Get up close with the mole crab, a fascinating crustacean you can find (and catch) on your next trip to the beach.

My favourite bird since I was a kid. Maybe my first favourite animal ever. Pretty much always remained so too.

African Hoopoes do not usually migrate as far north as Ireland, but it is believed that a weather phenomenon, known as Sahara Dust, has carried them here.

Khorshid: The Everlasting Hope of Turan

Khorshid (The Sun), has managed to successfully raise all four of her cubs until early November. She is a record holder for successful motherhood among cheetahs in Iran, having given birth to three healthy litters. Khorshid is one of the main hopes for the continuation of cheetah reproduction in the heart of Turan.

The Asiatic Cheetah is an animal near and dear to my heart. I would absolutely love to see one in real life and desperately hope they dont go extinct. An absolutely beautiful cat.

Just look at him ❤️

To add to this: The Iranian Cheetah Society is proud to announce the release of a comprehensive report on the status of the Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) in Iran. This extensive study, conducted from 2021 to 2023, provides critical insights into the population dynamics, breeding patterns, and conservation challenges faced by this endangered species.

Key Highlights:

Population Insights: The study documented the presence of six female cheetahs, four male cheetahs, and 17 cubs in the Touran Biosphere Reserve, highlighting the region’s importance as a breeding habitat1. Conservation Challenges: The report underscores the urgent need for enhanced conservation efforts, including the installation of satellite collars and genetic studies, to ensure the survival of the Asiatic Cheetah. Research Findings: Over 797 images of cheetahs were captured, providing valuable data on their movement patterns and habitat use.

Sauce: https://www.wildlife.ir/en/download/asiatic-cheetah-population-monitoring-in-northern-habitats-2021-2023/

https://www.wildlife.ir/en/2023/11/15/khorshid-the-everlasting-hope-of-turan/

High above Chicago, in the predawn dark, flew an airborne river of migratory birds. It was peak spring migration traffic, in late April, and the tiny travelers were arriving at one of the most perilous points along their journey.

These birds, inhabitants of forests and grasslands, do not perceive glass as solid and get confused by its reflections. Bright city lights seem to attract them, luring them into glassy canyons. The gleaming buildings of Chicago, curving along the shore of Lake Michigan, are especially lethal.

High above Chicago, in the predawn dark, flew an airborne river of migratory birds. It was peak spring migration traffic, in late April, and the tiny travelers were arriving at one of the most perilous points along their journey.

These birds, inhabitants of forests and grasslands, do not perceive glass as solid and get confused by its reflections. Bright city lights seem to attract them, luring them into glassy canyons. The gleaming buildings of Chicago, curving along the shore of Lake Michigan, are especially lethal.

https://archive.ph/incUu

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• A new analysis of more than 70,000 wild animal species reveals that climate change is now the third-greatest threat to the planet’s wildlife, following overexploitation and habitat degradation.
• The study found that nearly 5% of the assessed species are threatened by climate change, with ocean invertebrates being particularly vulnerable to climate change-related threats, such as extreme temperatures, floods, droughts, storms and ocean acidification.
• The study warns that some animal populations, both on land and at sea, have already begun to collapse due to climate change-related events, and it’s now necessary to monitor mass die-offs to understand the impacts of climate change and predict future impacts.

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Important Correction

“Fossil fuels are the main driver of the climate crisis,” Wolf said. “Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels is essential if we’re going to prevent mass extinctions of animals and plants and maintain healthy wildlife populations and ecosystems with all the benefits they provide.”

This is dangerously incorrect. To "rapidly" phase out fossil fuels and not address the other factors contributing to the climate crisis would be suicidal for life on Earth.

• Located at the edge of the western Pacific Ocean, New Guinea is a vast island where the biota of Asia and Australasia meet, making it a melting pot of unique plants and animals that occur nowhere else on the planet.
• Development pressure is ramping up across the island, however, opening up landscapes to new roads, industrial logging and agricultural conglomerates pushing biofuel agendas.
• New Guinea’s low-elevation forests, which represent some of the world’s last vestiges of ancient lowland tropical rainforest, are particularly imperiled, according to a new study.
• To avert tragedy, the authors urge policymakers to improve land-use planning systems, focus on retaining intact forest landscapes, and strengthen the rights of the people who live among them.

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From article: "Lahore, 18 May 2023: Following recent reports of sightings of the critically endangered Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) reported on social media, WWF-Pakistan's wildlife team promptly visited the area in Punjab, Pakistan, to investigate further. The subsequent survey confirmed the presence of Gharials in the region, including the exciting observation of juvenile individuals after a presumed absence of three decades."

My words: This one nearly made me cry when I heard the news.

The subcontinent is weird geographically (thank you Brits). The randomly drawn border and the way both countries treat the areas have affected migration patterns amongst other issues.

The Gharials (among the longest of all living crocodilians) went extinct long ago, 3 decades I believe, due to dams and overfishing leading to too much competition for their food. Were also killed by a lot of people out of fear (and for the leather).

Ironically this particular gharial returned due to floods in India leading it this way. Its still there in the Ganges.

Would not have survived if it was a populated area, but due to border tensions the area was closed off.

They have since reproduced in Pakistan as well.

The conservation plan encompasses onsite monitoring in collaboration with security authorities. The main emphasis will be on executing efficient conservation measures and safeguarding the Gharials' habitat. This involves ensuring appropriate water quantity and quality, as well as managing ongoing fishing activities to protect their habitat effectively. (Wikipedia)

Yet with India closing off Pakistans water supply, despite the Indus valley treaty before the war started the water levels are an issue rn.

Pakistan has formally requested the transfer of hundreds of Gharial crocodiles from Nepal as part of an initiative to reintroduce this species. (Wikipedia)

Globally they are critically endangered.

Death fainting! Walking embryos! Resistance to snake venom! And other weird facts about the underrated Virginia opossum.

In the Cerrado — the largest and most plant-diverse savanna in the world — scientists have discovered that just 30 tree species account for almost half of the ecosystem’s trees.

The phenomenon is called “hyperdominance” and has major implications for the understanding and conservation of the Cerrado, a press release from University of Exeter said.

For the study, researchers from Brazil, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom drew upon data from more than 200 field plots, along with spatial modeling and satellite imagery.

archived (Wayback Machine):

• EcoWatch article
• research cited

A “remarkably well-preserved” fossil discovered in Brazil, dating back 113 million years, is now the oldest ant to have ever been found by scientists, a new study has revealed. The ancient fossil was found preserved in a limestone and “represents the earliest undisputed ant known to science,” the authors write in the study.

archived (Wayback Machine):

• Mongabay article
• research cited

• A recent study analyzed the behavior of birds that feed on insects in parts of the Amazon that have not yet been altered by human activity. Of the 29 species studied, 24 have gone through a reduction in population.
• The results point to climate change as the cause: Less rainfall and more severe droughts seem to be affecting the number of insects there, resulting in less food for the birds, which seem to be reacting by reproducing less in order to save energy.
• According to the study, an increase of just 1° C (1.8° F) in average dry season temperature in the Amazon would result in a 63% drop in the bird community’s average survival rate.

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A new study shows that an unassuming plant has some very unusual family dynamics.

In a recently published study, researchers offer a new tool to compare how different crops affect the environment in different regions.

Named PLANTdex, the tool assesses the environmental impact of a crop by considering five key indicators — greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater biodiversity loss, marine biodiversity loss, land biodiversity loss, and water resource depletion — study co-author Mark Jwaideh, nature data and risk analytics lead at the University of Oxford, told Mongabay by email.

For each crop, PLANTdex combines these five indicators into one score at a high resolution of 9 by 9 kilometers (5.6 by 5.6 miles).

“This granularity enables the identification of specific regions where crop production is more or less environmentally impactful, facilitating targeted interventions and policy decisions,” Jwaideh said. “This approach enables stakeholders to pinpoint environmental hotspots to make informed decisions on crop commodity sourcing or where better management is required.”

archived (Wayback Machine):

• Mongabay article
• research cited

archived (Wayback Machine)

The number and diversity of insects is declining worldwide. Some studies suggest that their biomass has almost halved since the 1970s. Among the main reasons for this are habitat loss—for example through agriculture or urbanization—and climate change.

These threats have long been known. What is less well-known is how these global change drivers interact and how their effects can become even more severe that way. For example, insects that have been deprived of their natural habitat could be even more affected by higher temperatures in a new environment.

Researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) have investigated precisely this serious interaction at 179 locations throughout Bavaria. The study is part of the LandKlif research cluster, coordinated by Professor Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter within the Bavarian Climate Research Network bayklif.

They published their results in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

For about 2% of the world’s amphibian species, it’s already getting too hot to survive in their natural habitats, according to a new study in Nature. If the planet keeps warming unchecked, this number is expected to jump to 7.5% by the end of the century.

The global wildlife crisis has reached alarming proportions, with monitored wildlife populations plummeting worldwide over the past half-century. While the situation is dire across all continents, Latin America and the Caribbean stand out as the most severely affected region, experiencing a devastating 95% drop in wildlife populations since 1970. This staggering decline represents not just a local ecological catastrophe but a global biodiversity emergency with far-reaching implications for ecosystem stability, human livelihoods, and planetary health.

The Scale of the Decline

The headline statistic is stark: monitored wildlife populations in Latin America and the Caribbean have declined by an average of 95% between 1970 and 2020. To put this in context, this means that for every 20 animals that existed in the region in 1970, only one remains today. This unprecedented collapse far exceeds the already concerning wildlife population declines in other regions: Africa has lost 76% of its wildlife populations, Asia-Pacific 60%, and the global average stands at 73%.

According to the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2024, these findings emerge from monitoring 5,495 animal species and 35,969 populations globally. The consistent downward trajectory across regions underscores the systemic nature of this crisis, but the exceptional severity in Latin America and the Caribbean highlights the particularly intense pressures facing this biodiversity-rich part of the world.

Causes of Wildlife Decline

Habitat Loss and Degradation

The primary driver of wildlife population collapse in Latin America and the Caribbean is habitat loss and degradation, particularly from agricultural expansion and rampant deforestation. The Amazon rainforest, which houses approximately 10% of the planet’s known biodiversity, has been especially hard hit, with vast areas converted to farmland and cattle ranching operations. Between 2000 and 2018, the Amazon lost approximately 513,016 square kilometers of forest — an area roughly the size of Spain.

Overexploitation

Unsustainable hunting, fishing, and illegal wildlife trade constitute the second major threat to biodiversity in the region. Commercial fishing has depleted marine wildlife populations, while hunting — both for subsistence and commercial purposes — has decimated many terrestrial species. The illegal wildlife trade, estimated to be worth up to $23 billion annually worldwide, continues to target the region’s unique and valuable species.

Climate Change

Climate change acts as a multiplier of existing threats and is noted as a particularly acute pressure in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and increasing frequency of extreme weather events disrupt habitats, alter species ranges, and stress already vulnerable populations. The region’s rich but fragile ecosystems — from tropical forests to coral reefs — are especially susceptible to climate-induced changes.

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The fact that humans who are not related by blood help each other repeatedly over time is demonstrably true—think of the ongoing mutual support that sustains your longest-running friendships.

The new paper draws on 20 years of research that Rubenstein and his colleagues have conducted on African starlings living in the harsh climate of east African savannas.

More information: Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08958-4

Passive acoustic monitoring of biodiversity involves capturing the sounds of animals emitted intentionally or unintentionally in a wide variety of ecosystems, using acoustic recorders. It is used to monitor cetaceans, numerous insects and crustaceans, bats and birds, frogs, as well as a large number of fish and other mammals, in order to understand their behavior, distribution and activities.

The findings are published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.

The unexpected discovery on Mexican islands in the Caribbean makes it crucial to conserve the animals' habitats