Environment
Conservation
From mussels to ancient fish, WA freshwater species plummet
River flows in WA’s South West region have fallen 70 per cent in 50 years and for previously widespread species like Carter’s freshwater mussel, time is running out.
- by Peter de Kruijff
Latest
Could a bigger dam save Sydney from flooding? The question confronting the city
As thousands of residents turn their attention to the mammoth clean-up effort after heavy rain and flash flooding smashed them for the third time this year, the question over whether the Warragamba Dam wall should be raised has reared its head again.
- by Laura Chung
‘A complicated murder mystery’: What’s killing Sydney’s frogs?
As hundreds of people report sick and dead frogs across Australia, scientists are yet to find the cause of a second wave in what they call a “frog pandemic”.
- by Angus Thomson
Native rat that builds houses made of sticks takes 2160-kilometre plane ride
The air transfer of 60 greater stick-nest rats has marked the halfway point for an ambitious project to send one Australian island back in time.
- by Peter de Kruijff
Federal green light for possum-disturbing $1.25b Bunbury road project
In a matter of weeks, work will be able to start on the southern section of the road which will displace 72 critically endangered western ringtail possums.
- by Peter de Kruijff
Song of the elusive pygmy blue whale reveals numbers on the rebound
Underwater nuclear bomb detectors have picked up an increasing flurry of song from pygmy blue whales in the Indian Ocean, indicating the subspecies is back from the brink of extinction.
- by Miki Perkins
Australian species brought back from extinction in NSW after 200 years
It’s been almost two centuries since the small Mitchell’s Hopping Mouse jumped across NSW, but scientists are hoping 150 of the marsupials might be enough to restore its population.
- by Laura Chung
‘Tiny feet poking out’: Breeding boom for rare plains wanderer
A recent survey revealed the biggest population for the unique and critically endangered bird since records began.
- by Miki Perkins
Meet Australia’s oldest freshwater fish, which can breathe air like a land dweller
Scientists have discovered the Australian lungfish can live longer than a century, after genetic testing revealed a specimen kept in Chicago was about 109 years old when he died.
- by Peter de Kruijff
Australian Traditional Owners take gas plant fight to United Nations
Murujuga is home to 1 million pieces of art dating back tens of thousands of years, nominated for World Heritage Listing. But it is also home to oil and gas.
- by Peter de Kruijff
NSW forests still face chainsaw despite emission reduction targets
Almost 52,000 hectares of NSW land were cleared in 2020, prompting critics to say the state might miss emission reduction targets and continue to drive threatened species towards extinction.
- by Laura Chung