Hooded grebes in Argentina’s Patagonia region, where climate change and introduced species are threatening the iconic birds’ existence—and spurring conservation efforts. (Photo by Darío Podesta)
A Brazilian and an Argentine are among seven researchers and conservationists from the Southern Hemisphere to win a 2021 Whitley Award, one of the world’s top conservation prizes. The prize, established by the United Kingdom-based Whitley Fund for Nature, recognizes outstanding contributions to biodiversity conservation, often spotlighting work that engages Asian, African and Latin American communities in wildlife protection. Winners of this year’s £40,000 (US$55,000) project-funding awards include Brazil’s Pedro Fruet, who has worked to protect the Lahille’s bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus), and Argentina’s Kini Roesler, who has helped organize conservation of the hooded grebe (Podiceps gallardoi). Both biologists champion animals that are endangered, were identified relatively recently and live in threatened habitats. And because the Lahille’s bottlenose dolphin and the hooded grebe are at the top of their respective food chains, further declines in their populations could create imbalances in their aquatic environments, Fruet and... [Log in to read more]
