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A zookeeper holds a baby Chinese pangolin to be weighed at the Prague Zoo, Czech Republic
Image: Petr David Josek/AP/picture alliance Image: Petr David Josek/AP/picture alliance

Endangered species

The Earth is currently facing an extinction crisis because of the destruction of habitat, unlimited hunting and huge industrial agriculture. And here humans are to blame for driving numerous species to extinction.

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All Content on this topic

A man stands in front of a woolly mammoth skeleton at the American Natural History Museum

Resurrecting extinct animals

Can and should scientists bring extinct species back to life? We spoke to an expert from the US.
April 29, 2014
An illustration of the Dodo bird

A lesson in extinction

The Dodo was a unique bird before it became extinct 300 years ago. We trace its unusual story.
April 24, 2014
artist's impression of Bigfoot, digital work (Photo: Jana Dörfelt)

Beyond Bigfoot

Cryptozoology pioneer Loren Coleman breaks down an eclectic and mysterious subject.
April 23, 2014
Teaser globalideas – Galapagos – Krebs

Protecting penguins and tortoises

The Galapagos Islands are renowned for their biodiversity. But this plant and animal paradise is under threat from climate change, prompting scientists to closely watch over the island’s penguins and giant tortoises.
April 22, 2014
Mongolei Wildpferde

Restoring wild species

The Przewalski’s horse shows how difficult it is to release into the wild animals bred in captivity.
April 22, 2014
21.04.2014 Deutsche Welle Global Deutschland Wildpferde

Saving wild horses

A species known as Przewalski's horses had been threatened by extinction for decades.
ScienceApril 21, 201404:35 min
Twenty-three endangered Retuerta horses are shown galloping out into the wild at the Campanarios de Azaba Biological Reserve in western Spain. (Photo: Lauren Frayer / DW)

Wild horses

Wild horses are being reintroduced into the wild near the Spanish-Portuguese border.
March 14, 2014
Honigbiene auf einer Blüte

If the bee becomes extinct, will humans follow?

Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 27, 201402:55 min
A Greenpeace balloon flying over forests in Mahaan in Singrauli (photo: EPA/RONNY SEN / GREENPEACE)

Indian forests threatened

Industrial giants want to mine for coal, but forest dwellers are fighting to save their livelihoods.
January 17, 2014
Bildergalerie Inuits Fischfang Einfuhrverbot Robbenprodukte EU

DW's top environment stories of 2013

We take a look back at our top environment feature stories of 2013 - from climate change to animals.
December 26, 2013
Tian Tian, ein Großer Panda im Washingtoner Zoo isst Bambus (Foto: Reuters)

On the verge of extinction

More than 200 types of birds and Africa's okapis are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
December 3, 20139 images
Charred monkey meat for sale at a market Photo: Lindsay Mackenzie

Poaching primates

As Bioko Island becomes more affluent, residents are gaining an appetite for illegal monkey meat.
October 11, 2013
A Jamaican iguana in the Hellshire Hills, outside of Kingston, Jamaica in July 2013 (Picture:: Nick Davis)

Jamaican conservation

The rare Jamaican iguana is fighting for survival as illegal charcoal burning destroys its habitat.
September 23, 2013
Zwei männliche Bronze-Puter stehen am Mittwoch (21.11.2007) in Abbensen (Gemeinde Wedemark) zusammen in ihrem Gehege. Im Gegensatz zu den weiß gefiederten Mast-Puten schillern die Bronze Puten, die zu den bedrohten Haustierrassen gehören, in allen Farben, eben auch in Bronze. Zu den Feiertagen sind die Tiere als Braten gefragt, obwohl sie mehr als doppelt so teuer sind wie ihre Mast-Kollegen, aber das Fleisch der Bronze-Puten ist legendär. Foto: Jochen Lübke dpa/lni +++(c) dpa - Report+++

Cute, resilient and rare: old livestock breeds

Many of these old livestock breeds are in danger of extinction and industrial farming is to blame.
August 29, 20139 images
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Colombia doubles size of Amazon reserve

Colombia is doubling the size of a nature reserve in its Amazon region, barring exploration for oil or minerals in a region home to threatened species. Environment minister Juan Gabriel Uribe said the Chiribiquete park will be expanded to 2.8 million hectares from the current 1.2 million.
August 23, 201301:15 min
Amur tigers at Cologne Zoo (Photo: Roberto Pfeil/dapd)

International Tiger Day 2013

Tigers are on the brink: there are only an estimated 3,200 of them left in the wild.
July 29, 201310 images
Amur tigers at Cologne zoo, in Germany (Photo: Roberto Pfeil/dapd)

Saving tigers

Tigers are more endangered than ever, but experts are divided on the best ways to save them.
July 29, 2013
Giant Tortoise on Mauritius (Photo: Rainer Dückerhoff)

Controversial conservation

Non-native animals are often an ecosystem threat. But, sometimes they can play a positive role.
July 23, 2013
The island Ile aux Aigrettes near Mauritius.

Conserving Mauritius

One small island off the coast of Mauritius, is serving as a leading example for conservation.
ScienceJune 13, 201305:59 min
ARCHIV - Parkranger untersuchen im Tsavo Nationalpark in Kenia einen Tatort an dem zehn Elefanten von Wilderern führ ihr Elfenbei abgeschlachtet wurden (Archivfoto vom 31.03.2002). Vom Samstag 13.03.2010 an streiten vor allem die afrikanischen Länder auf der Artenschutzkonferenz in Doha (Emirat Katar) darum, ob weitres Elfenbein aus Lagerbeständen verkauft werden darf.Foto: Stephen Morrison epa dpa (zu dpa-Themenpaket Artenschutz) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++

Poaching funds conflict

The killing and poaching of wild animals in Africa finances rebel groups and arms dealers.
May 31, 2013
Rangers prepare to burn 4.6 tons of ivory in Kenya (Photo: Dai Kurokawa +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++)

Illegal wildlife trade

A CITES meeting makes progress in the protection of animals and the aim to curb poaching.
March 12, 2013
external

Wildlife poaching at record highs

Forty years after the CITES agreement on endangered species entered into force, wildlife smuggling is at its highest in decades. At the CITES meeting in Bangkok, Thailand pledged to end its illegal trade in ivory.
March 3, 201301:52 min
Kenyan rangers pour water on a large pile of elephant tusks. (Photo: Dai Kurokawa)

Fighting for tusks and fins

A UN environment expert has warned that trafficking has put several species of plants and animals in danger of extinction. A conference under way in Bangkok aims to protect polar bears, rays and sharks.
March 3, 2013

The last of their kind

The CITES convention tries to protect endangered animal and plants, but will it prove to be enough?
March 3, 2013
A Japanese boat catches a whale

Japanese whaling

At the start of whaling season, activist Naoko Funahashi says the industry must end.
November 30, 2012
A sea turtle swims across a coral reef +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++

Fighting extinction

The international community has agreed to drastically increase spending to preserve biodiversity.
October 22, 2012
France's President Francois Hollande chats with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel(Photo: Reuters)

Euro giants meet halfway

At a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, a compromise has been reached on the creation of a new post for a supervisor to oversee the eurozone's banks. The deal required France and Germany to both concede ground.
October 20, 2012
Mitarbeiter eines Fischverarbeitungsbetriebs in Valluhn tragen einen tiefgefrorenen Heringshai in einen Kühlraum (Archivfoto vom 12.11.2001, Illustration zum Thema Heringshai). Für stark gefährdete Haiarten hat der Naturschutzbund (NABU) strengere Schutzmaßnahmen gefordert. Rund einem Drittel der fast 500 Haiarten weltweit drohe das Aus, teilte der NABU am Mittwoch (25.03.2007) in Berlin mit. Die Fische landen als Schillerlocke, Fish and Chips, See-Aal oder Seestör auf den Tischen der Verbraucher. Vor allem die Bestände der Dorn- und Heringshaie nahmen laut NABU in den vergangenen zehn Jahren dramatisch ab. Foto: Jens Büttner (zu dpa 0450 vom 25.04.2007) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++

Shark extinction

Sharks are being wiped out by overfishing. But Japan and China oppose increased protection.
September 27, 2012

Migratory sharks inch closer to extinction

Almost a fifth of the world's sharks are endangered. Shark experts gathered in Bonn this week to discuss species preservation and the continued fight against finning.
ScienceSeptember 27, 201206:33 min
'Two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) ´Photo: Jamal Gawi, Leuser International Foundation

Rhino survivor

New photos from an Indonesian national park prove the critically endangered Sumatran rhino is alive.
August 10, 2012
A leatherback turtle on the beach (photo: Brian Hutchinson/dpa)

Crushed turtles

Thousands of turtle eggs and hatchlings die as bulldozers tear into a beach in Trinidad.
July 11, 2012
Lonesome George, the only remaining Pinta Island tortoise Foto: Martin Harvey

Lonesome giant dies

Lonesome George, the only remaining tortoise of his kind, has died in the Galapagos islands.
June 25, 2012
Sumatran Rhinoceroses at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Sumatran rhino baby born

An endangered Sumatran rhinoceros has given birth to a healthy male calf in an Indonesian sanctuary. It is the first such rhino to be born in captivity in the Southeast Asian nation.
June 23, 2012
A tiger

Saving tigers

Countries home to wild tigers tighten controls on an increasingly sophisticated illegal trade.
February 14, 2012

Is the Blue Fin Tuna Threatened with Extinction?

The red meat of the blue fin tuna is very rich, nutritious and very tender. That’s why it’s considered a delicacy in Japan and other countries.
BusinessJanuary 31, 201205:10 min
An elephant

Elephant in danger

WWF says Sumatra's elephants could be extinct in the wild in 30 years if land clearing continues.
January 24, 2012
A plainclothes officer at right tries to prevent a photographer from taking a photo of a Chinese police officer questioning two journalists near the headquarters of the Beijing Olympics planning committee seen in the background in Beijing, China, Monday, Aug 6, 2007. Police roughed up journalists at a rare protest Monday in Beijing, staged by Reporters Without Border, the free-press advocacy group that accuses the government of failing to meet promises for greater media freedom one year ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Press freedom

Report shows press freedom in Hong Kong has reached a new low as the mainland exerts control.
January 24, 2012
Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Way of the dodo?

Conservation groups in the UK are racing to save two endangered bird species.
December 27, 2011
The Javan rhino is now officially extinct in Vietnam

Rhinos in danger

The Javan rhino is now extinct from Vietnam, say wildlife officials in the country.
October 25, 2011
A German Shepherd and a customs official search a row of luggage

Nose for smuggling

Frankfurt enlists sniffer dogs to fight the illicit wildlife trade; other airports take note.
September 8, 2011
Bison in winter

Bison are back

A small herd of European bison return to the wild in a remote corner of the Czech Republic.
September 1, 2011
Two yellow-tailed woolly monkeys

All the fish in the sea?

Scientists say we have yet to discover most of the estimated 8.7 million species on the planet.
August 24, 2011
A European Hamster coming out of its burrow

Vanishing hamsters

An emblem of Eastern France - the European Hamster - is growing dangerously close to extinction.
May 5, 2011
A Komodo dragon on the sand

Arks and airdrops

Some conservationists say the time has come for more radical ideas to protect endangered species.
April 30, 2011
A tiger cools off in water

Tiger on the rise

India's latest tiger census counts 300 more of the endangered species than four years ago.
March 28, 2011
According to the WWF, as few as 3200 tigers are left in the world today

Saving tigers from extinction

The 13 remaining tiger range countries have committed to double the tiger population by 2022.
February 24, 2011
Pottery, a traditional craft in India, is losing to globalization

Traditional trades on the brink of extinction

India’s rapidly growing economy has meant a better life for many people, but not for everyone.
February 3, 2011
Porters unload huge tunas prior to preparing them for shipment to other countries

Disappearing fish

A conference in Paris is hoping to deal with the growing crisis in the European tuna stocks.
November 26, 2010
A leatherback turtle

Species Extinction

Increasing numbers of species are facing extinction, and it's in mankind's interest to save them.
November 23, 2010
Two tigers in a Chinese preservation area

Tiger talks

The fate of the world's 3,500 wild tigers could be decided at a conference in Russia this week.
November 19, 2010