Extinction Countdown

News and research about endangered species from around the world

23,000 People from 33 States Apply for Minnesota Wolf Hunting Permits; Unrestricted Hunting Starts Soon in Wyoming

Gray wolves ( Canis lupus ) have targets on their backs. One of the next barrages of gunfire will start soon in Minnesota, where more than 23,000 people have applied for the 6,000 permits that the state will issue for its fall hunting season, set to start November 3.This is one of the latest salvos against wolves, which have slowly lost their protected status in the Rockies and Great Lakes regions over the past four and a half years after the U.S...

September 11, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

First Purebred Bison Calf Born after Disease-Washing Embryo Transfer

What does a two-month-old bison calf in the Bronx have to do with the future of its species? Quite a lot, it turns out.After being slaughtered to near extinction in the 19th century, the American plains bison ( Bison bison bison ) has become a bit of a conservation success story, albeit with a few important caveats...

September 7, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

Japanese River Otter Declared Extinct

After not being seen for more than 30 years, the Japanese river otter ( Lutra lutra whiteleyi ) has been declared extinct by the country's Ministry of the Environment, which also last week declared several other species extinct.Once numbering in the millions, Japanese river otters—a subspecies of the European or Eurasian otter ( L...

September 5, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

Updates from the Brink: Dying Devils, Disappearing Vultures and a $473,000 Fish

When I last wrote about Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) this past December, the species was in pretty dire straits. A contagious cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) had, at that point, wiped out at least 70 percent of devils in the wild, forcing scientists to resort to captive breeding, a sperm bank and other reproductive research to help save the devils from extinction.Things haven't gotten any better: The death toll for infected Tasmanian devils has now risen to 85 percent...

August 29, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

Chimps Infected with Human Diseases Pose Possible Risk to Reintroduction Efforts

When a wild animal is rescued from poachers or wildlife smugglers, conservationists usually make an effort to rehabilitate it and return it to life in its native habitat.

August 28, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

Recently Discovered Lizard Species Down to 3 Remaining Females

What lizard species has been wiped out in its natural habitat and now depends on three breeding females breeding in captivity for its long-term survival?Oh wait, I can't quite answer that, because the species has no official name.For now it's being called the orange-tailed skink...

August 24, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

How Did Zebras Give 2 Polar Bears Herpes?

When a polar bear suddenly takes ill and dies, the natural inclination is not to suspect zebras as the cause. But according to research published August 16 in Current Biology , that's what happened at Wuppertal Zoo in Germany in 2010.The strange saga started on June 8, 2010, when Jerka, a 20-year-old female polar bear, started experiencing epilepsy-like seizures and foaming at the mouth...

August 21, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

South Africa Invests in Elephant Birth Control [Video]

African elephants face two terribly contradictory threats: In some parts of the continent the animals are being hunted into extinction for their valuable ivory tusks, but in other countries elephants are so heavily overpopulated that they pose a threat not just to themselves but to entire ecosystems.South Africa faces the latter problem...

August 16, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

Okapi Conservation Center Recovering after Militia Attack that Killed 6 People and 14 Animals

On Sunday, June 24, an armed militia group opened fire on the headquarters of the Okapi Conservation Project (OCP) near the village of Epulu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)...

August 14, 2012 — John R. Platt

Environment

World's Largest Butterfly Threatened by Shrinking Habitat and Deforestation

Counting butterflies in the wild is not an easy task, even when you are looking for the largest butterfly in the world, the Queen Alexandra's birdwing ( Ornithoptera alexandrae ) of Papua New Guinea (PNG)...

August 10, 2012 — John R. Platt

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23,000 People from 33 States Apply for Minnesota Wolf Hunting Permits; Unrestricted Hunting Starts Soon in Wyoming

First Purebred Bison Calf Born after Disease-Washing Embryo Transfer

Japanese River Otter Declared Extinct

Updates from the Brink: Dying Devils, Disappearing Vultures and a $473,000 Fish

Chimps Infected with Human Diseases Pose Possible Risk to Reintroduction Efforts

Recently Discovered Lizard Species Down to 3 Remaining Females

How Did Zebras Give 2 Polar Bears Herpes?

South Africa Invests in Elephant Birth Control [Video]

Okapi Conservation Center Recovering after Militia Attack that Killed 6 People and 14 Animals

World's Largest Butterfly Threatened by Shrinking Habitat and Deforestation

Blog Index

@ScientificAmerican

Anecdotes from the Archive

Anthropology in Practice

Beautiful Minds

Budding Scientist

Cross-Check

Dark Star Diaries

Dog Spies

Extinction Countdown

Eye of the Storm

Frontiers for Young Minds

Guest Blog

Hot Planet

Illusion Chasers

Life, Unbounded

Observations

Roots of Unity

Rosetta Stones

SA Visual

Talking back

The Artful Amoeba

Voices