Eurasian Wildlife and Peoples, Berkeley, CA (2026)

10/14/2026

The World Wildlife Fund’s recently released “Living Planet Report 2026: The Science of Hope” opens with an alarming statistic: monitored populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians declined by an average of 73% worldwide between 1970 and 2022.

Yet, true to its title, the 16th edition of WWF’s flagship assessment of global biodiversity also offers reasons for hope. Around half of the wildlife populations tracked are stable or increasing—a reminder that declines are not necessarily irreversible.

The report highlights recoveries among green turtles, bluefin tuna, tigers, and southern African elephants as evidence that conservation efforts can succeed. But it also stresses that protecting individual species is only part of the solution. Lasting progress requires addressing the forces driving biodiversity loss, including habitat degradation, overexploitation, and climate change. Additionally, it requires addressing underlying causes, including the ways we produce food and energy and direct financial investments.

Here, too, the Living Planet Report offers encouraging news, noting that these systems can be transformed by “positive tipping points.” These occur when sustained, long-term efforts build on one another to bring about lasting change.

Across Central Asia, the report’s message is especially meaningful. As we have reported, Kazakhstan’s efforts to restore saiga antelope, kulan, and Przewalski’s horse demonstrate what long-term conservation, strong partnerships, and local stewardship can achieve. The ongoing introduction of the Amur tiger to the Caspian tiger’s former habitat in the Ili-Balkhash region further reflects the country’s commitment to restoring wildlife and ecosystems.

Read WWF’s Living Planet Report 2026: https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-US/

Visit https://www.ewandp.org/ to learn more about efforts to protect and restore wildlife in Kazakhstan and across Central Asia.

09/18/2026

It’s a boy! Times two, that is. The first Przewalski’s horse foals born on Kazakhstan’s steppe in 200 years arrived in late August, marking a major milestone in efforts to rebuild a self-sustaining wild population in Central Asia. The births follow a busy year of releases at Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve and new arrivals from European conservation centers. Learn more: https://www.ewandp.org/2026/09/18/new-generation-przewalskis/

Photo Credit: Kanat Batyrkhanuly, Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan

09/05/2026

Today is International Vulture Awareness Day—a day to recognize the vital role vultures play in healthy ecosystems and the growing threats they face around the world. Unfortunately, these essential scavengers are in trouble across the globe.

About 70 percent of the world’s vulture species are at risk of extinction. Across their ranges, vultures face a wide range of threats, including poisoning, toxic veterinary drugs, habitat loss, illegal killing, electrocution, and collisions with energy infrastructure.

One of those threats—toxic veterinary drugs—has already caused catastrophic declines. In India, widespread veterinary use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in the 1990s helped drive some vulture populations down by more than 95 percent in just over a decade. In ecosystem terms, they had become functionally extinct. The consequences extended far beyond vulture populations: the disappearance of vultures has been linked to more than half a million excess human deaths.

Kazakhstan is home to five vulture species. Like their peers around the world, they face multiple pressures—and much is still unknown about some populations and their movements. Today, all five are listed in Kazakhstan’s Red Book.

Learn more about the threats vultures face—and why protecting them matters for healthy ecosystems and human communities alike.

Learn more: https://www.ewandp.org/2026/08/28/pharmaceuticals-threaten-vultures/

Learn more: https://vultureday.org/vultures/

09/03/2026

Nature has a clean-up crew, and it is wildly underappreciated. Few birds do more essential work with less recognition than vultures.

By rapidly consuming dead animals, vultures help keep landscapes clean, recycle nutrients, and limit opportunities for disease-causing organisms to multiply around carrion. Their extraordinarily acidic stomachs allow them to digest material that would be dangerous for many other animals. It is an essential ecosystem service performed by some of nature’s most misunderstood birds.

This clean-up service matters far beyond the vultures themselves, with benefits extending to wildlife, livestock, people, and even the climate. By consuming carrion, vulture populations may also help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions associated with carcass decomposition or disposal.

No garbage trucks. No recycling trucks. No haul-away service. No landfill. Just vultures doing their jobs. This International Vulture Awareness Day, we’re celebrating the birds that quietly perform some of nature’s most important clean-up work.

Learn more: https://vultureday.org/

Interested in learning more about Kazakhstan’s vultures? Visit our webpages: https://www.ewandp.org/programs/raptor-conservation/

09/01/2026

We owe a lot to vultures, those creatures that spend their days eating dead animals. And yet these useful scavengers are arguably among the most maligned birds on the planet. Clearing up their undeserved bad reputation—they play vital roles in our ecosystems—would be a positive first step. International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD), observed this year on Saturday, September 5, aims to do just that by shattering myths, celebrating the wonder of these birds, and encouraging action to protect them before it’s too late.

The IVAD fact sheet (link below) offers a quick introduction to vultures, with insights into their global distribution, role as nature’s clean-up crew, powerful digestive systems, conservation status and more. It also highlights a disturbing reality: about 70 percent of the world’s vulture species are considered at risk of extinction.

Over the next few days, we’ll focus on why vultures matter as nature’s clean-up crew and take a closer look at the threats that have driven steep declines in vulture populations worldwide.
This IVAD, let’s give vultures the credit they deserve and the protection they need.

Learn more: https://vultureday.org/resources/fact-sheet/

Interested in learning more about Kazakhstan’s vultures? Visit our webpages: https://www.ewandp.org/programs/raptor-conservation/

08/24/2026

It’s back-to-school season in the U.S., when apples are traditionally for teachers. In Kazakhstan, one of the country’s most storied apples, the Aport, has a different claim to fame: welcoming cosmonauts back to Earth. Now, a new national program aims to bring the iconic variety back from the brink. Learn more: https://www.ewandp.org/2026/08/21/aport-apple-restoration/

Photo credit: Olga Zavyalova, Creative Commons 3.0

07/29/2026

Today is Global Tiger Day, a fitting time to revisit Kazakhstan’s Amur tiger reintroduction program, the country’s long-term effort to restore the species to a landscape where they disappeared more than 70 years ago. With four additional tigers arriving in May and Ile-Balkhash continuing to grow as a center for habitat restoration, Kazakhstan’s effort to restore tigers to their former range continues to move forward. Learn more:https://www.ewandp.org/2026/07/29/2026-tiger-day-update/

07/15/2026

It’s been a little while since we’ve posted, so we’re returning with something new for our pages: our first reptile profile. We’ve introduced you to many of Central Asia’s and Kazakhstan’s mammals and raptors, but reptiles are an equally important part of the region’s biodiversity. Our first reptile spotlight looks at the desert monitor, a remarkable desert predator that is globally listed as Least Concern yet faces serious local pressures in Central Asia, including habitat loss, road mortality, illegal trade, and persecution driven by fear and folklore.Learn more: https://www.ewandp.org/programs/wildlife-conservation/desert-monitor/

04/21/2026

Over the past two days, we’ve explored the global decline of wildlife and the mounting pressures facing migratory species, building awareness about the challenges biodiversity faces today. Now, we turn to a more hopeful story: the remarkable comeback of the saiga antelope.

We’ve covered the saiga’s rebound previously, so this isn’t breaking news. Still, a recent UN report highlights the saiga as one of only seven species listed under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) with an improved conservation status—bringing renewed attention to its recovery.

Quick recap: in the early 2000s, disease and human pressures pushed the species to the brink of extinction in Kazakhstan. Since then, numbers have rebounded dramatically—from about 39,000 in 2005 to more than four million today, improving the species’ global status from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened.

This historic turnaround reflects the results of sustained conservation efforts, including expanded anti-poaching initiatives, protection of key habitats, international cooperation, and engagement with local communities.

However, the saiga’s story isn’t a “happily ever after” just yet. The species remains vulnerable in parts of its range, and long-term recovery depends on continued protection and monitoring. Emerging pressures—including recent decisions affecting international trade in saiga horns and proposals for large-scale culls—underscore how fragile this recovery still is.

As we celebrate Earth Day tomorrow, we invite you to take the next step and turn awareness into action. If you’re able, consider a gift to Eurasian Wildlife & Peoples. Your support allows us to fund programs that protect wildlife in Kazakhstan and to safeguard the future of other vulnerable species in the region.
To donate: https://www.ewandp.org/donate/

Learn more about the saiga’s recovery: https://www.ewandp.org/programs/wildlife-conservation/saiga-antelope/

Learn more about Earth Day 2026: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2026/

04/20/2026

Yesterday we looked at global species decline, drawing on the Earthday.org fact sheet. Today we’re zooming in on the planet’s greatest travelers—migratory species—whose numbers are declining at an alarming rate, according to a new UN report. Major threats accelerating their decline include overexploitation, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation.

The report, led by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), highlights several concerning trends:
49 percent of protected migratory species are experiencing population decline
one in four migratory species is at risk of extinction.
Scientists have identified 9,372 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) critical to migratory species—yet 47 percent still lack formal protection.

In short, more migratory species are declining than improving.

One encouraging development is that seven species—including Kazakhstan’s saiga antelope—are showing signs of recovery, demonstrating what coordinated international conservation efforts can achieve.

At CMS meetings in March, governments agreed to expand conservation efforts, including new or strengthened protections for 40 species and populations of birds, aquatic wildlife, and terrestrial animals. One example is the new Global Action Plan for the Conservation of the Steppe Eagle, aimed at protecting this iconic raptor across its entire migratory range. To learn more about the Global Action Plan and why it matters, visit: https://www.ewandp.org/2026/04/08/steppe-eagle-global-action-plan/

Tomorrow, we’ll spotlight a positive development in wildlife conservation, the remarkable rebound of the saiga antelope.

To view the full interim report on the State of the World’s Migratory Species, visit: https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/plight-of-migratory-species-is-worsening-new-report-finds-ahead-of-global-wildlife-meeting

Eurasian Wildlife and Peoples

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