Browse Items (1472 total)

Wild ocelots are gone from all U.S. states except Texas, driven out by human development. The elusive cats still roam the wilds of Central and South America, but there's little reliable data on their true numbers. Fewer than 200 individuals remain.

Resident of a rare ancient sand dune system in California, the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly is a small but very controversial neighbor. Since its emergency listing under the Endangered Species Act in 1993, many attempts have been made to de-list…

The Texas blind salamander spends its entire life in the dark, restricted to the pools of the Edwards Aquifer. Its decline was first noticed in the late 1960s, caused by pollution and decreasing levels in the aquifer. About 1,100 individuals…

Essay: The US Endangered Species Act is a vital, though controversial, tool in the fight to save species from extinction. It protects everything from polar bears to beach mice to a single species of fly. By isolating some of the protected species on…

In this restaurant in Tajikistan, there are plenty of light switches but theyre useless in winter because Uzbekistan controls the electricity lines. And homes are left without running water because theres no electricity to power the water pumps. …

Overuse and wastage of water have caused an unresolved, and largely unknown environmental crisis. The irrigation canals are poorly maintained and lose huge amounts of water to evaportation. Tree branches are often cut down for fuel. This canal runs…

School children pick cotton in Zhetisay, Kazakhstan's leading producer of cotton. The region was sparsely populated before the Soviet government began to build towns here to launch its massive cotton industry, which spans all of the countries of…

The canals often serve as borders, and when the Soviet Union was divided into separate countries, many towns were split down the middle, separating families. The flow of water is controlled by the whims of politicians, leaving most local people…

School children pick cotton under the supervision of their school director, who shares the cotton field with two partners. The supervisor is breaking up a fight between two of the students.

An aerial view of the Syr Darya snaking through Uzbekistan. You can see agricultural lands scattered along the shore and a long irrigation canal running next to it.