No. 25, April 26, 2018

Hello Revelator readers,

Welcome to the 25th issue of our weekly newsletter! We're glad to have you on board.

Here's some good news to start off the week: The population of critically endangered Amur leopards in Russia has more than tripled since the turn of the century. Of course, they're still terribly rare — even with this increase there are now just 103 left in the wild in Russia, and maybe a handful more across the border in China — but still, this is a hugely important conservation success. Read our article to find out how these big cats were saved from extinction.

Speaking of big cats, some farmers hate living near large carnivores like leopards, not to mention wolves, dholes and other predators that could threaten their livestock. Well, new science shows that carnivores can actually help farmers. Here's how.

We have one more cool science story for you: Did you know that sound can actually be used to heal nature? That's just one of the ways acoustical ecologist David Dunn is combining science and music to help reveal new truths about the natural world — and about ourselves. As he says in our latest "5 Questions" interview, music "may be a strategy for conserving ways of communicating with the nonhuman world."

Finally this week, many people take clean water for granted, but in Mexico water is often treated as a political bargaining chip, and that results in all-too-frequent floods, droughts and disease outbreaks. Read all about this corrupt system that takes water out of the hands of the people who need it.

In case you missed it:

You've probably heard about the current E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. Why did this happen? That's easy: It's because romaine is grown in Yuma, Ariz., one of the most crap-infested places in the country. Our exclusive maps reveal the most contaminated places in the United States — and in each state.

Send us your tips:

What other stories should we be covering? We welcome your ideas and inside scoops. Drop us a line anytime.

Coming up:

We have a ton of other great stuff in the works in the days and weeks ahead, including another look at why it's important to protect Bears Ears National Monument. Look for all of our links in next week's newsletter, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest headlines as they go live. And while you're on social media, we hope you'll share our stories with your friends.

Feel free to forward this newsletter, too — every new reader makes a difference.

That's it for this week. As always, thanks for reading.