Conservation (Page 2)

Protecting natural resources—from sea to sky—is about much more than planting a few trees.

Latest in Conservation

a large dark millipede

These rare, giant millipedes only exist in Florida

By Margherita Bassi

Two images of king cobras seen on or near trains in India

King cobras take the train in India

She-bear and bear-cubs. Adult female of Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) with cubs on the snow in spring forest.

Facial recognition AI trained to work on bears

Lake Lipno frozen with green cyanobacterial blooms in winter

Toxic algae turned a frozen lake green

Hobart, Tasmania - December 27 2016: road side warning sign for Tasmanian kangaroo, tasmanian devil and echidna wildlife

Roadkill is a surprising and untapped source for scientists

Abalone shells with numerical tags

Mysterious, numbered mollusk discovered on Australian beach

a jellyfish with a red center, blue circle on the outer part of its body, and small tentavles

Perplexing blue button jelly looks like something out of ‘Lord of the Rings’

By Margherita Bassi

a small mammal called a marten stands on a log

Adorable ferret-sized martens are rebounding in California

By Laura Baisas

White axolotl seen underwater

Is it illegal to own an axolotl? It depends.

a mother whale and calf

2026 is off to a hopeful start for these critically endangered whales

By Margherita Bassi

The tiny blooms of Dendrobium eruciforme, known as the caterpillar orchid due to its creeping habit and small size. © Andre Schuiteman RBG Kew

Zombie fungus, ‘living stones’ among favorite botany discoveries of 2025

an iguana with blue and green scales

10 vulnerable wildlife species to watch in 2026

By Laura Baisas

three side by side images of a large jellyfish in a deep sea canyon

Giant phantom jellyfish spotted deep in Pacific

By Laura Baisas

an elk with horns in the wood

New wildlife cam features 800-pound elk in northern Michigan

By Laura Baisas

A fluffy beavers sits in front of a fallen tree branch with yellow leaves.

Idaho once dropped 76 beavers from airplanes—on purpose

By Jennifer Byrne

African penguin chick close-up

Aquarium welcomes third endangered penguin chick in less than a month

a cave painting of two warty pigs

Pigs have been island hopping for 50,000 years

By Laura Baisas

a yellow flag with a coiled rattle snake and the words "dont tread on me"Gadsden Flag, Vikkram, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0.

How the timber rattlesnake became a symbol of American independence

By Laura Baisas

two smuggled spider monkeys hugging

Baby spider monkeys rescued in Texas

By Laura Baisas

Anti-icing chemicals in winter season. Street treated with technical salt or de-icing chemicals, closeup view. Effective tool to fight ice on surfaces. Rock salt on road.

Stop using so much sidewalk salt

By Alisha McDarris

Pair of African penguin chicks

Newborn African penguin named after a hot dog

A pink octopus squid floating upside down spotted by MBARI researchers

Dive into 2025’s most stunning deep-sea wildlife encounters

Water flowing through the Hamlin Lake Dam in Ludington Michigan.

2,500 ‘high-risk’ U.S. dams are sinking into the ground

a mother polar bear walking on ice with two cubs behind her

Rare polar bear adoption could save cub’s life

By Laura Baisas

‘Mr. Fezziwig's Ball,’ an 1843 illustration by John Leech for ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. This novella was the earliest and most popular of Dickens' Christmas stories. The kissing under mistletoe (left) and evergreen decoration hanging from the ceiling are vestiges of pre-Christian winter rites.

A history of mistletoe: The parasitic ‘dung on a twig’

A cross sectional image of an actively growing microbialite from South Africa.

‘Living rocks’ suck up a lot of carbon

By Laura Baisas

a small orange frog sits on a pencil tip for scale

Teeny tiny orange toadlet found in Brazil

By Laura Baisas

a big group of oysters still in the shell

Pills, powders, and opioids stress out oyster babies

By Laura Baisas

several red and beige mushroom-like plants growing at the base of a tree

Asexual parasitic plants break biology’s rules

By Laura Baisas

Denman Glacier in Antarctica

Underwater robot survives voyage to ‘never-accessed region of the planet’

a dead sperm whale floats among ice while a polar bear floats on the whale

5 captivating images from National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year

By Popular Science Team

German hairy snails are disappearing from London’s River Thames

By Margherita Bassi

A close-up, colorized photograph of a middle-aged man with a stern expression and a thick, reddish-brown beard. He is superimposed over a faded, beige background of densely printed, historical text, suggesting he is a figure related to the document's content, which appears to discuss Cattalo or Beefalo (a cow and buffalo hybrid), based on the filename.

The strange Wild West tale of the first cow-buffalo hybrid

By Bill Gourgey

This is a type of animal that is related to land spiders but does not belong to that group. They can grow to the size of a palm in the deep sea around Antarctica, but this particular species is only a few millimeters in size Photo: Natural History Museum, London & Göteborgs universitet

Deep sea mining test uncovered multiple new species

Ruby the turtle needs a new greenhouse. Dance companies are stepping up.

By Laura Baisas

Close up of young rhesus macaque monkey eating peanut

Escaped lab monkey finds new home at New Jersey animal sanctuary

an bird with white and black feathers called an albatross

Record-breaking 75-year-old mother bird prepares to nest

By Laura Baisas

a close up of evergreen branches

How the evergreen shaped America

By Trent Preszler

a monkey with its hand over its mouth

10 captivating images from National Geographic’s Photo Ark

By Popular Science Team

Close up of glossy black wolf snake

New wolf snake honors the late Steve Irwin

Close up of Calumma gallus chameleon. Males of Calumma gallus have a nasal appendage with distinct spines.

No lie. The long-nosed Pinocchio chameleon is multiple species.

a small brown and white owl on a brown towel

Alaska’s smallest owl gets the royal treatment after life-threatening injury

By Margherita Bassi

two black whales under water. one is diving down the other is looking at a camera head on

Hawaii’s short-finned pilot whales eat over 77,000 squid a year

By Laura Baisas

person petting a turtle

Trafficked turtles get a second chance at life in New Jersey sanctuary

By Laura Baisas

a sunrise over a desert landscape

13 perfect panoramic images from the 2025 Epson International Pano awards

By Popular Science Team

AI created video of bunnies on a trampoline

AI videos of animals could be dangerous. Here’s how to spot them.

By Margherita Bassi

Close up of tree toad

These toads don’t start as tadpoles

Seized ivory and rhino tusks photographed by law enforcement

Endangered rhino horns and elephant tusks seized in California

a bird with white and gray plummage

Rare seabird saved after swallowing four large fishhooks

By Laura Baisas

P. Mikazuki Portuguese Man O'War

Portuguese Man O’War species honors ‘One-Eyed Dragon’ samurai

Eastern hellbender salamander underwater in river

Hellbender salamanders are huge—and in trouble

A dark, grainy infrared or night-vision security camera image shows a mouse or rat on a ledge or windowsill, grappling with and biting a flying bat. The bat is visible on the left, upside down in mid-air with its wings spread, as the rodent lunges at it. The entire scene is dominated by shades of white and gray against a dark background.

Caught on camera: Rats hunting bats mid-flight

a zombie worm, it is long and cylindrical with tentacles

Zombie worms have gone missing

By Laura Baisas

Screenshot of ROV video showing icefish nests on floor of Weddell Sea

The quest to find Shackleton’s ship uncovered an Antarctic mystery

Two close up shots of two tube-nosed bat species

Six new bat species discovered in the Philippines

a dolphin blowing bubbles under water

Dolphins may be getting an Alzheimer’s-like disease due to this neurotoxin

By Margherita Bassi

Awa Guajá couple, family of Takarentia, only contacted 5 days before this picture was taken, 1992.

Half of all uncontacted Indigenous tribes may disappear by 2036

A red cusk-eel burrowed in among tubeworms at a methane seep off the coast of El Quisco in central Chile. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute

Tiny spider crabs snack on parasites from Chile’s favorite fish

World’s only flightless parrot doing okay against ‘crusty bum’ disease

By Laura Baisas

Big bison in the National Park on the shore of a lake or river

This national park uses helicopters for bison round-up duty

a glowing green capped mushroom

13 fascinating fungi photos that’ll really grow on you

By Popular Science Team

ROV screenshot of dive to Titan submersible debris on ocean floor

OceanGate’s ‘Titan’ went on 7 dives with a damaged hull before implosion

Security camera footage of bear entering grocery store in Japan

Bears have attacked over 100 people in Japan since March

a baby sea turtle crawling on sand

Green sea turtle no longer Endangered

By Laura Baisas