Ghost shark, carnivorous sponge among 1,000+ newly discovered marine species (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/ghost-shark-carnivorous-sponge-among-1000-newly-discovered-marine-species/
The third year of a global Ocean Census has revealed 1,121 potentially new-to-science marine species, including a worm that lives inside a “glass castle,” a ghost shark, and a carnivorous sponge. The Ocean Census, launched in April 2023, aims to discover and describe marine life “at speed and at scale” before it is lost. The […]
Communities say sacred groves are shrinking in India’s eastern ghats (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/communities-say-sacred-groves-are-shrinking-in-indias-eastern-ghats/
Sacred groves in the Indian state of Odisha continue to be protected now, as they have for hundreds of years because of cultural and spiritual values associated with them, a recent study has found. However, the forests are decreasing in size, nearly all residents interviewed by researchers said. India is estimated to have roughly 100,000 […]
A fever of mobula rays off Mexico’s coast: Photo of the week (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-fever-of-mobula-rays-off-mexicos-coast-photo-of-the-week/
During the mobula ray’s migration season, which runs from late April to July, the marine animals form massive aggregations called fevers. The image above was captured by Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler in Baja California, a northwestern state of Mexico. The region is home to at least five species of mobula rays. Mobula […]
Electric fences help farmers and elephants coexist in Zambian borderlands (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/electric-fences-help-farmers-and-elephants-coexist-in-zambian-borderlands/
- In 2015, Malawi and Zambia signed a treaty to create a transfrontier conservation area that allows wildlife to cross from Malawi’s Kasungu National Park, to Zambia’s Lukusuzi and Luambe national parks.
- Much of Kasungu’s eastern boundary is fenced, but there’s no fence along its western boundary, located along Zambia’s eastern border.
- This means the elephants can move out of the park into an area of human settlements to reach Lukusuzi. But they also raid farmers’ fields.
- Conservation group IFAW is setting up cluster farms, surrounded by electric wires to prevent the elephants from destroying crops, giving them a chance to cross farmlands to reach secure rangelands in Zambia.
New animals discovered in Cambodian caves (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-animals-discovered-in-cambodian-caves/
Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in Cambodia’s karst ecosystems — dramatic landscapes of caves and rocks that create isolated habitats. These new species, as well as other endangered animals in the region highlight the importance of protecting these rare ecosystems.
In Malaysia, a bridge helps endangered langurs and humans coexist (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/05/in-malaysia-a-bridge-helps-endangered-langurs-and-humans-coexist/
In Malaysia’s Penang state, conservationists and residents are collaborating to reduce conflict between humans and endangered dusky langurs displaced by urban development and habitat loss. The Langur Project Penang built a canopy bridge to help langurs safely cross a busy road and access more habitat, reducing time spent in residential areas and lowering complaints from […]
Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary) (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/
- Smallholders are often treated as risks in deforestation-free supply chains, writes Aida Greenbury, yet many are also among the people with the strongest reason to keep forests standing.
- Greenbury argues that standards, traceability rules and buyer requirements can push costs onto farmers who lack the maps, documents, legal recognition and market access needed to comply.
- She says forest protection will work only if companies, donors, governments and NGOs make long-term commitments to smallholders, including support for land rights, incentives, better yields and trusted local institutions.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
An Australian icon, the platypus is struggling — and scientists still lack answers (May 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/an-australian-icon-the-platypus-is-struggling-and-scientists-still-lack-answers/
- Australia’s iconic platypus is under threat as climate change hits the country hard. Intense heat and longer droughts are parching waterways that platypuses live in; wildfires are more frequent and heavy rainfall events inundate their burrows.
- Platypuses are elusive animals, primarily active at dawn and dusk, making them difficult to locate and count, which hinders conservation efforts. Researchers are working to improve platypus population data.
- Without comprehensive information on their whereabouts, conservationists can’t intervene early in natural disasters to save platypuses.
- Australia’s intense three-year drought and the following 2019-2020 “Black Summer” bushfires led to new ways to manage wild platypus populations during natural disasters. Now, a new framework outlines ways to save populations in crisis: whether to help animals in situ or deciding to move them.
Texas man convicted of buying eagle parts from a wildlife trafficking ring (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/texas-man-convicted-of-buying-eagle-parts-from-a-wildlife-trafficking-ring/
A man from Humble, Texas, U.S., pled guilty to purchasing tails and sets of feathers from illegally killed bald and golden eagles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana. John Patrick Butler, 71, was sentenced May 5 to five years of probation and ordered to pay $77,500 in restitution. The bald […]
Measures must be taken now to prevent pandemics at the source, says epidemiologist (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/measures-must-be-taken-now-to-prevent-pandemics-at-the-source-says-epidemiologist/
“[The]cruel irony here [is] that the world cannot get its act together to address these threats … people are dying, animals are suffering, we’re losing rainforest … these are all interconnected threats,” Neil Vora tells me on this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, just a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) reported more […]
Senate confirms Trump’s pick to lead federal land agency as drilling and mining expand (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/senate-confirms-trumps-pick-to-lead-federal-land-agency-as-drilling-and-mining-expand/
The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the management of a quarter-billion acres of public lands on Monday, as the administration pushes ahead with more mining and drilling while reversing conservation plans. Former congressman Steve Pearce will lead the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management following Monday’s 46-43 confirmation vote. Pearce’s background as a Republican Party […]
‘We’ve got bats’: The community bringing New Zealand’s pekapeka into the spotlight (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/weve-got-bats-the-community-bringing-new-zealands-pekapeka-into-the-spotlight/
- Aotearoa New Zealand’s only native land mammals are three bat species — one of which is likely extinct and the other two headed in the same direction due to habitat loss and other threats.
- A community-led bat research group, one of the first in the country, is working to help save the New Zealand long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) by conducting surveys for bats in and around Franklin county, near Auckland.
- Their research project, called Finding Franklin Bats (FFB), is also aiming to spread local awareness of New Zealand’s bats and their plight by working with landowners and community members.
- Over the past three years, volunteer numbers have swelled from 50 to more than 180, and in 2026 FFB received enough funding to employ seven people, six of them members of local Indigenous communities.
On Southeast Asia’s largest lake, locals wield tech to defend the flooded forest (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/on-southeast-asias-largest-lake-locals-wield-tech-to-defend-the-flooded-forest/
- Communities living around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap are using a combination of natural and technological solutions to help protect the lake and its surrounding forests from fires.
- A community savings initiative funds patrol teams, which respond to satellite alerts and have stopped more than 50 wildfires.
- Local residents are also restoring the forest by growing native trees in community nurseries.
- Threatened wildlife are returning as a result of these efforts: the fishing cat has been spotted for the first time in 10 years in the restoration area.
He survived a deadly attack, now he is calling for better working conditions for rangers in DRC (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/he-survived-a-deadly-attack-now-he-is-calling-for-better-working-conditions-for-rangers-in-drc/
- The international community has set ambitious goals to protect nature, the latest aiming to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. Rangers are at the center of this effort. According to the International Ranger Federation, they play a crucial role in protecting protected areas and achieving global conservation targets.
- But in many protected areas, rangers are increasingly exposed to violence, often confronting armed groups with limited support, particularly in unstable regions such as eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
- For Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo, this reality is not abstract — it is deeply personal. In 2018, he narrowly survived an attack by Mai-Mai fighters (an armed group operating in the DRC). Unlike many rangers who have lost their lives protecting nature in eastern DRC, he survived. More than 100 rangers are believed to have been killed in Virunga National Park over the past decade.
- Seeking to shed light on the realities and working conditions of rangers in the DRC, Bahati recently published a book titled Conservation at the Cost of My Youth: The Survival of a Ranger, in which he recounts the life of a ranger in eastern DRC.
Study gathers over 4,000 photos to find Bolivia’s rarest Amazonian dog (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/study-gathers-over-4000-photos-to-find-bolivias-rarest-amazonian-dog/
- A study conducted for more than 20 years with camera-trap surveys in different parts of the Bolivian Amazon has recorded 594 independent events for the short-eared dog in more than 4,600 images.
- This species, popularly known in Bolivia as the ghost dog, is one of the least-known canids in the world. Its survival depends highly on the quality of its natural habitat, according to experts.
- In the Bolivian forests, it can generally be found in protected areas or Indigenous territories, which scientists say underscores the importance of these kinds of areas for biodiversity conservation.
Tiremakers ready to roll with EUDR, but repeated delays frustrate industry (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tiremakers-ready-to-roll-with-eudr-but-repeated-delays-frustrate-industry/
- Tire manufacturers, major consumers of natural rubber, say they’re ready for the implementation of the EU’s antideforestation regulation, or EUDR, and lament its repeated delays.
- Natural rubber supply chains are notoriously complex, with 85% of natural rubber coming from 6 million smallholders, and the rubber passing through numerous intermediaries before being turned into tires.
- Ensuring EUDR compliance throughout natural rubber supply chains remains challenging; European tire industry representatives also point to ongoing problems with the information system and due diligence requirements in downstream supply chains.
- The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, made up of industry, civil society and producers, promotes sustainability within the natural rubber supply chain and supports smallholders.
Rising waters and mounting pressures collide on Kenya’s Lake Turkana (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/
- Lake Turkana in northern Kenya has risen by as much as 10 meters (33 feet) over the past 15 years, displacing communities, flooding infrastructure and reshaping fisheries in one of the country’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
- Scientists and local residents are still debating the causes of the lake’s expansion, with theories ranging from heavier rainfall linked to climate change, to tectonic and groundwater shifts, while researchers say Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam upstream has also altered the lake’s ecological dynamics.
- Fishers around the lake say catches have declined sharply in recent years as changing water levels alter breeding grounds and fish distribution, while drought drives more pastoralists to rely on fishing for survival.
- Researchers and local advocates say Lake Turkana suffers from decades of poorly planned development and limited scientific monitoring, though new efforts are underway to improve data collection and guide more sustainable management of the lake and its fisheries.
‘Turkana has always adapted to change’: Interview with environmentalist Ikal Angelei (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/
- Local livelihoods around Kenya’s Lake Turkana have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapted to a landscape defined by fluctuation.
- But as the scale and intensity of erratic climate patterns, mounting pressure on its fisheries, and conflict over resources has increased, their space has shrunk.
- The lake has long been a place where the poorest could make a living, but as the economic value of resources here increases, there is a risk that they will be pushed out by those better placed to access infrastructure and opportunities.
Indonesia’s nickel boom linked to rising illness and worker harm, reports find (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesias-nickel-boom-linked-to-rising-illness-and-worker-harm-reports-find/
- A newly published report by Indonesia’s human rights commission, Komnas HAM, includes new evidence of environmental and public health harms caused by the nickel mining industry in eastern Indonesia.
- Mongabay Indonesia has previously reported on increases in respiratory disease recorded by health workers in a community alongside the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park in North Maluku province.
- The Komnas HAM human rights report also includes data showing high rates of respiratory disease around the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park in Central Sulawesi province.
- A separate report published by a labor nonprofit focusing on interviews with workers showed many knew of colleagues who had died suddenly, while reports of suicide were common.
Timor green pigeon could go extinct without immediate action, study finds (May 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/timor-green-pigeon-could-go-extinct-without-immediate-action-study-finds/
The extremely rare Timor green pigeon has fewer than 500 individuals left in the wild, according to a recent study. Researchers say its extinction risk must be revised from endangered to critically endangered. The fruit-eating Timor green pigeon (Treron psittaceus), known for its distinctive mango-green plumage, is “endemic to Timor, Rote and adjacent satellite islands” […]