Researcher Ligia Pizzatto dug a small hole in the ground on the sloping banks of Ryan’s Lagoon in southeast Australia. She carefully placed an egg inside the hollow before covering it with soil, then reached for a large spray bottle and doused the area with a fine mist. The scent of vanilla filled the air, oddly sweet against the smell of damp earth and eucalyptus trees. While looking for another spot to repeat the process, Pizzatto came across a scattering of small bones, flat and almost geometrical in shape. “Turtle bones,” Pizzatto said. “Probably eaten by a fox.” These bones are a small sign of a much larger crisis. Freshwater turtle species that are native to Australia’s Murray-Darling River Basin are increasingly under threat, their populations collapsing under pressure from introduced predators. Not only do foxes kill turtles that venture onto land — typically nesting females — but they also dig up their nests to eat their eggs. Pizzatto, a biologist at La Trobe University in Victoria, is testing an innovative approach to intervene — one that doesn’t require killing a single fox. Young broad-shelled turtle found by Ligia Pizzatto during fieldwork. Broad-shelled turtles are classified as endangered in Victoria. Image by Ligia Pizzatto. Freshwater turtles under threat The Murray River is the longest in Australia; its course marks the boundary between the states of Victoria and New South Wales in the country’s southeast. This river and its basin are a major biodiversity hotspot and home to three native turtle…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Tariq Mahmood was alarmed when he found 19 sacks tucked away in a railway tunnel in the Chakwal district of northern Pakistan. Their contents were extremely disturbing: 45 rotting pangolin carcasses, all devoid of their distinct, orange-and-light-brown scales. That was in 2012. “It was very difficult to see these innocent, dead bodies,” said Mahmood, a wildlife biologist at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University in Pakistan, who began studying pangolins in 2009. Finding so many slain Indian pangolins (Manis crassicaudata) alerted Mahmood to a dark truth. Poachers were paying local citizens to capture them, so the overlapping scales that cover their bodies — the pangolin’s first line of defense — could be sold into the illegal wildlife trade. “It was terrible to know that.” At the time, global conservationists were realizing that demand for pangolin was driving trade, mostly to China. “We first saw the emergence of this intercontinental trafficking around 2010, and it’s continued to take place since then,” said Dan Challender, a pangolin expert at the University of Oxford who has studied international wildlife trade for 15 years. This shy, toothless, nocturnal animal has become the world’s most-trafficked mammal. When Asia’s four species were nearly poached to extinction, traders turned to the four African species and their numbers soon plummeted. All pangolins are on the IUCN Red list: Four of them, including the Indian pangolin, are endangered, and three hang on the brink, critically endangered. Pangolin scales command substantial prices on the black market. The demand is…This article was originally published on Mongabay

On June 5, Australian authorities announced that they confiscated more than 100,000 live exotic cockroaches from an unnamed commercial breeder in Bathurst, a town in New South Wales (NSW), about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Sydney. It was the largest bust of illegal invertebrates ever made in the country. The insects were estimated to be worth about AU$200,000 (about $140,000 at current exchange rates). They included dubia cockroaches (Blaptica dubia), endemic to South America, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) found only in the island nation of Madagascar. They were bred to be sold as food for pet reptiles, authorities said. Hissing cockroaches are also sought after as pets since they don’t have wings and can’t fly away. No one has been charged with a crime, according to a statement by an environment agency spokesperson. Australia has strict biosecurity laws, permitting live import of only certain animal species; controls are needed to effectively protect crops, plants and native wildlife. The legally-imported list excludes exotic insects like cockroaches that can become invasive or spread diseases “We’re seeing illegal breeding and trading of exotic cockroaches, and we’re putting pet businesses and pet owners on notice,” a spokesperson from the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, the agency responsible for environmental protection, said in a press release. “If you are found to possess, breed or trade exotic cockroaches such as dubia cockroaches and Madagascar hissing cockroaches, they will be seized and you could face penalties under federal law.” Officials…This article was originally published on Mongabay

As human cases continue to climb in the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, concern is growing for the gorilla population, which have been devastated by the virus during previous outbreaks. On May 15, the Congolese Health Ministry announced a new outbreak of the lethal virus, which has struck the country at least 17 times over the past half-century; the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 676 Ebola cases in the eastern DRC and 136 deaths as of June 10 — and continue to rise. In neighboring Uganda,  19 cases and two deaths have been reported, with no new cases in the last days. So far, the outbreak seems to be largely contained within the region. The Bundibugyo virus is the culprit, one of five Ebola viruses within the family Filoviridae that spark illness in people. It has no approved treatment or vaccine. As cases mount, virologists — as well as ecologists and primatologists — are warily monitoring its spread. First discovered in humans in 1976 along the Ebola River (where it got its name), Ebola is highly contagious, and this virus can also sicken and kill gorillas and other non-human primates. While some symptoms are flu-like — fever, vomiting and diarrhea — the disease can progress to a gruesome, often-fatal hemorrhagic fever, causing both internal and external bleeding. Previous outbreaks have exacted vast human death…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SALONGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo — Just before sunrise, while much of the rainforest remains cloaked in darkness, a team of researchers and trackers leaves the Inkomu research camp. Their destination is the previous night’s nesting site of a group of bonobos deep within the Salonga forest, located in the center of the DRC. Their mission is to persuade the bonobos (Pan paniscus) to accept human presence as a natural part of their environment. By earning the animals’ trust, researchers hope to create opportunities to better understand their behavior, ecology and health. This painstaking process, bonobo habituation, involves spending time near the apes day after day until they gradually become accustomed to people. It is a slow and demanding undertaking that can take years, requiring patience, consistency and thousands of hours in the forest. Long before dawn, often around 3 a.m., trackers — some of them former poachers whose knowledge of the forest has become an asset for conservation — begin making their way toward the previous night’s nesting site. They must arrive before the bonobos wake. Then begins an all-day pursuit through one of the most remote rainforests on Earth, following the apes from dawn until they build fresh nests for the night. “The whole idea of habituation is that you meet the group every day in a very friendly, non-interactive way so they accept you as part of the forest,” says Felix Bofeko, an assistant researcher working with a bonobo habituation program in Salonga National Park.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

One of the busiest highways in the western U.S. is I-25, a concrete artery that runs north to south across the state of Colorado, funneling roughly 100,000 cars per day through the fast-growing exurbs south of the capital, Denver. While I-25 facilitates human journeys, it disastrously truncates the movements of another set of commuters. For decades, mule deer, elk, black bears and other species have wandered onto the highway — with fatal consequences. Over a two-year period, from 2018 to 2020, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) tallied collisions with 76 deer, 15 bears and 10 pumas along a 14-mile (22.5-kilometer) stretch of asphalt. Moreover, the interstate’s walls of traffic deter many animals from even attempting to cross, preventing them from roaming between alpine forests and Colorado’s eastern prairies. Lately, however, this once-dangerous barrier has become far more accommodating to four-legged travelers. In 2021, Colorado completed the construction of five capacious, dirt-floored underpasses, flanked by more than 25 mi (40 km) of roadside fencing, to allow wildlife to meander safely and freely beneath I-25. A black bear approaches a vehicle on the Alcan (Alaska-Canada) Highway, possibly indicating how habituating animals to human food can lead to road conflicts. Image by Ben Goldfarb. And in December 2025, CDOT finished construction of an overpass, 200 feet wide by 209 long (61 by 64 meters), that arcs over six lanes of traffic near the town of Greenland. That makes it one of the largest human-made wildlife crossings on Earth. All told, CDOT says…This article was originally published on Mongabay

As the Democratic Republic of Congo grapples with another Ebola outbreak, bats have once again come under scrutiny as a possible reservoir for the virus. But according to bat ecologist Paul Webala, there is no conclusive scientific evidence linking bats to Ebola and the natural reservoir remains unknown. The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, a variant for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments, according to the World Health Organization. In this interview with Mongabay, Webala discusses why bats are often misunderstood, details the important ecological services they provide, and explains why habitat destruction may pose a greater risk for zoonotic diseases that spill over between animals and humans than bats themselves. Webala is a wildlife biologist at Maasai Mara University in Kenya who has studied bats for more than two decades. Rousettus aegyptiacus, commonly known as the Egyptian fruit bat, a widespread species found across much of Africa. Photo courtesy of Paul Webala. Mongabay: Many people immediately think of bats whenever there is an Ebola outbreak. Are bats unfairly stigmatized? Paul Webala: Bats are the second-largest group of mammals after rodents. Roughly 25% of all mammal species are bats. They play extremely important roles in ecosystems and are an integral part of biodiversity. Remove them, and entire ecological systems could begin to collapse. Unfortunately, bats are associated with many myths and misconceptions. Some communities associate them with death, evil spirits or bad omens. Because of these longstanding beliefs, bats have often been persecuted.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Among the many inhabitants of Southeast Asia’s dense rainforests are hornbills — a group of birds that stand out with their raucous call, large, ostentatious beak and colorful feathers. Indonesia harbors 13 species, the most of any country in Asia, three of which are found nowhere else. Hornbills are rapidly losing their homes as large swaths of Indonesian forests are cut down to make way for plantations, mining, dams, cities and other development, or are scorched by wildfires. Trade in these birds also poses another serious threat. Hundreds of hornbills are entering the illegal trade in Indonesia, according to a new study published in the journal Wild, some of which are offered for sale online. They’re sold alive as pets or killed for their casques, the ivory-like appendages above their beaks, and their taxidermied heads, which are displayed as home décor. To understand the scope of this trade, researchers analyzed police and customs confiscation data and surveyed online ads from 2015 to 2025. They learned that this illegal commerce is widespread and involves every Indonesian hornbill species and some from Africa and the Philippines as well. Most birds were sold alive, suggesting they’re bought as pets. Facebook was the preferred online marketplace. “The scale of the hornbill trade in Indonesia is probably greater now than I’ve seen it in the past,” said study author and wildlife trade researcher Chris Shepherd from the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s becoming, perhaps, trendier to keep hornbills.” Indonesia is infamous for its songbird…This article was originally published on Mongabay