110 Items Tagged

Endangered Animals

As they build their underground burrows, pangolins dig deep and turn over soil, which encourages plant growth and creates shelter for dozens of other species.

Say Hello to Nature’s Fire Brigade

When it comes to restoring land and preventing wildfires, animals like pangolins, beavers, and elephants have a lot to offer. Can helping them help us?

Annie Roth April 7, 2025

Jeannette Beranger with a Poitou donkey, her favorite heritage breed.

What Makes Heritage Livestock So Important? AO Wants to Know.

Jeannette Beranger is on a mission to save America’s rarest farm animals from extinction.

Andrew Coletti March 6, 2025

Preserved specimens of depressed river mussels (<em>Pseudanodonta complanata</em>), a species that has nearly disappeared from French waters.

Found in the Seine: DNA From a Nearly Extinct Mussel

Scientists taking samples from the Parisian river didn't expect to find traces of shellfish that had all but disappeared from France.

Kim Willsher February 10, 2025

A mother manatee and her baby swim through the water in Crystal River, Florida, where manatees can be found year-round.

Florida’s Manatees Are Relative Newcomers, According to Historical Research

These beloved sea cows were barely recorded in the area before the seas warmed in the late 1700s. Now their habitats are at risk.

Richard Luscombe January 6, 2025

This pygmy hippo at the 1939 World's Fair Firestone exhibit was probably Gumdrop I, Billy's first surviving calf.

Before Moo Deng, There Was ‘William Johnson Hippopotamus’

During the Roaring ’20s, the American National Zoo welcomed the first pygmy hippo superstar.

Andrew Coletti November 25, 2024

Schnecksville, Pennsylvania

Bison of Trexler Nature Preserve

An American industrialist hoped this nature preserve could help save the North American bison.

The diminutive coquí guajón, or Puerto Rican rock frog, lives in the southeastern part of the island.

7 Stories of the World’s Rarest Animals

And the people trying to save these endangered species.

April White May 17, 2024

London, England

Endangered Species Doorway

An archway adorned with vulnerable flora and fauna.

Podcast: Ol Pejeta Rhino Cemetery

The memorial in Nanyuki, Kenya, might be one of the loveliest and saddest places on Earth.

The Podcast Team December 11, 2023

Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge

A haven for wildlife amid the farmlands and development of the Willamette River Valley.

Irrawaddy dolphins cruise the Mekong River near the Cambodian village of Kampi, which has become a hub for tourists eager to spot the critically endangered animals.

Irrawaddy Dolphins Get Help from an Ancient Cambodian Folktale

In the Mekong River, protecting the revered but critically endangered mammals is also a way for locals to reclaim their culture.

Stefan Lovgren November 20, 2023

Cochabamba, Bolivia

Alcide D'Orbigny Natural History Museum

Among fossils of creatures long since cast into oblivion, a once-single frog perseveres for his species.

Meeteetse, Wyoming

Meeteetse Museum

This museum details the history of a local miracle: The return of the critically endangered black-footed ferret, which was once believed to be extinct.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Back Alley Arctic

A residential service road transformed into a menagerie of larger-than-life paintings of iconic Arctic wildlife.

Gerlach, Nevada

Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge

One of the largest wildlife refuges in the contiguous 48 states, it was instrumental in preserving the pronghorn antelope from extinction.

Biologists on the Canary Islands only became aware of the islands’ robust population of angelsharks about a decade ago.

This Fake Beach in the Canary Islands Is a Baby Shark Paradise

Tenerife's Playa de las Teresitas attracts tourists looking for sun—and endangered angelsharks.

Dag Goering July 10, 2023

Kiama is one of about a dozen white rhinos at Disney Animal Kingdom, where caretakers work to keep the animals happy and healthy.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Rhinos Are the 'Real Housewives' of Orlando

Keeping the gossipy big animals healthy and happy means spa days and spritzes of cologne.

Karuna Eberl June 15, 2023

A California condor, the largest North American bird with a wingspan of up to 10 feet.

How the California Condor Comeback Was Hatched

Once on the brink of extinction, the massive birds now number in the hundreds.

Danna Staaf June 7, 2023