Biodiversity

The pangolin is slow and has no teeth—its main defense is curling up into a ball on the dense forest floor. It’s an easy target for poachers looking to cash in on the mammal’s much-prized meat or the supposed medicinal qualities of the tiny anteater’s ...

An initiative to re-home abused, over-worked domestic elephants is supporting the conservation of one of Cambodia’s last and most species-rich rainforests, writes William Laurance. Growing ecotourism in the area, attracted by the elephants, is engaging indigenous communities in forest protection and helping to stave off ...

Fish stocks in the Mekong River in Cambodia and the Vietnamese Delta could be halved if 11 planned hydropower dams go ahead, according to the preliminary results of an extensive study funded by the Vietnamese government. ...

A Vietnamese national was charged with smuggling animal parts Tuesday after he was caught with 43 kg of ivory at Siem Reap International Airport on Sunday night, officials said. ...

Fishing cats are a rare species of predatory feline found in South and Southeast Asia. For decades, fishing cat populations have been in decline. The latest sightings were made possible by a remote cameras set up by researchers with Cambodia’s Center for Biodiversity Conservation ...

The Angkor Wildlife Release Project successfully released a third group of primates into the Angkor Archaeological Park earlier this summer. An enclosure for two species of deer is now under construction. ...

Considered a nuisance throughout much of Cambodia, the long-tailed macaque might not seem like a species in need of protection. ...

Cambodian wildlife officials have released a pair of Asian gibbons into the forests near Angkor Wat, seeking to spread their population.The rare gibbons have been the subject of a protection program between the government and Wildlife Alliance since 2009. ...

Authorities in Mondolkiri province arrested three men Wednesday morning after discovering nearly 150 kg of illegal bushmeat in the vehicle they were driving, a forestry official said. ...

Cambodia’s wild bears are under unprecedented pressure. Their native forests are being cut down at record rates, and China’s huge demand for traditional medicine has made them targets. But experts say Cambodia’s conservation efforts are setting an example that has put it well ahead of ...

The southern river terrapin is among the lesser-known of Cambodia’s many globally endangered species, which also include the Asiatic black bear, the Asian elephant and the Indochinese tiger. ...

Scientists say the Southeast Asia’s rapid development is driving deforestation in the vital Mekong Subregion, and threatening scores of species in one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Trafficking in plant and animal wildlife is accelerating the trend, and governments are being pressed to do ...

The Cambodian arm of the World Wildlife Fund has called on the government to move forward with plans to reintroduce wild tigers in the country’s eastern forests, but reiterated concerns over possible development in the area.​ ...

The forests around Cambodia’s iconic Angkor Temple Complex will soon be home once more to a species of deer that had disappeared from the area due to excessive hunting during the latter part of the last century. ...

Facing snares, hunters and deforestation, sun bears are in danger of being classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – and deforestation is their main threat. ...

A tiny species of frog that may be found only in Virachey National Park in Cambodia’s remote northeast was yesterday officially classified as endangered by a major international conservation group. ...

The Ministry of Interior on Wednesday said it was standing by its decision to not renew the visa of outspoken environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson in the face of mounting pressure from fellow activists, NGOs, unions, students and monks—even opposition leader Sam Rainsy—to reverse course. ...

A recently approved road project leading to the border with Vietnam in Mondulkiri would do irreversible damage to the province’s protected forest and threaten future attempts to reintroduce tigers to the Kingdom, according to the World Wildlife Fund. ...

A conservation group may release 20 baby Siamese crocodiles into the Areng Valley amid an ongoing stand-off between villagers and a Chinese firm over the construction of a controversial hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. Tuy Serey Vathana, country directory at Fauna and Flora International, said ...

Researchers have discovered a new population of banteng (Bos javanicus), a species of wild cattle, in northwestern Cambodia. The discovery was announced June 4, 2014 by Fauna and Flora International (FFI), and efforts are underway to implement conservation initiatives to protect the area and its newfound banteng, ...

In many restaurants in Phnom Penh, wild meat is readily available. Walk into one of these, and you’ll be able to order deer, wild pig or even monitor lizards. Some places sell even rarer meat, from endangered animals like the pangolin. Wildlife conservation officials say the ...

Camera traps have captured six individual banteng (Bos javanicus) in Siem Reap Province, north-western Cambodia, in an area where the endangered wild cattle species was thought to be extinct. The banteng discovery in Cambodia’s north-west is significant, as few populations remain in the region due ...

A team of international researchers have discovered a unique species of wolf snake in South East Asia. Some magnificent creatures still lay hidden in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, waiting to be found, analysed and categorised by researchers working in the area. Since 2000 scientists working for Fauna and ...

As the sun rises on Tonle Sap Lake, fishermen head out from floating villages like this one, past half-submerged mangroves and flooded shrub land, to check their nets, much as they have for centuries. Every year, the lake yields about 300,000 tons of fish, making it ...