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Past Presentation | In Racing Extinction, a team of artists and activists exposes the hidden world of extinction with never­before­seen images that will change the way we see the planet. Two worlds drive extinction across the globe, potentially resulting in the loss of half of all species. The international wildlife trade creates bogus markets at the expense of creatures that have survived on this planet for millions of years. And the other surrounds us, hiding in plain sight — a world that the oil and gas companies don’t want the rest of us to see. Using covert tactics and state­of­the­art technology, the Racing Extinction team exposes these two worlds in an inspiring affirmation to preserve life as we know it. From the Academy Award® Winning Filmmakers of "The Cove."

Past Presentation | This film dives into remote underwater locations to reveal the catastrophic effects humanity has had on the oceans. Illegal overfishing of sharks across the planet has deeper consequences that puts the Earth’s most important ecosystem in danger of collapsing, which threatens all life in, and above, the ocean. Stewart dedicated his life to conservation, saying: “Conservation is the preservation of human life. And, that, above all else is worth fighting for.” He taught the world to love the oceans and their creatures and not fear sharks through his iconic images of hugging and free diving with sharks and mantas.

It’s no secret that human activities have put many of this planet’s inhabitants in danger. Extinctions are happening at a dramatically faster rate than they have over the past tens of millions of years. An estimated quarter of all species on Earth are at risk of being lost, many within decades. What can scientists possibly do to stop that trend? For some, the answer is to “de-extinct.” Colossal, a biotechnology company that garnered headlines for its plan to “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth, is now attempting to “bring back” the famously dead dodo bird. The company says its goal is to create a population of undead dodos to put on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, where the hefty, flightless creatures lived before humans drove them to extinction in the late 1600s. As environmental humanists, we study the morality of different conservation interventions, and are interested in how de-extinction might change the ways people think about their responsibilities toward nature. One of us, Ben, is a professor of environmental ethics who explores the ethics of de-extinction in his 2018 book “The Fall of the Wild.” The other, Risa, is a doctoral student researching how de-extinction might change public perceptions about extinction, especially its emotional impact. What de-extinction is and isn’t De-extinction is not exactly what it sounds like. Rather than “bringing back” lost species, it’s more of a process to create their high-tech look-alikes. Scientists would edit the genomes of the dodo’s closest living relative—the Nicobar pigeon, which contains the pigeon’s full set of DNA—and add some of the most important dodo genes, taken from preserved dodo remains. Then they could put that genome into an egg cell, and let that egg develop into an organism that should look like a dodo. But that organism wouldn’t be genetically identical to the dodo. Nor would it have any other dodos to teach it how to act like and, well, actually be a dodo. Colossal hasn’t successfully created any de-extinct creatures yet. Nor have any other scientists, unless you count the team that cloned the Pyrenean ibex in 2003—but that clone died within minutes. And yet Colossal seems confident, saying it hopes to de-extinct Tasmanian tigers by 2025 and woolly mammoths by 2027. They’re certainly amassing a fortune to make it happen: Since its founding in 2021, Colossal has raised over US$225 million from tech investors, Paris Hilton and even a CIA-backed venture capital firm. Possibilities, or pitfalls? Supporters have argued that de-extinction will eventually help restore ecosystems. “Bringing back” passenger pigeons could help restore forests in the northeastern United States, for example, while woolly mammoth proxies could help restore the Siberian steppe and keep permafrost frozen. Some de-extinction advocates have also positioned their projects as potential long-term solutions to combating mass biodiversity loss in general. But many ecologists and ethicists have highlighted the uncertainty around introducing these novel creatures into the wild. Even if the de-extinct dodos did act more or less like their extinct counterparts, it’s hard to know how a habitat that hasn’t had any dodolike birds in it for 350 years would be affected by this new species. Opponents have pushed back even more strongly against claims that de-extinction could be a widespread solution, pointing out how bringing back one species at a time would not be enough to curb the Earth’s losses. Other issues include how to decide where all these de-extinct creatures would live, as well as animal welfare concerns: for potential surrogate animals that would be impregnated, and the de-extinct creatures themselves, which never asked to be “brought back.” More than science To us, one of the more interesting questions about de-extinction has to do with how it changes the way people think about extinction. Some de-extinction boosters have argued that de-extinction could create a more hopeful story about humans’ ability to combat mass extinction. Many others share the desire for more inspiring conservation stories, too. Some conservationists and psychologists have argued that environmentalists need more positivity to get people engaged with environmental issues. Others, however, say de-extinction isn’t hopeful, but misleading. Many worry that de-extinction actually risks making humans less inclined to care about ongoing extinctions. After all, why care about preventing extinction if we can eventually reverse it? It’s hard to rally the troops with a message of unrelenting guilt and despair. But reckoning with those difficult emotions can be useful for reflecting on humanity’s responsibilities—especially considering that extinction is our fault to begin with, and since de-extinction isn’t really “resurrecting” anything. In fact, some scholars argue that what humans really need is to learn to grieve extinct species. Grief, they say, is a transformational process that helps people recognize the value of what’s been lost and appreciate what’s left. Grief will never be enough without action. But we believe learning how to grieve together can be a more responsible and honest way to cope with extinction than pretending it can simply be undone. So which is better at motivating care for the environment: positive or negative stories? There are still no sure answers, and testing their impact on audiences today is a key part of Risa’s research. Perhaps it can help conservationists at large learn how to tell more motivational stories—but it will take some time to get there. In the meantime, we suggest that de-extinction scientists and advocates call de-extinction what it really is: not resurrecting extinct species, but creating their replacements. Risa Aria Schnebly is a PhD student in biology and society at Arizona State University. Ben A. Minteer is a professor of environmental ethics and conservation at Arizona State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Vaccine gets emergency approval as ‘highly contagious’ virus sweeps through flocks of species on the brink of extinctionA new vaccine has been granted emergency approval to protect California condors from a deadly strain of avian influenza, federal officials said this week, amid attempts to pull the endangered species back from the brink of extinction.The emergency action underscores an outbreak that has alarmed the conservation community, who fear that condors, a vulnerable species that has spent decades in recovery, could be dealt a devastating blow. After first being detected in a deceased condor in late March, the illness has swept through the small flock of wild birds, which are closely monitored by agencies in the south-west. So far 21 condors have died, impacting eight breeding pairs, according to a statement issued by the US Fish and Wildlife service. Continue reading...

Every crisis is connected. We must address the biodiversity crisis, the climate emergency, and poverty and injustice at the same time. The post The Solution to Extinction Is You appeared first on The Revelator.

About a third of Victoria’s land-based plants, animals and ecological communities face extinction. We look at what the political parties have promised ahead of the state election.

Plant ecologist Richard T. Corlett proposes a strategy to prevent future land plant extinctions, including training more experts, creating an online “metaherbarium,” and establishing “microreserves.”...

“How much would you pay to see a woolly mammoth?” asked a recent headline in the MIT Technology Review. Colossal Biosciences, which calls itself the world’s first de-extinction company, intends to make that more than a hypothetical. At its founding last year, Colossal generated a thunderclap of publicity for its announced goal of creating mammoths in its labs and releasing them in a park in Siberia. Media coverage offered an inspiring image of the tusked giants, who weighed up to ten tons, once again trampling across the snowy earth.  But there was a problem—and no, not just the technical hurdle of restoring extinct species via biotechnology. The region of Siberia Colossal had in mind, Sakha, has a thriving underground trade in mammoth tusks. Specimens preserved in ice and riverbeds can be passed off as elephant ivory: one find can generate enough income for a hunter to feed his family for a year. So George Church, a Harvard geneticist and co-founder of Colossal, told CNN that in order to avoid its creations being poached, Colossal was considering bringing them back without tusks. Mammoths without their iconic body part symbolize a crucial fact about de-extinction: Any scientific breakthrough like this will be subject to political and economic considerations as well. Indeed, Colossal’s other co-founder, entrepreneur Ben Lamm, now says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused it to pause its Siberian plan, and begin investigating locations in Alaska instead.Wherever newly revived animals might end up—and the woolly mammoth isn’t the only animal on Colossal’s agenda—it’s increasingly apparent that de-extinction projects require a legal framework. Currently it’s unclear whether the patchwork of laws in various countries on genome editing, animal use, and other topics amount to much regulation of de-extinction at all. But whether to bring back extinct species should ultimately be up to governments, not private firms such as Colossal.Interest in Colossal and de-extinction more broadly reflect our increasing ability to re-engineer other species. In 2000 the bucardo, a wild goat native to France and Spain, went extinct. Three years later a team that included scientists from Advanced Cell Technology, a U.S. firm, used cells taken from the last living bucardo to create embryos that were inserted in surrogate goat and goat-bucardo mothers. Of the seven pregnancies that ensued, one resulted in a live birth. The animal lived for several minutes, during which de-extinction was, briefly, a reality.Mammoths are estimated to have eaten 400 pounds of grass and plants a day. Creating a clone that is genetically identical to a donor animal, as happened with the bucardo, requires a living cell from the donor. That’s not possible with mammoths, so Colossal says it will use gene-editing tools to make the genome of Asian elephants, the mammoth’s closest living relative, more mammoth-like.Gene editing technology currently allows researchers to make thousands of genetic changes simultaneously, whereas 1.5 million genetic differences separate elephant from mammoths. Some critics say that because of this, Colossal, rather than bringing back the mammoth, is really working toward the birth of a mammoth-like elephant. Colossal would seem to agree. Its web site says the company’s long-term goal is “a cold-resistant elephant with all of the core biological traits of the Woolly Mammoth. It will walk like a Woolly Mammoth, look like one, sound like one.”This plan raises many concerns. Mammoths are estimated to have eaten 400 pounds of grass and plants a day. Depending on how many were introduced, their ecological impact could be significant. De-extinction proposals therefore need to take into account the interests of people and animals living near introduction sites. Giving birth to a mammoth would also likely require a surrogate mother elephant, all species of which are endangered, calling into question their use. Finally, scientists suggest that mammoths may have gone extinct because of their inability to adapt to the warmer climate that followed an ice age. Before creating animals in their image, we will want evidence that they can survive our own period of global warming.There are currently no laws designed to ensure that de-extinction is carried out in an environmentally responsible way. In some instances, endangered species regulations might apply. Species have been known to remain listed under the Endangered Species Act for decades after disappearing (often because scientists were hoping for a sighting that never came). A restoration project involving an extinct animal still listed as endangered might require federal approval. But the applicability of existing law to these cases is unclear. And since mammoths and many other species went extinct before 1967, when the list was introduced, they have never been listed.Revising the Endangered Species Act to explicitly apply to de-extinct animals would be a welcome step. An example of what that could mean in practice is provided by the black-footed ferret project, which also involved advanced bioscience. In 2020 scientists at Revive and Restore, a biotechnology firm, cloned a ferret that died in the 1980s. Their goal was to expand the limited genetic diversity of existing populations. Before the company could go ahead, it had to obtain an Endangered Species Recovery Permit. Requiring an equivalent permit for de-extinction would narrow the legal gap between creating an endangered animal and an extinct one.American legislation, however, is unlikely to be enough. In addition to Russia, Colossal also has its eye on Australia, where it says it wants to re-introduce the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, which went extinct in 1936. Any country where de-extinction occurs will need to regulate it. De-extinction ideally would also be subject to treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (which the U.S., alone among countries, has not ratified) or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (to which the U.S. is a party). Amending these or other international instruments is necessary given not only the global reach of de-extinction firms, but the possibility of de-extinct animals crossing national borders.Existing laws and treaties cannot address all of the issues de-extinction raises. “Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Mammoths?” was the title of a 2018  academic article that noted that mammoths are social creatures whose welfare has received scant attention in the de-extinction debate. Creating one solitary mammoth to be confined in a zoo, for example, would be especially cruel. We should also hope that future de-extinctions avoid the invasive procedures used in the bucardo project, which saw scientists insert embryos in over 50 potential mothers in order to create those seven pregnancies. (Colossal, to its credit, says it hopes to eventually use artificial wombs. But not only are these still at the drawing board, they raise questions about how calf-mother bonding, which infant mammals depend on to develop, would occur.)And what is a genetically engineered species, anyway? How should we classify animals whose genes are edited to make them resemble a long-vanished species? Those who say the genes of an elephant, however modified, cannot result in a mammoth are using a definition of species that requires strict genetic similarity, which some biologists and philosophers reject. Elephants and mammoths share over 99 percent of their DNA, and the genetic profile of any species can change over time, through adaptation and genetic drift. If so, then Colossal’s creations could still be mammoths, their genetic distinctiveness notwithstanding. This question, too, has profound legal ramifications. De-extinction as Colossal envisions it is perhaps best understood as attempting to create animals that are visually and functionally similar to extinct models, whether or not they are the same species. But because genetic editing could be said to result in new species, de-extinction firms may someday argue that lab-grown animals are their creations, which they should be able to patent. Co-founder Lamm says that Colossal is only patenting spin-off technologies that can be applied to human healthcare. “Any technologies we develop which have an application to conservation will be given to the world for free,” he told me by email. But Colossal is not the only firm that has expressed an interest in de-extinction. Patenting de-extinct animals could not only make environmental regulations harder to enforce, it is likely to make the well-being of the animals even more of an afterthought. Making it illegal to patent a de-extinct species, while it would not address every ethical concern, would protect the animals’ interest in not becoming intellectual property.Regulating de-extinction is better than banning it: biotechnology is evolving, and the case for de-extinction could change with it. But as things stand now, the case for de-extinction is weak. While bringing back a species that recently disappeared has some appeal given how many species are being destroyed, the reality is that extinction is often due to human encroachment on animals’ habitats. Reversing that trend enough for a restored species to flourish would require taking on entrenched economic and political interests. If that were easy to do, there would be no extinction crisis to begin with.Colossal says that mammoths in Sakh, should they ever arrive, would slow the melting of local permafrost in various ways, such as by trampling the snow cover that locks in heat from the summer sun. If true, that would also slow the release of greenhouse gases from the melting ground. But critics dispute the science on which this theory rests. Even if it is sound, given the time and expense that would be required to introduce enough mammoths to make a difference, mammoth de-extinction is likely to be an inefficient response to climate change. And there are probably more effective uses for conservation resources. De-extinction advocates reply that environmental economics is not zero sum, and that companies like Colossal will generate new funding for conservation efforts. But this assumes that de-extinction will be an effective form of conservation. And it ignores the fact that some of Colossal’s funding has already come from the government, which obliges us to think hard about where it otherwise could have gone.All of this raises the worry that de-extinction may turn out to be another instance of the “environmentalism of the rich.”The company’s investors include the Central Intelligence Agency, through its non-profit venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel. (The agency’s rationale—that it is less interested in de-extinction than the bioengineer possibilities it may unlock—is, admittedly, not very reassuring.) The Fish and Wildlife service, meanwhile, is estimated to require more than double its current Congressional funding to protect species under the Endangered Species Act. Against that backdrop, it’s disappointing to see a de-extinction firm receive public funding of any kind.All of this raises the worry that de-extinction may turn out to be another instance of the “environmentalism of the rich.” In his 2018 book of that name, political scientist Peter Dauvergne noted the depressing frequency with which environmental rhetoric is used to justify activities that have negligible environmental value, and only benefit the wealthy. Prior to starting Colossal, George Church received $100,000 in funding from Peter Thiel, the billionaire supporter of libertarian and Republican causes, and Colossal’s current investors include the Winklevoss twins, best known for their Facebook litigation and Bitcoin investment, among other Silicon Valley names. Regulating de-extinction will help ensure that whatever conservation potential it may have is not undermined by the desire of rich investors to cash in on our fascination with charismatic megafauna. Maybe someday mammoths should once again rule the earth. Mammon, though, is a different story.

A recent study has revealed that we are closer to a mass extinction of Earth’s wildlife than we think. Human destruction of global wildlife is occurring at an alarming rate. This is according to a new study published in the journal Biological Reviews last week. ALSO READ: Africa’s biodiversity: We can’t protect what we don’t know THE […] The post Earth’s wildlife is closer to mass extinction than we think appeared first on SAPeople - Worldwide South African News.

The planet is entering its sixth mass extinction event. This global nature summit is our best change to stop this tide of destruction.

Australia’s rarest bird of prey — the red goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus) — is facing extinction, with Cape York Peninsula now the only place in Queensland...

Experts suggest that DNA found in sedimentary deposits likely originated from long-deceased animals. The mystery surrounding the exact timing of the extinction of mammoths has...

The Endangered Species Act is a case of too little, too late. Only a tiny fraction of listed flora and fauna have recovered. Read more. The post Why the Endangered Species Act keeps failing first appeared on EarthSky.

By Ainslie Cruickshank The B.C. NDP campaigned on protecting species at risk. Years later, the province still doesn’t have stand-alone species at risk legislation

New research shows that if captive breeding stopped tomorrow, orange-bellied parrots would soon become extinct. So we’re locked into breeding programs until we can solve the underlying problems.

To preserve humankind’s diverse bacteria, scientists are harvesting, freezing, and storing poop from around the world.

It is time to pay attention to the other climate crisis: species extinction

Fossils show plants were producing higher levels of sunscreen chemicals to protect against higher ultraviolet light levels at the end of the Permian period

Past Presentation | This film reveals the compelling story of the unlikely extinction of the passenger pigeon and explores the pigeon’s striking relevance to conservation issues today, such as the alarming depletion of shark species worldwide. For centuries, the sleek long-distance flier was the most abundant bird in North America and perhaps the world. On September 1, 1914, Martha, the last passenger pigeon in captivity, died in the Cincinnati Zoo, marking the end of the species, and the upcoming centenary of the extinction event.

…and it did a halfway decent job. But algorithms alone can’t save endangered species. For that you need people who care and who act. The post We Asked an AI Chatbot How to Fight the Extinction Crisis appeared first on The Revelator.

A diverse set of fossils from China shows that a complex marine ecosystem existed 251 million years ago, shortly after a mass extinction wiped out most complex life on Earth

Provision allows Maine’s lobster industry to continue using fishing gear that maims the species, often fatally, until 2028Animal protectionists are accusing Democrats in the US Senate of selling out the critically endangered northern right whale by including a provision in a year-end funding bill that would allow Maine’s lobster industry to continue using fishing gear that maims the species, often fatally, until at least 2028.According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an unprecedented right whale policy rider inserted by Democratic senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Patrick Leahy of Maine into the omnibus funding budget released on Tuesday effectively condemns the right whale to extinction. Continue reading...

According to new research, ray-finned fish, now the most diverse group of backboned animals, were not as hard hit by a mass extinction event as...

The Cop15 conference in Canada brings together representatives from all over the world with an urgent mission: preventing the breakdown of Earth’s natural habitats and the extinction of the many species we rely onFor thousands of years, the history of humanity can also be viewed as a history of biodiversity destruction. As tools, weapons and industry advanced, so did our ability for environmental destruction. Now the natural world is at a crisis point. Fueled by the climate crisis, we are heading into an age of extinction unless current trends can be reversed.This week at the Cop15 conference in Montreal, Canada, delegates from across the globe have been meeting in an attempt to agree ambitious new targets. As Phoebe Weston tells Michael Safi, the topmost target is the so-called “30 by 30” pledge: a global target to protect 30% of the planet for nature by 2030. But that in itself is proving controversial: Indigenous communities are suspicious of landgrabs by over-reaching governments. And the 30% figure could be easy to game by declaring lands as national parks without addressing the underlying issues. Continue reading...

Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van HoutenMore than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies. Continue reading...

The Latest Permian Mass Extinction (LPME) was the largest extinction event in Earth’s history to date, resulting in the loss of between 80-90% of life...

The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday said the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package moving through Congress will put North Atlantic right whales on the path toward an "irreversible extinction." A provision inserted into the bill by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would allow the U.S. lobster fishery to...

Past Presentation | The Far Eastern, or Amur, leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is one of the rarest subspecies of the cat family. Today the Far Eastern leopard is on the brink of extinction. With the example of Far Eastern leopard our film is discussing what is going on with biodiversity in the world, what are the key challenges humankind is facing today in this sphere. Are we facing sixth extinction? And what are the key features of humankind which can help to avoid that?

Scientists studying the Permian-Triassic mass extinction find ecosystems can suddenly tip overThe steady destruction of wildlife can suddenly tip over into total ecosystem collapse, scientists studying the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history have found.Many scientists think the huge current losses of biodiversity are the start of a new mass extinction. But the new research shows total ecosystem collapse is “inevitable”, if the losses are not reversed, the scientists said. Continue reading...

Desert tortoises are facing multiple extinction threats, including from climate change

International study projects up to 80% of emperor penguin colonies will be ‘quasi-extinct’ by 2100Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastTwo-thirds of Antarctica’s native species, including emperor penguins, are under threat of extinction or major population declines by 2100 under current trajectories of global heating, according to new research that outlines priorities for protecting the continent’s biodiversity.The study, an international collaboration between scientists, conservationists and policymakers from 28 institutions in 12 countries, identified emperor penguins as the Antarctic species at greatest risk of extinction, followed by other seabirds and dry soil nematodes. Continue reading...

“These are times of major changes in the environment, and how those changes impact the organisms is relevant to understanding our current environment and environmental...

Urgent action needed as DNA tests show their genetic diversity is so low they could vanish from the country in 30 yearsConservationists warn that a big cat population in Europe is destined to collapse unless immediate efforts are made to protect the animals.Researchers estimate there are 120 to 150 adult lynxes in France. Tests on the animals show that the cats’ genetic diversity is so low they will become locally extinct within the next 30 years unless there is urgent intervention. Continue reading...

Populations of almost half of some 71,000 species studied are declining, finds new research

Now Playing | A short movie explaining how sea lice coming from fish farms in British Columbia are harming wild salmon to the brink of extinction.

The first comprehensive population assessment of the raptor affectionately known as The Red reveals a species in trouble. Australia’s rarest bird of prey needs our help.

The story of the damage done to the world’s biodiversity is a tale of decline spanning thousands of years. Can the world seize its chance to change the narrative?The story of the biodiversity crisis starts with a cold-case murder mystery that is tens of thousands of years old. When humans started spreading across the globe they discovered a world full of huge, mythical-sounding mammals called “megafauna”, but by the end of the Pleistocene, one by one, these large animals had disappeared. There is no smoking gun and evidence from ancient crime scenes is – unsurprisingly – patchy. But what investigators have learned suggests a prime suspect: humans.Take the case of Genyornis, one of the world’s heaviest birds, which was more than 2 metres tall and weighed in excess of 200kg. It lived in Australia until, along with many other megafauna, it went extinct 50,000 years ago. In North America, giant beavers weighing the same as a fridge and an armadillo-like creature called a glyptodon, which was the size of a small car, existed until about 12,000 years ago, when they, too, went extinct. In all, more than 178 species of the world’s largest mammals are estimated to have been driven to extinction between 52,000 and 9,000BC. Continue reading...

Dozens of threatened Australian species are back from the brink. But many are reliant on fenced-off safe havens and could not survive the feral predators of the wild. True safety is harder

Now Playing | Bats are struggling to survive, specifically in North America, where white nose syndrome is causing a sharp decline of certain species. Pertinent issues: climate change, habitat destruction, what can humans must do to prevent extinction.

550-million-year-old creatures’ message to the present. Earth is currently in the midst of a mass extinction, losing thousands of species each year. New research suggests...

Tanya Plibersek could list the bird as endangered amid concerns about proposed rocket launch siteGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA tiny southern emu wren, which conservationists fear is under threat from rocket launches, could be listed as endangered within days.Conservationists say planned rocket launches on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia pose an extinction-level threat to the wren, one of Australia’s smallest birds.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Past Presentation | Gone and nearly forgotten in extinction, the Labrador Duck, the Great Auk, the Heath Hen, the Carolina Parakeet, and the Passenger Pigeon leave holes not just in the North American landscape but in our collective memories. Moved by their stories, sculptor Todd McGrain set out to create memorials to the lost birds—to bring their vanished forms back into the world. The Lost Bird Project follows the road-trip that McGrain and his brother-in-law, Andy Stern, take as they search for the locations where the birds were last seen in the wild and negotiate for permission to install McGrain’s large bronze sculptures there.

Earth draws parallels between human impact on climate and volcanic eruptions that ripped through planet’s crust 250 million years agoThe “terror factor” generated by the new BBC series Earth – which re-creates a climate change event that wiped out most species 250 million years ago – could help “spur us on to do something” about the environment crisis, according to its presenter, Chris Packham.Using the latest scientific discoveries and visual effects, the BBC’s “biography of Earth” shows the parallels between a deadly change in the atmosphere caused by a series of cataclysmic supervolcano eruptions millions of years ago and mankind’s fossil fuel emissions, which Packham explains are “destabilising … with terrifying rapidity” Earth’s protective layer of gases. Continue reading...

Getting that detail right could mean the difference between a species surviving, or disappearing forever.

Now Playing | This film reveals how diverse environmental problems, from climate change to species extinction to ruined ecosystems, are all ultimately rooted in the “growth at all costs” attitude that pervades modern industrial society. Through beautiful and disturbing images and interviews with ecological scholars, spiritual leaders and activists, The Wisdom to Survive argues that the survival of humanity and most living beings on the planet will not come from technology, but from a profound raising of consciousness and deep spiritual transformation of humans who finally realize that we must live differently on planet earth.

Past Presentation | Elephant Keeper is the story of an elder indigenous mahout who is adjusting to a new job in ecotourism in the remote jungles of Sainyabuli Province, Laos. Senior mahout, Mr. Tong, arrives at the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) in search of work to support his family, and is paired with Mae Dok, the Center’s sweet and stubborn 60-year-old elephant matriarch. As he adapts to a new routine away from home, Mr. Tong finds a confidant in his elephant charge. The immersive contemplative nature of the cinematography allows the audience to feel present within the action and story in a complex narrative rich with visual metaphor and symbolism, exploring themes of Extinction & Conservation, Industrialization & Globalization, and Culture & Identity.

More than a third of both animals and plants in the U.S. are currently at risk of extinction, while over 40 percent of ecosystems are at risk of collapse, according to an analysis released Monday by nonprofit NatureServe. The nonprofit group’s analysis, based on 50 years of data, determined 34 percent of plants and 40...

Past Presentation | Conversations about planetary destruction, global pandemics and the extinction of so many species, are never easy to start. The fact is, we are all complicit, simply because we have been born into a time of consumerism, avarice and blind searching. And the only way we are going to make it through this terrifying time as a species is if we work together in harmony with the planet rather than in opposition to it. The Ghastly Fowl takes a look at where we are now and where we could go from here, focusing on responsibility rather than blame. A stark, beautifully animated short story that peels away the layers of the human psyche in a countdown towards the end, which could also be the beginning.

Now Playing | Exists the ideal space-time with appropriate conditions for each organism fulfills its life cycle. Exists places to be fully habitats: The Eryngium Proteiflorum is an endangered endemic flower of the Mexican Transverse Volcanic Axis. Every being has its own space and time and the reflection on the human right to alter it takes relevance in a historical moment where protecting biodiversity can be a deadly battle, where the lives of those who fight for prevention are being taken, every human has its own metaphorical Eryngium. It is not just about a flower, it is about the idea that we can posses anything we want without considering its destruction. This film honors those who have no voice and whose future is plunging into extinction.

By Sarah Cox With plants and animals rapidly disappearing, B.C. and the feds are close to a new agreement to protect nature. But some environmentalists question just how strong protections will be

Now Playing | Planet Earth - a brief history - depicting the evolution of the planet from the Hadean period to the Anthropocene period. An evolutionary history of life on Earth. The Earth has undergone constant change in its 4.54 Billion year history with life evolving in response to those changes - in particular to the changing atmospheric compositions of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Species extinction has been a natural part of the evolutionary process of the planet however there are now thought to have been at least 8 mass extinction events in the history of the Earth - each of major consequence to life on the planet and of import to our modern understandings of climate change. This 6 minute animation has been created by paleoartist Bruce Currie and has been commissioned by the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum – Bathurst.

Growing list facing extinction and underresourcing of conservation means plans have not been updatedGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastHundreds of plans for the recovery of threatened species will reach their use-by date in the next six months as the government considers how to reform Australia’s flawed system of environmental protections.Documents released to Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws detail how underresourcing, disagreement with state governments, and the growing list of species threatened with extinction have constrained the federal environment department’s ability to get on top of a backlog of conservation work. Continue reading...

Environment Victoria calls for Andrews government to end opposition to commonwealth water purchases in order to save riverGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe recovery of 140 threatened species in Victoria depends on the restoration of environmental flows in the Murray-Darling basin, according to new research commissioned by Environment Victoria.The report found the Australasian bittern, Australian painted snipe, Sloane’s froglet and Murray cod were among the species at very high risk of extinction and called on the Andrews government to end its opposition to commonwealth water purchases when ministerial talks about the Murray-Darling basin plan resume in coming months.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Scientists at Royal Botanic Gardens say naming new species is part of global effort to protect Earth’s biodiversityThe world’s largest giant waterlily from the wetlands of Bolivia, a spiny fungus named after the Queen and a herb threatened with extinction by pigeon droppings are among more than 100 plants and fungi recorded as being new to science in 2022 by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Many of the discoveries, including a tall tree from Brazil’s Atlantic forest and a busy lizzie from Cameroon, are extremely rare, and one is already considered globally extinct. Two in five plants globally are estimated to be at the risk of extinction. Continue reading...

Nine new species of fish are now on the brink of extinction, with scientists calling for urgent action to control invasive freshwater speciesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s list of critically endangered fish has doubled in what conservationists say is a sign of the urgent need to tackle the problem of invasive freshwater species.Nine new species, all types of galaxias, were given critically endangered status in March, a recognition that they are on the brink of extinction. One species of galaxias was also added to the endangered category.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Dr Laura Thomas-Walters, Tim Williamson and Paul Chandler respond to Jack Shenker’s article that asked if the disruptive tactics of groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are workingI am an environmental social scientist and climate activist. As Jack Shenker describes in his article (The existential question for climate activists: have disruption tactics stopped working?, 6 March), Extinction Rebellion’s recent decision to stop disrupting the public caused quite a fuss. Some people applauded the move as they thought it would favourably shift public opinion, while others insisted public disruption needs to remain a primary tactic to garner wider attention.Unfortunately, both camps are missing the point – once you have enough dedicated activists, the public is largely irrelevant to achieving political change. It is not the opinion, or even attention, of the public that matters, it is whether or not you are disrupting structures of power. Historical social movements have shown this repeatedly. Continue reading...

A new study reveals a significant loss of diversity during the Ediacaran Period, which lasted from 635 million to 540 million years ago. According to...

The last living dodo bird was seen on the island of Mauritius in 1662; soon it was extinct, largely the victim of the invasive species humans brought to the island. But the dodo may one day see a second life: Using its genome and that of its closest living relative, the genomics company Colossal plans to harness gene editing tools to bring the bird back from the dead. “The Dodo is a prime example of a species that became extinct because we—people—made it impossible for them to survive in their native habitat,” says Beth Shapiro, a paleogeneticist and scientific advisor to Colossal Biosciences, which is building technology to de-extinct animals, in part to combat biodiversity loss and restore ecosystems and climates that have degraded without them. The two-year old Dallas-based startup has already announced plans for a cold-tolerant “woolly elephant” that could keep arctic shrubs and trees under control and fertilize grasses with their manure, along with a resuscitated Tasmanian tiger, which helped keep ecosystems in Australia in balance until the early 20th century. [Image: courtesy of Colossal] The dodo effort, led by a newly-assembled Avian Genomics Group, will be aided by a new $150M Series B financing round. After the hard process of genetic engineering and assisted reproductive technologies, the aim is to work with the government of Mauritius on rewilding the bird in its former habitat. Colossal CEO Ben Lamm estimated the first dodo would be born before the mammoth calves, which it aims to birth in 2028 using an artificial womb. “Given the significantly shorter timeline of gestation of 30 days versus the 22 months in elephants, I think it is highly likely we see a dodo before we see the mammoth,” he says. The moonshot technology has attracted some $225 million from investors, many of whom come far from the world of biology: Paris Hilton, Chris Hemsworth, Tony Robbins, the Winkelvoss twins, Dune producer Thomas Tull, and video game developer Richard Garriott have all invested. So, too, has In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital arm. For those investors, at least for now, what’s most exciting about de-extinction is the hard path it takes to get there, and the benefits that may accrue along the way. Even without resurrecting extinct species, Colossal’s innovations in synthetic biology could be used to conserve existing wildlife. Animal populations have plunged by an average of 69% in the past half-century—including a decline of some 3 billion birds—a decline exacerbated by and that exacerbates climatic changes. “If there are coral populations that are better able to survive in warm and more acidic water than others, and we can understand what those genetic underpinnings are, we can use these technologies to move those DNA sequences from the resistant coral populations to others, creating populations that are able to survive and thrive, even in this rapidly changing climate,” Shapiro says. The company is also working on synthesizing the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, which infects and kills many young Asian elephants. Genetic technology “operates at a pace that allows these species to keep up, that gives them a chance to survive.” The company also touts potential benefits in agriculture and in human healthcare, through improved gene therapy and vaccine development. There’s also geopolitical survival: Its innovations, Colossal said in a statement, will help to “further the U.S. high tech advantage.” In September the company spun out its in-house software platform into a new startup, FormBio, focused on “empowering scientists to reach discoveries and breakthroughs in less time and with less effort,” with $30 million in initial funding. Lamm, a serial entrepreneur, first contacted genomics pioneer George Church in 2019 to discuss algae. Lamm was at the time leading Hypergiant, offering AI and consulting to aerospace and the military, It was there that Lamm helped develop a prototype for the Eos Bioreactor, a small box that uses software to manage the growth of algae, which naturally removes carbon dioxide from the air. Church, who himself has co-founded some 50 companies through his Harvard lab, turned Lamm onto another idea, one meant to address both the climate and biodiversity crises. In September 2021 they launched Colossal with Lamm as CEO and one of its initial seed funders. Shapiro, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has a tattoo of the dodo and once ridiculed the idea of bringing it back, acknowledged her personal evolution. “I never woke up saying I’m gonna do this,” she says. But over two decades of genetic research into extinct species, the speculation and curiosity kept piling up. She joined Colossal as an adviser last year. “I was drawn in through my scientific experience and the questions that we kept getting asked.” Beth Shapiro looking for dodos [Photo: courtesy of Colossal] She still maintains that true de-extinction is a myth. “It’s impossible to bring something back that’s an identical copy to something that used to be alive.” Instead, “we are going to be able to bring back traits and behaviors and characteristics of extinct species that I think we can use to revitalize and reinvigorate existing ecosystems.” Still, a number of other biologists, paleontologists, and ethicists continue to stress the less technological questions prompted by Colossal’s mission. What happens when extinct species return to now-transformed habitats? Is this a productive way to address the world’s conservation and climate crises? “I will be the first to admit that I would absolutely love to see a living, breathing dodo,” says Hanneke Johanna Maria Meijer, a paleontologist at the University of Bergen who has studied the bird. “I have worked on this species for several years, holding its bones in my hands day after day, and you can’t help but wonder how it would have looked like, how it behaved, and how it would have experienced the world around it. A real living dodo would answer some of these questions.” She also credits any effort to invest in conservation and develop new molecular technologies that will help conservation efforts. Still, given the unforeseen impacts, she says, “this reads as another attempt to bring back a species from extinction without thinking if we really should.” How to bring back a dodo When Dutch and Portuguese sailors first landed on Mauritius, an uninhabited island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, five hundred miles east of Madagascar, they didn’t like the taste of the flightless birds they found there, what one described as “foules twise as bigge as swans.” After eating some of what they called walghvoghel, or “repulsive bird,” the settlers switched to parrots and pigeons. Eventually the Dutch would call them dodaersen, or fat-asses: Their diet of low-lying food, including fish and fruit, made them plump and removed the evolutionary imperative to fly. Over time, their wings grew shorter. But as more humans arrived on Mauritius—along with more invasive rats, cats, dogs and pigs, hungry for dodo eggs—their once-pristine habitat began to disintegrate. The last recorded sighting of the three-foot bird was in 1662. It would take centuries to recognize what had happened. An 1848 British study, “The Dodo and Its Kindred,” funded by Prince Albert, correctly surmised that the bird was a type of pigeon, and noted the cause of its extermination, however awkwardly. “We cannot see without regret the extinction of the last individual of any race of organic beings, whose progenitors colonized the pre-adamite Earth,” it said. “But our consolation must be found in the reflection, that Man is destined by his Creator to ‘be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it.’” Without living dodos, wooly mammoths, or Tasmanian tigers, scientists must integrate fragments of the extinct genomes that remain with the genomes of the animals’ closest ancestors. (Dinosaurs are out of the question, since not enough of their DNA survives.) Colossal plans to use the genome of a Nicobar pigeon, the dodo’s closest living relative, and DNA Shapiro has extracted from dodo skeletons over the years, including from a recent “wonderful specimen” discovered in a museum in Copenhagen. She hopes to publish her findings on the dodo genome this year. The dodo project emerged out of discussions with board members and investors, as an opportunity to pursue more cutting-edge science and make headway in avian genomics, “an area that’s not as well funded as some, an area where there’s still different and new challenges,” Lamm says. Once you’ve sequenced the genomes, building a proxy depends on mastering editing and cloning tools, reprogramming techniques to grow healthy gametes and promote safe in vitro fertilization, and technologies for assistive reproduction. Lamm says Colossal’s researchers have made strides in sequencing and CRISPR, including techniques like multiplex editing, which allows for many different edits at once. Its 40-person mammoth team has already generated over 20 edits in high impact genes associated with cold-adaptation mammoth phenotypes, derived stem cells for both species, and started the process of refining protocols for somatic cell nuclear transfer in elephants. [Photo: courtesy of Colossal] But to begin with, using CRISPR to alter the genome of a closely related species to essentially recreate an extinct one isn’t easy. Thomas Gilbert, a paleo-geneticist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, tested the possibility of resurrecting the Christmas Island rat. Even though Gilbert’s team had well-preserved DNA samples and abundant genomic data from the animal’s cousin, the Norway rat, it was unable to sequence the remaining 5% of the Maclear’s rat’s genome, leaving out attributes like immunity and smell. “We did this as a proof of principle that you might not get back what you think you’re going to get,” Gilbert told NBC News. Because gestating a mammophant embryo in an endangered Asian elephant womb could harm the elephant, Colossal faces another particularly gnarly challenge: building an artificial womb that could eventually gestate a mammoth. “It’s really, really interesting,” says Lamm, with applications for living, endangered marsupials, along with human IVF technologies, but “it’s the hardest work we’re doing.” One advantage of growing a dodo: after fertilization inside the bird, much of the embryo develops inside its egg, making the development process dramatically simpler. “What you have is an egg that’s going to develop according to the [genetic] instructions,” says Shapiro, “rather than having to worry about the developmental environment of a mom and how mom’s hormones might be causing genes to turn on or off at the right time and potentially overriding some of the edits that you’re doing.” But getting to that egg involves a series of complex steps: gene editing, germ cell editing, and fertilization, ultimately to produce a new embryo. The primary challenge is cultivating the pigeon primordial germ cells (PGCs), which become the new animal’s sperm or eggs during embryonic development. Colossal is working with Mike McGrew, a biologist at the University of Edinburgh, who has developed techniques for editing stem cells in chickens, and has produced transgenic ducks using the process. Eventually, the research could lead to improvements in our understanding and manipulation of primordial germ cells in humans. “The reprogramming stuff is the hardest part of cloning,” says Shapiro, “and it’s really the part where stuff goes wrong.” Breaking a few eggs Other ecological—and philosophical—challenges remain. Critics have called such experiments a distraction and say if they succeed their effects on the climate and ecosystems would be unpredictable. In 2019, ecologists from the University of California Santa Barbara and Imperial College argued that any de-extinction program should focus on recently extinct species that could be restored in sufficient numbers to enable the rehabilitation of their lost ecological function. In a 2020 study, conservation scientists noted that, among other effects, animals in modern ecosystems may react poorly to suddenly living with a historic species that they’ve never encountered, leading to unforeseen ecological consequences. “It is essential that such risks of releasing a proxy be subjected to rigorous application of advances in risk assessment science,” they wrote, but noted that, unlike conservation data, current methods made it hard to determine the “potential costs and benefits of indirect effects of releasing a proxy – such as lessened public concern for biodiversity loss or increased interest in conservation based on a “resurrected” charismatic species.” Mauritius dodo skeleton [Photo: courtesy of Colossal Meijer, the University of Bergen paleontologist, wonders about the unforeseen impacts of bringing back the dodo, and how exactly it would be reintroduced to Mauritius, which currently contains only 2% of its original forest vegetation. “The results listed by Colossal so far appear interesting and, if real, can be used to really help threatened species,” she says. “But you don’t need a living dodo to do exactly that.” Lamm says Colossal will be careful about reintroducing species, possibly by first studying them in large enclosures while addressing deficiencies in the local ecosystem. “Creating an environment in which dodos can thrive will require environmental restoration, focusing in particular on removing the invasive species that drove dodos to extinction. This environmental restoration will have cascading benefits to other endemic plants and animals.” Read more: This company is using gene editing to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction The company has also begun to engage with conservation nonprofits, bioethicists, local governments and landowners, as well as communities including Indigenous people in the Arctic Circle and Aboriginal groups in Australia. “I think it’s on us, you know, as we, as we leverage these tools and technologies and advance them, that we also have a duty and responsibility to be transparent and also educate around them,” Lamm says. For Shapiro, her passion for dodos aside, de-extinction technologies offer existing endangered species a better chance. The pace of ecosystem change wrought by human activity is now simply too fast for evolution by natural selection to keep up. And, she noted, humans have been manipulating the evolutionary trajectory of everything since we have existed, including the development of agriculture, domesticated species, even conservation. “There are people worried that this is somehow us playing God,” she says. “And my response really is to repeat what Stewart Brand [the writer and tech prophet] said in the Whole Earth Catalog: ‘We are as gods, and we might as well get good at it.'”