In a valuable milestone for the conservation of the Sumatran tiger subspecies, 3 cubs born to a UK zoo have grown old enough to venture out from the maternity den into the enclosure.
It’s thought there are less than 400 Sumatran tigers remaining in the wilds of Indonesia, and they are considered Critically-Endangered by the IUCN.
Tipah and her litter of cubs – credit Tony Kershaw via SWNS
Howletts Wild Animal Park, in Canterbury, Kent, said the cubs’ births represent an important step forward for the conservation of this cat beyond its natural habitat.
The 3 cubs, 2 girls and 1 boy, were born to first-time mom Tipah and dad Nakal and are just 2 months old.
They were born on April 9th and spent their first few weeks with mom Tipah in their den—but in recent weeks have begun to venture outside to the delight of a photographer there to capture their sensory overload.
“Tipah has taken every step of this journey with calmness, patience and a natural ability to be a fantastic mom,” said Head of Carnivores at Howletts Richard Langston said.
“She spends most of her time up on a platform keeping a watchful eye on them while enjoying a little respite from all the jumping, biting and playing that comes with raising energetic tiger cubs.”
GNN has reported on this cat being born in zoos before—at the Wroclaw and San Diego zoos. It’s considered an important priority animal for captive breeding programs, which have saved many species from extinction in the past.
The park added the cubs were becoming increasingly bold and playful, exploring more of their surroundings and beginning to show their individual personalities.
One cub has already developed an independent streak, often choosing to spend time away from its siblings.
Red Ruffed Lemur Triplets – credit, Wild Adventure Theme Park
A Critically-Endangered lemur couple has welcomed triplets into their lives at a zoo and theme park in Valdosta, Georgia.
It’s the third year in a row the resident female has given birth at Wild Adventures Theme Park, showing how productive captive breeding programs can be, and how much hope one should have about the future of this beautiful species.
The red-ruffed lemur is many things, all of them interesting or beautiful. At 9.5 pounds, it’s one of the largest extant lemurs, while this heft also makes it the world’s largest pollinator.
It’s fuzzy nose is just perfect for snagging a flower’s pollen and sharing it with another as the animal feeds on fruit and nectar. They’re also one of the most fecund of lemurs, capable of giving birth to litters of 6 at a time, and are the world’s only diurnal primate to stow their infants in nests while going out to forage.
Most cling to their mama as she clambers about.
On April 25th, Taylor, Red, and Marjorie came into the world at Wild Adventures Theme Park, lending their spirits to the 590 or so red ruffed lemurs that live in captivity worldwide.
Their parents, Val and Doug, have welcomed a litter of babies every year since 2023. Taylor, Red, and Marjorie are getting along very well with their siblings Swiper, Raven, Beans, and Dennis.
The species is listed by the IUCN as Critically-Endangered, with some 10,000 remaining in the very northern tip of Madagascar in forests that are rapidly disappearing. Successful breeding between pairs like Val and Doug at Wild Adventures help ensure that if those forests can be saved, there will likely always be lemurs around to inhabit them.“Very soon guests will be able to see Taylor, Red, and Marjorie, alongside their parents in their habitat located near the Giraffe Overlook,” said Asher Raymond, a spokesman for the park. Critically-Endangered Red Ruffed Lemur Triplets Born at Wild Georgia Theme Park
Acropora latistella (Table coral) in the Coral Triangle – credit, Nhobgood Nick Hobgood CC 3.0. SA
In the legendary Coral Triangle, where the Pacific and Indian Oceans meet, 200,000 square kilometers of tropical seas will be off limits to fishing thanks to bold conservation action by Papua New Guinea.
The newly-designated Western Manus Marine Protected Area (MPA) will form part of the newly established Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves, a network of national and jointly managed protected areas spanning Fiji, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
Revealed at the inaugural Melanesian Ocean Summit in Port Moresby in mid-May, the Western Manus ocean region in PNG’s territorial waters is characterized by undersea mountains and volcanoes, ridgelines, and canyons, harboring remarkable biodiversity.
Scientists have called it a “marine highway” connecting shallow corals with deep water zones bursting with pelagic life: orcas that migrate there seasonally, the giant deep-sea fish known as a yokozuna slickhead, Cuvier’s beaked whale, and over a hundred species of coral.
“Papua New Guinea is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet,” said Jelta Wong, minister of the country’s National Fisheries Authority. “Establishing the Western Manus Marine Protected Area will allow us to preserve and protect our ecological legacy and, at the same time, ensure that our ocean continues to provide people with what we need – food and a source of income.”
Located in the north of PNG’s territorial waters, the 77,000 square-mile reserve covers seas which account for 10% of the country’s tuna fisheries, and about 6.7% of all fishing output. However, as Oceanographic Magazine writes, previous research has found that once MPAs have been established, catch rates tend to increase in boundary areas—the result of a spillover effect from a robust and unharmed natural environment.
The decision comes as part of PNG’s commitment to conserve 30% of its territorial waters.
The Western Manus area was included in the survey itinerary of the National Geographic Pristine Sea’s expedition, which sought to document the biodiversity of the Coral Triangle over 2 years.
What they found was one of the world’s healthiest and most diverse coral ecosystems, but with warning signs that not all might be well. Shark populations were low—a clear hint at overfishing for other predatory fish like tuna.
The 200,000 square kilometers that encompass the MPA weren’t selected at random. Instead, key mobile species were tracked to get a sense of the movements of animals between the deep sea and the coral reefs. Grey reef sharks obliged the surveyors, while seabirds capable of foraging 200 miles a day were also consulted.
“Our ancestors have always lived in harmony with the sea, but today, we are writing a new chapter for our children,” stated Powes Parkop, governor of the National Capital District, who grew up in Manus Province.
DNA floating in seawater is now enough to let scientists monitor the health of America’s dolphin populations.
Sampling DNA in seawater can show the local presence (or absence) of a species, but until now could give little information about those measures of biodiversity that are the most useful in conservation.
But, scientists in the US have now shown that mitochondrial DNA in water sampled near schools of dolphins contains enough information to measure their local effective population size—and monitor the health of these populations.
DNA is everywhere in the world’s oceans—not only inside cells from skin, scales, mucous, and feces, but also floating freely. Sequencing such ‘environmental DNA’ (eDNA) from open water has long been used as a cost-effective way of gauging the number and identity of species in a region, especially when they are rare and elusive or living at great depths.
But species richness is only the most basic biodiversity measure. Until now, eDNA-based methods could only give limited insight into the variables that are most relevant for conservation: the number of individuals, the evenness of the abundances of co-occurring species, or their within-species genetic diversity.
But that may be about to change, shows a new groundbreaking study in Frontiers in Marine Science.
“Here we show that repeated eDNA sampling can be used to estimate the genetic diversity of dolphins that occur in large schools and have very large populations,” said corresponding author Dr Frederick Archer from the NOAA/NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California.
“This is important because genetic diversity, its outcome measure, can be used as a measure of population size and how ready a population is to react to changes in its environment.”
Around Santa Catalina Island, located 47 km off Long Beach, California, the researchers followed 15 schools of dolphins with small boats in 2021. They focused on the four most common species locally: long-beaked common dolphins, short-beaked common dolphins, common bottlenose dolphins, and Risso’s dolphins.
Whenever they encountered a school, the researchers collected two-liter samples of seawater from the surface to compare the mitochondrial eDNA with that in public databases.
The scientists found 836 mitochondrial sequence variants in 126 water samples, of which 76% were from cetaceans and 60% from toothed whales. Overall, 29% were from the species of the school, which had been visually identified.
Long-beaked common dolphins had the greatest genetic diversity, followed by short-beaked common dolphins, while Risso’s and bottlenose dolphins proved much less diverse around Santa Catalina.
“Our study demonstrates the utility [of eDNA surveys] for efficiently assessing and comparing genetic diversity in social odontocetes,” concluded the authors.
Theory holds water
The authors are eager to put their methods to good use in conservation, now that they have been proven to work.
“It would be good to start eDNA monitoring programs as soon as possible that were not possible before. For example, we will be able to see how species composition in very small areas change over the course of a year – including rarer species that we don’t often detect on visual surveys,” said Archer.
Tropical rainforests are known for their unique biodiversity, with species found nowhere else on Earth. But nearly 30% of tropical rainforest has been destroyed or has become seriously degraded since 1990. Many of these forests have not been fully explored for their biodiversity. This means that the world may be losing species before they are even discovered by modern science.
Greatly lagging in this respect are the “sky islands” of northern Mozambique: isolated granite mountains that rise sharply out of the savanna plains. They were left standing when softer rock around them gradually eroded, and can be as high as 3,000 metres elevation. Because they rise so steeply, the sky islands attract clouds and rainfall, feeding moisture to the tropical rainforests on their slopes within an otherwise arid terrain. Isolation has allowed unique species to evolve on each mountain, such as geckos, rodents, fishes, crabs, frogs, butterflies and bats.
Small patch of remaining pristine rainforest at Mount Inago. Krystal Tolley, CC BY
From 2014 to 2018, a research team led by fellow herpetologist Werner Conradie and myself explored these sky island forests to catalogue the species of reptiles found there. We found that each sky island forest is home to a previously unknown species of chameleon within the genus Nadzikambia (forest-dwelling “sylvan chameleons”).
Unfortunately, these chameleons are already at risk of extinction due to the heavy slash-and-burn clearing of the forests, the only place they can call home.
We’ve described these new species, choosing four names to highlight pioneering women scientists whose work inspired us to strive towards new discoveries, but also to call attention to the losses of their forest habitat.
Hunting for chameleons
Over the course of several years, we explored four of Mozambique’s sky islands – Mount Namuli, Mount Inago, Mount Chiperone and Mount Ribáuè – with the aim of cataloguing all reptiles but also in the hopes of finding new species of chameleons. This was because a species of sylvan chameleon had been discovered on one of these mountains during the 1960s, but they were not known from any other mountains.
However, chameleons can be very difficult to find, given their ability to remain camouflaged against the background coupled with their slow movements. They are more easily spotted at night while they are sleeping, as they stand out against the vegetation when illuminated by a strong beam of light. Sylvan chameleons are even more difficult to spot than others, as they usually perch high in the thick forest canopy – tens of metres up.
The search meant dealing with some tough conditions: a long, arduous trek up the hot, arid slopes to reach the forest high up the mountain. Establishing a remote base camp was essential. All food, clothes and gear had to be packed into the camp, and we didn’t know how long it would take to find any animals.
At each of these mountains, we surveyed every night for chameleons – no trails to follow, no GPS signal to guide us, no cellphone signal to call for help.
Sometimes we were lucky and found chameleons on the first or second night. At other mountains we were not so lucky, with fruitless searches making it necessary to return another year.
Eventually these mountains revealed their secrets and we discovered four new species of sylvan chameleon, one on each of the four mountains.
Slash-and-burn clearing of rainforest at Mount Inago. Krystal Tolley, CC BY
We don’t know how big their populations are, but we assume they are in decline. Most of their habitat has been destroyed by forest clearing to make way for agriculture, with increasingly rapid losses in the last decade. We estimate that in some cases, 80%-90% of their habitat has been destroyed.
When parts of an ecosystem are lost, the whole becomes unstable and is eventually lost.
Choosing names for the new species
To highlight their predicament, we have described and named these chameleons and have forecast that three of these species are at high risk of extinction.
In particular, we highlight Nadzikambia goodallae from Mount Ribáuè. This species has been named in honour of the distinguished scientist Jane Goodall, whose own study species, the chimpanzee, is under similar pressures from loss of its rainforest habitat.
Female sylvan chameleon (Nadzikambia goodallae) from Mount Ribáuè. Krystal Tolley, CC BY
We also honour the renowned discoverer of the structure of DNA, Rosalind Franklin, by naming the species from Mount Namuli as Nadzikambia franklinae. The use of DNA data from these chameleons was essential to confirm them as new species.
Nadzikambia franklinae from Mount Namuli. Werner Conradie, CC BY
We have dubbed the species from Mount Inago as Nadzikambia evanescens, meaning “vanishing” in Latin, acknowledging the state of the forest destruction.
Male sylvan chameleon (Nadzikambia evanescens) from Mount Inago. Krystal Tolley, CC BY
The final species, Nadzikambia nubila, is named for the cloudy aspect of Mount Chiperone. This species has a lower risk of extinction given that the local community view the forest as sacred, and say it should be protected.
Female sylvan chameleon (Nadzikambia nubila) from Mount Chiperone. Krystal Tolley, CC BY
This latter case is significant, as it demonstrates that wholesale destruction of these forests is not an essential trade-off for local people to thrive. If encouraged and supported, community support and buy-in can be a solution to protect biodiversity in these sensitive ecosystems.
A Bermuda petrel, or Cahow, on Nonsuch Island – credit, Cahow Recovery Project
Though an event neither singular nor inaugural, the hatching of an endangered seabird and national icon of Bermuda is still being celebrated wildly by a special group of conservationists who’ve created a “living museum” on Nonsuch Island.
Measuring just 14 acres and found in the northeast corner of the Bermuda island chain, Nonsuch Island is the only place the world’s 3rd-rarest seabird, known locally as the cahow, comes to breed.
The fact that it is breeding at all is nearly a miracle, as the cahow was believed to be extinct for a period of 300 years that started in the early days of British colonial governance and extended all the way to the second-half of the 20th century.
The animal, also known as a Bermuda, or gadfly petrel, bears all the quirks of an animal doomed to follow the dodo into history. It takes 3-6 years for adults to return to Nonsuch Island to breed, and if they do, the female may produce one egg.
That one egg may hatch, although it might not; some 50% of the eggs don’t hatch. Adults abandon that single chick one-week before it fledges, when instinct drives it to seek food out at sea while still learning how to fly. Between 28 and 35% of fledglings don’t survive their first year.
Nesting on the ground, they’re extremely vulnerable to predation from invasive animals, and in 1960, British ornithologist and Bermuda’s first conservation officer, David Wingate, identified just 18 breeding pairs on Nonsuch Island.
Wingate would go on to pioneer the Cahow Recovery Program, which today is recognized as one of the most successful restoration projects anywhere in the world for a Critically-Endangered species.
By the time Wingate’s successor as chief of the program, Jeremy Madeiros, took over, their numbers had grown to 55. Today, there are 450 birds of all ages on the island, a remarkable turnaround.
Part of that turnaround was making sure these birds had good nesting habitat. Cahows nest in underground burrows or deep rock crevices; only nests deep enough to be completely dark are chosen.
Today, 85% of all cahows nest in artificial concrete nest burrows constructed for them as part of the Recovery Program.
The recovery program gestated a transformation of Nonsuch Island into a complete wildlife sanctuary, wooded, and with a small freshwater marsh where access to the public is strictly limited to prevent invasive species introduction. The restoration of the once barren island into a ‘Living Museum of pre-colonial Bermuda’ was Wingate’s life’s work.
On paper, Australia is a conservation success story.
Over the past 15 years, we’ve dedicated vast areas of land to conservation. Our primary goal has been to protect our unique plants, animals, and ecosystems. As a result, Australia now has one of the largest protected area estates in the world, covering roughly 22% of the country.
That’s an impressive achievement, and a significant step towards our goal of protecting 30% of Australia’s land by 2030.
But there’s a problem. Our new analysis shows we’re not protecting the places that matter most for Australia’s diverse wildlife and environments.
So what are we actually conserving? And what should change?
More land but no more protection
Our recent analysis of Australia’s network of protected areas shows, between 2010 and 2022, we’ve nearly doubled the amount of land under protection. Protected land refers to areas which are specifically set aside to conserve nature. However, this expansion has done little to help our most at-risk animals, plants, and ecosystems.
Our national list of threatened species, which identifies the plants and animals most at risk of extinction, illustrates this. Since 2010, we’ve only slightly increased the amount of protected land that’s home to threatened species. Based on our data, in that time this figure rose by an average of just 3%.
Worse still, 160 species have virtually no protection. That’s roughly 10% of our endangered species list. Many others species only have a very small amount of their habitat inside the fences of protected areas.
One example is the Margaret River burrowing crayfish, a critically endangered crayfish from Western Australia. Currently none of its two remaining habitats are protected.
And the Grey Range thick-billed grasswren, a bird endemic to New South Wales, is now critically endangered because of habitat loss and agriculture. However none of its habitat, found just north of Broken Hill, is formally protected.
Tragically, these are not exceptional cases. And they are exactly the plants and animals that protected areas are designed to protect.
The same is true for Australia’s ecosystems, which are geographic areas where plants and animals interact with their natural environment. Nationally, we have nearly 100 ecological communities which are listed as threatened. But in the last decade, we’ve only improved protection for a handful of these.
And some still have no protection. The critically endangered weeping myall woodlands in the Hunter Valley, Sydney’s blue gum high forest and the iron-grass natural temperate grassland of South Australia are just three examples.
So what’s gone wrong?
For decades, we’ve tended to protect land that is more remote and less productive. Our findings suggest this pattern is continuing today.
However, many of Australia’s at-risk plants, animals, and ecosystems are found in heavily modified landscapes. These include areas which have been cleared for agriculture or are close to towns and cities. But under current conservation models, we’re much less likely to protect these kinds of land.
As a result, we are expanding protected areas but not necessarily where they matter most.
Protected areas, such as Kakadu National Park, help safeguard endangered species. Liana Joseph/Author provided, CC BY-ND
To be clear, protecting some of these landscapes is incredibly valuable. This is especially true given the current and future impacts of climate change. And in Australia, we’ve done well to protect nearly half of intact ecosystems by including them in nature reserves.
But protecting intact ecosystems is just one piece of the conservation puzzle.
Getting our priorities right
Australia has committed to protect 30% of our lands and waters by 2030. This is known as the “30 by 30” target. We are also a leader in the so-called high ambition coalition of 124 countries which have pledged to meet this same target.
But to protect our biodiversity we need to focus on which land is protected, not just how much. A hectare in the wrong place will have little effect, while a hectare in the right place can be the bridge between survival and extinction.
So as Australia moves towards the “30 by 30” target, the key challenge will be ensuring we protect land strategically, not opportunistically.
The good news is, we now have the tools to do so. Australia has some of the best biodiversity data in the world. This is because the Australian government has invested in ecologists from around the country, allowing them to closely study endangered species.
However, what we’re missing is a commitment to use this information. So far, we’ve largely measured progress using one blunt metric: total area protected. This metric is easy to communicate but is dangerously misleading. It tells us very little about whether protected areas are in the right location or are being managed well.
If we’re serious about halting species extinctions within the next five years, we need to change course now. Here are three ways to do that.
urgently protect areas of highest biodiversity value, especially the habitats of species on the brink of extinction
Without this shift, we risk meeting our “30 by 30” target while failing to save our most threatened species and ecosystems. That would be a hollow victory.
A Lesser Nighthawk in Costa Rica – credit, Jerry Oldenettel – originally posted to Flickr, via CC 2.0.
The population of one of England’s most-elusive birds is flourishing again thanks to conservation efforts in the south of the country.
The nightjar, sometimes called the nighthawk, becomes active at twilight, and they’re famous for their chortling calls and fantastic camouflage.
Their numbers declined some 51% between the 1970s and 2000s after substantial forest loss.
The UK’s South Downs National Park stretches across the areas of Hampshire, West Sussex, and East Sussex, and it’s among the lowland heath and forests that nightjars have staged a remarkable population recovery.
A nightjar survey in the park last year counted more than 70 birds, which is believed to mark a doubling over the last 5 years. The animals migrate 4,000 miles north from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to reside in the UK between April and August. Meanwhile, forest and heathland restoration efforts have raised the number of good nesting habitats to 109 across Britain.
The birds nest on the ground, so conservation work has specifically focused on communication with visitors to places like South Downs. They’re encouraged to keep their dogs on leashes, stay on marked trails, and avoid bushwhacking so as not to disturb or destroy the sensitive nesting areas.
“It’s wonderful to hear the nightjars churring away as dusk falls and we’re looking forward to continuing this incredibly positive conservation work alongside local communities and our partners,” South Downs ranger Kirsty Murray told the BBC.
Murray called good nightjar habitat “as rare as rainforest” in Britain, and thought it was the best thing in the world that the animal was repopulating the park.The nightjar is an extremely versatile and successful species. They inhabit all continents but Antarctica, and can live at virtually any elevation within reason. They steer clear of extremely arid regions, and can migrate long or short distances. Elusive Nightjar Populations Doubled in 5 Years, a ‘Remarkable Comeback’ Conservationists Say:
A river otter the moment it was released into the Rio Grande – Credit J.N. Stuart, CC 2.0.
In 1986, Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources began reintroducing North American river otters to the rivers, creeks, and shorelines of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
40 years later, these adorable apex predators have recolonized much of their former aquatic acreage in Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Ontario, fastening the food chain at the top while ecosystem restoration programs have anchored it at the bottom.
The Great Lakes region holds one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. It’s a massive ecosystem that supports tens of millions of people, tens of billions in industry, and thousands of animal and plant species.
Unfortunately for the otter, an apex predator needs a vast and intact ecosystem to thrive, and as industrialization ate away at its prey species and den habitat, hunters reduced their numbers in pursuit of their pelts.
In 1980, an examination conducted on US river otter populations determined they were locally extinct in 11 states, and lost significant population in 9 other states.
It’s a story all-too-familiar the world over, but one that seems now to have had a happy ending.
After the Ohio DNR began releasing river otters from southern states like Arkansas and Louisiana, New York state began a mirrored effort of relocating otters from the Adirondacks, the Hudson Valley, and Catskills to the tributaries of the Great Lakes in the western part of the state.
“All of these efforts were bolstered by the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, a landmark US–Canada treaty that pushed both countries toward reducing toxic discharges and restoring damaged habitats,” writes Timothy Mihocik at Rewilding Magazine.
Gradual waterfront revitalization and de-industrialization has allowed the otter to go beyond mere sheltered streams in protected areas back into the heart of the Great Lakes ecosystem, a return that also heralds cleaner, uncontaminated water, richer fish stocks, and more biodiverse riverbeds.
GNN has reported over the years that the character of several Midwest rivers, once so polluted they’d catch fire, has now changed. In Toronto, Ohio, and Chicago, rivers are now swimmable and fishable again, and otters stand hugely to benefit from that.Still, North American river otters have remained rare or absent in the southwestern United States. Water quality and development inhibit recovery of populations in some areas, but here too, otters are returning, with the New Mexican population tripling in the last few years. Great Lakes Otters Are a Conservation Success Story with Populations Flourishing in US and Ontario
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo joey – SWNS / Chester Zoo
Amazing “pouch cam” images provide a rare glimpse into the hidden world of an endangered baby kangaroo after he was born the size of a jellybean at a UK zoo.
Experts say the special arrival marks a major conservation milestone for one of the world’s most threatened marsupials—the endangered Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo.
Keepers at the Chester Zoo monitored the pouch-cam between October and December watching the joey’s development inside the kangaroo’s pouch, allowing them to identify it as a healthy male.
The joey arrived to its parents Kitawa and Kayjo, thanks to an international conservation breeding program aimed at ensuring the future survival of the species.
The zoo says the pouch footage (which may be too graphic for some) and the team’s findings are expected to provide valuable insight for similar initiatives worldwide.
“When people think of kangaroos, they rarely imagine small, fluffy animals living high in the treetops,” said Matthew Lloyd, the tree kangaroo expert at the zoo.
“With so little known about tree kangaroos, Kitawa’s joey is a particularly special arrival, and represents a major step forward in understanding and protecting this remarkable species.”
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo with baby joey – SWNS / Chester Zoo
“Being able to carefully track this joey’s development inside the pouch using tiny cameras wasn’t possible only a few years ago, and it’s already helped us learn more crucial information about the early stages of life inside the pouch—knowledge that can now support, and hopefully speed up, our conservation breeding efforts globally.”
Baby Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo via pouch cam – SWNS / Chester Zoo
The zoo further captured the first few months of the joey, which now weighs 4 pounds (1.85kg), using tiny endoscopic cameras, offering a rare and fascinating insight into the species.
It’s just the second time experts have bred the species at the Chester Zoo, with only two zoos in the UK currently caring for the rare animals.
Scientists helped pinpoint the best time for the two kangaroos to be paired by using hormone monitoring, carried out in the zoo’s on-site science laboratory,
the only facility of its kind at a zoo in Europe.
“Every birth like this is incredibly important,” said David White, team manager at Chester Zoo. “It’s been a real team effort. Everything we’ve learned so far will help conservationists around the world.”
What Makes Tree Kangaroos Special
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi) is native to the forests of Papua New Guinea, an island nation north of Australia
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo – SWNS / Chester Zoo
Unlike many other kangaroo species, they are mostly solitary animals, spending much of their time resting or sleeping in trees for up to 16 hours a day—but they often sleep head-down, a position that helps rain run off their fur.
Their joeys weigh just 2–3 grams at birth (about the size of a jellybean). The
newborns make a remarkable climb from the mother’s belly into the pouch shortly after birth—and remain there, suckling and developing, for around seven months before venturing out.
Forest loss and degradation caused by human activity, and a slow reproduction rate, makes populations particularly vulnerable to decline.
Only around 20-25 zoos are caring for or breeding Goodfellow’s tree kangaroos worldwide, usually a single pair, to maintain genetic diversity in a global effort to help the adorable species endure.“We don’t have a name for the little one just yet, but our choice will be influenced by communities in Papua New Guinea who live alongside tree kangaroos and are now part of efforts to protect their forest homes.” Tiny ‘Pouch-Cam’ Provides Rare Glimpse of Endangered Tree Kangaroo Developing Inside its Mother (LOOK)
Cyrus the lion in preparation for transport – credit, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
For the first time in Honduras’ history, eight large felines were relocated from the country to accredited wildlife sanctuaries in the United States.
As part of this historic operation, 5 tigers were transferred to Carolina Tiger Rescue, while 3 lions were entrusted to an Arkansas wildlife refuge, where they will begin the next chapter of their lives in permanent sanctuary.
Spanning multiple countries and modes of transport, the trio of lions were carried by ship, then by air, and finally across American highways, all under careful oversight and in full compliance with international and US regulations.
They had for years been cared for by a well-trained team at Little French Key Island in the Honduran Caribbean, and arrived at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Sanctuary (TCWS) on January 15th.
The lions, named Cyrus, Zephora, and Juancito, were transitioned into spacious, species-appropriate habitats designed specifically to meet their physical, behavioral, and psychological needs. These custom environments reflect TCWR’s long-standing commitment to providing rescued big cats with dignity, expert care, and lifelong protection, a spokesman for the refuge said.
“This mission represents everything sanctuary work stands for: international cooperation, compassion, and a future where rescued animals are given the lives they deserve,” said Scott Smith, TCWR vice-president who participated in the rescue. “After an unbelievable journey, these lions are finally home.”
This historic rescue was made possible through the leadership and long-term commitment of Leo Lahijani of Little French Key Resort, whose dedication to securing a better future for the animals in his care has been instrumental in moving the initiative forward.
“This rescue has been years in the making, driven by a deep responsibility to secure the best possible future for these animals,” said Mr. Lahijani.
“From the beginning, our focus was on improving outcomes and finding partners with the experience and integrity to provide lifelong care. Working alongside Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Carolina Tiger Rescue made it possible to move forward with confidence, knowing the lions and tigers would be placed in sanctuaries where their well-being, dignity, and long-term care come first.”
The relocation was carried out in collaboration with Honduran environmental authorities and international partners, including the Honduran Institute of Forest Conservation (ICF), CITES, veterinary professionals, and logistics teams who ensured the animals’ safety every step of the way.
Environmental officials in Honduras have described the operation as a national milestone, setting a precedent for responsible wildlife management and reinforcing the country’s commitment to conservation and the fight against illegal wildlife trade.For Cyrus, Zephora, and Juancito, the result is simple and profound: safety, space, and a lifetime of care. 3 Rescued Lions Welcomed to Sanctuary After Traveling By Air, Sea, and American Highways From Honduras
A resident female Sumatran tiger grooming one of her two large male cubs in October 2023 – credit, Figel et al., 2025, BKSDA-Aceh, DLHK.
Tigers don’t roam across Asia as they used to, but on one island in Indonesia a population of Critically Endangered Sumatran tigers may have found a habitat that supplies them with enough space, intact forests, and prey to thrive and raise their young.
To examine tiger population densities, researchers working alongside local rangers installed infrared cameras in forests outside the national park system. Their work, in collaboration with the government of Aceh province, resulted in almost three times more images being taken and individual tigers being identified than during previous surveys.
Dedicated protection efforts are the main reason for tigers’ persistence in this ecosystem, which highlights the necessity of such measures, the team said, even though the survey was conducted in provincial forests that reserve less support and smaller budgets than national parks.
Today, tigers occupy just 5 to 10% of their historical habitats. But on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an important population of critically endangered Sumatran tigers may persevere,
Using infrared cameras, researchers working on the island, have set out to estimate sex-specific population densities and tigers’ movements during three surveys, the results of which were published in a new Frontiers in Conservation Science study.
“We documented a robust tiger population, apparently among the healthiest on the island,” said Dr. Joe Figel, a conservation biologist, who works with Indonesian wildlife and forestry agencies. “For those on the ground, the onus now falls on us to double down and adequately protect them.”
In many ways, the Leuser ecosystem is ideal habitat for Sumatran tigers. Three times the size of Yellowstone National Park, it is the largest contiguous tiger habitat remaining in Sumatra. It’s made up of lowland, hill, and montane forests, of which 44% are classified as intact forest landscape. “It’s also more thoroughly patrolled by rangers than nearly any other place on the island,” Figel said.
Working with local collaborators from communities at the edges of the study area, the team put up cameras in the northern stretches of Leuser, located in Aceh province, and kept them there for three monitoring periods: 34 cameras were installed during March to May 2023, 59 cameras between June and December 2023, and 74 cameras between May and November of 2024.
During the monitoring periods, the team captured a total of 282 sufficiently clear images of Sumatran tigers to allow for the identification of individuals. Analyzing stripe patterns, the team identified 27 individuals from camera-trap images, including 14 females, 12 males, and one tiger of unknown sex.
– credit Figel et al. 2025, BKSDA-Aceh, DLHK.
The relatively high number of tigers suggests there is adequate prey in the area to support tiger presence. Over the study period, female and male individuals were photographed an average of 14 and 16 times, respectively. High densities of female tigers indicate a healthy tiger social system and high-quality habitats, where they can raise about three litters of cubs over a decade.
During the six-month session in 2023, three different sets of cubs were documented. Two tiger brothers photographed together as cubs were later spotted individually as adults.
Inside the Leuser ecosystem lies Gunung Leuser Nation Park, however, the present study was conducted in forests provincially protected by the Aceh government. In Indonesia, provincially protected forests receive far fewer resources than national parks, which are supported and managed by the central government.
The camera traps placed by Figel and colleagues snapped nearly three times as many tiger images as during previous 90-day surveys at other sites in Sumatra, and the team was able to identify many more individuals than reported in earlier studies. Only three previous surveys – all carried out in protected national parks – documented more than 10 tigers in a single survey. Higher tiger density estimates than reported in the present study were only documented in an intensive protection zone in southern Sumatra.
The current study also provides valuable insights for future monitoring of tigers, the team said. The data on tiger movement collected here could, for example, inform survey protocols and optimal camera spacing.
The high numbers of tiger sightings reported here highlights a success story that is due to a multitude of factors, said the team. “The persistence of these habitats and prey populations are the main reasons for our findings.”
“Thanks to the work, activities, and support of government agencies, local Acehnese and Gayo communities, donors, and other researchers, Leuser has maintained important patches of lowland and hill forests where, in Sumatra, tiger prey densities reach their highest levels,” concluded Figel.*This story originally appeared in Frontiers and was reprinted. Nearly 3x More Encounters With Endangered Sumatran Tigers in Camera Trap Photos Than in Past Years
Conservationists and zookeepers are celebrating our closest living relative giving birth to a healthy baby.
Heart-tugging photos show the bonobo mother Yuli cradling her tiny newborn after it was born at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire last Thursday.
Experts have hailed the birth as a ‘globally significant’ moment which could help save one of the world’s rarest apes and humanity’s cousin.
Twycross Zoo is the only UK zoo to care for the species, and says the new arrival has the distinguished status as the only baby bonobo in the whole country.
“Bonobos are human’s closest living relatives, yet they remain one of the most endangered and least understood apes on Earth,” said Dr. Rebecca Biddle, chief conservation officer at Twycross Zoo. “Every birth is a true milestone and a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when zoos work together.
“As the only UK zoo caring for bonobos, here at Twycross Zoo, we are immensely proud and feel a great responsibility to play our part in protecting this incredible species,” she added.
credit – Adam Kay, Twycross Zoo / SWNS
Bonobos, which are listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, are indeed as Biddle says—Homo sapiens’ closest living relatives, sharing more than 98% of our DNA.
In the wild, their population is said to be decreasing due to many human-caused threats such as poaching and deforestation.
Found only in the wilds of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the bonobo is a highly unique ape due to their matriarchal society. Typically, primate troops are led by a dominant male, but bonobos are one of few primate species, and the only great ape, to live in female-led societies.
The conservation program looks after 10% of all the bonobos in Europe, and is a key part of a collaborative effort between EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) member zoos.At the moment, neither mother nor newborn will be visible to the public as they enjoy a critical period of bonding and nurturing. Birth of UK's Only Bonobo Baby Gives Fresh Hope for World's Most Endangered Ape
A golden snub-nosed monkey in Tanjiahe National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province – credit, David Blank CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
From the BBC comes the story of an intrepid and dedicated scientist who has spent decades working in China’s mountain forests in an effort to protect and understand one of the nation’s most amazing animals.
The golden sub-nosed monkey is revered alongside the giant panda as “national treasures” of Chinese wildlife, yet this couldn’t protect them from logging and hunting that followed in the wake of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
Members of this sub-species located in the UNESCO-listed Shennongjia mountains of Hubei Province, were the subject of intense study by Professor Yang Jingyuan, a research ecologist who arrived in these mountains in 1991.
For Yang, the golden sub-nosed monkey was Jane Goodall’s chimpanzees. By the time Yang arrived in Shennongjia, the population had collapsed to just 500 or so individuals across 6 family groups. Years of illegal logging as a form of subsistence living had reduced forest coverage in the mountains to 63%.
But before Yang could protect the animals, he had to first learn to understand them. With his research colleagues, he began striking out into the newly-created Shennongjia Forest Reserve to study these incredible animals.
The monkeys were at first so wary of humans that Yang and his team had to stay half a mile away to be able just to observe the monkeys in their habitat. Eventually though, with repeated encounters, half a mile became and quarter mile, and a quarter mile became 200 yards, 100 yards, 20 yards—until Yang and whoever he brought with him were accepted by the troupes.
The BBC’s China Correspondent, Stephen McDonell, experienced this treatment as baby monkeys and curious juveniles climbed all over him on a visit to special, 100 square kilometer monkey zones hat are off-limits to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to enjoy a mountain ecosystem that is without exaggeration unique in the world.
“Even after logging was banned there were still people illegally felling timber. If they didn’t cut down trees, how would they have money?” Professor Yang, director of the Shennongjia National Park Scientific Research Institute, told McDonell.
Golden snub-nosed monkeys in Tanjiahe National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province – credit, David Blank CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
Shennongjia virgin forest – credit, Evilbish CC BY-SA 3.0
“There were also people secretly hunting here to survive. It was only after a long period of building awareness that the consciousness of local farmers changed.”
In the 1990s, with a shifting focus from forestry to forest conservation, local residents eking out this subsistence living were offered government money to relocate so that the forests could regrow. Many accepted the offer, and now benefit from the tourism boom the mountains are experiencing.
There is no place on Earth that has greater biodiversity of deciduous woody plants than Shennongjia, and a dizzying 3,400 higher-order plant species, and over 600 invertebrates have been recorded there. The golden snub-nosed monkey is very much a fuzzy golden cherry on top of a biodiverse cake ten layers-high.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Prof Yang. “Their home is now very well protected. They have food and drink, no worries about life’s necessities and, most of all, their numbers are growing.”
Golden snub-nosed monkeys captured via camera trap – credit, eMammal CC 2.0. via Flickr
Indeed, an archived report from Xinhua claimed that those 500 remnant individuals became 1,200 by 2013. This represents major progress since females give birth to only one baby at a time.
At the time McDonell visited, their numbers had jumped again to 1,600, and forest cover along the hills and valleys had increased to around 96% of the reserve’s total area.
Professor Yang can live freely among them like some character of fable. He speaks to them in their calls, having learned the meanings of each vocalization during his many years of observing them.
Like Goodall, his research has yielded incredible insights into their lives. For example, each monkey has an egg timer-like understanding of its lifespan, and when it’s time to pass away, they silently leave their families behind and visit special, secluded areas to die alone in the forest.
According to Yang, there hasn’t been a single successful attempt to find these sites, either by researchers or rangers.Yang’s institute estimates that the monkeys will come to number 2,000 individuals in Shennongjia sometime over the next 10 years, a testament to the magnificent outcomes conservation can provide, providing there’s someone in the right place at the right time to make the effort to make a difference. Rarest Monkeys Now Number Close to 2,000 Thanks to One Man's Jane Goodall-like Passion
Six cheetah cubs with their mother –Courtesy of Metro Richmond Zoo
At a zoo in Richmond, a raucous litter of cheetah cubs is delighting onlookers having spent the summer months growing in secret.
One of the largest litters born at the zoo, the three-month-old cubs are hitting milestones and progressing well towards adolescence.
Named after African capitals, such as Lusaka, Kampala, and Cairo, the cubs were born in April but were kept hidden away to develop in peace through their most sensitive period with mother Zuri.
Sprinting, jumping on each other, and investigating every object in their enclosure, they seem well on their way to becoming the world’s fastest land animal.
“Some are shy; one is bold and brave — that’s Lusaka,” said Kristina Coonley, a lead zookeeper at the Metro Richmond Zoo, Virginia. “[Cairo] is always the last one out and the last one to come in.”
Though just the 99th most populated city in America, the Richmond Zoo nevertheless boasts one of the country’s most prolific and successful cheetah breeding program for purposes of conservation. Zuri’s litter of 6 takes the total number of captive-born cubs in the program’s history to 167 since 2013.
Coonley told the Washington Post that the Cheetah Conservation Center looks carefully and genetics and disposition when deciding which of their cats are suitable for breeding. Zuri is 5 years old, and has already mothered one litter. Her partner was Ramses, a 13-year-old sire of 25 other cubs.
Though losing out on conservation column inches to the likes of the lion and tiger, cheetah are considered Vulnerable by the IUCN. With around 6,500 individuals across the whole of Africa, a relic populations in Iran, and a diminishing introduced population in India, they are the most at-risk of the African big cats because of their need for space befitting the world’s greatest sprinters.It’s no bad thing then that the Metro Richmond Zoo has seen even bigger litters than these 6, with a resident female last year bringing 9 little mohawked babies into the world. Six Baby Cheetahs Born in the Richmond Zoo's Prolific Breeding Program – 167 Cats Since 2013 (WATCH)
In South Africa, biologists and scientists have developed a novel way of disincentivizing poaching that will allow rhinos to keep hold of their horns.
Previously it was widespread practice to capture and de-horn rhinos to disincentivize poachers from killing them, but the lack of a horn deeply interfered with the animals’ social structures.
Instead, rhinos at a nursery in the northern province of Limpopo have had radioactive isotopes embedded into their horns. The idea is that the radiation given off by these isotopes will mark out anyone at any border crossing as having handled a rhino horn.
It’s a superior form of tracking because even if the tracker is removed the radiation remains on the horn, as well as anything that touches it.
Nuclear researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Radiation and Health Physics Unit in South Africa injected 20 live rhinos with these isotopes.
“We are doing this because it makes it significantly easier to intercept these horns as they are being trafficked over international borders because there is a global network of radiation monitors that have been designed to prevent nuclear terrorism,” Professor James Larkin who heads the project told Africa News. “And we’re piggybacking on the back of that.”
Larkin adds that innovation in poaching prevention is urgently needed, as all existing methods have limitations, and South Africa still loses tens of rhinos every year.
Professor Nithaya Chetty, dean of the science faculty at Witwatersrand, said the dosage of the radioactivity is very low and its potential negative impact on the animal was tested extensively.While poaching elephants for their ivory yields a unique material for sculpture and craft, rhino horn is trafficked to criminal groups in Asia who sell it for the incorrect belief that it contains therapeutic properties. Researchers Test Use of Nuclear Technology to Curb Rhino Poaching in South Africa
On the island of Borneo, forest-dwelling communities have become key to ensuring that orangutans have enough intact forest to survive and thrive down the centuries.
Documented by the Nature Conservancy, which is assisting in establishing and equipping these forest communities for conservation, these communities maintain millions of acres of forests for sustainable economic use and conservation.
This includes logging, but research has shown that when legitimate, transparent logging operations cease, their former land concessions become akin to a no man’s land, and are taken over by illegal logging circuits, poaching, and agriculture.
Instead, by logging small numbers of mature trees one small area at a time over a 30-year time horizon, the forest doesn’t shrink, and the communities can use profits from the hardwoods to sustain their families, and ensure that areas of intact forest remain poacher free.
Areas like the vast Kutai National Park suffer from similar problems as the logging concessions, the Nature Conservancy writes. Their remoteness acts as a curtain to hide illegal activities.
But 80% of orangutans live beyond the borders of protected areas, often very near forest villages. Because of this, an estimated 1.3 million acres of forest habitat is now protected by local forest guardians for the benefit of ecotourism, honey production, scientific research and of course, conservation.
Support from the Indonesian government, which controls the majority of Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, helps the guardians manage their land concessions, while interest from the international community has also led to large-scale donations from companies like Arhaus, a furniture maker.
Matt Miller, the Nature Conservancy’s director of science communications, visited these community concessions, and saw first hand how they view their future as guardians of the forests.“The communities are the leaders here. They are the key to the conservation of Borneo’s forests and biodiversity,” a local program director told Miller. “We are here to support them. We can provide science and help them shape what they want their future to be. But this is the reflection of their dream.” Local Communities Protecting Millions of Acres of Orangutan Habitat Beyond Nat. Park Boundaries
A pearl-bordered fritillary – credit, Devon Wildlife Trust
Two years ago, the UK government gave roughly $15 million to its own conservation organ called Natural England for the purpose of preventing species decline.
Now, its report card has arrived, and its A+ work has seen the recovery of 150 struggling or declining species.
Natural England used the money to fund 63 projects involving 78 different partners across the country.
For the nature lover, the list of wild beneficiaries of the work will gladden the heart. Standout achievements include a breakthrough for the iconic lady’s slipper orchid, with the first known case of natural propagation in the wild after over 30 years of dedicated work to collect seeds.
686 acres of vital nesting islands were created or enhanced for seabirds such as common tern, little tern and Sandwich tern. 56,000 plugs of food plants were laid for butterflies, such as marsh violet for the small pearl-bordered fritillary, and devil’s bit scabious for marsh fritillary, at the new sites.
A grant-funded breeding and supervised release program saw the first wild hatching of a red-billed chough in Kent for the first time in over 200 years. 633 new breeding areas (nest boxes and similar structures) were created through the program for otter, dormouse, bats, willow tits, and other birds.
Wetland habitat creation to benefit water vole – credit, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
A huge focus as well fell on habitat creation or restoration, including over 642 acres of flower-rich grassland meadows, 1,000 acres of floodplain grasslands, 874 acres of broadleaf woodland, and 240 acres of marsh.
215 ponds and streams were dug or restored which became the new haunts of water voles and the rare Eurasian bittern.
Volunteers were a huge part of these various grant-funded projects. 100,000 hours of volunteer work were donated by members of the public during the 2 years of operations, a component which Natural England said would form a vital backbone if these achievements are to be sustained and built upon.
Volunteers planting marsh violet – credit, Neil Harris, National Trust images
“This and a feeling of real engagement with an amazing natural environment has been a huge psychological boost for me,” said Steve, a volunteer with the ‘White Cliffs and White Chalk’ National Trust project.
– credit Tony Kershaw via SWNS
Tipah and her litter of cubs – credit Tony Kershaw via SWNS
SWNS
Male sylvan chameleon (Nadzikambia goodallae) from Mount Ribáuè, Mozambique. Krystal Tolley, 
Protected areas, such as Kakadu National Park, help safeguard endangered species. Liana Joseph/Author provided, 
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo joey – SWNS / Chester Zoo
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo with baby joey – SWNS / Chester Zoo
Cyrus the lion in preparation for transport – credit, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
credit – Adam Kay, Twycross Zoo / SWNS
Orangutans by Getty Images for Unsplash+
A pearl-bordered fritillary – credit, Devon Wildlife Trust
Wetland habitat creation to benefit water vole – credit, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Volunteers planting marsh violet – credit, Neil Harris, National Trust images