Famous monkey-face ‘Dracula’ orchids are vanishing in the wild

By Diogo Veríssimo, Research Fellow in Conservation Marketing, University of Oxford
Amy Hinsley, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Martin Programme on the Wildlife Trade, University of Oxford
Luis Baquero, Researcher, Orchid Ecology, Universidad de las Américas (Ecuador)

They look like tiny monkeys peering out from the mist. Known to scientists as Dracula, the so-called “monkey-face orchids” have become online celebrities.

Millions of people have shared their photos, marvelling at flowers that seem to smile, frown or even grimace. But behind that viral charm lies a very different reality: most of these species are teetering on the edge of extinction.

A new global assessment has, for the first…

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