94 results for “Environment & Biodiversity”
A four-day wildlife survey in Kerala’s Peechi wildlife division, conducted from 8 to 11 October 2026, recorded 395 species of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. It added 36 species to the division’s existing checklists: 22 butterflies, eight birds and six odonates.
India repatriated a rescued Sumatran baby orangutan to Indonesia on 19 October 2026. Rescued in India in November 2024, the animal received veterinary care and appropriate habitat facilities from Indian wildlife authorities before its return from Gujarat. The operation involved wildlife protection agencies and the CITES Management Authorities of both countries.
Scientists described three new species of centipedes in the genus Rhysida from southern India on 16 October 2026. The species are Rhysida quadrispinosa, Rhysida coorgensis and Rhysida neyyarensis. Their addition brings India’s known Rhysida species to 23. The research involved the Western Ghat Regional Centre of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), based in Kozhikode, and Malabar Christian College.
A Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl (“Bubo nipalensis” or “Ketupa nipalensis”) was photographed in Janakikkad forest, Kozhikode district, on 16 October 2026. The observation is the first photographic record of the species in the district. The owl is also known locally as “Kolliyan” and “Kattumoonga”.
India’s Ramsar site tally reached 103 on 15 October 2026, following the addition of Sukhna Wetland in Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the designations. Sukhna Wetland is Site No. 2602 on the Ramsar List, while Sauj Jheel is Site No. 2603.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Japan signed financing agreements on 15 October 2026 with AM Green Ammonia (India) Private Limited for a renewable-powered green ammonia plant in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. The project will convert a former natural gas-fuelled ammonia and urea plant into a facility producing ammonia using renewable energy.
Scientists from China, Thailand and Mexico announced the discovery of Dianjunus rex, known as “D-rex”, in Yunnan Province, southwestern China, on 14 October 2026. The fungus produces upright fruiting structures that can reach 50 centimetres in height and weigh up to 2.2 kilograms. Its description was published in Frontiers in Fungal Biology on the same date.
A proposed opencast bauxite mine by Kalinga Alumina Ltd, an Adani-linked group, is planned across 147 hectares of forest in the Nageswari reserve forest, Koraput district, Odisha. The Balda hills site is habitat of the endangered Jeypore ground gecko, of which only four individuals were documented there in the past year, as of October 2026.
Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region is home to 17 Asiatic lions as of October 2026, after the species returned following an absence of approximately 144 years. The sanctuary covers 192.31 sq km across Porbandar and Devbhumi Dwarka districts.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on 14 October 2026 that the state had expanded its drought declaration to 305 talukas, from 265 talukas declared drought-affected on 26 September. The government cited weak monsoon rainfall and an 18.8% rainfall deficit recorded between June and 18 September 2026. The El Niño phenomenon, which involves abnormal warming of central and eastern equatorial Pacific waters, was expected to continue through February 2027.
Antarctic sea ice reached an annual maximum extent of 17.59 million square kilometres on 14 September 2026, the third-lowest maximum in the satellite record. Scientists from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) confirmed the measurement. The 2026 maximum was about one million square kilometres below the long-term average maximum.
On 11 October 2026, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang released Chocolate Mahseer fish into the Rangeet River near Jorethang during the Chirbirey River Fest. The fish ranching initiative was organised with the Sikkim Anglers’ Association and focused on indigenous fish conservation, aquatic biodiversity and freshwater resource protection.
