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Articles on Wildlife conservation

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Lake Pedder is within Tasmania’s World Heritage Area. Could it benefit from greater tourism development? Romain

Paradise gained – how tourism could help Tasmania’s wilderness

The recent leaking of a new draft management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) has prompted vigorous debate over the merits of tourism development in protected areas. Specifically…
The Bramble Cay melomys - the latest in a long line of extinct Australian mammals. Queensland Government

Another Australian animal slips away to extinction

Last July, the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, announced the appointment of Gregory Andrews as Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner. His mission: to help avert the extinction of a…
Cheetahs have to eat somehow. Rogan Templar

How cat flaps for warthogs can help save the cheetah

Southern Africa’s game farms are private reserves that house wildlife such as giraffes, zebras and antelope to be used for restocking national parks, meat production or trophy hunting. But these farms…
Island getaway: Tasmanian Devils have been moved to offshore islands to save them from a devastating disease. AAP Image/David Beniuk

Ship Australia’s wildlife out to sea to save it from extinction

Australia is in the grip of an extinction crisis. Our unique animals, plants, and ecosystems are rapidly ebbing away in a process that began more than 200 years ago with European settlement. Feral cats…
You didn’t need a onesie to get hot under the collar about sharks in 2014. AAP Image/Theron Kirkman

2014, the year that was: Environment + Energy

Want a single word to sum up environmental affairs in 2014? Let’s go with “heated”. The year began with the realisation that 2013 was Australia’s hottest ever (and yes, it’s because of us), and ended with…
Rabbits can strip grasslands bare and chew through young woody trees. John Schilling/Flickr

The rabbits of Christmas past: a present that backfired for Australia

On Christmas Day 1859, the Victoria Acclimatisation Society released 24 rabbits for hunting, to help settlers feel more at home. Given the millions of dollars in damage to agricultural productivity that…
Energy supply including nuclear is the best way to fight climate change and conserve wildlife and ecosystems. James Marvin Phelps/Flickr

It’s time for environmentalists to give nuclear a fair go

Should nuclear energy be part of Australia’s (and many other countries’) future energy mix? We think so, particularly as part of a solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent dangerous climate…
Logging has left Victoria’s mountain ash forests in danger of collapse. David Blair

A job for Victoria’s next leaders: save the Central Highlands

Whoever wins power in Victoria’s election tomorrow will no doubt have a long to-do list. Here’s an urgent item: protect the mountain ash forests of the state’s Central Highlands. We have discovered that…
Young Steller sea lions in Prince William Sound, Alaska. NMFS Permit 14336. Markus Horning

Autopsies from space: who killed the sea lions?

A decade ago, we set out to unravel deep ocean crime scenes we weren’t even sure existed. The crime? Endangered Steller sea lions were rapidly disappearing in parts of Alaska. Their numbers dropped by…
Crocodiles keep their own secrets. Tambako

The unknown crocodiles

Slow, lazy, stupid? It’s time to update your impression of the crocodilians. These animals are up to amazing things that we’re only beginning to observe and recognize.
Australia’s north is home to many pristine rivers, but most national parks are focused on land-based conservation. Carole Mackinney/Wikimedia Commons

Why are there no true freshwater protected areas in Australia?

Freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, lakes and wetlands are precious. They contain several-times more vertebrate species per unit area than land and ocean environments, and they are more degraded. Protected…
Marine parks need to be big enough to safeguard wide-ranging species, like the sharks being studied here. Manu San Felix/National Geographic Pristine Seas Expedition

Now is our chance to deliver on the 30% ocean protection target

Top scientists, senior government managers, industry representatives, conservationists and even some nations’ presidents are currently in Sydney for the World Parks Congress. This major international meeting…
Kakadu National Park is Australia’s largest – but we need to make sure parks are actually protecting wildlife from threats. Rita Willaert/Flickr

We have more parks than ever, so why is wildlife still vanishing?

While we can never know for sure, an extraordinary number of animals and plants are threatened with extinction — up to a third of all mammals and over a tenth of all birds. And the problem is getting worse…
This pangolin was rescued in Thailand but most captive creatures aren’t so lucky. EPA

Pangolin: illegal medicine trade threatens these scaly mammals with extinction

Few people are familiar with the pangolin. It is a shy creature, about as big as a medium-sized dog, and its diet consists of ants and termites. Most distinctively, it has armoured plates and will curl…

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