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Biodiversity

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Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. It is necessary for life to thrive on Earth.

Aldo Leopold, one of the great thinkers of conservation, observed more than half a century ago the importance of protecting species. "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering," he wrote. Losing species is like throwing away one by one the engine parts of an airplane while flying.

Biodiversity is a major initiative of Conservation International.

Biodiversity conservation provides substantial benefits to meet immediate human needs, such as those for clean, consistent water flows; protection from floods and storms; and a stable climate. 

Curated by mokiethecat

There's a New Jaguar in Town
March 24, 2021
Researchers have released stunning new footage of a male jaguar, whom they've named "El Bonito," seen just 3 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border in Sonora, Mexico. Even better: The big cat is a juvenile, which points to the possibility that a female jaguar lives much closer to the United States than previously thought. Like many others of his kind, El Bonito could one day cross the border. At least seven male jaguars have been detected in the United States in the last 25 years, and all of them migrated from Sonora, Mexico. The last known female jaguar north of the border was killed in Arizona in 1963. Video by Ganesh Marin, Ph.D. student in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona and a National Geographic Early Career Explorer. He is lead on a research project that's a joint effort of the University of Arizona and the University of Wyoming, in collaboration with the Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation and members from Santa Lucia Conservancy, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Phoenix Zoo and Arizona State University.