Joel Sartore The world’s biggest conference on wildlife trade is happening. Get the details.National Geographic - Dina Fine MaronDelegations from all over the world are gathering in Switzerland to discuss protections for more than 500 species Every three years, there’s a global meeting to talk about the international wildlife trade—worth
Guatemala City The fight to protect the world’s most trafficked wild commodityNational Geographic - Eileen GuoChinese demand for rosewood—trafficked more than ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scales—is fueling a crisis in Guatemala's forests. Jose Baudillo leans over a thin rosewood log lying on a bed of dark wood
Animals Why Japan stopped some of its controversial whale huntsNational Geographic - Dina Fine MaronThe global wildlife trade treaty is being put to the test in Japan and other countries. It was October of 2018, and if Japan didn’t stop slaughtering sei whales plying the waters of the North Pacific come
Animals Hundreds of zoos and aquariums accused of mistreating animalsNational Geographic - Rachel FobarMany "gold-standard" zoos and aquariums worldwide let visitors pet, feed, and take selfies with animals, a new report finds. In a new report, an animal welfare group has flagged hundreds of zoos affiliated
Animals How one Amazon community is trying to move on from illegal wildlife tourismNational Geographic - Natasha DalyPuerto Alegría, Peru, was notorious for illegal wild animal encounters. Now, residents are replacing captive anteaters with cultural artifacts—but they’re struggling to attract tourists. Until last December,
Beavers Beavers on the coast are helping salmon bounce back. Here’s how.National Geographic - Starre VartanThe arrival of beaver dams in the Pacific Northwest’s Elwha River delta may have surprising benefits. On a blue-sky summer day, threatened Chinook salmon leap from the Elwha River, in northwest Washington,
Animals Forest fires are getting too hot—even for fire-adapted animalsNational Geographic - Jason G. GoldmanThe black-backed woodpecker needs wildfires to survive. But has it hit its limit? Imagine the coniferous forests of the American West and you probably picture tall trees, forest floors littered with pine
Animals Elephant skin sales rapidly mountingNational Geographic - Dina Fine MaronThe illegal trade in Asian elephant skins—for jewelry and traditional medicine—has expanded across Southeast Asia. It was the smell that put off the men and women charged with converting the subcutaneous
Animals This is the only place on Earth where lions live aloneNational Geographic - Christine Dell'AmoreIn the harsh deserts of northern Kenya, prides don’t make sense. So lions have figured out another way to survive. They named her Magilani—“the clever one”—because she had to be smart to live alone here,
Animals Earth’s largest freshwater creatures at risk of extinctionNational Geographic - Stefan LovgrenGlobal populations of freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals have sharply declined, a new study finds. Some have survived for hundreds of millions of years, but many of the world’s freshwater
Animals The world responded to this captive elephant’s plight. Now he has a new life.National Geographic - Natasha DalyNational Geographic documented Gluay Hom’s injuries in a story on the dark side of wildlife tourism. Now the elephant has been moved to a sanctuary. Today, Gluay Hom, a young, suffering elephant in Thailand,
Joel Sartore 112-year-old fish has broken a longevity recordNational Geographic - Sean LandsmanAccording to radiocarbon dating, when the bigmouth buffalo was born, World War I had not yet broken out in Europe. Scientists just added a large, sucker-mouthed fish to the growing list of centenarian
Animals Dazzling new mimic beetles found, may already be under threatNational Geographic - Jason BittelJewel weevils are so good at deterring predators with their iridescent displays, other beetles are mimicking them, new research shows. High up in the rainforests of the Philippines’ Mindanao Island, biologist
Animals ‘This photograph was the hardest I’ve ever had to make’National Geographic - Trevor Beck FrostAn epic hunt for a ‘problem’ saltwater crocodile is part of an ongoing plan to save the species in Australia. As I stood underneath the tree in Australia’s Northern Territory, I thought about what the
Animals How to photograph wildlife ethicallyNational Geographic - Melissa GrooPutting the well-being of animals first should be every photographer’s goal. National Geographic photographers share tips on how they do it. Photographers have unprecedented tools, opportunities, and to
Sea Lions How a humpback whale ended up with a sea lion in its mouthNational Geographic - Sarah KeartesIn an extremely rare occurrence, a photographer captured a sea lion getting snagged in the open mouth of a humpback whale. During a whale-watching trip last week, wildlife photographer Chase Dekker stared
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service See a different endangered animal in every U.S. stateNational Geographic - Natasha DalyThe Wyoming toad may be North America’s most endangered amphibian. Disease and habitat loss drove the lumpy, spotted toad into such rapid decline in the 20th century that by 1984, there were only about
Raccoons Raccoons are spreading across Earth—and climate change could helpNational Geographic - Douglas MainThe voracious invaders are found on three continents, and warming could help their range expand northward. Much of the world is hospitable for raccoons, and the potential range of these masked invaders
Play buttonAnimals Go inside a penguin rescue center with new 360 videoNational Geographic - Jenny HowardEndangered African penguins are threatened by human encroachment, predators, and a decrease in their favorite fish. A distinct odor of dead fish, guano, and earthy sea lingers in the air. Loud braying
Beavers Argentina brought beavers to Tierra del Fuego. It was not a good idea.National Geographic - Haley Cohen GillilandIn 1946, the government wanted to create a fur industry. More than 70 years later, it’s clear the ecosystem wasn’t meant to cope with them. Until nine years ago, when he began shooting beavers with a caliber
Birdwatching Songbirds are being snatched from Miami’s forestsNational Geographic - Dina Fine MaronLaw enforcement has discovered a thriving underground business of trapping songbirds around Miami—to become pets and to sing in competitions. Even as three armed officers closed in on the small wooden
Joel Sartore This surprisingly smart frog makes maps in its mindNational Geographic - Geetha IyerThe tiny green-and-black poison frog displays an advanced cognitive ability never before seen in amphibians. A poison frog about the size and color of a mint chocolate bonbon is quietly upending what thought
Animals How this ‘camera car’ captured the perfect tiger close-upNational Geographic - Catherine ZuckermanIt took intimate pictures of big cats—until a curious female got too close. Every photographer has a dream shot. For Steve Winter, that shot was a tiger’s face seen from below. The challenge, says Winter—who
Pangolin Cowboy boots sold in the U.S. fueled the decline of pangolinsNational Geographic - Rachel NuwerAs pangolin leather became unavailable, sellers replaced it with leather from a giant Brazilian fish—threatening that species as well. Pangolins are the world’s only scaled mammal, and that conspicuous
Wildlife This mountaineering mouse is the world's highest-dwelling mammalNational Geographic - Douglas MainThe yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse can live from sea level all the way up to the peaks of Andean volcanoes, surprising experts. The upper reach of Llullaillaco, the world’s second-highest volcano, is of
Animals Where lions once ruled, they are now quietly disappearingNational Geographic - Olivia PrentzelThere are half as many African lions than there were 25 years ago. Conservation programs aim to protect the disappearing species by promoting human-lion cohabitation across the African savanna. For every
Humpback Whales Humpback whales make stunning comeback in southern AfricaNational Geographic - Dustin RenwickWhaling drove humpbacks in the region to near extinction. Now new survey data suggests there are far more than anyone expected. More than 30,000 humpback whales now splash across the western Indian Ocean,
Goats Goats can perceive each other’s emotions from their voicesNational Geographic - Natasha DalyNew research shows that goats can hear subtle emotional changes in goats’ calls, furthering our understanding about how animals perceive the world. How animals perceive the world around them is still mystery
Bats regurgitate nectar for their babies—a new discoveryNational Geographic - Mary BatesMany animal mothers have evolved unusual ways to feed their offspring, sometimes even sacrificing their own lives. Any human mom can attest that keeping a baby fed and happy can be a Herculean task. That’s
