Cameroon’s Dja faunal reserve is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. It is home to a spectacular array of species, over 100 species of mammals among them. But overhunting, lack of adequate protection and conservation awareness place this important biodiversity hotspot in danger. S.P.E.C.I.E.S., is launching a project to reduce the poaching and trade […]
On Saturday, November 5, Channel Island Foxes will be pitted against Jaguars in a comedy face-off, presented by the Santa Barabara Zoo at the Discovery Pavilion. S.P.E.C.I.E.S. founder and director, Anthony Giordano, goes up against Tim Connan, a biologist for the U.S. National Park Service at Channel Islands National Park. The two experts are paired […]
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation is organizing its seventh annual Student Conference on Conservation Science in New York on 20-22 of October. Graduate students, post-docs and early-career professionals are invited to take part in the only international series of conservation conferences featuring students. The event provides an opportunity to network, gain experience, present and […]
The binturong (Artictis binturong) is summed up by its nickname; the bearcat. With long cat-like whiskers, a long bushy tail, a thick coarse coat and a penchant for living in trees, the species is quite unique. Despite having a fairly wide distribution (the binturong is found in Borneo, Nepal, Java, Northeast India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, […]
The binturong is unique; part bear, part cat it is rare across its range that encompasses many South Asian countries. The bearcat, as it’s also known, is also threatened by the rapid expansion of agriculture in its forest habitat and hunting for bushmeat and traditional medicine. S.P.E.C.I.E.S has designated the binturong as one of our […]
The world’s only wetland cat species, the fishing cat, is elusive and endangered. Its wetland home is quickly disappearing across its range as urban and agricultural expansion quickens. Compounding this is the fact that little is known about the species. Recently S.P.E.C.I.E.S founder and director discussed fishing cats and their conservation with Biographic magazine. Read […]
Like the wolf and grizzly bear, the mountain lion, cougar, or puma, North America’s largest cat, was once vilified as a pest to the livestock industry. Historically ranging from coast to coast, puma populations today continue to push eastward and reclaim areas they formerly inhabited, and as they do, they are nothing short of an ongoing conservation […]
In 2008, the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) was declared “Endangered” by the IUCN. This was due in part to the extreme lack of records for the species despite wildlife surveys across much of its purported distribution. It is also due to the rapid disappearance of sensitive freshwater and coastal habitats across south Asia. Fishing cats are […]