BEIRUT, Lebanon — Beaches across the planet emptied as COVID-19 spread in 2020, with the first full lockdowns in many places coinciding with sea turtle nesting season. With less noise, less tourist boat traffic, less fishing, less beach furniture clutter and less light pollution, the hazards and challenges for sea turtles nesting appeared to decline. […]
Fashions to die for: The fur trade’s role in spreading zoonotic disease
In the complex universe of COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases (those that can jump from animals to humans and back), key questions remain largely unaddressed, including what role fur farming for the fashion industry plays in the spread of highly transmissible zoonotic diseases, and how the industry should be managed to minimize risk. Zoonoses are […]
Myanmar’s snowcapped north is a haven for large mammals, new study finds
The Hkakaborazi landscape at the northern tip of Myanmar is dominated by precipitous snowcapped peaks that tower over rainforest-cloaked slopes and valleys below. Rugged and remote, the region is home to Southeast Asia’s highest mountain, Hkakabo Razi, which rises to 5,881 meters (19,295 feet) close to where the borders of Myanmar, India and China meet. […]
Ice Loss Forces Polar Bears to Inbreed
A recent study found that 10% of polar bear diversity has been lost between 1995 to 2016. Scientists analyzed two generations of bears around the time of the rapid ice loss in the Barents sea. They observed that the leading cause of the decline in genetic diversity was primarily climate change, as it had detrimental […]
‘Unforgivable’: Average of 2.4 black bears killed daily by B.C. conservation officers in August
VANCOUVER – Dozens of black bears were killed in B.C. last month by conservation officers after what officials say was a busy time with thousands of calls. According to provincial statistics posted online Wednesday, conservation officers were called 3,524 times about black bears in August. Officers went to 335 of those calls and in 74 […]
1428 Dolphins Slaughtered in the Faroe Islands Sunday Night
On Sunday night, September 12th, a super-pod of 1428 Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins was driven for many hours and for around 45 km by speed boats and jet-skis into the shallow water at Skálabotnur beach in the Danish Faroe Islands, where every single one of them was killed. Photos by Sea Shepherd. Sea Shepherd believes this […]
‘Dingoes were here first’: the landowners who say letting ‘wild dogs’ live pays dividends
By their own admission, John Knight and Caroline Thomas are blow-ins to the cattle country in South Australia’s far north. An Adelaide cardiac surgeon and a clinical researcher respectively, they bought Evelyn Downs, a cattle station near the Painted Desert about 150km north of Coober Pedy, in 2006 and moved north a decade later. From […]
Cougar that killed two pets in north Vancouver Island village euthanized
A cougar that killed a cat and dog in Port Alice this month has been euthanized by conservation officers. The BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) said the cougar posed a “serious public safety threat.” It had shifted from natural prey to domestic animals and was showing no fear of people. Sightings of the cougar were […]
