Results tagged “Endangered”

Photograph by Beverly Joubert


Africa's lion population is quickly getting smaller and smaller, and action must be taken immediately to save these majestic animals.To raise awareness, the National Geographic Society launched the Big Cats Initiative this month. This project will support programs and education that will help the big cats of the world, with a special focus on lions.

Dereck and Beverly Joubert are one of the big forces behind the project. They are National Geographic Explorers-in Residence who have spent over 25 years studying and working to conserve Africa's animals, especially the big cats. They want people to understand that when it comes to saving the big cats like lions and leopards, the time to act is now. ""We no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to big cats," Dereck says.


Learn more about the Big Cats Initiative on National Geographic.

Get the facts on lions on National Geographic Kids.

Play Crittercam: African Adventure on National Geographic Kids.

Giant pandas could be extinct in two to three generations unless development around their habitat in China is controlled,  according to a World Wildlife Fund spokesperson based in China.

Read the story on National Geographic News.

Get the facts about Giant Pandas.

See photos of Playful Pandas.

Photograph courtesy Colorado Division of Wildlife/AP
See photos of domestic cats on National Geographic Kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photograph courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society


Conservationists have been trapping snow leopards in Afghanistan--but don't worry, they're using cameras, not cages! To set the camera traps in remote snow leopard territory, the conservationists and park rangers had to travel for a week on horses (or yaks). After setting the traps, they left and waited.

Four out of five camera traps ended up capturing images of the elusive big cats. This is great news for the snow leopards. Due to poaching and humans hunting their prey, there aren't many snow leopards left in Afghanistan. In fact, conservationists have estimated there are only about 100 of the cats living in the country This estimate is largely an educated guess, but conservationists say that the photos mean that there is a chance for the population to recover.

Learn more about the snow leopard photos on National Geographic News.

Watch a video about clouded leopards on National Geographic Kids.

Australia's Tasmanian devils are dying off due to a disease called DFTD, or devil facial tumor disease. This contagious cancer is spread when Tasmanian devils bite each other.

In the 13 years since the disease was first discovered, the population of Tasmanian devils has dropped about 70%. Earlier this month, the Australian government officially changed the status of the Tasmanian devil from "vulnerable" to "endangered."

Get the facts on Tasmanian devils in the Creature Feature.

Watch a video about Tasmanian devils and the contagious cancer on National Geographic Kids.

Read how kids helped Tasmanian devils at a wildlife conservation center.

Learn more about this story from The Guardian.

A baby blue whale has been caught on film! Researchers off of the coast of Costa Rica captured the baby on camera while visiting the "Dome," a warm-water region that attracts blue whales from hundreds of miles around.

Baby blue whales are far from tiny. At birth, they are an average of 25 feet (7.6 meters) long.

The footage of the baby, as well as images of other blue whales, can be seen on National Geographic's Kingdom of the Blue Whale. The show airs tonight, March 10, on the National Geographic Channel at 8 p.m. ET.

See a video of the baby on a clip from Kingdom of the Blue Whale on National Geographic News.

Learn more about Kingdom of the Blue Whale on National Geographic Channel.

Think you're a blue whale expert? Quiz Your Noodle and find out!

Keepers at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., were surprised when they counted three black and rufous giant elephant-shrew in their exhibit instead of two! The female elephant-shrew in the exhibit probably gave birth to the new baby in January. The baby elephant-shrew is doing well and can be seen in the National Zoo's Small Mammal House.

See a video of the baby and learn more about the new elephant-shrew on the National Zoo's website.

Watch a wild elephant shrew and her baby in this video.

Photograph courtesy Zeb Hogan


National Geographic Emerging Explorer Zeb Hogan found what might be the world's largest freshwater giant stingray in Thailand this month! The giant river ray's body was an incredible 6.6 feet (2 meters) wide by 6.9 feet (2.1) meters long.

A western lowland gorilla named Mandara gave birth to her sixth baby in the Great Ape House on January 10. The zoo isn't sure if the tiny gorilla is a boy or a girl yet, because Mom's keeping the baby all to herself for now.

Western lowland gorillas are listed as a critically endangered species, so these births are especially important. There have been seven successful  western lowland gorilla births at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. since 1991.

See baby pictures and watch a video at the National Zoo.

Get the facts on mountain gorillas in the Creature Feature.

Photograph by Enric Sala


In the last few days of his presidency, President George W. Bush created three new national monuments in the Pacific Ocean in the largest ocean conservation effort ever. The new monuments will protect Kingman Reef  (as part of the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument), Rose Atoll, and the Mariana Trench, which is home to Earth's deepest spot.

All three of the protected areas are home to many species, including the giant coral colony shown in the photo above.

The largest freshwater fish in North America, the white sturgeon, seemed to be headed for extinction in the mid-1990s. Dozens of dead fish washed up on the riverbanks in British Columbia, Canada. Many people banded together to save the white sturgeon and it seems to have worked. Today their population is estimated to be about 50,000.

Read more about the white sturgeon rebound on National Geographic News.

Want more info on Zeb Hogan's Megafishes Project? Visit the gallery.

The Orangutan Foundation celebrates Orangutan Week from November 10 to November 16 this year. On Friday, November 14, dress in orange to celebrate Orangutan Day. Ask your friends to wear orange, too! Orangutans are Asia's only great ape species and they are endangered.

Want to learn more about orangutans? Check out the Creature Feature.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's report, one out of every four species of mammals is facing extinction. Many of the most threatened species are found in Asia, a continent with a growing human population.

"This is leading to habitat loss due to agricultural expansion; development of infrastructure such as roads, which fragment critical landscapes; and increasing areas for industrial crops such as oil palm and pulp for paper," said Barney Long, a biologist at the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C.

Worldwide, habitat loss affects about 40 percent of threatened mammal species, while human hunting affects 17 percent, Long said.

There is hope for mammals, but keeping them off the endangered list will take a lot of hard work. According to the report, 5 percent of threatened species have seen rebounds due to conservation efforts.

Learn More