Human impact on one of the world’s most threatened bird species could save it from extinction, says a new study. The study by University of East Anglia (UEA) conservation experts explores the exact reasons behind the decline of the critically endangered white-shouldered ibis. Funded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the new study was carried out in northern Cambodia, where 160-200 of the birds survive -- around half the global population.

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Mammals living in the tropics are evolving faster than those inhabiting cooler regions, according to a new study. Previously, it had been assumed that rates of genetic change in warm-blooded animals were independent of climate. The new study demonstrates that DNA evolution occurs substantially faster in mammal species living in warmer environments, relative to those living in cooler environments. The study was led by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) evolutionary biologist Len Gillman and ...

A boom in demand for rhino horns has fuelled poaching in Asia, including India and Africa, according to a new study. About 10 rhinos have been poached in India and at least seven in Nepal since January alone -- out of a combined population of 2,400 endangered rhinos. Besides, 12 rhinos now are being poached each month in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Poachers in Africa and Asia are killing an ever increasing number of rhinos -- an estimated two to three a week, to meet a growing demand for horns be...

Call it a feather in the cap of the Himachal Pradesh forest department, which has once again managed to breed the Western Tragopan - a critically endangered bird - in captivity. “This time we have succeeded again in breeding the highly endangered Western Tragopan in captivity. This has occurred for the third consecutive year,” told divisional forest officer (DFO) K. Thrimul. He is in charge of Sarahan Pheasantry, 160 km from Shimla.The tragopan, the state bird, is a brilliantly coloured Asian ph...