Desperately Seeking Cichlid: Fish Species Down to Last 3 Males, No Known Females

The last three males of an all-but-extinct fish species would really, really, really like to meet a female. Once upon a time the Mangarahara cichlid (Ptychochromis insolitus) lived in a single habitat: a river in Madagascar from which the species gets its name. That river has now been dammed and the habitat has dried up. [...]
Keep reading »Hammerhead Sharks, Houston Toads, Heavy Metal and Other Links from the Brink

Rare sharks, toads, rhinos and bears are among the endangered species in the news this week. Hammer Time: David Shiffman offers 10 reasons why great and scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran and S. lewini) deserve Endangered Species Act protections and encourages people to take direct action in support of a move to do just that. [...]
Keep reading »3,000 Feral Cats Killed to Protect Rare Australian Bilbies
March 28th, 2013 |
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Australia has a feral cat problem. Cats and other invasive predators have driven dozens of the country’s native bird, reptile and small mammal species into extinction, and continue to threaten several others. So many feral felines roam the country that the government often traps, shoots or poisons the animals in order to control populations. Most [...]
Keep reading »5 Turtles from Nearly Extinct Species Fly Home to Hong Kong
March 20th, 2013 |
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Asia’s turtles and tortoises are in an extinction crisis. Few species embody that more than the critically endangered golden coin turtle (Cuora trifasciata), which is so valued in the illegal pet trade and for its use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that a single specimen can fetch $25,000 or more on the black market. The [...]
Keep reading »Tragedy in New Zealand: Dozens of Critically Endangered Birds Dead, Cause Unknown

Efforts to save the critically endangered shore plover from extinction in New Zealand have suffered a major setback: nearly 60 of the birds have died due to unknown causes, reducing the world population of the species to just 200. Shore plovers (also known as shore dotterels or Tuturuatu, Thinornis novaeseelandiae) lived on both of New [...]
Keep reading »$2,500 Reward Offered after Critically Endangered Red Wolf Killed in North Carolina
February 19th, 2013 |
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a $2,500 reward for information about the January 18 shooting death of a critically endangered red wolf (Canis rufus) in North Carolina. The wolf, which wore a radio collar around its neck, was at least the 10th member of his species illegally shot and killed in the [...]
Keep reading »Critically Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Released into Arizona Wild

On Wednesday, January 16, a four-year-old Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) named M1133 took the first careful steps out of his crate into Arizona’s Apache National Forest, near the New Mexico border. It was the first time he had ever been in the wild. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and [...]
Keep reading »Critically Endangered Parakeet Population Grows on Predator-Free Island Reserve
January 10th, 2013 |
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Few people have ever seen a critically endangered Malherbe’s parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi) in the wild. Luis Ortiz-Catedral has not only seen more of the birds than just about anyone else, one of them has landed on his head. He has also witnessed something that almost no one else has ever seen among this species: mating. [...]
Keep reading »DNA Reveals the Last 20 Ethiopian Lions Are Genetically Distinct
December 4th, 2012 |
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Every day 20 unusual lions greet visitors at a tiny animal park in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. These lions, which have spent generations in captivity, are not like most African lions (Panthera leo leo). For one thing, they are slightly smaller than the wild lions found elsewhere on the continent. For another, the males carry distinctive [...]
Keep reading »Controversial Toronto Zoo Penguins Not Gay after All?
November 15th, 2012 |
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What a difference a year makes. Last November, two male African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) living at the Toronto Zoo made worldwide headlines after they took more interest in each other than in members of the opposite sex. Considering the penguins—Pedro and Buddy—were brought to the zoo for breeding purposes, it posed quite the conundrum for [...]
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