Scavenging birds play a vital role in our ecosystems, they clean up carcasses before they have time to rot. Without scavengers, rotting carcasses would become hubs for harmful pathogens. Vultures specialise in eating carrion and are highly efficient at cleaning up a carcass. But many other birds, like crows and eagles, will also scavenge if…
Article by Morgan D. Bazilian and Saleem H. Ali The compelling possibilities of using pipelines, or other energy infrastructure, as a basis for peace has emerged again, this time on the Korean peninsula. The lucrative energy market of South Korea has become increasingly important to the United States as it becomes a major producer of…
Los Diez Mejores Consejos La conservación es un desafío tanto social como biológico. Durante cinco años llevando a cabo un proyecto participativo de investigación de ballenas en un pequeño pueblo mexicano, aprendí tanto sobre el comportamiento humano como sobre los mamíferos marinos. Recopilamos datos innovadores sobre ballenas jorobadas y delfines durante nuestro estudio de 1600…
I spent the past five years running a participatory whale research project in a tiny village in SW Pacific Mexico. We collected groundbreaking data on humpback whales and dolphins during our 1600-hour study, but the real success was inspiring and supporting the 600-person community to take ownership of their struggling marine environment’s health. After five years, the community…
Head up a lush Montana canyon as our adventurous volunteers collect important data for conservation. …
Red plumage is quite common in the bird kingdom, especially in males, who use their red feathers to attract females. Scientists have recently pinpointed how a bird’s genetic code allows them to produce red feathers. Birds take in yellow pigments, called carotenoids from their diet, then an enzyme called ketolase allows the bird to convert these…
By Safina Center Staff Last week an international team of marine scientists published a paper in Scientific Reports that heeds a strong warning to the world: Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are heating up the oceans and making them more acidic, killing coral reefs, kelp forests and countless marine animals. Digging deeper into their…
Imagine a coral reef, bone white as far as the eye can see, lacking in fish and other marine life. Now imagine spending three years diving around the world, seeing virtually nothing but reefs like this. You start to think to yourself, where do we find hope for coral reefs? Imagine after those years of…
By Thomas Leitner, Ph.D. One of the challenges with stemming the spread of HIV lies in understanding how it is spread. Because HIV mutates so rapidly, it has historically been difficult—if not impossible—to trace exactly who transmitted the virus to whom. Without that understanding, it’s easy for the disease to run unfettered through a population—with…
By Marlene Cimons There have been numerous wake-up calls about the effects of climate change on marine life. As ocean waters heat up, they are bleaching corals. Growing levels of carbon dioxide are acidifying seawater, which is degrading the shells and skeletons of sea organisms. The rising temperatures are prompting fish to migrate to colder waters, even causing them…
National Geographic Explorer Dr. Christopher Golden and his team of Harvard Planetary Health Scholars spent six weeks in Madagascar to better understand the human health impacts of environmental change. This series of stories will document this journey across Madagascar through their personal experiences. In the face of climate change and dwindling fish populations due to…
It was mid-morning in a reserve in Zimbabwe when a senior ranger came to deliver the news. “There’s a baby,” was all he said at first to GWC’s wildlife crime prevention officer, James Slade, who at the time was senior warden of the reserve. Earlier that morning, a team of rangers had found the tracks…
The steep ravine of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania lies behind me. Ahead are the plains of the Serengeti, grasses reaching toward the far horizon in a wavering line that finally bends into the curvature of the Earth. It is June, and the Serengeti’s “long rains” have just ended. The air is washed clean by the storms…
By Rhett Bennett Sharks have been cruising the world’s oceans for millions of years. We know them as ferocious hunters, built for the kill. And some are. However, most shark and ray species have somewhat less aggressive feeding behaviour and, of course, many end up as food themselves. These magnificent creatures have adapted to an…
The Chenchu tribe think of the tiger as their brother. They understand their forest and its wildlife better than anybody else and have shaped, nurtured and protected this environment for millennia. Yet their lives are being destroyed by government efforts to conserve this animal. Survival International researcher Fiore Longo spent time with them in Amrabad…
