Biodiversity

The Martu people of Western Australia are environmental and cultural custodians, preserving tradition and ecosystems alike. ACROSS THE BIRRILIBURU landscape in remote Western Australia, the Martu people are using their knowledge as traditional owners to conserve the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis)...

SYDNEY, Australia — Mass bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in the past three months has killed as much as half of the coral in the north but left large parts of the southern reaches with only minor damage, scientists in Australia said on Sunday. The current bleaching is the third to strike the ...

Of the 8.7 million species of animals, plants and fungi thought to live on Earth, we have only named 1.2 million: 86% of the natural world is uncharted. For most people, both this incredible richness and our ignorance are hard to fathom. Imagine that each of the 6.5 million species thought to live ...

The death of Harambe the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo, shot to protect a child who had fallen into his cage, has caused outrage. Some of the anger has now turned from “trigger-happy” staff towards zoos in general. Why, some are asking, is an endangered gorilla behind bars in the first place? In an...

The electioneering has begun. In a campaign set to be dominated by economic issues, the Coalition and Labor are locking horns over who can best manage our finances, protect jobs and make housing more affordable. The Greens predictably decry the major parties, including their cavalier climate-change ...

Do bees like the taste of nectar? Does the ant foraging for your crumbs feel better when she finds one? Are insects merely tiny robots? Or, in the phrase popularised by the philosopher Thomas Nagel, is there something it is like to be a bee? Until recently, most scientists and philosophers would h...

Even to the untrained eye, it’s easy to see that the Great Barrier Reef is in more than a little hot water. As I board my charter flight from Cairns bound for the remote scientific research station on Lizard Island, I mentally prepare myself for devastating scenes. Climbing steeply, we bank shar...

The number of wild tigers has risen to nearly 3,900, thanks to enhanced protections and conservation commitments Tiger conservation is a story of contrasts. Throughout Asia, wild tigers (Pantera tigris) face constant pressures from poachers, deforestation and development. We saw the worst of this ...