Six members of a pod of 30 belugas, a fifth of the whales that were transferred from a marine park in Canada to facilities in the U.S. and Spain as part of a massive rescue operation, have died in the last two months. They were transported to the facilities in July and August after languishing for more than a year at the Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which closed to the public in 2025. These cetaceans were among the last to be held captive in Canada, after the country passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in 2019. The law banned the keeping, breeding, and trading of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) for entertainment, affecting Marineland’s business model. After months of uncertainty over the animals’ future — including threats of euthanasia and an attempt to send them to an entertainment park in China — a consortium of aquariums under the U.S. Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) devised the plan to transfer the 30 Marineland belugas. Sixteen went to SeaWorld facilities in California and Texas, 10 to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, two to Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, and two to Oceanogràfic València in Spain, which also took in four bottlenose dolphins. A captive beluga at SeaWorld San Diego. Image by Steven Snodgrass via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). On Aug. 26, Shedd Aquarium announced that Peekachu, a 23-year-old female beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) who had arrived at the facility on Aug. 13 and was blind in one…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Spain’s law enforcement agency, the Civil Guard, announced on Sept. 25, 2026, that it seized 209 reptiles from breeding facilities in Jérica and Sot de Ferrer (Castellón), including critically endangered iguanas endemic to Fiji. Nearly half of the reptiles were protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. They also seized unlicensed handguns and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition. Authorities arrested three individuals — two men aged 48 and 51 and a 37-year-old woman — on a litany of charges: Belonging to a criminal organization, wildlife-related offenses, smuggling, money laundering and illegal weapons possession. The alleged traffickers reportedly smuggled reptiles from the wild in the Americas, Africa and Asia, and then bred them without permits, the authorities said. They added that these reptiles were then sold at European reptile and trade fairs, mixing smuggled animals with legally acquired animals — a practice called laundering that’s prevalent in wildlife trade. In this way, traffickers exploit the “legal gray area surrounding documentation that certifies the animals’ origins,” the authorities said in a press release. The Spanish case is just one recent example among a slew of seizures and arrests involving rare tortoises, endangered turtles, poisonous frogs, endemic iguanas and many other protected reptiles and amphibians worldwide. The trade is lucrative — estimated to be worth some $2.5 billion — and comes with little risk. It’s often unregulated. Smugglers are rarely caught, and if they are, they get off by paying a small fine, which is absorbed as the cost of doing business.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Authorities across nine Latin American and Caribbean countries have arrested hundreds of people and recovered more than 1,000 animals as part of a two-month coordinated operation against environmental crimes. Operation Madre Tierra was the eighth edition of a recurring Interpol-led initiative, and was conducted in June and July in Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Investigators found illegal timber and wildlife trafficking networks operating on an “industrial scale” along the corridor connecting Central and South America, Interpol announced in a press release. Many of the products were destined for markets in Europe and Asia, where South American wildlife is in demand as pets. Reptiles, rare insects, and exotic birds were the most commonly seized live wildlife. In Mexico, authorities seized several big cats along routes used by drug traffickers, including two endangered Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris), one of them a rare white tiger, as well as lions (Panthera leo), ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), and jaguars (Panthera onca). In Nicaragua, authorities confiscated several birds, including parrots and red-and-green macaws (Ara chloropterus), that are protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. They also seized about 165 kilograms (364 pounds) of dried shark fins, thought to be destined for the Asian market, where they could have fetched $280,000. Investigators also traced financial transactions to identify how criminals profited while evading detection. “Following the money, whether from an illegal gold mine in Panama to a buyer in North America, Europe or Asia, helps a case move…This article was originally published on Mongabay

A multi-day thunderstorm over the Mediterranean Sea struck Malta, stranding hundreds of passing migratory birds on Sept. 14, 2026. Hunters in the country then shot hundreds of those birds, including protected species, shows evidence gathered by the conservation NGO Birdlife Malta. Malta sits on the Central European-Mediterranean flyway that millions of migratory birds use annually as they fly from their breeding grounds in Europe to overwinter in Africa. Strong weather systems can interrupt these journeys, causing a “bird fall” — a phenomenon where hundreds of birds seek shelter on land. “This can result in unusually large concentrations of exhausted migratory birds in particular locations,” Antonia Micallef, public engagement executive at BirdLife Malta, told Mongabay by email. “This concentration makes birds much easier to detect and target [by hunters].” Malta has the highest density of hunters in all of Europe. “Over 10,000 hunters [are] active at any one time,” Micallef said. According to BirdLife Malta, hunters shot more than 500 European turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur), a threatened species whose numbers have plummeted, after the storm. Malta allows a quota of 500 European turtle doves to be hunted in autumn, which runs through the end of September, but Micallef said that number was reached soon after the storm, and the season was closed on Sept. 14. “Despite the official closure, BirdLife Malta documented ongoing hunting of Turtle-doves in the hours and days that followed,” Micallef said. Volunteers also reported hunters shooting at a flock of more than 150 little egrets (Egretta garzetta)…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Maleos, black-and-white birds that stand 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall with a distinctive splash of blue, orange and yellow on their faces, roam Sulawesi’s thick tropical jungles. But when it’s time to lay their eggs, they arrive at communal nesting grounds: Sandy beaches heated by the sun or the earth’s geothermal energy. There, they dig burrows with their webbed blue feet, lay their eggs and disappear. After a couple of months, the younglings hatch and, miraculously, are ready to fly within a few hours. This is an iconic bird on Sulawesi, serving as the official faunal mascot of Central Sulawesi province and of the Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park. Once considered widespread on Sulawesi, maleos (Macrocephalon maleo) are now on the brink of extinction, classified as critically endangered. Their numbers have dwindled to just 4,000-7,000 breeding pairs, mainly because their forest habitat is disappearing and they are targeted by poachers. Since 1983, the birds have lost more than two-thirds of their 149 nesting grounds as residential and commercial development takes over sandy riverbanks and beaches, and habitat is ravaged by mines and sliced by roadways. Maleo eggs are considered a delicacy, so people raid nests, and fewer chicks are born to replenish the population. But now, illegal trade in live maleos is emerging as a new and serious threat to their survival, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Asian Ornithology. These birds are trafficked to serve the booming demand for exotic pets. Researchers documented three seizures…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Vantara, the billionaire-run Indian private zoo that houses more than 150,000 animals, discussed a “strategic conservation partnership” with authorities in Brazil, the world’s most biodiverse country, according to documents obtained by Mongabay under Brazil’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Correspondence between Vantara representatives and Brazilian officials reveal that negotiations, initiated by Vantara, began in August 2025, and involved some of Brazil’s threatened species. The zoo, which is located in Gujarat state in western India, was founded in 2025 by Anant Ambani. He’s the youngest son of India’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, who heads Reliance Industries, a conglomerate valued at $167 billion as of press time. On Aug. 30, 2025, a Vantara representative sent a letter by email to three officials at the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the governmental agency responsible for protecting Brazil’s biodiversity. The sender’s identity was redacted in the FOIA response. The subject line reads, “Proposal for Strategic Conservation Partnership with the Government of Brazil.” The letterhead uses Vantara’s official name, the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC). The letters are addressed to Mauro Pires, president of ICMBio; Marcelo Marcelino de Oliveira, the agency’s director; and Raul Fontoura, its head of international affairs. The letter sent by Vantara to ICMBio proposing a “strategic conservation partnership.” Obtained by Mongabay through FOIA. The letter states that Vantara was “well-positioned to assist with other Brazilian species requiring urgent ex-situ intervention,” referring to the conservation strategy of keeping a population surplus in zoos and breeding centers, rather than…This article was originally published on Mongabay

A coalition of 27 global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations urged Vantara to permanently end all wild animal imports. The billionaire-run zoo in India, funded by the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries, the country’s largest corporation, has been under for fire for questionable acquisitions of its animals. In an open letter dated Sep. 22, 2026, and addressed to Mr. Amit Aggarwal, president of regulatory affairs at Vantara, the NGOs offer Vantara “suggestions for strengthening your practices and improving outcomes.” The letter came in response to a press statement from Vantara on Aug. 19, 2026, where it announced “voluntary commitments” including a 12-month moratorium on all animal imports, backdated to June 5, 2026. It said it has withdrawn all pending import applications and will not make any fresh applications. The statement also included a letter addressed to India’s CITES Management Authority, which oversees international commerce in endangered plants and animals listed under CITES, a global wildlife trade treaty. After the one-year moratorium expires, Vantara said it would import animals only from “a recognised and accredited zoological facility,” a “CITES registered facility” or for “a conservation breeding programme undertaken in cooperation with a range State.” It also announced an “independent” governing council headed by John Scanlon AO, the former CITES Secretary General, and a “mandatory three-stage review” will oversee any future animal acquisition. Vantara has acquired Tapanuli orangutans, one of the rarest apes in the world. Image by Tim Laman via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Vantara’s announcement came after investigations…This article was originally published on Mongabay