Positive Wildlife News 2025

Solomon Islands First Female Rangers Help Save Leatherback Turtles

Sasakolo beach looks like any other in the South Pacific: a strip of sand buttressed by coconut palms, low green hill rising in the distance. Located near Kafulapu community, this unassuming patch of land is one of the most important—and perhaps the largest—leatherback nesting beaches in the South Pacific.

Solomon Islands First Female Rangers Help Save Leatherback Turtles
 
Turning the Tide: Major Expansion of ProAves’ Arrierito Antioqueño Reserve

We are delighted to announce that the Arrierito Antioqueño Reserve in Colombia has now been expanded by 352 hectares (870 acres), a significant milestone made possible by a global alliance of conservation organisations.

Funds from World Land Trust (WLT) and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) have allowed our partner ProAves to purchase two sites totalling 352 hectares (870 acres), significantly expanding their 1,019-hectare (2,518-acre) Arrierito Antioqueño Reserve.

Sara Lara, Executive Director of
ProAves, says “We can now save the most fragile areas from gold mining and clearance for cattle grazing. This is a major step forward for conservation in this region of Colombia where the forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates.”

https://www-worldlandtrust-org.cdn....25/03/major-expansion-of-proaves-reserve/amp/
 
Federal Judge Orders Florida to Address Pollution That Led to Manatee Deaths

The state of Florida is in violation of the Endangered Species Act and must develop a plan for addressing the pollution that led in recent years to an unprecedented die-off of manatees, a federal judge has ruled.

The litigation is centered on state wastewater discharge regulations that have failed to control nutrient pollution in the Indian River Lagoon, a 156-mile estuary on Florida’s east coast that is among the most biodiverse on the continent. The pollution has led to ongoing water quality problems and seagrass losses in this crucial manatee habitat that in 2021 and 2022 left the beloved sea cows starving. Nearly 2,000 manatees died in Florida in that period, a two-year record.

Conservation groups said the deaths represented more than 20 percent of the state’s population. The calamity prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to resort to providing supplemental lettuce for the emaciated manatees in the lagoon. Each animal requires some 70 pounds of seagrass daily.

Manatees are listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened. The litigation, brought by the conservation group Bear Warriors United, accuses the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) of unlawfully “taking” manatees under the law by promulgating wastewater discharge regulations that have allowed flows from wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks into the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) to continue. These discharges are responsible for the nutrient pollution at the heart of the manatee die-off, according to the litigation.

Ragan Whitlock, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, was heartened by the ruling but said it was too soon to guess what kind of relief it might bring manatees. He said the Trump administration’s proposal this week that would rescind habitat protections for certain species listed under the Endangered Species Act would not affect this particular case.

“We hope it’s a wake up call to the state of Florida that more has to be done to protect waterways and the species that depend on them,” said Whitlock, whose organization specializes in litigation under the Endangered Species Act. “Nutrient inundation into the Indian River Lagoon has to be mitigated to protect not just the Florida manatee but all the waterways and all species.”

Katrina Shadix, executive director of Bear Warriors United, said her group brought the lawsuit after expanding its focus from a controversial bear hunt a decade ago to the widespread habitat loss affecting wildlife statewide. She grew up near the Indian River Lagoon and remembers the lush seagrass meadows that nourished manatees. She paid for the litigation in part with settlement money she obtained after a couple of car wrecks and cried over the ruling.

“I hope this spurs people all over the country to keep fighting the good fight. When you have the morals and the ethics and the selflessness and the altruistic feelings to save something that should never thank you and doesn’t even know that they’re about to go extinct. When you can stand up and fight strong like that, it really is just something that you do to make your kids proud. … It’s just such a good feeling to know that I was a part of preventing manatee extinctions and cleaning up our waters in the state of Florida,” she said, her voice cracking.

Federal Judge Orders Florida to Address Pollution That Led to Manatee Deaths - Inside Climate News
 
Brazilian rescue center returns trafficked animals to the wild

A wildlife rescue center in Rio de Janeiro is giving animals a second chance after they’ve been torn from the Atlantic Forest by poachers, a Mongabay short documentary showed.

At the Vida Livre (Free Life) Institute, the team of volunteer veterinarians and biologists rehabilitate thousands of wild animals — from parrots with broken beaks to newborn armadillos and drugged monkeys — helping them recover so they can be returned to their natural habitat.

Brazilian rescue center returns trafficked animals to the wild
 
Tahuamanu – Orthon Departmental Natural Heritage Area Created to Safeguard Major Riverway in Pando, Bolivia

The Tahuamanu – Orthon Departmental Natural Heritage Area was established on September 5th, 2024, protecting 762,248 acres (308,471 hectares) of Amazonian rivers and alluvial forests in Bolivia’s department of Pando. Through this declaration, wildlife like the yellow-spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), bush dog (Speothos venaticus) and harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) are protected in this area that covers the courses of the Tahuamanu and Orthon Rivers and includes the adjacent floodplain forests and meandering lagoons. The conservation area provides crucial protection particularly against gold mining, which is a threat that’s on the rise in Pando, and encourages the protection of important tree species for the local communities who rely on them for harvesting non-timber forest products such as Brazil nuts and açaí palm fruits, helping to boost the local economy.

Tahuamanu - Orthon Departmental Natural Heritage Area Created to Safeguard Major Riverway in Pando, Bolivia - Andes Amazon Fund
 
New Global Assessment Reveals Hope for Marine Turtles, Highlights Urgent Need for Continued Action

A comprehensive status assessment of global marine turtle populations offers a glimmer of hope for these ancient animals.

The new study, conducted by the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG), reveals that decades of ongoing conservation efforts have improved the status of the majority of marine turtle populations around the world.

Published in Endangered Species Research, Updated global conservation status and priorities for Marine Turtles, the multi-year study evaluated 48 sea turtle populations across six species globally, and convened nearly 150 MTSG experts from 50 countries to assess risks, threats, and conservation capacity. Remarkably, results show that threats have declined for the majority of sea turtle populations. Over 40% of marine turtle populations are now considered by the MTSC as Low Risk-Low Threat, up from just 23% in 2011, a promising sign that marine turtle conservation efforts are yielding positive impacts in many places.

“This work demonstrates the profound impact of local conservation efforts around the world, it reflects the dedication of countless individuals and organizations who have worked on the ground and in the water to protect these ancient and iconic mariners,” said Bryan Wallace, lead author of the study.

However, the findings also underscore the critical need for sustained action. For example, the study found that fisheries bycatch is the most pressing threat to sea turtles worldwide, alongside other risks such as coastal development, ocean pollution (especially plastics), climate change, and direct take of turtles and their eggs.

New Global Assessment Reveals Hope for Marine Turtles, Highlights Urgent Need for Continued Action
 
India doubles tiger population in a decade: Can other countries learn from its conservation efforts?

Protecting these big cats means India is now home to roughly 75 per cent of the global tiger population.

India doubled its tiger population in a little over a decade, a study published Thursday found.

It has done so by protecting the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing living standards for communities near tiger areas.

In the early 2000s, experts were warning that tigers could soon go extinct. But over the last 25 years, India's national animal has seen a remarkable recovery.

The number of tigers grew from an estimated 1,706 in 2010 to around 3,682 in 2022, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, making India home to roughly 75 per cent of the global tiger population.

India's conservation efforts result in roaring success for tigers
 
Restoring Virginia’s Peatlands to Combat Climate Change

Virginia’s peatland restoration is turning the Great Dismal Swamp back into a vital carbon sink.

Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp, once a thriving wetland, is now being revived as an essential carbon sink to help combat climate change. Peatlands, like those in the swamp, cover only 3% of the Earth’s surface but store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. By restoring these unique ecosystems, researchers and conservationists aim to reverse centuries of damage caused by human activity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Peat is a spongy layer of partially decomposed plant material found in waterlogged, acidic environments like the Great Dismal Swamp. This natural carbon storage system has been severely degraded over time. Starting in the 1760s, efforts to drain the swamp for agriculture and timber led to the exposure of peat, which then decayed, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fires sparked by the drying peat have further worsened the problem, making the swamp a net emitter of carbon rather than a sink.

George Washington led early efforts to drain the swamp using enslaved labor. Later, logging companies expanded the destruction, creating a network of ditches to dry the land for tree harvesting. These activities not only devastated the swamp’s unique ecosystem but also turned it into a significant carbon source.

Recent research shows the swamp has emitted approximately 183 teragrams of carbon dioxide since the late 1700s. To put that in perspective, this is equivalent to the emissions from 42 million gas-powered cars in a single year.

Restoring Virginia's Peatlands to Combat Climate Change | Happy Eco News
 
Nature Trust of British Columbia aims to expand Salmon River protected area

The Nature Trust of BC is hoping to raise enough money by April 9 to add more Salmon River floodplain near Sayward to a protected area.

The trust wants to add nearly 106 acres along the Salmon River to its existing estuary conservation complex in the area, bringing it to a total of nearly 1,038 acres.

Nature Trust of BC aims to expand Salmon River protected area - My Campbell River Now
 
Empowering the communities of Honduras’ cloud forests

This spring, our Save the Cloud Forests of Honduras appeal will enable our partner AESMO to purchase and protect threatened forest in western Honduras. Here, local communities are already central to AESMO’s work…

Honduras’ Trifinio region is home to a vast number of rural communities. Among these are the Lenca people, the oldest and largest Indigenous group in Honduras.

Many of the villages in the Trifinio region do not have access to mains sanitation, so are highly affected by the quality of water supplied from the surrounding watersheds. In total, over 250,000 local people depend on the water from the cloud forests for domestic and agricultural use.

https://www-worldlandtrust-org.cdn....he-communities-of-honduras-cloud-forests/amp/
 
Biologists Rejoice as Extremely Rare Guam Kingfishers Lay Their First Wild Eggs in Nearly 40 Years

A colorful bird that’s been extinct in the wild for nearly 40 years has been introduced on a new island in the Pacific Ocean—and the population has even started laying eggs.

With help from conservationists, the Guam kingfisher (Todiramphus cinnamominus) seems to be settling in on Palmyra Atoll, a remote circular chain of 26 islets located halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa.

Biologists are cautiously optimistic about the species’ future after discovering eggs in a nest roughly 12 feet off the ground on March 31.

The nine kingfishers hatched in various zoos and facilities across the United States, then were transported to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, to be hand-reared by keepers. Once they were old enough, they made the 4,500-mile flight to a Nature Conservancy research station on Palmyra Atoll. They spent about a month getting acclimatized before researchers outfitted them with radio trackers and set them free.

The birds’ long journey—both literally and figuratively—makes the recent discovery of wild eggs all the more impressive to biologists.

“These birds were raised in captivity until last year,” says Martin Kastner, a biologist working with the Nature Conservancy and the Zoological Society of London on the Guam kingfisher reintroduction project, to Public Radio Guam’s Mia Perez and Naina Rao. “Now they’re foraging, nesting and even laying eggs on their own. It’s an incredible step forward.”

Biologists Rejoice as Extremely Rare Guam Kingfishers Lay Their First Wild Eggs in Nearly 40 Years

Population of endangered Mount Graham red squirrels grows with help from Arizona organizations

For over 25 years, the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel has been quietly battling population decline atop one of Arizona’s tallest mountains.

Endemic to the Pinaleño Mountains in southern Arizona, this species of squirrel was classified as endangered in 1987, with population numbers ranging from 35 to 550.

Habitat loss, wildfires and food competition have contributed to the dwindling population of Mount Graham red squirrels. Efforts from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the University of Arizona, the Phoenix Zoo and the U.S. Forest Service, populations have almost doubled in the past year from 144 squirrels to an estimated 233 by end of last year.

“It was fantastic,” said Holly Hicks, a Game and Fish small mammal project coordinator. “We all just felt such relief to know that the population can recover after such a devastating wildfire.”

Mount Graham red squirrel numbers over 200 had not been seen since 2017, when the Frye Fire destroyed much of their habitat. The Frye Fire left approximately 35 squirrels total in the Pinaleños – near extinction.

The Phoenix Zoo started a captive breeding program in 2014 to try to breed a healthy population off-site, in case a fire were to strike Mount Graham again. They house four red squirrels, two male and two female, that have yet to produce offspring.

“We have this vision with our partners of being able to create another population that hopefully can serve as an additional backup on the mountain,” said Tara Harris, Phoenix Zoo director of conservation and science. “The risk of wildfire continues to be quite high for these squirrels, and so having that extra population would be really important for making sure that this squirrel continues to exist here in Arizona and in the world.”

Collaboration helps endangered Arizona Mount Graham red squirrel population
 
Eastern quolls released into NSW bushland

Conservation organization Aussie Ark and the University of Sydney have collaborated on a science-based reintroduction of eastern quolls on mainland Australia into a controlled bushland environment near Nowra.

The two organizations released 15 endangered eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) into a 68-hectare feral-proof site, on the Scots College's Bannockburn property near Nowra on the NSW South Coast. Jerrinja Traditional Owners also partnered on the project, with tribal leader Ron Carberry, among others, attending the event and conducting a Welcome to Country.

It is the first time the eastern quoll has been released on this site; a significant step towards rewilding for a species otherwise extinct on mainland Australia.

The University of Sydney's Global Ecology Lab in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences manages the project, headed by Associate Professor Thomas Newsome with project lead Dr. Patrick Finnerty and on-the-ground research conducted by Ph.D. student Pat Bragato.

Associate Professor Newsome said the priority is to undertake long-term scientific research to better understand how to bolster the success of eastern quoll rewilding. This will involve intensive post-release monitoring, including the deployment of very-high frequency (VHF) radio and global positioning system (GPS) tail transmitters, camera observation with a network of 54 camera traps across the site, and quarterly cage trapping to collect data.

"This long-term research project provides us with a wonderful opportunity not only to establish a meta-population of eastern quolls on mainland Australia but also deep-dive into the ecology of the species," Associate Professor Newsome said.

The Scots College Bannockburn has been modeled on Aussie Ark's 400-hectare feral-proof Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary, where 10 of the eastern quolls released at Bannockburn were born and bred.

Aussie Ark Operations Manager Dean Reid said these quolls were in top health.

"The release is another powerful step toward one day rewilding the eastern quoll to the mainland of Australia," Reid said. "It follows last year's historic release of our Eastern Quolls into Booderee Botanical Gardens, when Federal Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek personally released one of our quolls."

Eastern quolls released into NSW bushland
 
Wildlife Returns to Site of Devastating Southern California Wildfire

Four months after the disastrous Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, California, wildlife is making a comeback.

Trail cameras have captured mountain lions, coyotes, deer, squirrels, quail, and owls in the footprint of the fire. Heavy rains have turned hillsides green around Altadena. Grass is sprouting, and some blackened oaks are regrowing, sporting wreaths of leaves around their trunks.

Wildlife Returns to Site of Devastating Southern California Wildfire
 
Vicuña poop creates biodiversity hotspots as glaciers retreat rapidly
  • The vicuña, a wild relative of the llama, could help reestablish plants in barren areas where glaciers have melted, according to a recent study in the high Andes of Peru.
  • As vicuñas tend to poop in the same places, they establish communal latrines where soils have much higher moisture, organic matter, nutrients and microorganisms than surrounding areas formerly covered by ice.
  • Researchers say they believe these more nutrient-rich soil patches can speed up plant colonization by as much as a century and provide refuge for plant species moving uphill as temperatures increase.
  • Peru is losing its glaciers at a worrying speed, with research pointing out that in the Central Andes, between 84% and 98% of their glaciers might disappear by 2050.
The vicuña’s social habit of pooping in the same place could help Andean ecosystems adapt as glaciers rapidly retreat due to climate change. Researchers found
that communal loos for vicuñas (Lama vicugna), a wild camelid relative of the llama, in barren and recently deglaciated areas in the high Andes in southeastern Peru are packed full of nutrients that encourage plant growth.

These latrines act as little islands of nutrients and biodiversity as a recently deglaciated landscape is mostly gravel and rock, barely constituting soil, says Clifton Bueno de Mesquita, a research scientist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, co-author of the study published in Nature Scientific Reports.

“That’s why the vicuña poop has such a large impact,” Bueno de Mesquita says. “They’re helping plants establish in these harsh environments much faster than they would otherwise.”

After sampling soils in the latrines and comparing them with nearby deglaciated areas, the researchers found that latrines have far higher levels of moisture and key nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and were teeming with microorganisms. Soil in the latrines also had 62% organic matter, while deglaciated soils had as little as 1.5%. All in all, these conditions enable microbes and plants to thrive, according to the study, which focused on the Sibinacocha watershed in the Cordillera Vilcanota, in the department of Cusco, which is experiencing rapid glacier melting.

Vicuña poop creates biodiversity hotspots as glaciers retreat rapidly
 
Europe’s wolf population on the rise

Wolf populations on the continent have increased almost 60% is the last decade

Despite a worldwide decline in carnivores, wolf populations in Europe have increased almost 60%. In a study published in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, researchers collected data on wolf (Canis lupus) numbers in 34 European countries. They found wolf numbers on the continent went up from 12,000 in 2012 to 12,500 a decade later. In addition, the researchers found that on average wolves killed 0.02% of livestock each year. The authors said that while the wolves’ rapid recovery is impressive, the challenge will now be helping humans and wildlife coexist in the long term. “The recovery of wolves across human-dominated landscapes of Europe has been continuing during the past decade, with their population growing to over 21,500 individuals by 2022—a 58% increase in a decade,” the authors wrote. “Ongoing and future challenges include damages directly caused by wolves and broader sociopolitical issues.”

Europe’s wolf population on the rise - The Wildlife Society
 
Colombia creates landmark territory to protect uncontacted Indigenous groups
  • Colombia has created a first-of-its-kind territory meant to protect a group of Indigenous people living between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers in the Amazon Rainforest.
  • The 2.7-million-acre (1,092,849-hectare) territory is the first in the country specifically designed for people living in isolation.
  • The Yuri-Passé people have faced increasing pressure from illegal mining and organized crime groups, forcing neighboring Indigenous communities to reach out to the government on their behalf.
Colombia has created a first-of-its-kind territory meant to protect a group of Indigenous people living away from regular contact with the rest of the world.

Located in the southern department of Amazonas, the over 1-million-hectare (2.7-million-acre) territory stretches between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers that the uncontacted Indigenous Yuri-Passé people call home. It’s the country’s first protected area specifically designed for people living in isolation.

“Through this resolution, Colombia is taking a key step towards the protection of the rights and territory of Indigenous groups in isolation, reaffirming its commitment to their autonomy and survival,” said a statement from Amazon Conservation Team, one of the organizations that helped create the territory.

The territory prohibits economic development and forced human contact. Part of it overlaps with Río Puré National Park and includes an adjacent buffer zone that will act as a transition space to help limit human disturbances, Amazon Conservation Team said in the statement.

Colombia creates landmark territory to protect uncontacted Indigenous groups
 
Baby rays bred in captivity released into Plymouth Soun d - BBC News says that 15 young spotted rays have been released into Plymouth Sound as part of a project to raise awareness of the marine life around the South West. The rays were bred in captivity as part of the Little Rays of Hope project, a partnership between Plymouth Sound National Marine Park and the Marine Biological Association.
 
Brazil: Ilha Grande designated as bat conservation area

A tourist hotspot in Brazil, the island hosts 37 bat species.

Researchers from Rio de Janeiro State University use nearly invisible mist nets and sound recordings to monitor bats on Ilha Grande, in Angra dos Reis, on the state’s southern coast. Their work, which has already led to the discovery of a new species, recently earned the island international recognition as an Area of Importance for Bat Conservation (AICOM).
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Brazil: Ilha Grande designated as bat conservation area
 
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