Fourteen-year-old underwater photographer Panitbhand Paribatra “Pari” Na Ayudhya has been named a winner in the Project // 21 category of the Hasselblad Masters 2026 competition. According to PetaPixel, the Thai photographer secured the title—which is restricted to entrants 21 and younger—following a series of three technically complex images captured during a blackwater dive in the … Read more
New Zealand health authorities are managing the detection of the H5 strain of bird flu in wild bird populations, with experts warning that undetected cases likely exist across the country. According to Otago University professor Jemma Geoghegan, the discovery of the virus in two solitary scavenging birds suggests the pathogen may be more widespread than … Read more
New Zealand conservationists have launched a proactive vaccination campaign for endangered native birds, including the kākāpō, following the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5) in a seabird on Wellington’s Petone Beach. The Department of Conservation (DOC) is prioritizing core breeding populations to safeguard species such as the kākāpō, takahē, and black stilt against a … Read more
Botanists at the University of New England (UNE) have officially identified Phebalium banyabba as a distinct, threatened plant species in northeastern New South Wales. Previously misidentified for over a century as Phebalium nottii, the shrub is restricted to two specific locations with fewer than 1,000 mature plants remaining in the wild, according to research published … Read more
Up to 60% of New Zealand’s conservation land could be affected by the Government’s Conservation Amendment Bill, which aims to increase economic activity and simplify land disposal processes. The legislation, which passed its first reading in May, has sparked debate over the future of 4,857 square kilometres of Department of Conservation (DOC) land in the … Read more
A 30-year-old southern African python named Desirée is recovering at the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital after being bludgeoned in North West on May 19. The 45kg, 4.3-metre-long snake sustained a crushed skull, shattered jaw bones, and traumatic brain swelling from the attack. According to hospital co-director Wendy Willson, the python is currently on the mend … Read more
A Silent Threat: What the Brazilian Porcupinepox Virus Means for Wildlife Conservation In the lush, biodiverse landscapes of Brazil’s Federal District, a quiet crisis has been unfolding. Recent scientific investigations have shed light on the Brazilian porcupinepox virus (BPoPV), a pathogen that is proving to be a significant threat to the survival of the free-ranging … Read more
The Hidden Climate Hero: Why We’re Finally Looking at the Seafloor For decades, the global conversation around climate change has focused on what we can see: melting glaciers, burning forests, and the carbon-sequestering power of mangroves and seagrass. But beneath the waves lies a massive, overlooked engine of carbon storage: the ocean seabed. View this … Read more
Across the globe, a critical interdependence is being leveraged to save vanishing ecosystems: the symbiotic relationship between native bees and the forests they pollinate. From the dry montane forests of Peru to the peatlands of Indonesia, local communities are discovering that beekeeping can make forests more valuable when left standing than when cleared. The Fight … Read more
The Digital Underground: How Wildlife Trafficking is Going Dark For years, law enforcement tracked the illegal wildlife trade through open forums and public social media groups. However, a dangerous shift is occurring. As platforms like Meta crack down on endangered species trade—recently shutting down numerous high-traffic groups in Indonesia—traffickers are not disappearing; they are simply … Read more