Photo: young hippos
Jan31

Photo: young hippos

Young hippos in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of hippos.

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Activism: alternative route would save Serengeti from road

Note: mongabay.com does not endorse the action below, but believes its readers may be interested in taking action or discussing the issue in comments. Wildebeest herd in Tanzania. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The Tanzanian government is planning a road through the Serengeti despite protests from scientists, conservationists, and tourism companies. Opponents warn that the road bisecting the ecosystem will imperil the Serengeti’s...

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Picture: Baby elephant drinking milk

Orphaned elephant drinking milk at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.

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Endangered baby crocodile newt

Anderson’s crocodile newt (Echinotriton andersoni) larvae. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Anderson’s Crocodile Newt is found in a range of tropical and subtropical habitats Japan and Taiwan, but is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss. This individual is part of a captive-breeding program at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx...

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Pictures: Baby kinkajou

Baby kinkajou at Proyecto Asis rehabilitation center in Costa Rica

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Pictures: Falling water on six continents
Jan27

Pictures: Falling water on six continents

NORTH AMERICA Waterfall in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Forest waterfall in Arenal, Costa Rica. Photo by Rhett A. Butler SOUTH AMERICA Waterfall on the summit of Auyantepui, Venezuela. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Jungle waterfall in Suriname. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. EUROPE Waterfall near Skogar in Iceland. Photo by Tina A. Butler. ASIA Tad Lo waterfall in Laos. Photo by Rhett A. Butler....

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Cultural survival at stake for the rainforest Penan of Borneo

The Penan tribe in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo, are trying to stop logging and palm oil companies destroying their rainforest home. Survival International, the organisation supporting tribal peoples, is campaigning for the Penan’s rights to their land. Survival researcher Miriam Ross traveled to Sarawak to meet some of the tribe. In one nomadic Penan community, Pisang, a Penan hunter, told her his story.

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Picture: puma in Belize

Puma in Belize.

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Here be stone dragons
Jan25

Here be stone dragons

Stone dragons at Wat Phra That Pu Khaor in Thailand. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of Wats in Thailand.

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Video: Mongabay’s Rhett Butler speaks with the Killen Report on deforestation

Michael Killen asks Rhett A. Butler about his interest in rain forests. Rhett says plans now exist to help save the Brazilian rain forests. He is now focused on increasing awareness of the need to save the Indonesian rain forest.

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What happens when you cross a giraffe with a beetle?
Jan24

What happens when you cross a giraffe with a beetle?

You get the giraffe-necked weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) of course! This strange insect is native to Madagascar. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of the giraffe-necked weevil (Trachelophorus...

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Pictures: nature in Mendocino, California

Photos taken last weekend in Mendocino, California.

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“The Last Lions” trailer

Opening on February 18th, The Last Lions, a National Geographic film, follows a lioness and her two cubs’ dramatic journey of survival in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Through the lions’ story the film addresses the catastrophic decline in lion populations across the continent, which have fallen from 450,000 to some 20,000 over the past 50 years. Shooting took place in Botswana over 7 years by veteran filmmakers Dereck...

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The view from the air

Angel Falls in Venezuela. Photo by Rhett A. Butler River in the lowlands of Gabon. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Rice fields in Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Mountains in Western China. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Flowering trees in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. African buffalo in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Photo by Jeremy...

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Picture: baby sea turtle

Baby sea turtle heading out to sea in Costa Rica.

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Hyena spotted in Armenia

Hyena in Tanzania. Photo by Rhett A. Butler 2007 Remains of a striped hyena have been found in southern Armenia, representing the country’s first confirmed hyena observation in over 60 years. Hyenas discovered in Armenia? Researchers find carcass,...

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Photo: U.S. bans shark finning

In early January the U.S. Senate passed the Shark Conservation Act, legislation that bans shark finning in U.S. waters.

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Picture: Snow leopard in the snow
Jan14

Picture: Snow leopard in the snow

Snow leopard in the snow at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo

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Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry: Helping the poor or helping itself?

Giant Dipterocarp tree in Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler in 2009 Over the past several years, Asia Pulp & Paper has engaged in a marketing campaign to represent its operations in Sumatra as socially and environmentally sustainable. APP and its agents maintain that industrial pulp and paper production — as practiced in Sumatra — does not result in deforestation, is carbon neutral, helps...

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Picture: Leaf monkey in Sumatra

Thomas’ Leaf Monkey is a species found in Sumatra, Indonesia. It typically lives in groups from 10-20 individuals and feeds on fruit, young leaves, seeds, and occasionally insects.

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