Latest news with #InternationalUnionforConservationofNature
GMA Network
2 days ago
- General
- GMA Network
Male Philippine eagle caught hunting a civet after release into wild
The foundation said that the sight of Kalatungan I making its hunt shows its 'successful integration into the wild' as an apex predator. A male Philippine eagle in Leyte was spotted hunting an Asian Palm Civet after its recent release into the wild, the Philippine Eagle Foundation said on Friday. The foundation said that the sight of Kalatungan I making its hunt shows its 'successful integration into the wild' as an apex predator. The sight was caught by one of the foundation's forest guards in Barangay Kagbana in Burauen, Leyte. 'It reflects the role he now plays as an apex predator of the complex food web of the Anonang-lobi forest ecosystem,' said PEF in a statement. 'With fewer than 400 pairs left, every successful hunt is a win for the species,' the organization added. The Philippine eagle (or the Monkey-eating eagle), which is also the national bird of the country, is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with only about 400 pairs remaining in the wild. The Philippine eagle is also considered as the top carnivore animal in the country. They are only found in Luzon, in the provinces of Leyte and Samar, and in Mindanao, the PEF said. –NB, GMA Integrated News
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- General
- Borneo Post
Black-necked cranes rebound as China boosts biodiversity efforts
A black-necked crane is pictured by the Xingxinghai Lake in Maduo County of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province on July 3, 2022. – Xinhua photo XINING (July 18): At Xining Wildlife Park in northwest China's Qinghai Province, animal keeper Li Xiaoqing walked past the crane enclosure while on a video call with her daughter. 'Mom, your black-necked crane is calling you again?' her daughter exclaimed through the screen, her voice filled with curiosity. Since joining the park in 2013 after graduating with a degree in veterinary medicine, Li has cared for a diverse range of animals, including zebras, kangaroos, and parrots. Three years ago, she took on the responsibility of caring for black-necked cranes. 'Black-necked cranes are different from other birds. They're proud and indifferent – when most people try to get their attention, they don't react,' she said. 'When they rest, they often stand on one leg with their heads tucked under their wings.' Her eyes lit up as she spoke, as if showing off her own children. In recent years, Xining Wildlife Park has gained national attention for its charismatic wildlife, including snow leopards, Pallas's cats and Chinese desert cats. But less known is its long-running work in rescuing and breeding black-necked cranes. In 2023, a crane named 'Qianhe' was born at the park. Its mother had been rescued after an injury left her stranded in the wild. To ensure Qianhe's healthy development, the park built a dedicated birdhouse and assigned two staff members to monitor its care around the clock. Now fully grown, Qianhe stands as a symbol of the park's success in assisted breeding. With over a dozen black-necked cranes currently housed at the park, staff are preparing them for eventual release into the wild. Training programmes to build survival skills are already underway. Thanks to such efforts, the protection of black-necked cranes has made significant progress. In 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has downgraded its status from vulnerable to near threatened. 'After spending so many years with them, I've developed a deep emotional bond,' Li said. 'To me, each crane is like a child– each one carries the hope of life.' Endemic to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the black-necked crane is the world's only alpine crane species. Because of its rarity and striking black-and-white plumage, it is sometimes called the 'giant panda among birds'. The species is highly sensitive to changes in its wetland environment, making it a valuable indicator of ecosystem health. For a time, their numbers dwindled due to habitat loss and water pollution. In Qinghai, authorities responded with sweeping ecological restoration measures – repairing wetland functions, banning industrial activity near key habitats, and launching rescue and breeding programmes. One such region lies at the southern foot of the Qilian Mountains, where a river basin fed by glacial melt and groundwater had suffered from illegal coal mining, damaging local pastures and wetlands. 'There was a time when livestock that drank the river water developed darkened organs,' one resident recalled. 'The black-necked cranes vanished. People saw them as symbols of good luck – so their disappearance worried everyone.' To reverse the damage, mining operations were halted, and in 2022, a large-scale restoration project for the river basin was launched. It included replanting native grasses, rehabilitating wetlands, and restoring the riverbanks. Officials say the efforts have already improved habitat conditions. Today, the black-necked crane's return serves as the most compelling evidence of ecological restoration in the area. Li Laixing, a 67-year-old associate researcher with the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has spent decades tracking the cranes. Based on habitat density estimates, Qinghai is now home to roughly 5,000 black-necked cranes. Monitoring data shows over 100 known distribution points across the province. 'Protected areas are seeing less human interference and more lush vegetation, which means more food sources for the cranes,' he added. Beyond counting cranes, his recent research has focused on studying their migratory stopover points – 'stepping stones' along their routes that serve as critical resting and feeding grounds. 'By mapping these sites, we can help refine conservation zones across provinces and ensure the birds are protected throughout their entire migration journey,' he said An aerial drone photo taken on June 4, 2025 shows a black-necked crane at Qinghai Longbao National Nature Reserve, Yushu City of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. – Xinhua photo The story of black-necked crane conservation in Qinghai reflects a broader national effort. In recent years, China has prioritised ecological protection as part of its ecological civilisation strategy, with biodiversity conservation recognised as a key national goal. According to official data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, populations of rare and endangered wild species in China have shown steady growth, reflecting the country's significant progress in biodiversity conservation. The total number of overwintering waterbirds recorded in China reached nearly 5.06 million last year – a record high since nationwide monitoring began. 'Black-necked cranes are an indicator species of ecological health on the plateau,' Li Laixing said. 'Their numbers are clearly rising, and their protection has become a model for biodiversity conservation in China.' – Xinhua black-necked crane China Xinhua Xining Wildlife Park
News18
3 days ago
- Health
- News18
The Invisible Extinction: Why Microbial Life Deserves A Place In Our Conservation Agenda
Last Updated: If we fail to act, we risk being the generation that ignored the smallest forms of life and with them, forfeited the greatest opportunities for healing our planet In the sweeping history of life on Earth, microbes have always played a foundational role as ecosystem engineers, atmospheric regulators, and engines of biological resilience. These microscopic life forms built the biosphere long before plants and animals evolved. Yet today, in the pursuit of industrial growth and technological advancement, we are steadily erasing them from our planet, often without recognition or alarm. While the global public mourns the loss of elephants, rhinos, or coral reefs, a far more widespread and silent extinction is occurring in soils, oceans, forests, and even within our own bodies. Microbial ecosystems are under siege from pollution, habitat destruction, excessive chemical use, climate extremes, and monoculture farming. This is not merely a loss of biodiversity; it is the weakening of Earth's life-support infrastructure. When microbial networks collapse, the consequences cascade through every major system. Soil microbes, for example, play critical roles in nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and plant health. Yet intensive agriculture has led to dramatic declines in microbial diversity and function, undermining soil fertility and climate stability. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD, 2017) estimates that soil degradation, heavily driven by microbial decline, incurs global economic losses of over Rs 33.2 lakh crore annually. Marine microbial life is equally indispensable. Ocean microbes generate around 50% of Earth's oxygen and support the entire marine food web. However, ocean warming and acidification are destabilising these systems, threatening both biodiversity and food security. Meanwhile, in the human body, disruptions to gut microbiota caused by antibiotics, poor diets, and excessive hygiene are increasingly linked to allergies, autoimmune diseases, obesity, and mental health disorders. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List does not currently include microbial species. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) offers limited recognition of microbial habitats. A recent call to action from the International Union of Microbiological Societies (2025) highlights that microbial systems are essential to achieving sustainability, resilience, and innovation, yet continue to be overlooked in biodiversity and climate strategies. To address this blind spot, the global community must adopt a comprehensive microbial conservation framework. This should begin with the creation of a Microbial Red List to identify and monitor threatened microbial taxa and critical ecological functions. Alongside this, it is essential to develop baseline microbiome datasets for key ecosystems, including soils, oceans, and the human body, to track changes over time. Microbial indicators must be integrated into climate action, public health strategies, and biodiversity policies, ensuring that microbes are no longer invisible in global decision-making. In addition, we need legal frameworks to safeguard microbial resources and ensure fair access to microbial genetic heritage. Finally, significantly increased investment is required in microbial observatories, DNA biobanks, and public education efforts to build awareness and capacity for protecting the planet's smallest yet most vital life forms. The stakes are enormous. Microbial life underpins: Climate resilience, through carbon and methane regulation Sustainable agriculture, via nutrient cycling and soil health Public health, through immune system development and disease prevention Biotechnological breakthroughs, from antibiotics to bioenergy solutions The extinction of microbial diversity may be silent and invisible, but it is no less real, and no less irreversible. If we fail to act, we risk being the generation that ignored the smallest forms of life and, with them, forfeited the greatest opportunities for healing our planet. First Published: June 28, 2025, 17:27 IST
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
‘Hippo Birthday': Thailand's Moo Deng Turns 1 Year Old
CHONBURI, Thailand (AFP-Jiji) — Thailand's pygmy hippo Moo Deng marked her first birthday on July 10, leaving behind the animal infancy which boosted her to worldwide internet fame for her cute antics. Crowds have been invited to a four-day festival at Khao Kheow Open Zoo where Moo Deng — meaning 'bouncy pork' in Thai — frolicked to stardom and amassed five million social media fans. The first day of the extravaganza falls on a Thai public holiday, and the agenda includes a lecture on 'Moo Deng's cheekiness,' while a skincare beautician has paid $3,000 to sponsor her fruit-festooned cake. There were hopes her stardom would spotlight the plight of the endangered pygmy hippo, native to West Africa, with only around 2,500 left alive according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But social media and search engine metrics suggest Moo Deng's popularity peaked around late September last year before dramatically declining. 'Moo Deng went viral very quickly when she was born,' said Joshua Paul Dale, an academic who teaches courses on the phenomenon of 'cuteness' at Japan's Chuo University. 'Maybe part of our appreciation of cuteness is knowing that it's something that doesn't last very long,' he told AFP. Moo Deng's blubbery rose-blushed face launched a thousand memes and a plethora of merchandise including piggy banks, party shirts and popsicles — prompting her owners to trademark her likeness. The pint-sized pachyderm quadrupled ticket sales for the zoo where her small and sparse enclosure was once broadcasted by a 24/7 livestream. Moo Deng is part of a pantheon of captive animals who have enjoyed flash-in-the-pan popularity for their cuteness online, including Australia's Pesto the penguin and China's Hua Hua the panda. Pygmy hippos have a lifespan of between 30 and 50 years. While academic Dale predicts she may lose the limelight to longevity, he says Moo Deng could enjoy enduring appeal as fans recall 'how unbearably cute she was when she was very, very small and just born.' 'That can kind of continue on and affect our relationship with cute things, even when they grow up,' he said.
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Science
- Chicago Tribune
Swarms of fireflies in Illinois this summer give enthusiasts hope that insect can overcome population decline
Beatriz Swanson can remember the first time she saw the blinking glow. She was 10 years old, growing up in Mexico, when two fireflies appeared in front of her, floating away before she could carefully capture them in her hands. Swanson did not see the shining insects again until she moved to upstate New York 17 years after her first encounter. Riding in a car at dusk, a cloud of fireflies caught her eye, still holding their allure after all those years. 'I couldn't believe how many we saw,' Swanson said. 'I told my husband to stop. I was like a child watching. I was in such awe seeing such beauty. So since then, I've loved them.' Now a Plainfield resident, Swanson, 51, joined over a dozen other insect fans on a recent hike in Bolingbrook, where she caught two fireflies in a jar, watching them blink back and forth briefly, before she set them free. Many people across the U.S. share Swanson's sentiment for fireflies, which are classified as beetles. Reports of fewer fireflies in recent years have sparked worry for the future of the insect's population. However, increased sightings this summer have boosted hopes for the survival of the insect. On the Friday night hike, wind and an impending thunderstorm did not prevent swarms of fireflies from darting among open grasses and shimmering between trees in the forest. According to researchers, climate change and other factors like development, light pollution and pesticides are threatening firefly populations. Because most data is anecdotal, scientists cannot easily determine whether fireflies are declining or increasing in different areas, said Richard Joyce, endangered species conservation biologist and coordinator of the Firefly Atlas, a tracking project by the conservation group Xerces Society. With an estimated 179 species of fireflies in the U.S., different species require varying habitats, which affects how threatened they are, Joyce said. Firefly species that live in wetlands, for example, might be facing a population decline as their habitat is diminished by development. 'I do think it is safe to say that many species of fireflies, their population have declined in the past few decades, just based on habitat loss, because that's kind of a good proxy for firefly populations, in lieu of actually having data from people trapping or or counting fireflies out in the field,' Joyce said. While also hard to track, the 26 firefly species found in Illinois may not be in immediate danger, according to the Firefly Atlas. However, the cypress firefly species is listed as vulnerable as of 2020 and six other species are listed as data deficient on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. '(Data deficient) means that we don't have a very good sense at all how they're doing as a species,' Joyce said. 'Maybe they're doing fine. Maybe they're even increasing, or maybe they're on the brink of extinction, but we just have so little data, and that's a very common thing for insects.' Despite the gaps in data, scientists agree that multiple factors affect the firefly population. A major climate component is the impact weather can have on the life cycle and growth of a population before they appear in the sky, said Darin J. McNeil, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Kentucky, who conducted a study on the insect in 2024. '(Firefly larvae) and their prey are very dependent on moist but not totally saturated soil. So they don't want it to be like a swamp for most species, but they want some kind of moist soil,' McNeil said. 'So if you have weather conditions that affect the soil, that's going to have a profound effect on the fireflies.' If the soil is too wet, it could flood larvae and eggs while overly dry soil could limit the insect's ability to find food and reproduce. Because these conditions affect larvae, they are likely to influence the number of fireflies two to three years later, contributing to annual fluctuations in population, McNeil said. 'Climate is a major driver of firefly abundance in the United States, so you might expect that shifts in climatic conditions would also probably have big effects on where fireflies are abundant and where they're not, but also other things, too, (like) characteristics of the soil,' McNeil said. Pesticides and herbicides can also negatively affect firefly populations. Ingesting the chemicals can kill larvae, change their eating and reproductive patterns, and eliminate their food sources. Habitat loss from the construction of roads, sidewalks and buildings that block access to the soil limits larvae development, he said. Light pollution plays a role in inhibiting mating. When fireflies blink and glow in the sky they are often trying to attract a mate in the grass. Outdoor artificial lighting can confuse the fireflies, who are then unable to find each other. However, people can help fireflies in simple ways by turning off outdoor lights when unneeded, limiting pesticides and herbicides, and creating the perfect habitat for larvae by keeping tall grasses, natural plants and fallen leaves, McNeil said. 'We leave most of our leaves in our yard, rake them to the margins of the yard and leave them there,' he said. 'That gives the firefly larvae and the firefly eggs somewhere over winter, also gives a place for prey for the firefly larvae so that they can survive and do their thing.' McNeil urged citizens to get involved with conservation groups like Xerces to help create a better understanding of the status of different species. 'I would just encourage people to look into doing Firefly Watch, even if you don't have any fireflies in your yard at all … submit a form that says, hey, there's 10 fireflies here, or zero fireflies here, or whatever,' McNeil said. 'Even (if it's) a yearly thing you and the kids or the grandkids (do), I think, can be a really valuable way to connect kids to nature and contribute data to a valuable cause.' The Morton Arboretum and the Chicago Botanic Garden are among the many places in the Chicago area with habitats that cater to fireflies. At the arboretum, a mix of warm weather and open grasses and wildflowers have attracted more fireflies than staff have seen in previous years combined, said Plant Clinic Manager Spencer Campbell. 'They're an insect that sparks curiosity and a desire for discovery and to witness them and to develop a personal relationship and a memory, which, you know, not all of our beetles are as charismatic as the firefly,' Campbell said. 'I think we should make sure that every generation that follows us has those same opportunities to develop those deep bonds with the natural world.' Regional events like the firefly hike, scheduled throughout the summer in multiple counties, aim to educate children and adults on conservation. These events often allow children to learn about fireflies firsthand, wielding nets and jars while experiencing the insect up close. For Swanson, fireflies have an important role in creating childlike wonder in people of all ages. She said she could not imagine her grandchildren missing out on this opportunity. 'Whenever we are out and about and I see them … I'm just laughing and laughing and like a child,' Swanson said, 'and it's like, you cannot let go of that spirit of being a child inside.'
