endangered species

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'Disheartening' News for Mediterranean's Great Whites

Species there is inching closer to extinction, thanks to illegal North African shark trade

(Newser) - Great white sharks have become so scarce in the Mediterranean that researchers now warn the regional population is edging toward extinction, with illegal fishing playing a central role. A team led by Virginia Tech scientist Francesco Ferretti, working with UK-based charity Blue Marine Foundation, reports that at least 40 great...

Trump May Let SpaceX Expand Into Wildlife Refuge

Critics warn Texas land swap could harm endangered species and a Civil War battlefield

(Newser) - The Trump administration is weighing a land swap that would hand SpaceX a sizable chunk of protected Texas coastline in the name of expansion and innovation. According to internal documents reviewed by the New York Times , federal officials are considering transferring 775 acres from the Lower Rio Grande Valley National...

World's Rarest Ape Lives Near a Gold Mine. That's a Problem

Conservationists say expansion work puts critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan at risk

(Newser) - A little-known ape could be the collateral damage of a very well-known metal. In northern Sumatra's Batang Toru rainforest, new access roads are being laid toward the Tor Ulu Ala pit, a part of Indonesia's Martabe gold mine. Conservation group Mighty Earth says one road has already come...

Sardines Vanished, and 60K Penguins Starved to Death

Sardine numbers plummet off Africa, with a devastating ripple effect on continent's only penguin species

(Newser) - Efforts are intensifying to save Africa's only penguin species after a new study documented the starvation deaths of more than 60,000 birds due to a sharp drop in sardine numbers. Researchers found that more than 95% of the African penguins in two key breeding colonies on the Dassen...

Arizona Has a Spotty New Visitor
Arizona Has a
Spotty New Visitor
Dec 5, 2025 8:53 AM CST

Arizona Has a Spotty New Visitor

New jaguar points to progress in the endangered species' recovery

(Newser) - The spots gave it away. Just like a human fingerprint, the rosette pattern on each jaguar is unique so researchers knew they had a new animal on their hands after reviewing images captured by a remote camera in southern Arizona. The University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center...

Fire Scorches 1K Joshua Trees in 'Avoidable Tragedy'

Blaze burned for 8 days during shutdown

(Newser) - During the recent federal government shutdown, a fire in Joshua Tree National Park scorched more than a thousand of the park's iconic trees, raising concerns about their future as climate change and park staffing shortages take their toll. The 72-acre blaze, which started when a visitor set toilet paper...

Trump Moves to Roll Back Endangered Species Act

Blanket protections for threatened species would end under the proposal

(Newser) - The Trump administration on Wednesday unveiled a plan to scale back the Endangered Species Act with four proposed rule changes, including one that would make it harder to list species due to threats like climate change. The proposed rules , announced by the Interior Department, are part of a broader push...

A Few Problematic Wolves Emerge in California

Officials had to euthanize 4 wolves after 'unprecedented level' of livestock deaths

(Newser) - Gray wolves have died at the hands of California officials for the first time in more than a century. Wildlife officials in October euthanized members of one of the state's 10 wolf packs after a surge in livestock attacks—a move that highlights the ongoing tension between wolf recovery...

One of World's Rarest Whales Gets a Bit of Good News

The North Atlantic right whale population is growing

(Newser) - One of the rarest whales on the planet has continued an encouraging trend of population growth in the wake of new efforts to protect the giant animals, according to scientists who study them. The North Atlantic right whale now numbers an estimated 384 animals, up eight whales from the previous...

Back From the Brink: Green Turtles Leave the Endangered List

'A powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve'

(Newser) - It's a big victory for green sea turtles after decades of conservation work: They're no longer considered endangered, reports the BBC . The shift is noted in the updated "Red List" of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Once heavily hunted for their meat, eggs,...

Latest Victim of Avian Flu: An Endangered Whooping Crane

Wisconsin wildlife refuge confirms 'Ducky,' who was set to be released, has died of a strain of the flu

(Newser) - Ducky is dead. The International Crane Foundation announced Monday that Ducky, an endangered female whooping crane the foundation planned to release into the wilds of Wisconsin this fall, died on Thursday after becoming infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, a strain of avian flu. Foundation officials said in a news...

A Troubling Stat Marks World Rhino Day

South Africa sees progress but still loses a rhino daily to poachers

(Newser) - The Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa has a thriving rhino population, but their exact numbers and the details of the security operation that keeps them safe from poaching are closely guarded secrets. They are protocols that reserves with rhinos follow to safeguard against poachers who still kill on average...

In Big First, Koalas Are Getting an STD Vaccine

Australia has OK'd a vaccine for chlamydia for the marsupial creatures to fight infertility, death

(Newser) - A regulator has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia, which is causing infertility and death in the iconic native species listed as endangered in parts of Australia. The single-dose vaccine was developed by Queensland's University of the Sunshine Coast after more than a decade of research...

Scientists Now Testing Bird Flu Vaccine for Seals

Researchers move quickly in hope of shielding endangered monk seals

(Newser) - Hawaii's endangered monk seals could receive new protection from the bird flu if all goes well with a vaccine trial. Veterinarians in California have started a small-scale trial to test a bird flu vaccine on marine mammals, focusing first on six northern elephant seals at the Marine Mammal...

Mexico's Jaguars Make a Comeback
Mexico's Jaguars
Make a Comeback
Sep 2, 2025 10:15 AM CDT

Mexico's Jaguars Make a Comeback

Population is up 30% since 2010, though challenges remain

(Newser) - Once feared to be on the edge of extinction, Mexico's jaguars are rebounding—offering what researchers say is a rare spot of "good news" in the global fight to save the endangered species. New census data reveals a 30% surge since 2010, per the Guardian . That year,...

A Very Lost Wood Stork Shows Up in Wisconsin

Juvenile male belongs to an endangered species more typically found in subtropical regions

(Newser) - A very rare and apparently very confused subtropical wood stork somehow found its way to the wilds of Wisconsin. A hunter scouting for deer first sighted the bird Sunday in a remote section of the Mud Lake Wildlife Area in Columbia County, about 35 miles northeast of Madison, said Horicon...

In Czech Zoo, 4 Lion Cubs Extinct in Wild Are Born

Less than 200 Barbary lions are thought to exist in captivity

(Newser) - Four Barbary lion cubs were born recently in a Czech zoo, a vital contribution for a small surviving population of the rare lion that is extinct in the wild. The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvur Králové Safari Park on Wednesday,...

Rare Carnivorous Snail Lays an Egg From Its Neck

This is the first time the moment has been captured on video

(Newser) - The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country's conservation agency says. What looks like a tiny hen's egg is seen...

Birds Give Us Another Sign of Our 'Slow-Moving Extinction Crisis'

Research finds 75% of bird species in North America are seeing a population decline

(Newser) - North America has a bird problem—not too many, but perhaps too few in the not-so-distant future. New research published Thursday in the journal Science reveals that 75% of the continent's bird species are on a downward spiral, seeing their populations decline between 2007 and 2021. The Washington Post...

Trump Puts End to a 'Stupid' Commercial Fishing Limitation

(Newser) - President Trump is opening commercial fishing in one of the world's largest ocean reserves, ending years of strict protection for a region rich in marine life. The executive order issued Thursday involves the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, an area about 750 miles west of Hawaii that...

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