Robert Ricklefs, ecologist who helped generations understand nature, has died at 83 (June 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/robert-ricklefs-ecologist-who-helped-generations-understand-nature-has-died-at-83/
- Robert “Bob” Ricklefs, who died on June 7th, a day after his 83rd birthday, helped shape modern ecology through his work on birds, island biogeography, life histories, and biodiversity.
- His textbooks, Ecology and The Economy of Nature, introduced generations of students to the field with uncommon clarity and breadth.
- He believed that careful observation and field experience remained essential to science, even as ecology became more model-driven and publication-focused.
- Colleagues and students remembered him as exacting, generous, independent-minded, and gentle in manner while firm in judgment.
Researchers find dramatic restoration on land and sea after island rat removal (June 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/researchers-find-dramatic-restoration-on-land-and-sea-after-island-rat-removal/
When invasive rats are removed from islands, the ecological benefits can ripple across both land and sea more quickly than scientists expected, according to recent research. Scientists have long assumed that meaningful recovery after the predators are eradicated would take decades. However, researchers with the U.S.-based NGO Island Conservation conducted a rat-removal experiment on Ulong Island […]
Bornean ferret badger only lives in Borneo. Could it be a conservation symbol? (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/bornean-ferret-badger-only-lives-in-borneo-could-it-be-a-conservation-symbol/
The Bornean ferret badger is a small carnivore with the slinky body of a ferret and a face mask like a badger. A new study confirms that it lives only in the mountains of Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. Ferret badgers are nocturnal carnivores, widespread across Southeast Asia, but the Bornean […]
Mozambique completes first white rhino breeding population in decades (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/mozambique-completes-first-white-rhino-breeding-population-in-decades/
On June 6, nine female white rhinos arrived in Mozambique’s Zinave National Park following a two-day translocation. Their arrival marks the culmination of nearly 10 years of rhino reintroduction efforts in the park, aimed at rebuilding a viable breeding population of the mammals in Zinave after decades of local extinction. The white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) […]
‘Flamingo Revolution’ aims to stop Kushner-backed resort on protected Albanian delta (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/flamingo-revolution-aims-to-stop-kushner-backed-resort-on-protected-albanian-delta/
- In April, Albanian authorities allowed bulldozers to tear through the protected Vjosa-Narta delta — home to flamingos, loggerhead sea turtles and the endangered Mediterranean monk seal — without permits or environmental review, sparking mass protests that have shaken the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
- The construction is linked to a luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, targeting one of the last intact river-delta wildernesses in the Mediterranean, where only 4% of deltas remain undisturbed.
- As Albania’s anti-corruption authority investigates and the EU warns the development could jeopardize the country’s 2030 membership bid, conservationists say the crisis exposes a pattern of broken promises around the celebrated Vjosa Wild River National Park.
Pilot whales can’t hear each other over ship noise in Strait of Gibraltar, study finds (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/pilot-whales-cant-hear-each-other-over-ship-noise-in-strait-of-gibraltar-study-finds/
The rumble of ship traffic is drowning out the calls of long-finned pilot whales and potentially other marine species in the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow strip of water between Morocco and Spain that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea. Researchers who investigated this looked at near and long-distance communication between long-finned pilot […]
Malawi officials seek to drop bribery case against illegal wildlife trafficking convict (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/malawi-officials-seek-to-drop-bribery-case-against-illegal-wildlife-trafficking-convict/
Government officials in Malawi have applied to withdraw bribery charges against wildlife trafficking convict Lin Yunhua, which would pave the way for his release from prison. In July 2025, a presidential pardon set Lin, a Chinese national, free from a 14-year jail sentence he’d received in 2021 connected to illegally trading in wildlife parts such […]
Global ocean faces ‘deepening crisis,’ but governance is improving: UN report (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-ocean-faces-deepening-crisis-but-governance-is-improving-un-report/
- On June 8, the U.N. released its third World Ocean Assessment, a comprehensive report on the state of the global ocean between 2021 and 2025, compiled by around 600 experts from 86 countries.
- The report highlights a deepening crisis for the global ocean, as human pressures, including pollution, overfishing and climate change, strain marine ecosystems already under extreme pressure.
- It notes that ocean governance is improving, and that models that incorporate Indigenous, traditional owner and local community knowledge are likely to achieve better outcomes.
- However, it also warns that ocean governance remains “fragmented” and insufficient to address the scale of the challenges facing the world’s oceans.
To improve its floundering fisheries, Kenya boosts data collection on artisanal fleet (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/to-improve-its-floundering-fisheries-kenya-boosts-data-collection-on-artisanal-fleet/
- In Kenya, fishers are experiencing increased competition for dwindling catches. A lack of data is stymying their decision-making about where and when to fish as well as the governments’ decision-making about how to manage fishing in the country, experts say.
- A new project aims to improve the collection of fisheries data, harmonize them and make them accessible to fishers and the government alike.
- It involves beefed-up data collection methods, the installation of trackers on fishing vessels and a centralized database and digital platform.
- The initiative is modeled around a program in Timor-Leste that began in 2016 and now serves as the country’s national fisheries monitoring system.
As human Ebola cases climb in DRC, critically endangered gorillas are at risk (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-human-ebola-cases-climb-in-drc-critically-endangered-gorillas-are-at-risk/
- Gorillas are vulnerable to communicable diseases that infect humans and other non-human primates, including the Ebola virus.
- A new Ebola outbreak was announced in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May, but so far, there have been no reported cases of gorilla infection. Previous outbreaks have devastated western lowland gorillas.
- Armed conflict hampers both conservation and efforts to monitor both Grauer’s and mountain gorilla populations in DRC. They also impair the public health response, which has also been seriously impacted by cuts in U.S. funding under the Trump administration.
- Gorillas are highly social animals, which facilitates spread of infectious disease. Infants and females are disproportionately affected, which has serious consequences for recovery of devastated populations.
East African Crude Oil Pipeline threatens wetlands, wildlife corridors: Report (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/east-african-crude-oil-pipeline-threatens-wetlands-wildlife-corridors-report/
- As the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline nears completion in Uganda and Tanzania, a new report highlights the environmental risks associated with the project.
- The pipeline runs close to and through sensitive ecosystems and wildlife corridors and could have adverse effects on humans and the environment.
- The pipeline’s risks are compounded by new oil and gas developments across the African Great Lakes region.
Amazon deforestation declines as Brazil reduces forest loss nationwide (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/amazon-deforestation-declines-as-brazil-reduces-forest-loss-nationwide/
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon biome fell by 23.5% in 2025 compared with 2024, according to a new report from MapBiomas, a Brazil-based land-use mapping project. Reductions in deforestation were recorded across the board in all of Brazil’s biomes, culminating in a 21% nationwide decrease in forest loss. In total, nearly 985,000 hectares (2.4 million acres) […]
‘Chemical cocktail’ of pharmaceuticals found in Djibouti coastal waters (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/chemical-cocktail-of-pharmaceuticals-found-in-djibouti-coastal-waters/
Common medications that billions of people take for ailments like pain, fever and infections were detected in several sites along Djibouti’s Gulf of Tadjourah in East Africa, according to a recent study. Researchers found that untreated urban wastewater contained dangerous concentrations of anti-inflammatory medicine like ibuprofen, caffeine, and the antiepileptic drug carbamazepine, which were contaminating […]
In Ecuador, an Indigenous community goes thirsty despite its two rivers (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-ecuador-an-indigenous-community-goes-thirsty-despite-its-two-rivers/
- On the banks of the Puní River’s middle basin, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, illegal mining has increased by 2,700% over seven years, contaminating the main water source for the ancestral Kichwa community of Capirona.
- Residents of Capirona say that, by 2021, the color of the Puní River started to change, turning brownish. Meanwhile, problems such as skin rashes, fungal infections, and itching became frequent.
- In samples of mining ore collected by Ecuadorian authorities from an illegal mining camp on the banks of Puní, signs of mercury were found at levels far exceeding the permitted limit for this metal in agricultural soils.
- Industrial farming activity has also polluted the waters of the Shalkana River, another watercourse located within the community. Despite being surrounded by two rivers, residents of Capirona rely on two water tankers sent weekly by municipal authorities, which is enough for barely half of the families for just a few days.
Nepal’s tourism growth sparks unchecked liquor concerns involving national flower (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/nepals-tourism-growth-sparks-unchecked-liquor-concerns-involving-national-flower/
Every April, eastern Nepal’s Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale region sees a rush of tourists, arriving for the vibrant spring bloom of rhododendrons, the country’s national flower. The flowers have now become more than a photo backdrop; they’re part of a new, unregulated market for a “souvenir:” Unlicensed rhododendron liquor. Sold openly in reused bottles with handwritten labels, the […]
Indigenous organization buys wetland property in Australia to help conserve it (June 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indigenous-organization-buys-wetland-property-in-australia-to-help-conserve-it/
A large property containing a unique wetland system in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin was transferred into long-term Indigenous ownership in 2026 for conservation. The 33,000-hectare (81,545-acre) property contains most of the Great Cumbung Swamp, located at the end of the Lachlan River in the state of New South Wales. The swamp has a mix of open […]
Southeast Asian nations chart important new course toward environmental justice (commentary) (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/southeast-asian-nations-chart-important-new-course-toward-environmental-justice-commentary/
- Recently, the 11 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment.
- This is an important commitment to environmental justice for the 680 million people who call this region home, a new op-ed by the former U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and the environment states, but it needs to begin implementation, he argues.
- “The next step — implementation — is even more crucial,” he writes. “The ASEAN region faces enormous environmental challenges, and too often governments have failed to protect the human rights of those who are on the frontlines of those challenges.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Removal of African elephants causes coextinction of dung beetles, study finds (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/removal-of-african-elephants-causes-coextinction-of-dung-beetles-study-finds/
A field experiment in Kenya shows that dung beetles disappear when the African elephants they depend on for their fecal food and shelter also vanish locally. This is the first time that coextinction, the disappearance of one species leading directly to the extinction of another species, has been demonstrated in a large-scale field experiment, according […]
Brazil carves an Amazon national park to make room for grain railway (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/brazil-carves-national-park-to-make-room-for-grain-railway/
- Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a law removing 862 hectares (2,130 acres) from Jamanxim National Park, clearing a legal obstacle for the proposed Ferrogrão grain railway.
- The lower house in Congress also approved a measure reducing another Jamanxim conservation unit; although, the bill still must be voted on in the Senate.
- The project threatens Indigenous territories and key habitats for jaguars, giant otters and primates in an Amazonian region already facing extensive land grabbing and deforestation.
- Experts warn the ruling could make it easier to reduce protected areas elsewhere in Brazil for future infrastructure and development projects.
El Nino is here and scientists fear it’ll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/el-nino-is-here-and-scientists-fear-itll-be-big-bad-and-costly-with-heat-floods-droughts-fires/
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. meteorologists say an El Nino has formed. That’s the natural warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather around the globe. It is likely to a major factor in extreme and deadly weather across the planet for the next year or so. The one announced Thursday is expected to rival […]