In Short

Guns, saws and double standards

Tibetans breathe easy in high altitude with gene from extinct human species

Unusual gene variant prevents blood from congealing

Wildmeat consumption at source countries greater threat to protected terrestrial animals than international trade

Around 70 per cent of species studied are hunted for wild meat consumption

Are Amur tigers ‘re-wilding’ China?

A camera-trap video recently captured a tiger family deep inside China

South Africa’s Cape Town restores landfill as natural reserve

Bracken Nature Reserve is rich with flora and fauna post-restoration

Sounds of silence: a forest that survived 'development'

A trip to the Silent Valley National Park is a valuable lesson in the history of environmental movements and biodiversity conservation

Outstanding grain

The aromatic enigma makes basmati a clear winner among grains. The lack of knowledge of what traditional basmati is and an inability to take …

Toda traditions in peril

Can this tribal community in the Nilgiris survive the concrete trappings of civilisation? Tarun Chhabra on the eco-friendly Todas

COSTA RICA

Self-withering: Biodiversity Convention’s new global framework raises basic questions

Fairness and North-South balance embedded in the treaty made the West uncomfortable with it

Delhi ranked second among world’s most water-stressed cities

Five out of 20 world’s most water-stressed cities are in India, says study

Humans and mice are similar, yet different creatures, says study

Research will help experts to better test medicines meant for humans on mice

Scientists map microbes in healthy humans

Will help in diagnosis and treatment of diseases

COP15 Montreal: ‘Coalition for Nature’ formed by Small Island Developing States

The goal of the coalition is to advocate for agreed common SIDS priorities and needs such as greater means of implementing biodiversity objectives

The animals and plants that only exist in captivity — and why time is running out to restore them to the wild

Where return to the wild is a challenge, we must redouble efforts to find and mitigate threats in native habitat

Ahead of IUCN event, IFAD calls for more investment to protect biodiversity

IFAD president says protecting biodiversity is crucial to fight hunger, ahead of IUCN event in Marseille  

Climate change causing rainfall in Africa’s Sahel region, says study

A long drought, which started in 1968, led to the virtual extinction of crops and widespread loss of cattle in the region

Pictures on social media can help in conservation of ecology

Hundreds of geotagged photos are being analysed to find out how people use different natural spaces

Forest fires - a trailblazer

Controlled burning of woodlands can be an effective tool for enriching the land and ecology. Dipanjan Ghosh looks at the possibilities

Reptiles in South Africa are under threat — but there’s good news too

Many species of threatened reptiles are inadequately conserved in formally protected areas

Red Sanders falls back in IUCN’s ‘endangered’ category

The species was classified as ‘near threatened’ in 2018 

Singapore passes law to fine Indonesian firms that cause transborder haze

Study says forest loss in Indonesia worse than Brazil; most of the deforestation is caused by forest fires that result in transboundary haze

India to discuss free, universal access to scientific knowledge in runup to G20 summit

Steep subscription prices of sceintific journals, open access mandate for public-funded research among roundtable agenda

Africa Protected Areas Congress puts spotlight on protection and conservation of biodiversity

First-ever meet by IUCN to outline long-term strategies; to give voice to marginalised communities