National Geographic

Endangered River Dolphin Species' Numbers on the Rise

It’s 5:30 p.m., and several tourist boats linger in the middle of the Mekong River. A blood-orange sun casts a warm glow across the milky brown water, making it the ideal time to photograph the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins that congregate in deep, swirling pools. ...

Stefan Lovgren

Cambodia's Endangered River Dolphins at Highest Population in 20 Years

For decades, Cambodia’s Mekong River population of Irrawaddy dolphins has verged on extinction. Once believed to have numbered in the thousands, the population began to plummet in the 1970s. During the violent reign of the Khmer Rouge and the years of war that followed, the dolphins were ...

Stefan Lovgren

Southeast Asia May Be Building Too Many Dams Too Fast

The disaster has brought into focus the ambitious agenda of Laos, one of the region’s poorest countries, to turn itself into “the battery of Southeast Asia” by building dozens of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries and selling power to neighboring countries. ...

Exclusive: Illegal Tiger Trade Fed by ‘Tiger Farms,’ New Evidence Reveals

A shocking video and new intelligence suggest that legal and illegal captive tiger facilities fuel Asia’s tiger trafficking—with brutal efficiency. Keep reading ...

Dramatic Photos Show How Sand Mining Threatens a Way of Life in Southeast Asia

Sand is a key ingredient in concrete, the essential building material of Vietnam’s fast-growing cities. Demand for it is surging—and that is wreaking havoc not only on Vietnam’s rivers, but also on the all-important Mekong Delta.  Keep reading ...

Vince Beiser

Giant 'Swamp King' fish rescued from flood

With the help of a giant net for the giant fish, the locals hauled the stranded swimmer out of the water and onto the trailer of a motorbike. They raced more than two miles to release the fish back into its watery home, wetting the ...

Elaina Zachos

How La Niña could affect the spread of Zika

La Niña is characterized by the cooling of ocean surface waters in the equatorial Pacific and affects many of the same regions as El Niño. Based on previous years, this means above-average rainfall and potential flooding in southern Africa, Southeast Asia, and northern South America, ...

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