poaching

Wildlife Trafficking 101: Everything You Need to Know

Wildlife Trafficking 101: Everything You Need to Know

 Quick Key Facts  Wildlife trafficking is the second biggest direct threat to species, following habitat destruction.  It’s a huge business with smuggled goods valued at $10 billion a year, and involves tens of thousands of species and millions of wild plants and animals.  The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that 958 species […]

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    Younger Male Elephants Look to Their Elders for Calm, Study Finds

    Younger Male Elephants Look to Their Elders for Calm, Study Finds

    Anyone who has ever spent a cozy afternoon in the presence of a beloved grandparent knows that the wisdom of age can have a calming influence. It turns out that this is true for elephants as well. A new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B in December found that male elephants […]

    Search for ‘Asian Unicorn’ Intensifies in Attempt to Save Elusive Species

    Search for ‘Asian Unicorn’ Intensifies in Attempt to Save Elusive Species

    One of the rarest animals in the world, the saola is so elusive that no biologist has ever observed one in the wild. The critically endangered species was photographed via a camera trap in Vietnam in 2013, which was the first time the ‘Asian unicorn’ had been seen there in the wild for 15 years, the Daily Mail reported. The saola wasn’t even discovered as a species until 1992, the first to be added to the scientific roster of large mammals in more than 50 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

    8 Wolves Poisoned in Oregon, Including an Entire Pack

    8 Wolves Poisoned in Oregon, Including an Entire Pack

    Oregon police are seeking assistance in the poisoning of eight wolves in the state since February. Conservation groups are also offering a $43,000 reward for information about the killings, The Guardian reported. “We are furious and appalled. These poisonings are a significant blow to wolf recovery in Oregon,” Defenders of Wildlife senior northwest representative Sristi […]

    30 White Rhinos Make Largest ‘Translocation’ in Their Species’ History

    30 White Rhinos Make Largest ‘Translocation’ in Their Species’ History

    Thirty white rhinos have just made an incredible journey. The vulnerable mammals traveled more than 3,400 kilometers (approximately 2,113 miles) from South Africa to Rwanda in the “largest single rhino translocation in history,” African Parks announced on Monday. “Introductions to safe, intact wild landscapes are vital for the future of vulnerable species like white rhino, […]

    Poaching Drove Mozambique Elephants to Evolve Without Tusks, Study Finds

    Poaching Drove Mozambique Elephants to Evolve Without Tusks, Study Finds

    During Mozambique’s civil war from 1977 to 1992, around 90 percent of the elephants in what is now the Gorongosa National Park were poached for ivory to finance the conflict. This widespread slaughter led to rapid evolution in the span of one generation. Before the conflict, less than a fifth of female elephants were born […]

    Life After Wildlife Trafficking: What Happens to Rescued Animals?

    Life After Wildlife Trafficking: What Happens to Rescued Animals?

    By Danielle Beurteaux In 2013 authorities at Bangkok’s main airport busted a smuggler carrying 54 ploughshare tortoises from Madagascar crammed in a suitcase. The seizure of what amounted to about 10% of the critically endangered species’ wild population made news around the world. What happened to those animals later did not generate as many headlines, […]

    Serial Tiger Poacher Caught in Bangladesh After 20-Year Search

    Serial Tiger Poacher Caught in Bangladesh After 20-Year Search

    Police arrested Habib Talukder — nicknamed Tiger Habib — on Saturday morning after searching for the tiger poaching suspect for nearly two decades, the Dhaka Tribune reports. Talukder operated in the sprawling Sundarbans mangrove forest on the India-Bangladesh border, home to the largest population of endangered Royal Bengal tigers in the world. According to locals, […]