poaching

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    Wild Tiger Population in Bhutan Increases 27% Since 2015

    Wild Tiger Population in Bhutan Increases 27% Since 2015

    Wild tiger numbers in Bhutan have risen from 103 tigers in the country’s first tiger survey in 2015 to 131 individuals in a recent survey. But the wild tigers still face major threats, including poaching and habitat loss, according to the survey. “This is a significant achievement and an indication of a very healthy ecosystem,” […]

    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 […]

    More Than 1.1 Million Sea Turtles Poached Between 1990 and 2020, Study Finds

    More Than 1.1 Million Sea Turtles Poached Between 1990 and 2020, Study Finds

    Nearly all species of sea turtles are considered endangered, according to WWF. Despite this, people have continued to poach them for food, medicine and luxury goods in astonishing numbers. The first ever global assessment of illegal sea turtle hunting to consider multiple countries and regions, published in Global Change Biology Wednesday, found that more than […]

    Ecuador Investigates Alleged Poaching of Four Galápagos Tortoises

    Ecuador Investigates Alleged Poaching of Four Galápagos Tortoises

    There were once so many giant tortoises living on Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands that Spanish explorers named the archipelago after the Spanish world for tortoise — galápago — when they first explored it in 1535, according to National Geographic. Yet hunting caused their numbers to plummet from at least 250,000 hundreds of years ago to only […]

    Illegal Traders Selling Donkey Skins on Social Media

    Illegal Traders Selling Donkey Skins on Social Media

    A new report has found traders illegally selling donkey skins on social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. According to the investigation, donkey skins are in high demand for ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy. Traders are ignoring bans on sales of donkey skins, including in Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, even […]

    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 […]