Familiar names and faces are used around the world to sell every imaginable type of product to consumers, so conservation groups are turning to the same approach to try to help save wildlife such as elephants and rhinos. The long-term survival of the animals, which are a big draw for tourists to national parks in Africa and Asia, is threatened by a growing illicit trade in wildlife products.

Dinosaur National Monument's two rivers, the Yampa and the Green, should be justification enough to formally describe Dinosaur as a "national park;" they offer some of the best rafting in the West.

Mammoth Cave National Park officials say bats infected with a deadly disease have been found in sections of the cave open to public tours.

A fascinating post appeared at the American Birding Association’s young birders’ blog, The Eyrie, last week. You can read it here, but if you’re short on time, here’s the digest version: Birders don’t often bird true wilderness because wilderness is less birdy than fragmented and disturbed habitat often is.