endangered species

Analysis and Comment (8)

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This is what a dysfunctional ecosystem looks like: central Asia’s Aral Sea. PhillipC/Flickr

Identifying ecosystems at risk – the new IUCN Red List

By David Keith

We know quite a lot about which species around the world are most endangered. The Red List of threatened species, developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), identifies…
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The passing of Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island Tortoise, is emblematic of the mass extinction of species the earth is currently experiencing. Flickr/A Davey

Extinction: just how bad is it and why should we care?

By Euan Ritchie, Deakin University

“Dad, the world is missing amazing animals. I wish extinction wasn’t forever”. Despite my wife and I working as biologists, our five-year-old son came to make this statement independently. He is highlighting…
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The lack of biological information about some species may be keeping them off the IUCN critically endangered list. Mariana Campbell

Protecting endangered species we don’t know much about

By Hamish Campbell

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) uses set criteria to define species extinction risk. At the pointy end of the wedge, species are classed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Overall…
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The demand for shark fins has pushed threatened shark species from 15 in 1996 to 180 in 2010. Choo Yut Shing

Small win for big fish: convention moves to protect sharks

By Erika Techera, University of Western Australia

Each year around 100 million sharks are killed for their fins. The sharks are often pulled from the water, their fins are sliced off and they are thrown back in to drown. The industry is built on the high…
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Plastic is a major threat to our seabirds and marine life – this bird has filled its stomach with plastic during the 80-90 days it lived. Ian Hutton

Plastic and politics: how bureaucracy is failing our forgotten wildlife

By Jennifer Lavers, Monash University

Seabirds: the poster children for ocean health. Fishers use them to identify fishing hot spots. Environmental and marine scientists use them as indicators of the condition of the ocean environment due…
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Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley is one of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s properties. Who else is privately conserving biodiversity? dracophylla/Flickr

Private land is an important piece of the conservation jigsaw

By Ian Gunn, Monash University

There is general agreement that the Commonwealth and state governments lack the commitment, and hence funding, to preserve Australia’s biodiversity. Professor Tim Flannery addressed these issues in his…
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Public attitudes are shifting against government shark culling programs. Athel D'Ombrain Collection, University of Newcastle

The great shark debate: to cull or not to cull?

By Christopher Neff

The great shark debate continues in Australia as summer approaches. Shark bites on bathers and surfers are a particularly sensitive reality. These are personal and community-wide tragedies that implore…

Research and News (1)

Research Briefs (3)

New slow loris found

Oxford Brooks University

Scientists working in Borneo have found a new species of slow loris (Nycticebus). Facial fur markings provided the clue…

High infertility in captive endangered birds

University of Sheffield, University of Melbourne

All endangered birds tend to have eggs that fail to hatch: captive endangered birds produce more infertile eggs, whereas…

Participants (33)