Argentina has officially created two large marine protected areas: the Yaganes Marine National Park, lying off of the country’s southern tip, and the Namuncurá-Burdwood Bank II Marine National Park in the South Atlantic. Together, the two parks cover a total area of about 98,000 square kilometers (37,000 square miles). By designating these two marine parks, […]
Tag: wildlife conservation society
New report connects human health to biodiversity protection
During February, the 14th World Congress on Public Health in Kolkata, India, revealed a new “ground-breaking” report entitled, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, which demonstrates human health benefits yielded from protecting Earth’s biodiversity. It’s designed to be the new “flagship publication,” acting as a primary source of information that supports the upcoming 2015 […]
World’s last wild Siberian tigers threatened by illegal logging, global warming, disease (Part II)
This is the second part of series examining the impact of forest loss on Siberian tigers. Part I discussed overall forest loss in the region and its major drivers. The very fact that there are Siberian tigers in the world today is something of a miracle. In the 1940s, just 20 animals remained in the […]
20 percent of Africa’s elephants killed in three years
Around 100,000 elephants were killed by poachers for their ivory on the African continent in just three years, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Between 2010 and 2012 an average of 6.8 percent of the elephant population was killed annually, equaling just over 20 percent of the […]
Logging of Russian Far East damaging tiger habitat, few intact forests protected (Part I)
This is the first part of series examining the impact of forest loss on Siberian tigers. Part II discusses in more detail what their shrinking habitat and low numbers may mean for their future. The destruction of Russian forests to supply timber to international markets is becoming one of the biggest threats to the world’s […]
Photos: mass turtle hatching produces over 200,000 babies
Biologists recently documented one of nature’s least-known, big events. On the banks of the Purus River in the Brazilian Amazon, researchers witnessed the mass-hatching of an estimated 210,000 giant South American river turtles (Podocnemis expansa). The giant South American river turtle, or Arrau, is the world’s largest side-necked turtle and can grow up to 80 […]
Why Are Birds of the Arctic in Decline?
With some species of Arctic birds experiencing steep drops in population and their prey also undergoing marked shifts, scientists are working to understand what role climate change is playing in these unfolding ecological transformations. On Coats Island, in northern Hudson Bay, thick-billed murres — members of the auk family — have been under assault on […]
China to destroy ivory stockpile
The Chinese government plans to destroy a stockpile of contraband elephant ivory and other seized wildlife products next week during a public ceremony in Guangzhou, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The volume of ivory to be destroyed wasn’t immediately clear. The ivory destruction will take place January 6, less than two months after the […]