News outlets around Maryland and Washington D.C. have been tracking the escape of three zebras from an exotic animal farm. But news of the escape has led to more horrific revelations about Jerry Holly Exotics, the exotic animal breeder in Maryland. According to the Washington Post, the first zebra turned up dead in mid-September. The […]
Category: News
Questions and concerns over NSW kangaroo culling program
The kangaroo is arguably Australia’s most iconic creature but in New South Wales, there are fears the species could be under pressure due to landholder culling and commercial harvesting. The industry is supposed to be tightly regulated, but the government department responsible for monitoring it has no idea how many kangaroos are killed each year […]
My life and death hike through busy Melbourne to help a duck march her eight babies to water
Pacific black ducks are common in Melbourne parks. They’re beautiful birds with chocolate plumage and brown heads bisected by toffee-coloured stripes. But last weekend, I had no time to appreciate their looks when I heard quacking coming from outside my flat. It was a Pacific black duck with eight ducklings. Half a dozen people herded […]
Police bust 2 men selling hornbills on Indonesian Facebook
Police in Indonesia’s Banten province arrested two men who were using social media to sell dozens of hornbills, an iconic bird under threat from habitat loss and poaching. Didin Hendriana, 35, procured the birds, buying them from people living near Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of Java, and Luki Hamjah, 20, was […]
For Bison Day 2021, conservation and reconciliation through buffalo eyes (commentary)
Humanity is living through four interrelated global crises: biodiversity, climate, pandemic, and social justice. Because the nature and scale of threats to the planet and all its life forms is so pernicious and unprecedented, these crises often seem difficult for scientists, conservationists, and political leaders to fully grasp, let alone take concrete steps toward systemic […]
Mosquitoes to the Rescue! The Last-Ditch Effort to Save Kaua’i’s Endangered Birds
Kaua’i’s forest birds aren’t exactly easy to know. Eight remaining species live in woodlands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, many only on this island, where threats encroach from all sides. Lisa “Cali” Crampton is one of the rare people who has become acquainted with the elusive avians after spending more than a decade […]
Outgunned by militants, rangers fear for chimpanzees in southwest Mali
Forestry officer Karim Kamisoko is not at his post. Instead of patrolling Bafing Faunal Reserve in southwestern Mali, he and his fellow rangers are 70 kilometers (43 miles) away, taking shelter from Islamist militants who have seized control of much of this part of southwestern Mali. Bafing Faunal Reserve covers 176,000 hectares (435,000 acres), its […]
Where the wild things are: a trip to Romania’s southern mountains
From this pile of logs onwards, we need to be completely silent,” says Georg Messerer, our guide through Romania’s southern Carpathians. His head cocks 45 degrees as a bird starts chirping. “Nuthatch,” he whispers, reaching for his binoculars. “And two red deer.” Georg directs our gaze to a row of apple trees, where sure enough, […]