7 Latin American primate species, which inhabit Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and one that extends from Mexico to Colombia, are among the most endangered...
Scientific experts sent to the Galapagos Islands to count a critically endangered lizard species estimate there to be just 211 pink iguanas left, local...
Preliminary results suggest that a six-year-old project to replace non-native trees in La Sabana Park with native species has succeeded in bringing Costa Rican wildlife back to the park.
When aerial surveys of the West Indian manatee began in 1991, officials counted 1,267 of them in Florida. Now there are more than 6,300 in Florida alone, and the entire population is estimated at 13,000 manatees in its range which includes the Caribbean and the northern coasts of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil.
MIAMI – Poaching and habitat loss have landed the military macaw (Ara militaris) and the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), two birds typically found in Central and South America, on the U.S. endangered species list, officials said Thursday.
The United States is one of the world’s largest importers of wild fauna and flora. Central America’s proximity to the U.S. makes it even more important for the region and U.S. customs officials to be on the same page when it comes to flora and fauna trade. “As a consuming country, it’s incumbent on us to make sure that trade is happening legally and sustainably,” said Christina Kish, project manager with the International Technical Assistance Program of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that trophy-hunting tourists legally kill some 600 lions each year. Given that there are only about 30,000 lions left in Africa, this represents an annual loss of roughly 2 percent of the total lion population to legal hunting.
The study, published Thursday in journal Science, found that extinction risks were highest in South America, Australia and New Zealand, and risks did not vary by taxonomic group. In South America, the most vulnerable region, 23 percent of species may face extinction.
