Sept. 18, 2025 -The Soviet Union (USSR) is a thing most people today know only from memory or history books. And many parts of its history are unsavory, to say the least. But Operation Beluga (‘Belukha’ in Russian) isn’t one of those.

Operation Beluga was not your typical Cold War covert ops. It involved sending an ice-breaker and blasting classical music at full volume to save a pack of thousands of whales that were trapped by ice in the Chukchi Peninsula.

Sept. 18, 2025 -Off the coast of Tuscany is a tiny island in the shape of a crescent moon. An hour from mainland Italy, Giannutri has just two beaches for boats to dock.

It was Giannutri’s isolation that drew scientists here. They were seeking a unique open-air laboratory to answer a question that has long intrigued ecologists: could honeybees be causing their wild bee cousins to decline?

To answer this, they carried out a radical experiment. While Giannutri is too far from the mainland for honeybees to fly to it, 18 hives were set up on the island in 2018: a relatively contained, recently established population. Researchers got permission to shut the hives down, effectively removing most honeybees from the island.

Sept. 17, 2025 -Since its demise in the 17th century, the dodo has long been synonymous with extinction. But thousands of dodos could soon again populate Mauritius, the species’ former home, according to a “de-extinction” company that has announced a major breakthrough in its quest to resurrect the flightless bird.

Colossal Biosciences said on Wednesday it has succeeded in growing pigeon primordial germ cells, precursor cells to sperm and eggs, for the first time. This is a “pivotal step” in bringing back the dodo, which was a type of pigeon, for the first time in more than 300 years, according to Colossal.

Sept. 16, 2025 -Gila monsters are shrouded in mystery. The venomous, desert-dwelling lizards spend most of their lives underground and out of sight, only coming up to the surface occasionally to hunt for food, bask in the sun or find a mate.

These hefty reptiles that look like they’re covered with Halloween-colored beadwork are so introverted that scientists aren’t even certain how many of them exist across their range, which spans the American Southwest and northwestern Mexico. What is known is that their population is decreasing—the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as a “near-threatened” species due to challenges like human development and invasive species.

Sept. 14, 2025 - In Washington, the tufted puffin has seen a 90% reduction in population in recent decades with fewer than 2,000 of the birds remaining on the West Coast. The bird isn’t at risk for extinction (over a million still live in Alaska), but when Washington listed the species as endangered in 2015, the agency wrote that with the current rate of decline, the state’s population could be gone by 2055.

The reasons for the tufted puffins’ decline in the Northwest isn’t fully understood. Researchers here are seeking answers before it might be too late to bring these populations back from the brink.

Sept. 12, 2025 -A recent study has revealed that the majority of shark meat available to American shoppers is mislabeled, with much of it coming from endangered species.

The research, conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tested products from supermarkets, fish markets and online retailers. Astonishingly, 93% of the samples were either falsely labeled or so vaguely described that buyers had no way of knowing the species they were eating. Only one item carried an accurate, species-specific label.

Sept. 7, 2025 - Every year beginning in October, thousands of humpback whales start to leave their warm nurseries in the Eastern Tropical Pacific—an ocean stretch spanning the west coast of Mexico to the northern tip of Peru—to embark on a remarkable and hazardous journey of more than 5,000 miles to feed in Antarctica.

As they travel to the Southern Ocean they must navigate a gauntlet of obstacles, from busy shipping lanes to lost or abandoned fishing gear called “ghost nets” that drift in the abyss, posing a constant risk of entanglement. Against these odds, the whales continue to chart their course, relying on instinct and memory, the Earth’s magnetic field, ocean currents, underwater mountain ranges and other topography to reach their final destination.

August 28, 2025 -For many centuries Oak Flat has played a fundamental role in the culture of Western Apache tribes, including the San Carlos Apache. Countless generations have used the site for religious and coming-of-age ceremonies and have gathered medicinal plants and acorns from its majestic oaks.

Adjacent Ga'an Canyon is a place “where the spiritual beings that represent healing live,” according to a San Carlos tribal historic preservation officer. Another tribal expert has said that Oak Flat is “the best set of Apache archaeological sites ever documented.”

August 26, 2025 -The Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday that Secretary Kristi Noem has waived the protections of the Endangered Species Act and other federal statutes to “ensure the expeditious construction” of the border wall through the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

Funds were appropriated for border wall construction in the Rio Grande Valley during the first Trump administration. Now, the administration is eyeing this biodiverse area in Starr County for its next stage of border fortification.

Aug. 21, 2025 -Stretching 155 miles (250km) across the peninsula and 2.4 miles wide, the DMZ is anything but demilitarised. It remains one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, strewn with landmines and flanked by military installations on both sides.

Yet, in the 72 years since the war ended, this forbidden strip has become an accidental ecological paradise.

South Korea’s National Institute of Ecology has documented nearly 6,000 species here, including more than 100 endangered species – representing more than a third of South Korea’s threatened wildlife.

August 20, 2025 -It didn’t look good for the dusky gopher frog. By the early 2000s, scientists knew of fewer than 100 adults left at a single seasonal pond in southern Mississippi, and that population faced an imminent threat: The water kept drying up before the tadpoles turned into frogs, killing them. Then, to make things worse, a parasite hit. A few survivors were taken into captivity. They refused to mate.

But two decades later, the frog’s trajectory has turned around. While the species remains critically endangered and still relies on intensive interventions, its numbers have grown to around 600 adults, spread out over some 15 ponds and a handful of captive populations that now produce offspring.

August 17, 2025 -The scientists’ spirits were flagging. They’d been searching for orangutans in isolated patches of jungle across Sumatra, trying to see where the ape had improbably hung on outside its known range in the northern part of the island.

“As this trip went on, we became increasingly depressed,” said Serge Wich, a professor of primate biology at Liverpool John Moores University who was part of the team, “because there were no orangutans in any of these areas.”

It wasn’t until they reached the last site on their list that they found what they were looking for: intricate nests high in the trees. The discovery was a revelation—a new group of the critically endangered ape—so the scientists established a research station to gather more data.

August 15, 2025 -The project's noise pollution would disrupt belugas' feeding, communication, and mother-calf bonding in a population already hanging by a thread. Only about 330 of these special whales are left in the wild, down from 1,300 just a few decades ago.

This export terminal would also be a climate disaster, locking us into decades of fossil fuel extraction and burning when transitioning to renewable energy is more urgent than ever.

Take action to stop this reckless project from hurting Cook Inlet's one-of-a-kind belugas — and the whole planet's future.

August 14, 2025 -A federal judge has agreed to let the Trump administration remove federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, an imperiled grouse long caught in a tug of war between industry and conservationists.

In May, federal officials had filed a court briefing asking for this outcome, arguing that the science behind a Biden-era decision to place the prairie chicken on the endangered species list was deeply flawed.

August 12, 2025 -Toastier fall weather might cause migrating monarch butterflies to wing it and change their flight plans, starting the countdown toward death.

Eastern monarchs captured during their autumn migration and exposed to warm temperatures in the lab came out of their usual reproductive hiatus, evolutionary biologist Ken Fedorka and colleagues report August 12 in Royal Society Open Science. Breaking that hiatus means the butterflies will likely die sooner than they normally would.

August 6, 2025 -A landmark law passed more than 50 years ago to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals in U.S. waters could be upended by amendments proposed on July 22 during a legislative hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries.

Republican representative Nicholas Begich of Alaska proposed changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that some scientists say would eviscerate it.

August 5, 2025 -“Dixie Caverns salamanders are some of the most imperiled animals in the world and they desperately need Endangered Species Act protections to keep them from going extinct,” said Trisha Sharma, a legal fellow at the Center. “These sparkly little salamanders are an irreplaceable part of what makes caves and forests in the Southeast so special. It’s up to the Fish and Wildlife Service to act urgently to protect them and the places they live before it’s too late.”

These salamanders are generally small and slender, with white and brassy flecks along their dark bodies. The salamanders were discovered in the Dixie Caverns cave system in Roanoke, where their populations have declined in the last several decades.

August 5, 2025 -A mysterious illness has killed billions of sea stars in the past decade. After a four-year search, scientists have uncovered the culprit: a bacterium known as Vibrio pectenicida. The team reported its findings this week in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The strange illness is known as sea star wasting disease, and it causes starfish to disintegrate to death. It is the largest marine epidemic among noncommercial species that has ever been documented, and it has affected more than 20 species of sea stars along the Pacific Coast of North America.

August 4, 2025 -It starts with a twist. One arm pretzels in on itself. Then another. Then another.

Before long, the writhing arms detach from the body and begin crawling away zombielike on their own. The skin festers with lesions and internal organs ooze out from the inside. By the end, the starfish is nothing more than a puddle of goo.

This scene worthy of a horror movie has replayed billions of times along the Pacific Coast. Over the past decade, a mysterious wasting disease has ravaged some 20 species of starfish, also called sea stars, from Alaska to Baja California in Mexico.

July 30, 2025 -The CBD petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to protect the LeConte’s thrasher under the Endangered Species Act.

LeConte’s thrashers, native to arid desert habitats of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, have lost nearly 70% of their U.S. population over the past 50 years, primarily because of destructive sprawl development and other habitat degradation in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona.

July 29, 2025 -Sharks are ancient sea animals that deserve both our awe and protection. These mysterious — and often misunderstood — creatures play an important role in ocean ecosystems, helping to maintain the food web and support habitats like coral reefs and kelp forests.

But in many countries, sharks are still caught and cruelly carved up for their fins.

Mexico, a major shark-fishing nation, is one of the worst offenders. In 2023, 46,000 metric tons of sharks were killed in Mexico's waters, including critically endangered oceanic whitetip sharks. Meanwhile government officials have failed to adopt the same prohibitions the United States and other countries have put in place to protect sharks from being slaughtered for their fins

July 23, 2025 -The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service today to protect the cusk fish under the Endangered Species Act. The cusk is a long-lived bottom-dwelling marine fish that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean and is primarily threatened by habitat loss and by being accidentally caught in fishing nets aimed at other species.

“These poor fish have been overlooked and neglected as their population has taken a nosedive,” said David Derrick, a staff attorney at the Center. “It’ll take the Endangered Species Act’s strong protections to stop the overfishing and habitat degradation putting the cusk’s existence at risk. We owe it to the cusk and the ocean ecosystem to make that effort.”

July 21, 2025 -Hundreds of captive-bred, critically endangered frogs are managing to survive after being released at a fast-flowing mountain stream near Mount Beauty in Victoria, with some moving a “considerable distance” from the release point.

More than 600 spotted tree frogs have joined dwindling wild populations in the Kiewa River, as part of a Zoos Victoria conservation breeding program to boost numbers and genetic diversity after 50% of the frog’s Victorian habitat was severely burnt in the 2019-20 black summer bushfires.

July 29, 2025 -The Service’s 2024 decision to deny life-saving Endangered Species Act protections to the North Oregon Coast population echoes a similar 2019 Trump administration denial, which also sparked a lawsuit. Those decisions were made despite studies showing that these red tree voles are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, largely due to logging and climate change-fueled wildfires.

“Red tree voles have graced Oregon’s coastal old-growth forests for thousands of years, but we could lose them forever if they don’t get Endangered Species Act protections soon,” said Ryan Shannon, a senior attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity’s endangered species program.

July 16, 2025 -Tiny but mighty, honeybees play a crucial role in our ecosystems, pollinating various plants and crops. They also support the economy. These small producers contribute billions of dollars to Canada’s agriculture industry, making Canada a major honey producer.

However, in the winter of 2024, Canada’s honey industry faced a severe collapse. Canada lost more than one-third of its beehives, primarily due to the widespread infestation of Varroa mites.

July 14, 2024 -It is a beautiful sunny day on the island of Jeju in South Korea and as the boat cuts through the water all seems calm and clear. Then they start to appear – one telltale fin and then another. Soon, a pod of eight or nine dolphins can be seen moving through the sea, seemingly following the path of the boat.

But as they start to jump and dive, fins cutting through the air, it becomes apparent that one dolphin is missing the appendage, his body breaking the surface but without the telltale profile of his companions. His name, given to him by a local environmental group, is Orae, which literally translates as “long”, but in this context means “wishing him a long life”.

July 27, 2025 -The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a rejection of the state of Alaska’s petition to strip the Arctic ringed seal of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“I’m so relieved these adorable seals will keep their Endangered Species Act protections,” said Marlee Goska, Alaska staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The science is overwhelmingly clear that climate change is threatening the seals’ existence. The court rightly recognized there’s no scientific or legal reason for Alaska’s cruel attempt to strip away safeguards these seals need to survive our rapidly heating world.”

July 10, 2024 -It looks much like any other toad. It’s plump and green with warty brown spots and vibrant golden eyes. When threatened, though, the Sonoran Desert toad does something extraordinary: It secretes a powerful psychedelic compound from specialized skin glands.

But that potent chemical defense might now be a liability for survival because of a spike in interest in psychedelic drugs.

July 8, 2025 - In a major victory for one of America’s most imperiled marsh birds, a federal court today sided with the Center for Biological Diversity and Healthy Gulf by striking down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to designate critical habitat for the eastern black rail in Louisiana, Texas and other Gulf Coast states.

“Habitat loss is driving the eastern black rail to the brink of extinction and this decision recognizes that the Fish and Wildlife Service can’t ignore that reality,” said Kristine Akland, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Protecting wetlands is essential if this secretive little bird is going to have a fighting chance to survive rising seas and relentless development.”

July 8, 2025 -A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to make a long-overdue decision on whether to expand critical habitat for Arizona’s highly endangered Mount Graham red squirrels. The squirrels are the most endangered terrestrial animal in the United States

The ruling, issued late Monday, found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unreasonably delayed its decision on a December 2017 petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Audubon Society seeking critical habitat expansion for the squirrels, who’ve been pushed out of their original southern Arizona habitat.

July 2, 2025 -One of the most troubling paradoxes of trying to save endangered species is when other animals are killed. Wolves are shot in Canada to rescue ailing caribou. Barred owls are shotgunned in Pacific Northwest forests for the sake of their smaller cousins, the spotted owls.

Conservationists in Scotland have hit on another possible approach: Feeding predators to make them so fat and happy that they won’t bother killing a protected animal.

June 24, 2025 -More than 500 bird species could vanish within the next century, researchers have found, calling for urgent “special recovery programmes” such as captive breeding and habitat restoration to rescue unique species.

Birds such as the puffin, European turtle dove and great bustard will be among those to disappear from our skies if trends continue, according to the paper. Their loss threatens to unravel ecosystems across the globe.

June 22, 2025 -Biologists have launched a database of marine animals’ body sizes that they say could help preserve biodiversity in Earth’s oceans.

Why bother measuring animals’ body size? In an article in Global Ecology and Biogeography, researchers write that body size affects animals in a multitude of ways, from their behavior and favorite foods to their physiology and habitat choices.

June 22, 2025 -The Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal calls for the defunding of the bee lab and other federally funded wildlife research efforts. Bracing for these cuts, priorities have shifted for the lab, which has collected and identified more than 1 million specimens of pollinators, hundreds of thousands of which are slotted away in its modest walls. Active field work is on pause. No new research projects have begun.

Click now to learn more.

May 1, 2025 -This project focuses on biodiversity: the variety of all life on our planet. It highlights the crisis represented by huge losses of animal, insect, bird and plant life around the world, as well as innovations to tackle these losses.

Click now for a detailed lineup of biodiversity threatening stories.

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.