Conservation

Dotty, a female Bengal tiger, roams her territory in India’s Bandhavgarh National Park, where tigers are one of the biggest tourist attractions.

Learning to Live Beside Endangered Tigers May Be the Key to Saving Them

New programs in India are helping to reduce conflict between humans and the big cats by educating communities and helping those who have been affected by animal attacks

A species that was previously considered lost, the black-naped pheasant-pigeon, was rediscovered in 2022.

These 'Lost' Bird Species Haven't Been Seen in at Least a Decade—and Scientists Want Help Finding Them

Some of the 126 species on their list haven’t been photographed or recorded in more than century

A still from a video captured by Vermont resident Gary Shattuck, featuring the lynx walking alongside a road in Rutland County, Vermont, on August 17.

Rare Endangered Lynx Spotted in Vermont for the First Time Since 2018

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has only confirmed seven sightings of the wildcats since 2016

A view of the lunar south pole, with Shackleton Crater at the center, assembled from images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Scientists Suggest Freezing Endangered Animals' Cells and Preserving Them on the Moon

Shadowed areas in lunar craters may be cold enough to safeguard species' DNA amid "climate disasters and social disasters" on Earth, according to Smithsonian-led research

A rusty patched bumblebee, the first bumblebee species to be listed as endangered in the United States, clings to a flower.

Can the Endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee Survive?

A new genetic study reveals secrets about the creature, which may help researchers make decisions to conserve the species

Namibia's brown hyenas live in small clans but often travel and hunt alone.

Artificial Intelligence Could Soon Match Footprints to the Animals That Made Them

Scientists are working on a machine learning tool that could turn anyone with a camera into an expert tracker

An ocelot rests on a rock in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, in 2007. Only seven ocelots, including the one just spotted, have been seen in the state in the last two decades.

Rare Ocelot Caught on Camera in Arizona, the First Sighting in Its Area for 50 Years

Ocelots were federally listed as endangered in 1972, and their current U.S. population is thought to be fewer than 100 individuals

The European ant species Lasius emarginatus arrived to Manhattan around 2011 and has since become one of the most dominant ant species in the city.

Invasive 'ManhattAnts' Are Taking Over New York City and Spreading Quickly

Since appearing on Manhattan in 2011, the species has become one of the island's most dominant ants, and scientists formally identified it this year

The elephants are spending the summer in Newport, Rhode Island, before making their way to the Meatpacking District in New York City this fall.

A Herd of Life-Size Elephant Sculptures Is Marching Across America

Created by artists in India, the artworks are part of a larger effort to promote coexistence between humans and animals

Vultures clean up carcasses quickly, preventing bacteria and pathogens from proliferating. 

When Vultures Nearly Disappeared in India, Half a Million People Died, Too, Study Finds

By being nature's clean-up crew, the often maligned birds help prevent the spread of diseases, according to a new study

Peregrine falcons can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour when they drop from great heights to catch prey.

Yosemite's Peregrine Falcons Are Rebounding Thanks to Unlikely Allies: Rock Climbers

After pesticides decimated the birds' numbers, climbers helped the species regain a foothold in the park

A California condor chick rests in a clear container lined with paper at the L.A. Zoo.

A Record-Breaking 17 California Condor Chicks Hatched at the L.A. Zoo This Year

The successful breeding season offers more hope for the endangered species, which has come back from the brink of extinction due to captive breeding efforts

Gerard Barron, chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, holds a nodule retreived from the seafloor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean in 2021. The company plans to mine for these nodules, which researchers suggest produce oxygen underwater.

Scientists Discover 'Dark Oxygen' on the Ocean Floor Generated—Surprisingly—by Lumps of Metal

Researchers found that electric currents from polymetallic nodules are behind this alchemy—the same minerals that deep-sea miners are targeting

Established in 2019, Indiana Dunes National Park represents one of the most understated successes of 20th-century conservation—and the battle is far from over today.

Inside the Fight to Save the Indiana Dunes, One of America's Most Vulnerable National Parks

Caught between steel mills, suburbs and a hard place, the 15,000-acre site is a fantasia of biodiversity—and a case study for hard-fought conservation

The newly discovered self-portrait by Norman Cornish

Hidden Self-Portrait by Norman Cornish Discovered Behind Another Painting

A conservator in northern England stumbled upon the work on the reverse side of a piece called "Bar Scene"

Nearly 1,000 birds died in a single night after flying into windows at McCormick Place Lakeside Center in October 2023.

Chicago Building Where Nearly 1,000 Birds Died in One Night Last Fall Installs Bird-Safe Window Film

The glass-covered lakefront convention center has long been known among wildlife advocacy groups as a site of mass casualties for migratory birds

American oystercatchers use their orange bills to pry open shellfish.

Nesting Shorebirds Are Mobbing Drones on New York City Beaches

The drones, equipped with inflatable life rafts, were intended to help improve public safety for humans this summer—but they're also upsetting orange-beaked birds called American oystercatchers

Estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 individuals, the koala population is the largest and healthiest in the state of Victoria, and second only in size to that of Kangaroo Island in the whole country.

This Island Is Inhabited by More Koalas Than Humans

Australia’s French Island is home to one of the country’s largest and healthiest koala populations, but it’s not impervious to the species’ struggles

Maidenhair ferns frame the cavernous entrance to a 350-foot-long cave that opens in the backyard of an Auckland suburban home.

Bringing Auckland’s Volcanic Underworld to Light

Scientists are working to map and protect the city's underground tunnels so they aren’t destroyed during construction

Winged Life Winner

View 11 Breathtaking Images From the BigPicture Photography Competition

This 2024 showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places

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