wildlife

How California Became America’s First State to Ban Plastic Bags

How California Became America’s First State to Ban Plastic Bags

By Matt Davis California’s environmental protections are not for sale. That’s the message California voters sent to out-of-state plastic bag manufacturers when they upheld Proposition 67 by 53 to 47 percent in November. But how did the Golden State manage to win a state-wide bag ban against a national political backdrop that went the other […]

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    7 Ways You Contribute to Rainforest Destruction on a Daily Basis

    7 Ways You Contribute to Rainforest Destruction on a Daily Basis

    By Sophia Lepore People don’t usually think about the destruction of rainforests while washing their hands, applying lipstick or doing laundry. But thanks to high demand for products containing palm oil, which is derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree, consumers are inadvertently contributing to deforestation. Companies in countries such as Indonesia burn […]

    70 Giant Freshwater Stingrays Found Dead in Thailand River

    70 Giant Freshwater Stingrays Found Dead in Thailand River

    Scientists are trying to understand why 70 giant freshwater stingrays, some as big as a car, have been found dead in Thailand over the past few weeks. The die-off has been taking place in the Mae Klong River. The giant freshwater stingray is the largest freshwater fish in the world.Zeb Hogan Thai officials have found […]

    30 Dolphins Illegally Captured Returned to Ocean Following Police Raid

    30 Dolphins Illegally Captured Returned to Ocean Following Police Raid

    Evidence recently uncovered by the nonprofit International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) reveals two secret captures of more than 30 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in the Solomon Islands. According to IMMP, the dolphins were driven to shore in the Western Provinces of the country in an inhumane capture process similar to the dolphin drives in Taiji, Japan. […]

    World’s Largest Marine Reserve Created Off the Coast of Antarctica

    World’s Largest Marine Reserve Created Off the Coast of Antarctica

    Today, the largest marine protected area in the world was created in the Ross Sea, off the coast of Antarctica. This is a huge victory for the whales, penguins and toothfish that live there and for the millions of people standing up to protect our oceans. A group of Adeli Penguins are seen here in […]

    Massive Plunge in Wildlife Expected by 2020

    Massive Plunge in Wildlife Expected by 2020

    By David Miller Every two years, the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London report on the health of the planet with an updated index of wildlife populations. This year, the numbers are especially bleak: Populations have already declined on average by 58 percent between 1970 and 2012. And unless we act quickly, […]

    Dolphins Shipped From Hawaii to Arizona Desert for New Tourist Attraction

    Dolphins Shipped From Hawaii to Arizona Desert for New Tourist Attraction

    By Laura Goldman In the desert near Scottsdale, the new tourist attraction Dolphinaris Arizona opened for business on Oct. 15. Customers will pay hundreds of dollars for the opportunity to swim with its three captive dolphins. How did those dolphins get there? They were flown from Hawaii by FedEx. Two activists from the nonprofit advocacy […]

    Poachers Illegally Kill Hundreds of Endangered Snow Leopards Each Year

    Poachers Illegally Kill Hundreds of Endangered Snow Leopards Each Year

    With possibly as few as 4,000 snow leopards surviving in the wild, a new report from TRAFFIC has found that hundreds of the endangered big cats are being killed illegally each year across their range in Asia’s high mountains. Published ahead of today’s UN meeting on snow leopards and International Snow Leopard Day on Sunday, […]

    Horrific Video Shows Tigers Abused, Forced to Swim With Tourists at Florida Zoo

    Horrific Video Shows Tigers Abused, Forced to Swim With Tourists at Florida Zoo

    Armed with new video footage from an eyewitness investigation revealing that Dade City’s Wild Things‘ (DCWT) staff jerked tiger cubs by the leash, dragged them by the neck, struck, grabbed and tossed them—even into a pool—among other instances of abuse and neglect, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has filed a lawsuit alleging […]