ANNIKA HAMMERSCHLAG

A dragon blood's tree overlooks a natural infinity pool within Homhil Protected Area on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
These trees exist in only one place on Earth. Now climate change and goats threaten their survival
Increasingly severe cyclones, grazing by invasive goats, and persistent turmoil in Yemen have threatened the survival of the country’s iconic dragon’s blood tree.
 
A woman processes gold at a mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Mercury fuels gold mining in Senegal. And it’s poisoning the people who use it
In Senegal’s gold-rich Kedougou region, women and children face serious health risks from mercury exposure used in gold processing.
 
A humpback whale, dolphins and sea birds feed on a school of fish Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Channel Islands, Calif. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
As Trump pares back ocean protections, California weighs expanding them
As the federal government rolls back fishing restrictions in the Pacific Remote Islands, California is reviewing its network of marine protected areas.
 
Ousmane Sambou, a sergeant with Senegal's Direction of National Parks, holds up a confiscated leopard skin at the DPN headquarters in Tambacounda, Senegal on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Mystical beliefs fuel Senegal’s illegal big cat trade and threaten lion’s survival in West Africa
The illegal trade of lion and leopard parts is growing in Senegal and threatening the lion’s survival across West Africa.