There are so few wild ocelots in the US that the cats are becoming inbred, with a bad prognosis for their ultimate survival. But researchers are perfecting ways to get new genes into the population.
Saving our threatened species shouldn’t be seen as a cost, but rather a very savvy investment to ensure the support systems sustaining life on Earth remain intact.
Planting trees can sometimes be a carbon-offset box-ticking exercise, but reforestation is a long-term commitment that supports communities, promotes biodiversity and tackles the climate emergency.
Scientists and bureaucrats moved logistical mountains to rescue the eastern bristlebird from bushfires this year. As climate change worsens, wildlife evacuations will become more common.
The story of the Kangaroo Island Micro-trapdoor spider offer insight into the challenges ahead for invertebrates – the tiny engines of Australia’s biodiversity – after this year’s cataclysmic fires.
The Kaputar rock skink is thought to have have one of the smallest ranges of any reptile in New South Wales – at the summit of a single extinct volcano, Mount Kaputar.
When the post-bushfire rains finally arrived, the situation for many fish species went from dangerous to catastrophic. A slurry of ash and mud washed into waterways, sending oxygen levels plummeting.
Koalas are notoriously difficult to detect. Traditional methods are costly and labour intensive. So we found a more efficient way to locate koalas in eastern NSW, using drones.
An adult male western rattlesnake soaking up some sun after emerging from hibernation.
(Marcus Atkins)
Pangolins are illegally traded, linked to the coronavirus pandemic and driven to extinction in some areas. That’s why it’s vital to reintroduce this threatened species back into the wild.
Without an emergency cull of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park, the land cannot recover from the bushfires – and threatened species are at grave risk of being annihilated.
Three North American little brown bats with signs of white-nose syndrome, which is virtually certain to hit Australian bats without further action.
KDFWR/Terry Derting
It’s been a deadly summer for Australia’s wildlife. But beyond the fires, we need to act now to protect bats – which make up a quarter of Australian mammal species – from a silent overseas killer.
Birds are disoriented by smoke and often cannot escape a fire.
James Ross/AAP