Santa Isabel in Ecuador in the Andes. An expedition team from Tropical Herping rediscovered the Orcés Blue Whiptail, a lizard feared extinct, in a town in the Yungilla Valley in 2018. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

Santa Isabel, Ecuador

Santa Isabel

A male Orcés Blue Whiptail, a lizard thought possibly extinct until an expedition team with Tropical Herping found a small population in Santa Isabel, Ecuador. (José Vieira/Tropical Herping)

Orcés Blue Whiptail_holcosus_orcesi_male1

Orcés Blue Whiptail 

A female Climbing Whorltail Iguana. An expedition team with Tropical Herping rediscovered the species, which was feared extinct and hadn't been seen since 1899, after several expeditions to Balzapamba, Ecuador. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

Climbing Whorltail Iguana stenocercus_haenschi_female1

Female Climbing Whortail Iguana

Climbing Whorltail Iguana. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

stenocercus haenschi male1 3x2 crop

A male Climbing Whorltail Iguana. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

A male Climbing Whortail Iguana. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

stenocercus haenschi male1 5x4 crop

Climbing Whortail Iguana. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

hero stenocercus haenschi male

A Climbing Whorltail Iguana rediscovered by an expedition team with Tropical Herping. The lizard hadn't been seen since 1899. (Alejandro Arteaga/Tropical Herping)

Conservationists are working to make sure the rare lizards don’t disappear again

A quest to find every species of reptile living in Ecuador has unearthed two species that many scientists feared were extinct.

The cold cases of two lost lizards in Ecuador have finally been cracked

globalwildlife 20244907 crop 3x2

De Winton's golden mole watercolor 3x2

globalwildlife 20244907 5x4

De Winton's Golden Mole watercolor 5x4

De Winton's Golden Mole watercolor painting by Alexis Rockman.

globalwildlife 20244907

De Winton's Golden Mole watercolor

Endangered Wildlife Trust is searching for De Winton’s Golden Mole, a species not documented in 50 years

On June 14, a team from the South African NGO Endangered Wildlife Trust will embark on their latest expedition, with the support of Re:wild, in search of De Winton’s Golden Mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), a species not documented in 50 years. 

10 cool facts about golden moles

Caleb Ofori-Boateng, Ghana's first herpetologist. He discovered the Afi Birago Puddle Frog in 2017.

Caleb Ofori-Boateng

Togo Slippery Frog (Photo by Caleb Ofori-Boateng)

Togo Slipper Frog. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Ofori-Boateng)

Togo Slippery Frog

Atewa is on the list of Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites, a designation given to places that are home to more than 95% of at least one species listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Atewa Forest, Ghana (Photo courtesy of Caleb Ofori-Boateng)

IMG 0626 3x2pg

Caleb Ofori-Boateng, Ghana's first herpetologist. 

Caleb Ofori-Baeteng IMG 0626 5x4

hero_Togo Slippery Frog  C. derooi gh3

Through ‘conservation evangelism,’ Caleb Ofori-Boateng hopes to prevent mining in the ecologically rich Atewa Forest

Through ‘conservation evangelism,’ Caleb Ofori-Boateng hopes to prevent mining in the ecologically rich Atewa Forest. 

Ghana’s first herpetologist wants all Ghanaians to fight for the frogs

NijhuisHeadshot1 3x2

Author and journalist Michelle Nijhuis (Photo courtesy of Michelle Nijhuis)

NijhuisHeadshot1 5x4

Author and journalist Michelle Nijhuis. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Nijhuis)

Michelle Nijhuis 

featured image NijhuisHeadshot1

Michelle Nijhuis

Her new book explores the history of the modern conservation, its successes and failures 

Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in the Age of Extinction

 Q&A with author Michelle Nijhuis

Urich's Tyrannulet expedition in Venezuela in May 2021.

PHOTO-2021-05-14-15-39-45

The expedition team in the eastern Coastal Cordillera in Venezuela. (Photo by the Urich's Tyrannulet expedition team)

Eastern Coastal Cordillera Venezuela 

An Urich's tyrannulet. The photo was taken by an expedition team in Venezuela searching for the species, which has not had a recorded sighting since 2005. The expedition teams' photos are the first-ever clear photos of the species. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Urich's tyrannulet in Turimiquire, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Urich's Tyrannulet

Photo taken during an expedition searching for Urich's Tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

White-tipped quetzal in Monagas, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

White-tipped Quetzal 

Urich's Tyrannulet. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Urich's Tyrannulet 3x2

Urich's Tyrannulet (Photo by David Ascanio)

Urichs Tyrannulet photo 5x4

Urich's Tyrannulet. (Photo by David Ascanio) 

Hero Urichs Tyrannulet

The flycatcher has only had four confirmed sightings since 1899, but ornithologists have finally captured a clear photo and recording of the bird 

The flycatcher has only had four confirmed sightings since 1899, but ornithologists have finally captured a clear photo and recording of the bird. 

Expedition team finds Urich’s Tyrannulet hiding in Venezuela’s cloud forests 

Bitsy and Bonnie camera trap

Aussie Ark staff release Tasmanian Devils into a wild sanctuary on Barrington Tops. (Courtesy of WildArk)

Photos: Releasing Tasmanian Devils into the wild on mainland Australia.

The team at Aussie Ark releasing Tasmanian Devils into the wild on mainland Australia in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Aussie Ark)

Tasmanian Devil release

Bitsy and Bonnie reunite

Bitsy and Bonnie reunite video

Bitsy and Bonnie hero 3:2

Bitsy and Bonnie hero 5:4

Tasmanian Devils. Photos courtesy of Aussie Ark

IMG_5789 (1)

Bitsy and Bonnie hero image

Tasmanian Devil sisters find each other in the wild again after two years apart 

Bitsy and Bonnie: A Tale of Two Sisters

re:wild Logo-Green White text

Fernandina Giant Tortoise blog hero

Feature article asset - direct upload

Fern the Fernandina Giant Tortoise (Photo ©Lucas Bustamante (@luksth))

Fern image

Fern currently lives at the tortoise breeding center on Santa Cruz Island. (Photo ©Lucas Bustamante (@luksth))

Tortoise breeding center image

Juvenile tortoises at the turtle breeding center on Santa Cruz Island. (Photo ©Lucas Bustamante (@luksth))

Juvenile tortoises

Fernandina Giant Tortoise illustration

Fernandina Giant Tortoise blog hero 3:2

Fernandina Giant Tortoise blog hero 5:4

Feared extinct, the Fernandina Giant Tortoise could now someday make a comeback

Fernanda the Fernandina Giant Tortoise represents seventh rediscovery of Re:wild's most wanted lost species

Titicaca orestias is a carnivorous freshwater fish found in Lake Titicaca. It feeds on plankton and microinvertebrates in the lake between Bolivia and Peru. A survey in Lake Titicaca failed to find any Titicaca orestias in 196 following decades of invasive species being introduced to and pollution in the lake.

Titicaca orestias

An illustration of a spinach pipefish. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Spinach pipefish

An expedition on Lake Tota in Colombia searching for the fat catfish in the 1990s. (photo courtesy of Shoal)

An expedition on Lake Tota in Colombia in the 1990s

The Itasy cichlid is found in Lake Itasy and the central highlands of Madagascar. It was thought to be exinctint until 2010 when it was found in a pond that was a tributary of the Tsiribihina River. The last sighting before the rediscovery was in the 1970s. (Photo courtesy of Shoal)

Itasy cichlid

This fish, endemic to the Syr Darya River, which flows through Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is among the world's smallest sturgeon species. A previous expedition, supported by Re:wild, traveled to Kazakhstan in search of the species, but did not find it. It was last seen in the 1960s. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Syr Darya shovelnose sturgeon

A photo of Lake Tota in Colombia searching for the fat catfish in the 1990s. The expedition did not find the fish, which gets it name from the rings of fat around its body. The last time the species was seen was 1957.

A photo of Lake Tota in Colombia from an expedition searching for the fat catfish in the 1990s

This critically endangered fish is found in the Tigris-Euphrates river system in Eastern Turkey, Eastern Syria, Iran and Iraq. The species was last seen during the 1990s when six fish were caught. (Illustration by Susan Laurie-Bourque)

Mesopotamian barbel, Illustration by Susan Laurie-Bourque

The fat catfish was last seen in Lake Tota in Colombia in 1957. It gets its name from the rings of fat that surround its body. Only 10 specimens of the fish have ever been found. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Fat catfish

The duck-billed buntingi was last seen in 1983. The fish's upper jaw and eyes stick out so far, its possible to see them from a vantage point below the fish in the water. The duck-billed buntingi is found in Lake Poso Sulawesi. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Duck-billed buntingi

The Haditha cavefish was last seen in 1983 and is the only member of its genus. The species was originally discovered in a sinkhole near the Sheik Hadid Shrine in Iraq. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Haditha cavefish

An expedition searching for the fat catfish in Colombia in the 1990s. (Photo courtesy of Shoal)

A photo of an expedition searching for the fat catfish in Colombia in the 1990s

The Annamite barb was last seen in 1936. It lives in the Huong River in Vietnam. (Illustration by Huu Manh Bui)

Ammanite barb - (c) Huu Manh Bui

The batman river loach was last seen in 1974. The Batman dam has caused the river where the species live to be severely degraded. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Diyarbakir (Batman River) loach

Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Fishes

A survey searching for the fat catfish in Colombia in the 1990s. (Photo courtesy of Shoal)

team mend traps2 3x2

An expedition searching for the fat catfish in Colombia during the 1990s. (Photo courtesy of Shoal)

team mend traps2 5x4

An expedition team searching for the fat catfish in the 1990s in Colombia. (Photo courtesy of Shoal)

Expedition team searching for fat catfish 1990s

Re:wild and its partner, Shoal, the global initiative and partnership for freshwater species conservation, announced today, June 9, that they have started a Search for Lost Fishes.  The Search for Lost Fishes is an extension of Re:wild’s Search for Lost Species campaign, which was launched in 2017.

Re wild and Shoal launch Search for Lost Fishes

An illustration of a fat catfish. (Illustration courtesy of Shoal)

Ten freshwater fish from around the world that haven’t been seen in at least a decade will be the focus of expeditions 

Ten freshwater fish from around the world that haven’t been seen in at least a decade will be the focus of expeditions. 

Re:wild and Shoal launch Search for Lost Fishes

Urich´s Tyrannulet in Turimiquire, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Urich's Tyrannulet in Turimiquire, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Photo taken during an expedition searching for Urich's tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Tropical Parula in Monagas, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Speckled Tanager in Caripe, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Green-tailed emerald in Turimiquire, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Golden-rumped euphonia (Photo by David Ascanio)

Golden-rumped Euphonia_Curruñatá Corona Azul_Euphonia cyanocephala_Ascanio_Venezuela_DZ3A2031

Fork-tailed woodnymph in Turimiquire, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Blue-naped chlorophonia in Caripe, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Bay-headed tanager in Caripe, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Photos from the expedition searching for Urich's tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. 

FOUND Expedition in Venezuela rediscovers Urich's Tyrannulet after 15 years hiding in cloud forest

Urich's tyrannulet found in Venezuela

Urich's tyrannulet

Por primera vez, el equipo capta imágenes nítidas y consigue grabar su canto

ENCONTRADO: Una expedición en Venezuela redescubre al "pequeño Shrek" tras 15 años escondido en un bosque nublado

A Cucarachero Currucuhú in Santa Fe, Venezuela. Photo taken during the expedition searching for Urich's Tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Cucarachero Currucuhú in Santa Fe, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Photo taken during the expedition searching for Urich's Tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Butterfly in Mariposa, Turimiquire (Photo by David Ascanio)

A photo of the Turimquire mountains taken during the expedition searching for Urich's tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Turimiquire mountains (Photo by David Ascanio)

A copper-rumped hummingbird in Monagas, Venezuela. Photo from the expedition searching for Urich's tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Copper-rumped Hummingbird in Monagas, Venezuela (Photo by David Ascanio)

Photo from the expedition searching for Urich's Tyrannulet in Venezuela in May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Bay-headed Tanager_Tangara Cabeza de Lacre_Tangara gyrola_Ascanio_Caripe_DZ3A3260

Photo taken during an expedition searching for Urich's Tyrannulet in Venezuela during May 2021. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Venezuelan Sylph_Colibrí Coludo de Venezuela_Aglaiocercus berlepschi_Ascanio_Turimiquire_DZ3A2636

An expedition team in Venezuela, led by ornithologist David Ascanio and supported by American Bird Conservancy (ABC), rediscovered Urich’s tyrannulet earlier last month. There have only been three confirmed sightings of the small flycatcher since it was first described in 1899. The second sighting was in the 1940s and the third in 2005. With so few sightings, Urich’s tyrannulet is one of the most poorly-known birds in South America and with cloud forest habitat where it lives being cut down for agriculture, scientists feared it could soon be at risk of going extinct. However, the expedition team was able to definitively prove it still alive: they captured the first clear photos of the tyrannulet and the first-ever recording of its call, shedding light on its behavior and ecology.

FOUND: Expedition in Venezuela rediscovers Urich's tyrannulet

Urich's tyrannulet in Venezuela. (Photo by David Ascanio)

Urich's tyrannulet in Venezuela (David Ascanio)

Team captures first-ever clear photos and recording of the bird’s call

Team captures first-ever clear photos and recording of the bird’s call. 

FOUND: Expedition in Venezuela rediscovers ‘little tiny Shrek’ after 15 years hiding in cloud forest 

B-roll: Tasmanian devil pouch check

Tasmanian Devil joeys

Releasing Tasmanian Devils into the wild on mainland Australia. (Courtesy of WildArk)

Photo: Releasing Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian Devil shortly after release into a wild sanctuary on Barrington Tops. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Photo: Tasmanian Devil shortly after release

Tasmanian Devil shortly after release into a wild sanctuary on  on Barrington Tops. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Tasmanian Devil shortly after release into the wild on Barrington Tops. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Aussie Ark keepers Kelly and Lockie ready to release Tasmanian Devils into a wild sanctuary on Barrington Tops. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Photo: Aussie Ark Keepers Kelly and Lockie ready to release devils

Photo: Devil beauty shot

Photo: Tasmanian Devil beauty shot (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Photo: Tasmanian Devil beauty shot

Tasmanian Devil beauty shot (photo by Aussie Ark)

Tasmanian Devil Lenny, the timid one. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Photo: Tasmanian Devil Lenny

Tasmanian devil Jacksen, the sassy one. (Photo courtesy of Aussie Ark)

Photo: Tasmanian Devil Jacksen

Tasmanian Devil Skittles, the hangry one. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Photo: Tasmanian Devil Skittles

Tasmanian Devil Lisa, the adventurous one. (Photo by Aussie Ark)

Re: The Wild