#conservation

#conservation

As cities sprawl ever outwards, they bring their big lights with them, and the once-dark night skies overhead are being lost. But in New Zealand, thanks to its low population density, the skies have remained surprisingly dark, and over 96 percent of its landmass still has views of the Milky Way at night. DarkSky International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the night sky, has identified some of the best spots for witnessing the wonders of the cosmos across the island country.

For years, limited flights, visitor caps, and steep environmental fees kept Fernando de Noronha notoriously difficult to access, especially for international travelers. This kept the remote Brazilian archipelago wild and rugged, its volcanic cliffs and crystalline waters luring mostly domestic travelers in search of Brazil's most pristine beaches. But now a new direct LATAM flight from São Paulo, Brazil's main travel hub, makes it easier for foreign visitors to fly in.

Following an HIV diagnosis in 2000, thespian-turned-lepidopterist Liam O'Brien leaned into his passion for butterflies as a source of wonder. After decades of observing, counting, and (responsibly) capturing these scaled winged beauties, he became an ambassador for the species. In his debut book Butterflies of the Bay Area and (Slightly) Beyond: An Illustrated Guide, O'Brien chronicles 135 varieties of butterfly with vim and vivid hand-painted illustrations to introduce readers to the breadth and beauty of butterfly biodiversity of this region.

Yosemite National Park is famous for its towering granite, thundering waterfalls and world-class hiking trails. The stunning heart of the park, Yosemite Valley, is extremely popular and almost always filled with humans - and perhaps that's why the park's wildlife tends to fly under the radar. In fact, not a single book in the past 100 years has been solely dedicated to the creatures of Yosemite.

We knew that these lineages across the coast of California were really different from each other and had been separated for a very long time," said Jochim, a researcher in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis. The spiders pose no risk to humans, Jochim said. Though our activities can pose a risk to them. "These spiders are not scary," she said. "They mind their own business and [generally] stay in their burrows ... They live in a really important and fragile ecosystem - the coastal dunes of California. So, it's really important to protect their habitat.

The brown arachnids are the size of a quarter. "While there are over 50,000 species of spiders worldwide, there are probably hundreds of thousands left to be discovered, even along the coast where new spider species may be hiding just underfoot of California beachgoers," Jason Bond, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the study's senior author, said in a statement.

Preparations are underway to ensure the event reflects the scale and significance of this historic moment,

The East Bay Regional Park District applauds Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent signing into law of Senate Bill 392, landmark legislation that strengthens conservation efforts and enhances climate resilience across the East Bay, as well as other areas throughout the state. SB 392, authored by state Sen. Tim Grayson, D-Concord, and passed unanimously by the state Legislature, establishes the East Bay Hills Conservation Program, empowering the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) to better protect the ecological integrity of the East Bay hills while improving wildfire

More than 100 million red crabs making their annual trek from Christmas Island's rainforest to the coast are creating a migration spectacle that occupies countless bucket lists. Their dominance of the landscape is an eye-catching phenomenon loved by tourists and treasured by residents. For the island's conservationists, it's a reassuring sight. The annual migration creates plenty of work for park rangers, who use rakes to keep them clear of the busiest roads.

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The Nikon 2025 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have unveiled their finalists, and the results are hilariously delightful. With 40 uproarious images, 3 curated portfolios, and 10 laugh-out-loud videos, this year's entries showcase nature's unexpected comedic flair. From expressive lions to penguins mid-blunder, the contest celebrates the quirky charm of animals while highlighting the skill and timing of wildlife photographers. Beyond the laughs, the awards carry a meaningful message about conservation and the importance of protecting these fascinating creatures.

At nearly 3.5-metres tall and weighing as much as a bus, you could be forgiven for assuming that Goshi one of an estimated 30 super-tusker elephants left in Africa would be easy to find. The radio tracker picking up his signal beeps encouragingly, indicating the giant bull is within 200 metres. But the dry season has turned the mass of arid acacia scrubland grey, and everything seems to resemble an elephant. Even when they are invisible, the huge herbivores shape the landscape here.

In June, when Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee moved to force a sell-off of up to 3.2 million acres of public land, he insisted he was solely interested in combatting America's housing crunch and that the bill only targeted "unused, garden-variety" federal parcels - not national parks, wilderness areas and other "crown jewel" lands. Few bought what Lee was trying to sell.

For the past 15 years, the BioRescue Project an international consortium dedicated to saving the species has been collecting and preserving sperm from deceased males. Using this genetic material and egg cells from Fatu, they've created 38 embryos. It may sound like a lot, but it's not. Since Najin and Fatu cannot carry a pregnancy, surrogate mothers are essential and it was decided to use southern white rhinos, a less endangered subspecies.

The roar of the female jaguar can be heard throughout the Yagul Jaguar Sanctuary conservation, preservation, and rescue center in Oaxaca, and even further afield, in the nearby town of Tlacolula de Matamoros, about 20 miles east of the state capital. It's the sound of a mother trying to protect her one-month-old cub. Little Yazu is the first cub born under the center's Mexican jaguar breeding and conservation program, which aims to preserve the species.

"We knew we wanted to do something really, really special,"

On November 20, 1959, at a pier in Brooklyn, the writer Peter Matthiessen boarded the M.V. Venimos, a freighter bound for Iquitos, a port town deep in the Peruvian Amazon. He was fresh off the publication of "Wildlife in America," a travelogue-cum-polemic that lavished attention on the endangered species of North America, indicted the humans who had destroyed their habitats, and established Matthiessen as a nature writer in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and John Muir.

The experience was absolute bedlam,

I think this is on the topic of every CXO conversation I'm a part of. And I think the thought process has to be looking for high-impact areas that may not be necessarily the most glamorous or high-profile functional areas, but are ripe for automation and use of this technology to create efficiencies as well as innovation. And over time, AI agents will be also in customer-facing and growth-oriented domains.

The global trade in marine aquarium fish relies heavily on fish sourced directly from wild populations, with many consumers unaware of the practice due to murky supply chains. New research has revealed the scale of the issue, finding most marine aquarium fish sold online in the US were wild-caught, mainly from the western Pacific and Indian oceans. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Globally, about 55 million marine animals are sold each year as part of the aquarium fish trade, an industry worth US$2.15bn.

The Trump administration has said it will rescind Clinton's roadless rule, more than two decades after its introduction appeared to mark the end of the bitter battle between environmentalists and loggers over the future of America's best remaining woodland. The rule is overly restrictive and an absurd obstacle to development, according to Brooke Rollins, Trump's secretary of agriculture, as she outlined its demise in June.

Dawn was breaking over the lagoon when I looked down and saw one of the oldest life forms on earth. It wasn't much to look at. Lumpy, white, and sitting just below the surface of the water, it resembled an overgrown cauliflower. But its appearance notwithstanding, this was one of the most remarkable objects I had ever encountered. "It's called a stromatolite," my burly and ebullient guide, Edwin Ruiz, explained as he nursed his flask of morning coffee.

The 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition celebrated its 22nd edition by showcasing the breathtaking beauty and delicate state of the natural world.

Firing off rapid keck-keck-keck cries that rang out through a park in central Berlin, the goshawks soared high above the trees and circled before swooping down to chase off a ragtag bunch of crows that had begun to mob them from below. It's basically a flying Batman bringing law and order to the city, said the conservationist Dr Paul O'Donoghue, peering through binoculars at two breeding pairs of the large pale-bellied birds as they dipped and dived through the sky. They're like stealth bombers.

The Bird Photographer of the Year 2025 contest drew over 33,000 global entries, showcasing the stunning diversity of birdlife through captivating images. Canadian photographer Liron Gertsman claimed the top honor with his solar eclipse-framed frigatebird shot, earning both the grand prize and Gold in the Birds in Flight category. The competition also celebrated excellence across various categories, highlighting emotionally resonant and technically brilliant moments in avian photography.