Science)-A new study from the Simon Fraser University (SFU) warns that one of the most distinctive marine species — sawfish — are at real risk of extinction due to overfishing.

Sawfishes have already disappeared from roughly half of their known range, the authors report, as overfishing is driving their numbers into the ground. The species used to be quite a common sight for around 90 coastal countries around the globe, but are now one of the most threatened family of ocean fish and presumed extinct in 46 of those nations. A further 18 countries presume at least one species of sawfish to be locally extinct, while 28 others presume at least two.

Feb. 7, 2021 (Mercury News)- Heart disease isn’t just the leading cause of death for humans in the United States. It’s also increasingly killing sea otters, especially adults in their prime — and now scientists know why.

Long-term exposure to domoic acid, which leaches from algae during toxic blooms commonly known as “red tides” and accumulates in sea otters’ favorite seafoods, is to blame, the researchers say. Algae blooms are becoming more frequent as climate change drives ocean temperatures up.

Jan. 27, 2021 (Science) -Shark populations in the high seas have fallen by 71% since 1970, researchers have found. The main cause is overfishing, which has put three-quarters of these species at risk of extinction.

“It’s the first big picture” of the decline in sharks, says Nuno Queiroz, a marine ecologist at the Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources who was not involved with the research. The new global perspective, he says, “gives you an idea how pervasive the fishing has been.”

Jan. 20, 2021 (NBC NEWS)- The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday.

Jan. 20, 2021 (NY Times Climate Forward) -A Washington State report put it bluntly: Because of the devastating effects of climate change and deteriorating habitats, several species of salmon in the Pacific Northwest are “on the brink of extinction.”

Of the 14 species of salmon and steelhead trout in Washington State that have been deemed endangered and are protected under the Endangered Species Act, 10 are lagging recovery goals and five of those are considered “in crisis,” according to the 2020 State of Salmon in Watersheds report, which was released in mid-January.

Jan. 18, 2021(ZME Science)-Pressures from human activity is putting parrot species at risk of extinction all around the world. As such, the future of these birds is firmly in the hands of policy makers in Australia and other areas where parrots are endemic, the authors explain. Agriculture and logging are the biggest culprits that the team identified, but other events (such as the Australian wildfires of last year) are also contributing to the problem.

Jan. 14, 2021(ZME Science)-A group of six park rangers was ambushed and killed at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The park, home of about a third of the world’s mountain gorillas, has been subject to repeated attacks over the years from poachers, loggers, rebels, and militia groups, with no clear solution in sight.

Jan. 6, 2021(NY Times Climate Forward)-The Trump administration gutted protections for migratory birds on Tuesday, delivering the second of two parting gifts to the oil and gas industry, which has long sought to be shielded from liability for killing birds unintentionally in oil spills, toxic waste ponds and other environmental disasters.

The move, by the Department of the Interior, came a day after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized another regulation that had long been sought by fossil fuel companies and other major polluting industries: A measure that effectively bars some scientific studies from consideration when the agency is drafting public health rules.

Dec. 31, 2020(The Guardian)-Australia is planning to build Antarctica’s biggest infrastructure project: a new airport and runway that would increase the human footprint in the world’s greatest wilderness by an estimated 40%.

The mega-scheme is likely to involve blasting petrel rookeries, disturbing penguin colonies and encasing a stretch of the wilderness in more than 115,000 tonnes of concrete.

(National Geographic), Dec. 30, 2020, -Looking at the animal skin that had been shipped to him in England from Australia, George Shaw, the keeper of the natural history collection at the British Museum at the turn of the 19th century, was dumbfounded. It was as though someone had taken the webbed feet and bill of a duck and jammed them on to the torso of a fuzzy four-legged mammal. Though he eventually accepted the platypus as authentic, at first he wondered whether someone had stitched various creatures together as a joke.

Two centuries later, the platypus continues to astound scientists. Along with the four species of echidnas, they’re the only mammals that lay eggs. They’re also one of only a few venomous mammals: Male platypuses have poisonous spurs that can cause as much pain as hundreds of hornet stings. (Recently their venom was also found to contain a hormone that might help treat diabetes.)

(Oregon Public Broadcasting), Dec 29, 2020, -Researchers have long known that dwindling salmon runs, water pollution and loud underwater boat noise are major contributors to the reduced number of orcas along the West Coast.

Now, a ten-year study of killer whale carcasses found washed up on beaches in the eastern Pacific Ocean has found a significant number who died from more direct human causes.

“This study was really a decade-long look at what do killer whales die from, from California to Alaska all the way out to Hawaii,” said Joe Gaydos, a wildlife veterinarian with UC Davis who participated in the study. “The idea is that, if we can figure that out, we might be able to find some ways that we can further help recover the endangered population, like Southern residents.”

(ZME Science), Dec. 22, 2020 - Wildlife trafficking has become such a major problem that conservationists are warning that many species are now at risk of extinction due to it. Not only that, but experts warn that wildlife trafficking increases the risk of zoonotic diseases jumping from animals to humans.

The year currently winding down wasn’t just a tough one for us, but also for most creatures on Earth, due to increasing threats. You can assume conservationists have their work cut out for 2021, especially given how an ever-increasing number of animals is threatened by extinction (and the threats aren’t always clear-cut).

That said, it is no surprise that the Center for Biological Diversity sounded a Dec. 18 alarm in the form of a news release over the diamondback terrapin and revealed a new report that talks about trafficking.

(ZME Science), Dec. 14, 2020 -A concerning number of the world’s plant and animal species are at risk of extinction, according to the latest update of the IUCN Red List, an account of threatened species carried out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Still, not all is lost: there are some notable success stories this year, showing that there are still ways to promote conservation.

(The Guardian), Dec. 12, 2020 - Before the stay-at-home orders of 2020 kept him in one place for months on end, David Attenborough had never sat in his garden and listened to the birds. Not properly, he says, not determinedly “swotting up with a notebook and keeping a bird list”.

The foremost figure in natural-world broadcasting (so admired by naturalists around the planet, he has three types of plant as well as a spider, snail, grasshopper, frog, lizard, marsupial lion and shark-like fish named after him) hardly paid attention to the wildlife on his doorstep until lockdown forced his hand. From spring through to autumn, he says, he sat outside with a pencil and made a determined effort to identify every species he could hear. Blackbirds. Thrushes. Jays. Blue tits and great tits. Swifts.

(Center for Biological Diversity), Dec. 10, 2020 -An updated assessment released today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature found that 28% of evaluated species of plants and animals around the globe are now at risk of extinction.

Seventeen freshwater fish from the Phillipines were declared extinct, along with three frogs from Central America. Conservation has helped some tropical frogs, but 22 species from Central and South America were deemed possibly extinct, as was the lost shark from the South China Sea.

The new update to the Red List of Threatened Species identifies 35,765 species as belonging to an extinction risk category out of 128,918 for which there is enough information to determine their conservation status.

(ZME Science), Dec. 10, 2020 -The devastating Australian bushfires of 2019-2020 harmed up to 3 billion animals, burning almost half the country in the process. Many species, including the pygmy possum, were feared extinct. Now, for the first time since the fires, one possum has been found, raising hopes that the species may yet survive.

The pygmy possum, one of the smallest possums in the world, was feared extinct, but recently, the conservation group Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife found the little pygmy during their recent conservation efforts on Kangaroo Island.

(Sierra Sun Times), Nov. 29, 2020 -The EPA released a draft biological evaluation on Wednesday finding that glyphosate is likely to injure or kill 93% of the plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The long-anticipated draft biological evaluation released by the agency’s pesticide office found that 1,676 endangered species are likely to be harmed by glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and the world’s most-used pesticide.

The draft biological opinion also found that glyphosate adversely modifies critical habitat for 759 endangered species, or 96% of all species for which critical habitat has been designated.

(ZME Science), Nov. 25, 2020 -Pollution regulations in the U.S. are helping people and birds both, a new study reports. The findings showcase how federal measures meant to reduce ozone pollution likely prevented around 1.5 billion bird deaths over the past 40 years, roughly one-fifth of the US’ current bird population.

Keeping our environment clean and tidy benefits everybody quite literally. The effects of pollution on public health have been investigated in the past, but it also affects wildlife. The current study comes to flesh out our understanding of its effects on the general health of bird species.

The study was conducted by scientists at Cornell University and the University of Oregon. They based their research on a series of models from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird program, which they ran alongside ground-level pollution data, to track monthly changes in bird abundance, air quality, and regulation status for 3,214 U.S. counties over a span of 15 years.

(ZME Science), Nov. 23, 2020 -Tim Flach, a London-based nature artist, is not your typical photographer. He’s renowned for his meticulous, marvelously-lit photography of various animals, from common creatures like ducks or domestic dogs and horses to the exotic and endangered.

One of Flach’s signature styles is portraying his subjects intimately, emphasizing their expressive, almost human-like qualities. This is perhaps most illustrated in his latest project of birds from across the globe, from the Peruvian Inca tern to the Toco toucan.

(Center for Biological Diversity), Nov. 5, 2020 -The EPA released an assessment today finding that the endocrine-disrupting pesticide atrazine is likely to harm more than 1,000 of the nation’s most endangered plants and animals.

The finding is a result of the agency’s first-ever nationwide assessment of an herbicide’s harm to protected species, an analysis that’s required by the Endangered Species Act.

The assessment’s release comes just two months after the EPA re-approved the pesticide’s use for another 15 years.

“Finally the EPA has been forced to acknowledge atrazine’s far-reaching harms,” said Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. ”This alarming assessment leaves no doubt that this hideously dangerous pesticide should be banned in the U.S., just as it is across much of the world.”

(StarTribune), Oct. 29, 2020 -Federal wildlife officials are removing the gray wolf from the U.S. Endangered Species Act list, saying the wolf population — an estimated 6,000 roaming the continental U.S. — has recovered and the animal no longer requires federal protection.

The national delisting decision, to be announced Thursday, turns management of the wolves over to states to handle as they see fit.

The Amboseli Trust for Elephants aims to ensure the long-term conservation and welfare of Africa’s elephants in the context of human needs and pressures through scientific research, training, community outreach, public awareness and advocacy.

An international Animal Conservation Charity in Conjunction with Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks.

Mission: to halt extinction of rare and endangered species and return them to the wild where possible.

It's the longest-running and most successful conservation project dedicated to cheetah survival.

Their signature programs, addressing human-wildlife conflict, livelihood development, education and habitat restoration, have stabilized the wild cheetah population of Namibia – the world’s largest — and have helped launch sister programs in several other cheetah range countries. None of this would not be possible without you.

Joel Sartore has traveled the world for more than 25 years, photographing subjects from tiny to terrifying.

These images are not to be missed.

Born from one family’s passion for Kenya and its wilderness, the Trust is today the most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world and one of the pioneering conservation organizations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is dedicated to the conservation, protection and study of gorillas and their habitats in Africa. Our successful, integrated approach includes close collaboration with local governments and communities as well as partners from around the world

Explore 15,000 of the world’s endangered species. With over 100,000 photos and videos, discover what these animals, plants and fungi look like, what makes them special and why we should protect them.

The EDGE of Existence program is the only global conservation initiative to focus specifically on threatened species that represent a significant amount of unique evolutionary history.

See article upon article covering threats to the endangered natural world.

Set up to address fish & wildlife, hunting and game mamagement, fisheries, law enforcement, habitat ans species conservation and more.

We're counting on the commitment of our members to help our fight to uphold the Endangered Species Act and defend the wild plants, animals and places we all love.

The Endangered Species Act has an unmatched record of success and has put hundreds of species on the path to recovery, but countless plants and animals are still clinging to existence. Their futures depend on the Center for Biological Diversity and the strength of the Endangered Species Act, and we depend on you.

World of the Wild is a unique game that gives users an opportunity to participate in fun gameplay while contributing to real life wildlife conservation efforts. This app gamifies the concept of saving animals and allows you to rescue, rehabilitate and care for animals and habitats within your own carefully crafted world. Each animal in the app represents a real-life charity!

Partnered with 18 charities, World of the Wild offers unique facts and pop quizzes and will allow users to rescue animals in need! The game will empower the global community and transform online culture while restoring the natural world. It's a change to the status quo; utilising online activism to achieve tangible results in conservation.

The (NWPR) is a 22,000 square foot office and warehouse located northeast of Denver, Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. The facility is responsible for receiving wildlife items that have been forfeited or abandoned to the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service.

By law, these items are stored in a secure environment, many of which are donated to educational facilities, nonprofit organizations, and conservation agencies to aid in teaching about endangered species and other wildlife.

Learn about the earth's species and how they are endangered.

Planet Earth teems with life. And now you can meet some of its stars!

Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.

Humans are generating climate-altering greenhouse gases at a rate that will forever alter our world’s ecosystem...

There Statement: “It’s very simple: We cannot condone the dilution of the role of science in protecting endangered and threatened wildlife,” said WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper.