Amid a torrent of gloomy news about the decline of nature, there have been a handful of inspiring success stories from the world of wildlife this year, including positive developments for frogs, tigers and pangolins.
Conservation managers should cherish these moments, says at the University of Tasmania, Australia, who led a spectacular but precarious programme to bring Maugean skates聽back from the brink. 鈥淭ake the time to celebrate the small wins along the way and acknowledge the incredibly special role you play,鈥� he says.
In August, Semmens and his team announced that, for the first time, a female Maugean skate (Zearaja maugeana), one of the world鈥檚 most endangered marine fish, had laid eggs in captivity, which hatched and survived.
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No one knows the exact population of the skates, which are only found in Macquarie harbour in Tasmania, but it halved between 2014 and 2021. There may now be just over 1000 individuals and, of greatest concern, they are now predominantly adults, meaning that juveniles aren鈥檛 reaching maturity.
鈥淪ince the first Maugean skate hatching from a captive-laid egg, we have had 17 more, and with over 150 eggs laid in captivity so far, there are a lot more hatchlings on their way,鈥� says Semmens.
And in late September, surveys in the wild revealed that the population decline may have begun to ease.
鈥淎lthough this is very exciting and a great indicator that we are doing a lot right, this is just the start of a long and difficult journey,鈥� says Semmens. 鈥淭he real test is turning this success in the hatchery into a programme that can help rebuild the wild population and bring the species back from the edge of extinction.鈥�
Another species close to extinction, the Guam kingfisher (Todiramphus cinnamominus), is now living in the wild for the first time since the 1980s. The species was wiped out in its homeland of Guam because of introduced snakes, but a captive population has been kept alive in zoos around the world and
There was also some good news this year about one of the most charismatic of the big cats, the tiger, whose population in three Thai nature reserves was a sustained recovery between 2007 and 2023.
Another big cat gave us a reminder of the lengths that some creatures will go to in order to reproduce. A team of researchers captured night drone footage of two lion brothers, including one that had lost his leg in a trap, making a perilous, 1.5-kilometre swim across crocodile-infested waters to reach females on the other side of the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda.
Elsewhere in Africa, in Senegal鈥檚 Niokolo-Koba National Park, giant pangolins (Smutsia gigantea)听were seen for the first time in 24 years.
One thing that ties all these conservation success stories together is the dedication and innovative methods scientists bring to their work. A team based in Sydney, Australia, took an unconventional but effective approach to protect endangered green and golden bell frogs (Litoria aurea). Their population has collapsed because of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which has wiped out nearly 100 species of frogs, toads and salamanders around the world. at Macquarie University in Sydney and his colleagues built a frog sauna and proved that this warm, inexpensive and quick-to-build refuge allowed the frogs to rid themselves of the fungus, which is intolerant of heat.
Over in Western Australia, a conservationist was shocked to discover a rare, vivid blue magnificent tree frog (Litoria splendida) in a private wildlife sanctuary.
at the Australian Museum in Sydney followed both these frog stories closely. 鈥淏eing an amphibian biologist can be a depressing job, with 2 in 5 amphibian species threatened with extinction,鈥� says Rowley. 鈥淏oth these frog stories captivated scientists and the public alike and I think that鈥檚 the emerging ray of hope in amphibian conservation these days.鈥�
