According to reports, a pygmy hippopotamus was shot and killed when hunters allegedly mistook it for a pig during a pig hunting expedition in Australia!

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Talk about ironic! While searching for the world’s most endangered crocodile species, conservationists discovered nearly 70 extremely rare crocodiles lounging in plain view at a wildlife rescue center in Cambodia!

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature surveyed 47,677 of animal and plant species this year, ultimately listing 17,291 of the count under Red’s List of endangered species.

The Switzerland-based environmental group conducts a yearly examination of plant and animal species and 2009’s list topped last year’s by 2,800. However, the group admitted that the list is incomplete, and there remain millions of other specimens yet to be surveyed.

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Imagine a spider about the size of a standard-sized CD!  Researchers have discovered a rare super-sized spider.

Once thought to be extinct, the first Nephila komaci spider was first found in an old museum collection in South Africa in 2000.  A few years later, another specimen was found at a museum in Austria.  No other specimens were found until two females and one male were found in the Tembe Elephant Park in Africa.  The discovery is the first new Nephila species since 1879.

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Today’s elephants are under increasing pressure from habitat loss (due to explosive human population growth), poaching for ivory, and illegal trafficking.

Asian elephants are classified as endangered, and their population is declining. African elephants are considered near threatened, but a resurgence in elephant poaching is taking its toll.

To help raise awareness for these magnificent mammals, here are 12 things you didn’t know about elephants - and a compilation of beautiful photos (with baby elephants who will steal your heart)! Enjoy!

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Pundamilia nyererei is a species of freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family. It is found in lakes in Kenya and Tanzania. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.

In may not be a great surprise to learn that fish are the most species-rich vertebrate group on the Planet–with an estimated 32,500 member species. But what is surprising is that 43% of these species are found in freshwater habitats, such as lakes and rivers.

This rich diversity of freshwater species is all the more startling when one considers that freshwater systems represent just one hundredth of one percent (.01%) of the Earth’s surface water. According to Fishes of the World (J.S. Nelson), over 5000 new species of freshwater fish have been discovered in just the past three decades–a time period marked by expanded exploration of fish habitats and better understanding of “taxonomic boundaries” (mostly, due to more accurate genetic analysis).

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Good news for the world’s rarest lemur!  A scientific survey has revealed that the Greater bamboo lemur, Prolemur simus, exists in more locations than previously recorded.   Less than 100 Greater Bamboo Lemur were known to exist in the wild.  But a scientific expedition into the rainforests of Madagascar has revealed the rare primate exists in twice as many locations as once thought. 

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Wildlife experts warn that India’s tiger protection plans appear to be failing - and a recent meeting reveals that China is not interested in curtailing its demand for endangered tiger parts.

Despite millions of dollars in funding, a new protection force, forest dweller relocation plans, and other measures, wildlife experts fear that India’s attempts to protect endangered tigers from poaching are failing.

A further blow to tiger protection efforts came when a recent meeting between India’s Minister of Environment and Chinese officials did not make any progress on the issue.

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Wildlife experts fear that the spread of an AIDS-like virus could force already threatened koalas into extinction.

Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations are in serious decline - victims of habitat loss, domestic dog predation, vehicular deaths, and bushfires.

Sadly, a new and deadly danger is facing the iconic koala: The koala retrovirus.

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The Arakan forest turtle was once thought to be extinct until some specimens were found peddled as food in China. According to LiveScience, it was 1908 since a live specimen – just a single one – was last collected by an Army officer from Britain. But in an elephant sanctuary in Myanmar, a team of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) personnel discovered five endangered turtle species, one of which is the Arakan forest turtle. The animal is small, with adults measuring less than a foot in length, and is characterized by its brown coloring and block mottling. Like many other turtle species in Asia, the Arakan forest turtle’s existence has been threatened by poaching.

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The Army’s proposal to move 1,000 desert tortoises has been placed on hold by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, amid concerns over the Army’s previous plan that resulted in the death of 252 out of 600 tortoises.

The Center for Biological Diversity announced that a plan by the Army to move over 1,000 federally and state-listed threatened desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from their Fort Irwin habitat to Bureau of Land Management lands has successfully been halted.

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A disturbing incident in Eket, Nigeria reveals that unsuspecting roadside barbecue patrons may have been eating vulture meat instead of chicken.

Hungry buyers tempted by the scrumptious sizzle of meat cooking over a charcoal fire may want to think twice before buying a snack from one of these outdoor roasting vendors. What they think is chicken could actually be … vulture.

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Malaysian authorities rescued nearly 100 pangolins from a poacher who was planning to sell the endangered animals for meat and “medicine.”

A raid on a house in northern Kedah by officials from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks yielded 98 pangolins and three kilograms of pangolin scales. The Straits Times reported that the self-employed man in his 40’s was arrested, and faces up to 23 years in jail and a fine, if convicted of the five different illegal possession charges.

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The northern Madagascar spider tortoise, one of the three subspecies of Pyxis arachnoids, is currently facing a threat to their population brought about by poachers.

The spider tortoise is small compared to other tortoise species, and is characterized by the presence of web-like patterns on adult shells. The northern Madagascar spider tortoise subspecies (P. a. brygooi) can only be found in a narrow strip on the coast. Since they’re endemic and hence, can easily be caught, the subspecies is currently “extinct across 50% of its former historical range.” Senior wildlife biologist at Nautilus Ecology UK, Ryan Walker, conducted this population survey last March, and came to the conclusion that the wild population of the northern Madagascar tortoise has fallen by 90%, mostly due to massive collection for illegal pet trade.

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The good news: Four men were arrested after a vehicle inspection yielded two recently butchered rhino horns and a .303 rifle. The bad news: KwaZulu Natal has now lost 19 rhino to poachers this year.

Thanks to quick action by Ezemvelo KwaZulu Natal Wildlife (EKZNW) field rangers, there are four less poachers in the region. Upon hearing a single gunshot in the Makhamisa area of the Imfolozi section, EKZNW field rangers acted immediately with Imfolozi management and police to set up a roadblock that led to the arrests.

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Madagascar is famous for its lemurs.  But poachers on the island are hunting and killing the lemurs for about 50 cents each.  The endangered lemurs are then smoked and sold as delicacies to restaurant owners who are ordering the “killing of the animals.”

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Current laws in Thailand make it easy for live elephants - including infant elephants stolen from their mothers in the wild - to be traded unscrupulously for “entertainment” purposes.

For many people, thoughts of Thailand conjure up romantic notions of being transported to various tourist attractions on the back of an elephant. But tragically, many of the captive elephants used for the Thai tourist trade, and as zoo and circus exports, are the victims of an insidious, illegal market that threatens the survival of endangered Asian elephants, and is responsible for widespread exploitation and abuse of these intelligent and sensitive mammals.

Thankfully, a recent report published by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia exposes the loopholes and reporting inaccuracies that have been providing a smokescreen for Thailand’s illegal trade in endangered, wild-caught Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

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Thanks to wildlife authorities acting on a tip that led to the bear’s gruesome “burial site” on a family farm, two men are facing felony violations of the Endangered Species Act for shooting a grizzly bear in Washington State.

Two men accused of killing a grizzly bear while on a hunting trip in 2007 will finally appear before a federal magistrate in Spokane. According to kgw.com, wildlife authorities acted on a tip that led them to a bizarre “burial site” where the suspects had attempted to hide the bear.

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A recent study hopes its findings are enough to safeguard a small population of Ganges River Dolphins from Oil India Ltd.’s recent proposal to deploy seismic exploration activities along the bed of the Brahmaputra River.

The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) has a tenuous population at best - with possibly just 2,000 overall.

And with only an estimated 264 dophins in the entire Brahmaputra River system, this population is at risk of becoming another Karnali River disaster - where now just six Ganges River Dolphins remain - if protective measures are not put into place.

Although a proposal by Oil India Ltd. prospect for oil along the bed of the Brahmaputra threatens to decimate this species even further, an extensive report submitted by Dr. Abdul Wakid to the IUCN hopes to establish protected areas for the Ganges River Dolphins in the Brahmaputra river system - before it’s too late.

… a recent proposal by Oil India Ltd. to initiate seismic exploration (using explosives and airguns) along the bed of the Brahmaputra River to prospect for oil has potentially disastrous implications for Ganges River dolphins.

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Melaka’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has shocked WWF-Malaysia by announcing that Pulau Upeh - the hawksbill turtle’s primary nesting beach in Peninsular Malaysia - is to be developed. Will this be another Rantau Abang disaster?

A WWF-Malaysia release has stated that despite Pulau Upeh’s role as the primary nesting beach for endangered hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), Melaka’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has decided to develop the beach. This significant area provides 20% of Peninsular Malaysia’s nesting sites.

It is a slap in the face to conservationists, especially since it was just last month WWF-Malaysia met with the Chief Minister regarding the “crucial importance of Pulau Upeh and other prime nesting beaches for the hawksbill turtles.” In addition to legal protection of all turtle nesting sites, WWF-Malaysia emphasized that only “low-impact turtle-based ecotourism is feasible.”

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