Rewilding is helping to save species from the brink of extinction. But reintroducing species to islands or fenced havens have limitations. What if we could use flat topped mesas as well?
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Extinction
Displaying 1 - 20 of 338 articles
It’s fun to imagine secret dinosaur survivors living today, hidden in a remote corner of Earth. But the truth of who made it through the extinction event 66 million years ago may surprise you.
It feels harmless to share a photo of a rare species. But social media can drive great damage to nature, from poaching to baiting to trampling.
Koalas in trouble, land clearing at speed – nature in New South Wales is not well. Now the government is proposing significant changes to its ineffective biodiversity laws.
We all know the Barrier Reef – but Australia also has three other World Heritage reefs, Ningaloo and Shark Bay in Western Australia and Lord Howe Island off the New South Wales coast.
Australia’s ancient Wet Tropics are enormously rich in species. But these tight-knit ecosystems might be at risk from cascading extinctions
Scientists have long wondered if the wooly mammoth went extinct due to high levels of inbreeding.
The plant has been propagated worldwide, but every surviving specimen of Encephalartos woodii is a male clone – and without a female, natural reproduction is impossible.
A recent find of an ancient giant bird’s skull has revealed much about its life among the vanished lakes and wetlands of inland South Australia.
When Labor took office, it promised to reverse nature’s decline. But that looks more and more like greenwashing
Faced with a darkly satirical vision that hardly seems sensationalist, the audience might wish for compassionate thinking to combat ecological disaster and precarious resources.
Once sold as ‘penny turtles’ around Australia, the Mary River turtle’s plight galvanised local community efforts to save it from extinction.
An end to extinctions. An environmental cop on the beat. Labor promised a great deal on the environment. But yesterday, they backed away from the main challenge.
Even with the best intentions, policies from different government departments can clash.
We’ve brought some species back from the brink – but more and more are being threatened. Here’s why
Australia has already lost so many wonderful mammal species. Do we want the southern greater glider to suffer the same fate?
Wildebeest herds churning dust. Sturgeon seeking spawning grounds. Shorebirds flying from Siberia. These iconic animal migrations could soon be a memory.
Migrating animals are vital to the health of ecosystems worldwide but a new report says they are in grave danger.
It’s hard work saving birds from extinction, but we have the evidence of successful interventions to show we can avoid further losses.
Native rats and mice don’t usually evoke sympathy among the Australian public. The common names for the species – such as swamp rat – do little to help.
Top contributors
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Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University
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Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University
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Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University
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Associate Professor, Vertebrate Palaeontology Group, Flinders University
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Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Australian National University
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Professor in Conservation Science, School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland
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Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Lecturer in the School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University
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Jaana Dielenberg is a Friend of The Conversation.
University Fellow in Biodiversity, Charles Darwin University
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Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
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Senior Lecturer, Public Sector Management, School of Business, UNSW Sydney
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Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sydney
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Associate professor, University of Canberra
