Bethany “Bee” Smith, researcher who documented a megamouth shark alive, died in a diving accident, aged 24 (December 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/bethany-bee-smith-researcher-who-documented-a-megamouth-shark-alive-died-in-a-diving-accident-aged-24/
- Bethany “Bee” Smith was part of a generation of scientists who worked in the field while also explaining their work publicly, narrowing the distance between research and spectacle without denying the risks that came with it.
- Trained as a marine biologist, she spent years studying sharks, working with fishing communities and researchers, and focusing on conservation problems where trust and policy mattered as much as data.
- After years of preparation and failed attempts, she achieved a rare feat: documenting a live megamouth shark, one of the least understood large animals on Earth, in work focused on evidence rather than thrill.
- She died at 24 during a freediving accident in Indonesia while working on a shark conservation project, after reaching a goal that had occupied years of careful effort and preparation.
In Nepal, the world’s smallest otter continues to elude researchers (December 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-nepal-the-worlds-smallest-otter-continues-to-elude-researchers/
- The Asian small-clawed otter was rediscovered in Nepal in 2024 after 185 years. Since then, however, it’s gone dark again, with no more confirmed sightings.
- Identifying the animal remains challenging due to its small size, dietary overlap with other carnivores, and resemblance to common species such as the crab-eating mongoose.
- Funding and logistical constraints impede targeted surveys, as conservation priorities in Nepal focus mainly on larger, charismatic species such as tigers and rhinos.
- Despite this, conservationists are already planning measures to reduce potential threats to the animal by including it into the national otter conservation action plan.
Environmental defenders & conservationists who died in 2025 (December 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/environmental-defenders-conservationists-who-died-in-2025/
- Mongabay’s founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler writes short obituaries—over 70 in 2025—for people who devoted their lives to protecting the natural world, returning to this work consistently alongside my his responsibilities.
- The individuals he writes about are less defined by titles than by posture—standing between living systems and the forces eroding them, often for decades, largely unseen, and at real personal cost.
- These pieces aim neither to lionize nor to despair, but to clarify—showing how protection happens through sustained, imperfect choices made by ordinary people who kept showing up.
Jeff Foott, chronicler of ice, rock, and change, has died, aged 80 (December 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/jeff-foott-chronicler-of-ice-rock-and-change-has-died-aged-80/
- Jeff Foott belonged to a generation of outdoorsmen who moved easily between climbing, science, rescue work, and seasonal labor, guided less by career ambition than by close attention to the natural world. His ethic was shaped early, long before environmental concern became institutionalized.
- Trained as a marine biologist, he turned to photography and film as a way to show how wildlife lived and what was at risk, producing more than 40 films and widely published images for outlets such as National Geographic, the BBC, and PBS.
- His visual work favored clarity and restraint over spectacle, whether documenting sea otters, alpine ice, or red rock landscapes increasingly altered by a warming climate. He remained attentive to environmental change without turning his work into overt argument.
- In his own words, what mattered to him was not climbing but whether people would know that some tried to act on concern for climate, democracy, and the things held in common. He let photographs carry the burden of persuasion.
Statewide survey aims to put California’s fungi on the conservation map (December 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/
- A state-funded survey has sampled and collected fungi species from across California, identifying hundreds of new-to-science species.
- It’s part of a statewide effort to protect biodiversity, which has yielded thousands of specimens and is the first of its kind in North America.
- Fungi are often neglected compared to the attention given to plants and animals, yet they play an important role in maintaining ecological health by supporting plant growth and storing carbon.
- Understanding fungi’s role in nature has implications for conservation and for forest restoration as wildfires grow larger and more frequent. Other researchers in California are working on putting fungi to use cleaning up polluted areas.
A flood of logs post-Cyclone Senyar leaves Padang fishers out of work (December 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-flood-of-logs-post-cyclone-senyar-leaves-padang-fishers-out-of-work/
- Flash floods in late November swept timber and mud from upstream forests into coastal waters around Padang, blocking access to the sea and cutting off the livelihoods of hundreds of fishers.
- Fishers say massive floating logs have damaged boats and halted daily incomes, forcing many families to rely on credit to meet basic needs.
- Marine scientists warn that suspended sediment and decaying timber threaten coastal ecosystems by blocking sunlight, disrupting food chains and degrading water quality.
- Environmental groups link the disaster to illegal logging and weak forest governance upstream, calling for stronger law enforcement, national disaster status and urgent government action.
Kenyan wildlife census reveals conservation wins and losses (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/kenyan-wildlife-census-reveals-conservation-wins-and-losses/
Kenya’s 2025 National Wildlife Census report has revealed a complex trend in wildlife: Populations of some iconic animal species are steadily growing, while other populations are declining or remain stagnant. At the launch of the report, compiled by the Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI), Kenya’s President William Ruto described the findings as “a mosaic […]
Rethinking how we talk about conservation—and why it matters (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rethinking-how-we-talk-about-conservation-and-why-it-matters/
- Feedback from across the conservation sector suggests a shift in how the movement talks about itself—from crisis-heavy messaging toward agency and evidence—because constant alarm fatigues audiences while stories of progress keep them engaged.
- Respondents to date have emphasized that scalable, durable conservation efforts share core traits: genuine local leadership, transparency about what works (and what doesn’t), visible community benefits, and diversified funding that strengthens resilience.
- Practitioners highlighted the importance of aligning human well-being with environmental outcomes, with models like Health in Harmony showing how rights, livelihoods, and conservation can reinforce one another when communities define their own priorities.
- This piece builds on a conversation Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler had last week at the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) conference in Washington, D.C.
Protected areas in Africa are vital but local perceptions vary (commentary) (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/protected-areas-in-africa-are-vital-but-local-perceptions-vary-commentary/
- Protected areas are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation strategy, yet their social impacts remain contentious.
- A recent study conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in collaboration with Middlebury College examined perceptions of these areas among thousands of local residents living near five forested regions of Central Africa and Madagascar.
- “Conservation practice needs to take seriously how the people living near protected areas perceive those areas, and what benefits and harms they associate with them, in their full unevenness and complexity,” the authors of a new op-ed say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Researchers find concerning gaps in global maps used for EUDR compliance (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/researchers-find-concerning-gaps-in-global-maps-used-for-eudr-compliance/
- Most companies importing certain products into the EU must comply with the European Union’s Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR), which will go into application on Dec. 30, 2026.
- Satellite and other remote-sensing maps can guide both companies trying to comply with the regulation and government agencies verifying levels of deforestation risk attached to imports.
- But a recent review paper suggests that most of the available maps struggle to meet all of the requirements of the EUDR and could over- or underestimate the risk of deforestation for certain products.
- A key issue is the maps’ ability to differentiate forest from systems that look similar, such as agroforestry, commonly practiced by smallholder farmers producing cocoa, coffee and rubber.
Zombie urchins & the Blob: California sea otters face new threats & ecosystem shifts (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/zombie-urchins-and-the-blob-california-sea-otters-face-new-threats-and-ecosystem-shifts/
- Southern sea otters living along California’s coast are struggling in warmer seas, with new threats and changing food sources. They, like the other two sea otter subspecies, are classified as endangered.
- Human disturbance, especially in Monterey Bay, is limiting the otters’ ability to forage, impacting mother and pup survival. Meanwhile, sharks are expanding their range as waters warm, with increasing attacks on otters.
- Following a mass die-off of the purple sea urchin’s predators — sunflower and ochre sea stars — the urchins decimated kelp forests, which are important sea otter habitat. Mussels then proliferated, replacing urchins in the otter’s diet, and invasive green crabs are now also on the menu.
- Otter numbers seem to be dropping, but a definitive census has not been conducted since 2019. A new population estimate based on data and statistical modeling is due to be released soon.
Fishing cats need hotspot-based conservation in Bangladesh, research shows (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/fishing-cats-need-hotspot-based-conservation-in-bangladesh-research-shows/
- Fishing cats in Bangladesh are facing near-extinction as they struggle to adapt to living alongside humans in Bangladesh.
- Wildlife experts recommend hotspot-based, short-term conservation strategies to immediately halt killings of the small carnivores.
- They also urge long-term solutions, as the interim measures are insufficient.
Drug gangs in Ecuador and Peru also involved in shark fin trafficking: Report (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/drug-gangs-in-ecuador-and-peru-also-involved-in-shark-fin-trafficking-report/
Narcotrafficking gangs operating out of Manabí, a coastal province of Ecuador, are also involved in trafficking shark fins alongside their drug operations, according to a recent investigation by Ecuadorian news agency Código Vidrio. Evidence from wiretaps, surveillance and raids seen by Código Vidrio reporters suggests that gangs are capturing and finning sharks and transporting the […]
Pulp giant RGE admits possible deforestation breach in Bornean wildlife habitat (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/pulp-giant-rge-admits-possible-deforestation-breach-in-bornean-wildlife-habitat/
- A new report links forestry giant Royal Golden Eagle’s pulp supply chain to the clearance of 5,565 hectares (13,751 acres) of natural forest in Indonesian Borneo between 2020 and 2024, despite the company’s no-deforestation pledge. RGE says the clearing was likely non-compliant.
- The deforestation occurred in the Mahakam River watershed, one of Indonesia’s last intact rainforest regions and habitat for critically endangered species including Bornean orangutans, Irrawaddy dolphins and Sumatran rhinos.
- Timber from two Bornean concessions flowed through a single wood chip mill to RGE’s Asia Symbol pulp plant in China. The mill had already been linked to earlier deforestation breaches.
- The case may undermine RGE’s effort to regain certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and has also renewed scrutiny of banks financing the group, with campaigners urging suspensions until deforestation across its supply chain stops.
EU votes to delay EUDR antideforestation law for second year in a row (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/eu-votes-to-delay-eudr-antideforestation-law-for-second-year-in-a-row/
The European Parliament voted on Dec. 17 to delay a key antideforestation regulation that was adopted in 2023 and originally supposed to be implemented at the end of 2024. The implementation was delayed a year to December 2025, and now the EU has voted to delay it yet again by another year. The European Union […]
Tanzania’s tree-climbing hyraxes have adapted to life without trees (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/tanzanias-tree-climbing-hyraxes-have-adapted-to-life-without-trees/
Despite their name, tree hyraxes — small, furry, nocturnal African mammals — don’t always live in trees. In Tanzania’s Pare mountains, near the border with Kenya, they’ve adapted to life on steep rocky outcrops as forests disappeared over the centuries, a recent study has found. Eastern tree hyraxes (Dendrohyrax validus) are known to inhabit the […]
All new roads lead to increased deforestation in Ecuador’s Indigenous territory (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/all-new-roads-lead-to-increased-deforestation-in-ecuadors-indigenous-territory/
- Between 2022 and 2025 at least 62 kilometers (39 miles) of roads were opened in Achuar territory in southern Ecuador, several without environmental permits or technical studies.
- Global Forest Watch documented the loss of thousands of hectares of primary forest. Community monitoring found that a lack of control on the part of the authorities has facilitated illegal logging.
- The arrival of illegal loggers led to confrontations between communities, which resulted in two murders of Indigenous people.
- The area is one of the poorest in the country with few basic services: Some communities complain about the lack of roads, but others are concerned about their social and environmental impacts.
How Southern African farmers & elephants can both adapt to coexist (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/how-southern-african-farmers-elephants-can-both-adapt-to-coexist/
- In Southern Africa, people live alongside elephants, but not always peacefully.
- The growing reports of human-elephant conflict have triggered calls for elephant culls in some countries, like Zimbabwe.
- But conservation groups are working hard to promote coexistence, using technology that can warn farmers about approaching elephants or link farmers to more lucrative markets to offset the cost of living with one of Africa’s most charismatic mammals.
- In all of this, adaptation is the key: Farmers are adapting the way they farm, while elephants are learning to move at night and stick to specific routes through populated areas to avoid conflict.
Tsunami veteran rescue elephants mobilized for Indonesia cyclone disaster relief (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/tsunami-veteran-rescue-elephants-mobilized-for-indonesia-cyclone-disaster-relief/
- The number of people killed by flash floods after Cyclone Senyar made landfall over Sumatra on Nov. 26 increased to 1,059 on Dec. 18. In Pidie Jaya district, on the north coast of the semi-autonomous region of Aceh, officials assigned a team of four rescue elephants, veterans of the recovery operation after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in Aceh.
- The Aceh conservation agency said the elephants were uniquely able to help remove fields of logs carried down valleys by the worst flash floods to hit the region in years, with the scale of debris fields impassable to heavy machinery.
- “They are trained and experienced elephants,” the head of Aceh’s conservation agency told Mongabay, while emphasizing that officials went to great lengths to ensure the Sumatran animals’ welfare.
- At least one Sumatran elephant was presumed killed in flash floods caused by Cyclone Senyar, after residents in a village neighboring the rescue elephants’ workplace discovered the animal’s body Nov. 29.
Tech alone won’t stop poaching, but it’s changing how rangers work (December 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/tech-alone-wont-stop-poaching-but-its-changing-how-rangers-work/
- New conservation technologies are being developed and deployed worldwide to counter increasingly sophisticated poachers.
- A new alliance between two of the biggest open-source conservation technology platforms combines real-time data collection and long-term data analysis, with proven success.
- Free, open-source tools can help remove barriers to adoption of conservation technology, particularly in the Global South.