Botswana’s trophy hunting which was supposed to benefit local communities is instead shifting wealth from them to the country’s big businessmen- Sunday Standard investigations have revealed. In the latest development, a company owned by business mogul Derek Brink has strong armed an Okavango Delta based community trust to award them an elephant hunting quota at […]
Rare UK seabirds put at risk by ‘alarming loophole’, say campaigners
The government has given itself an “alarming loophole” to avoid protecting seabirds including puffins and gannets, a leaked document shows. Campaigners have accused ministers of “giving up” on the UK’s seabirds as they plan to apply for an exemption to a legal duty to protect the rare species. Each year the government sets itself targets […]
As tiger numbers in Nepal and India grow, their freedom to roam shrinks
KATHMANDU/NEW DELHI — Media outlets in Nepal were abuzz recently with reports that the country’s iconic Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris), on whose protection the government and various NGOs lavish huge sums of money every year, were moving to India in search of better habitats. The story resonated with the public, in a country where […]
In oil palm-dominated Malaysia, agroforestry orchards are oases of bird life: Study
Malaysia is the second-largest palm oil producer in the world, behind only Indonesia. In 2020 alone, Malaysia was responsible for more than a quarter of global palm oil production. But for the country’s forests and wildlife, plantation agriculture is an industry that comes at a cost. Across Peninsular Malaysia, where nearly half of the country’s […]
Cougar kittens killed, dismembered by poachers on Vancouver Island: conservation service
B.C.’s Conservation Officer Service is investigating after poachers killed two cougar kittens on Vancouver Island. The service said the cubs, only a few months old, were shot and killed near Hill 60 Forest Service Road in the Cowichan Valley within the last week. At least one of the kittens had been beheaded and both had […]
International Shipping Threatens Endangered Whale Sharks
Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean, but even they can’t go up against a large shipping vessel and emerge unscathed. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday found that international shipping may be a “cryptic” cause of death for this endangered species. “The maritime shipping […]
Migrating turtles don’t really know where they’re going, study shows
How migrating animals like sea turtles navigate hundreds to thousands of kilometres across the open ocean has intrigued biologists since Charles Darwin. But some sea turtles might not really know where they’re going, new research suggests. Analysis by an international team of scientists has mapped the movements of hawksbill turtles as they swam from their […]
Deforestation-neutral mining? Madagascar study shows it can be done, but it’s complicated
The Ambatovy nickel mine located in a biodiversity-rich Madagascar rainforest made up for the forest lost due to its operation, a recent study in Nature Sustainability concluded. The mine operators did so by reducing deforestation rates in nearby areas designated as “biodiversity offsets.” There are at least 6,000 large mining projects that impinge on forests […]