The Other Headlines / Collection

Wildlife & Oceans

What if we can save them?

Thematic illustration for this collection, not an image of any listed story — Thematic photo: LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0. Not a photograph of a listed story.

24 published stories

Publisher photograph accompanying npr.org's report

2026-10-19 / Planet & Nature

A Chance to Live for Animals We Could Lose Forever: Rescuers Save Dozens of Orangutans From Indonesia’s Wildfires

Rescuers in Indonesia have saved dozens of critically endangered orangutans from wildfires, NPR reports. The rescues offer immediate protection for animals whose lives and habitats remain threatened during the deadly fire season.

Publisher photograph accompanying theportugalnews.com's report

2026-10-18 / Planet & Nature

Wildlife can thrive again with protection: Aldabra now holds an estimated 180,000 giant tortoises

A study drawing on five years of monitoring estimates that Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles supports approximately 180,000 giant tortoises, the highest population figure ever recorded for the species. Researchers report a healthy, stable population following decades of conservation, although climate change, drought and invasive species remain threats.

Publisher photograph accompanying Good News Network's report

2026-10-18 / Planet & Nature

A Way Back for Bleached Coral: Healthy Clones Helped Fragments Recover Fully in Seven Weeks in the Lab

Stanford researchers restored severely bleached coral fragments to full health in laboratory experiments by placing them in contact with healthy, genetically identical corals. The findings offer a possible new route toward reef restoration, but effectiveness on wild reefs remains unproven.

Publisher photograph accompanying The Better India's report

2026-10-17 / Planet & Nature

Room for Livelihoods and Wildlife: Four Assam Villages Plan a Reserve for the 150 Deer Sharing Their Grazing Land

Four villages in Assam’s Dhemaji district are working to protect around 150 deer by proposing a village forest reserve on 1,044 bighas of shared grazing land. Residents have begun voluntary work and planted native saplings, while formal designation still requires legal review and state approval.

Publisher photograph accompanying Colorado Sun's report

2026-10-15 / Planet & Nature

Safer journeys for people and wildlife: Colorado’s I-25 crossing system sees animal collisions fall 91%

Officials report just two wildlife-vehicle collisions in roughly 10 months since a wildlife overpass opened across I-25 between Larkspur and Monument, a reported 91% decline. The bridge, five underpasses and miles of fencing give animals safer routes across six highway lanes while reducing dangerous encounters for drivers.

Publisher photograph accompanying Mongabay's report

2026-10-14 / Planet & Nature

A tip can help bring wildlife home: 20 green sea turtles returned to the ocean after Bali residents alerted police

Indonesian authorities released 20 protected green sea turtles back into the ocean after a report from residents led police to uncover a suspected smuggling attempt off Bali’s Serangan Island. All 22 turtles found on the abandoned boat were alive; two remain in care because they are still sick.

Publisher photograph accompanying Daily Maverick's report

2026-10-12 / Planet & Nature

Conservation can protect how animals live, too: South Africa’s top court keeps wellbeing safeguards

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has rejected a hunters’ association’s challenge to animal wellbeing provisions in biodiversity legislation. The decision preserves the requirement to consider animals’ wellbeing when making decisions about how wildlife is managed, conserved and used.

2026-10-10 / Planet & Nature

People Can Help Secure a Future for Wildlife: Years of Community Work Helped Turn Victoria Forests Into Three National Parks

More than 250 square miles of forest in Victoria, Australia, have become three national parks, protecting habitat for hundreds of rare and threatened plants, animals and fungi. Community campaigners helped make that protection possible through years of wildlife surveys, ecological reports and advocacy.

Publisher photograph accompanying The Guardian's report

2026-10-09 / Planet & Nature

Protection Can Give Wildlife a Future: Aldabra Now Has an Estimated 180,000 Free-Roaming Giant Tortoises

A survey estimates that approximately 180,000 giant tortoises live freely on Seychelles’ Aldabra Atoll, following decades of conservation that helped the population recover from fewer than 1,000 in the 19th century. The highest estimate ever recorded for the species demonstrates what sustained protection can achieve, though climate change and invasive mammals still threaten its future.

Publisher photograph accompanying straitstimes.com's report

2026-10-08 / Planet & Nature

Endangered need not mean forever: green turtles reach ‘least concern’ after decades of protection

Green turtles have moved from endangered to least concern in global conservation rankings after decades of efforts including egg relocation, marine protection and trade bans. Their recovery shows that sustained protection can change a species’ prospects, although some regional populations remain endangered and are declining.

2026-10-04 / Planet & Nature

A Little Shade Could Give Corals a Lifeline: Underwater Umbrellas Partly Reversed Bleaching in a Florida Study

Temporary underwater shades helped two vulnerable species of brain coral retain more color during intense heat stress in the Florida Keys, partly reversing observed bleaching. The findings suggest a way to protect individual corals, although shading cannot cool the water and is difficult to scale.

Publisher photograph accompanying Good Good Good's report

2026-09-27 / Animals & Wonder

Feared Vanished Forever, a Forest Songbird Reappears in West Africa After 13 Silent Years

Researchers working in Côte d'Ivoire's Taï National Park have recorded a live Ghana cuckooshrike, a rare canopy bird that had not been documented by scientists for over a decade. The confirmed sighting proves that resilient populations of the species continue to endure in protected rainforest canopies despite heavy regional deforestation. The discovery demonstrates the crucial value of preserving old-growth reserves as durable sanctuaries for endangered biodiversity.

2026-09-26 / Animals & Wonder

Reminding Us That Nature Still Holds Secrets: Scientists Identify the First New Wild Cat Species in Over a Century

Biologists working in Bolivia's Yungas cloud forests have formally described the tilcayo, a distinct tiger cat species previously unrecognised by Western taxonomy. The breakthrough marks the first living novel cat species described in more than 100 years. Notably, scientists adopted the name long used by local indigenous residents, uniting traditional ecological knowledge with contemporary genetic analysis.

2026-09-19 / Animals & Wonder

He Wrote Hits for Country Stars. Now He Spends His Days in the Woods Curing Wild Foxes.

Jerry Vandiver, an accomplished Nashville songwriter whose songs have been recorded by stars including Tim McGraw, has taken on a quiet second calling rescuing wild red foxes across Tennessee. Confronting a painful mange epidemic that is decimating local wildlife, Vandiver tracks ailing animals through the brush to administer targeted medical treatments and nutrient-rich food. His hands-on interventions are nursing animals back to health and galvanising surrounding neighbours to protect their vulnerable wild counterparts.

2026-09-18 / Animals & Wonder

Down to Just 51 Birds in 1995, the World's Rarest Parrot Just Welcomed 90 Independent Chicks

New Zealand's critically endangered kakapo population has reached 325 individuals after a record 90 chicks reached their 150-day independence benchmark this season. The milestone marks a dramatic turnaround for the flightless parrot, which had dwindled to just 51 surviving individuals in 1995. Decades of intensive predator control, genetic management, and nest monitoring have proven that even species on the absolute brink can recover.

2026-09-17 / Science & Technology

Clean Drinking Water From the Sea, Without Poisoning the Ocean in Return

Desalination has long provided freshwater at an environmental cost, dumping millions of gallons of toxic liquid brine back into marine ecosystems. Researchers have now demonstrated a solar-powered system that extracts fresh water while crystallising leftover salts into solid form, preventing coastal pollution while recovering useful minerals like lithium.

2026-09-17 / Animals & Wonder

Three Wild Dogs Walked 2,500 Miles Looking for Mates—and Connected Wild Corridors Kept Them Alive

A trio of African wild dogs completed a historic 2,500-mile journey across Zambia in search of mates, surviving the longest recorded land trek of any African mammal. Their successful passage across vast distances demonstrated that protected wildlife corridors provide safe transit through human-dominated landscapes.

2026-09-16 / Planet & Nature

Seven Indigenous Women Are Walking Amazon Riverbanks to Save a Disappearing Turtle

In the Amazon, seven Siekopai women known as the Tari Nomiowa’i, or 'turtle women,' are patrolling remote riverbanks to protect the nests of endangered freshwater turtles. By locating fresh tracks and guarding fragile clutches against predators and poachers, they are giving the severely depleted population space to recover. Their daily commitment pairs ancestral river knowledge with practical conservation to ensure the species endures.

2026-09-15 / Animals & Wonder

Auckland Brought In Six Llamas to Protect Its Lambs From Roaming Dogs—and It Worked

Auckland council farms introduced six guardian llamas into their regional parklands last year to watch over vulnerable flocks. The llamas' natural vigilance and protective instincts have successfully reduced roaming dog attacks on ewes and lambs without requiring lethal measures.

2026-09-14 / Animals & Wonder

Elephants Don't Merely React on Instinct: They Can Deliberately Pause, Think, and Control Their Impulses

Controlled behavioural experiments demonstrate that elephants possess the mental discipline to pause and deliberate before acting, resisting immediate impulses to solve multi-step problems. This sophisticated executive self-control was once believed to be restricted almost entirely to humans and great apes. The evidence offers profound insight into animal cognition and deepens our ethical responsibility to safeguard these contemplative giants.

2026-09-13 / Animals & Wonder

Life Rebuilt Far Faster Than We Thought: Ancient Alligators Flourished in the Direct Wake of the Asteroid

Fossil discoveries reveal that ancestral alligators grew large and diversified across North America just a few hundred thousand years after the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. The findings overturn old assumptions that planetary recovery required millions of years, showing complex predators returned swiftly. It offers compelling geological proof of nature's remarkable capacity to mend itself even after catastrophic collapse.

2026-09-12 / Planet & Nature

Home to 200 Butterfly Species, Mount Mabu Is Now Formally Protected—and Governed by the Villagers Living on Its Slopes

Mozambique has formally designated the 23,000-acre Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area, shielding a vital rainforest sanctuary rich with hundreds of butterfly species and rare wildlife. Instead of handing administration to distant state agencies or private concessions, the legal decree places long-term management directly into the hands of resident mountain communities. The initiative establishes a sustainable conservation model where local residents have both the authority and incentive to preserve their native ecosystem.

2026-09-12 / Animals & Wonder

Found Thousands of Miles From Home, Five Baby Orangutans Are Safe After Indian Rangers Reached Them in Ten Minutes

Forest department officers in Odisha, India, sprang into action after receiving a dawn alert about five infant orangutans abandoned thousands of kilometers away from their native rainforests. Arriving on scene within ten minutes, rangers managed a massive crowd, stabilized the distressed primates with fluids, and escorted them on a 300-kilometer journey to specialized veterinary care at Nandankanan Zoo. The rapid intervention saved five critically endangered animals from trafficking, giving them a fighting chance at recovery.

2026-09-10 / Planet & Nature

Instead of Clashing, British Anglers and Marine Biologists Are Teaming Up to Protect the Seas’ Most Vulnerable Sharks

Recreational sea anglers and marine scientists across Britain have launched a three-year initiative to tag and monitor porbeagle, tope, and blue sharks. Rather than remaining divided over marine conservation, anglers are using their time on the water to provide critical field data that researchers could never gather alone. The partnership demonstrates a collaborative model where everyday ocean users become vital stewards of marine wildlife.