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 […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) effective? Yes, but not as well as we thought, a new study finds. Globally, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is known as one of the biggest threats to the health and future of the oceans. MPAs attempt to protect enough critical marine habitat to ensure survival of ocean life […]
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, […]
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, […]