As America’s pandemic – for now – seems to be moving into a new phase with national rates in decline from the September peak and vaccines rolling out to children, a new worry has appeared on the horizon: wildlife passing on the virus. A new study shows that deer can catch the coronavirus from people […]
Tag: COVID-19
Fur farmers to receive between €4m to €8m in compensation as Cabinet approves ban
The Irish Cabinate has approved legislation that will ban fur farming in Ireland as well as establishing a compensation scheme for fur farmers that will be forced to close. Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue brought the memo today in relation to the Animal Health and Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2021. The commitment to prohibit the breeding […]
COVID could wreak havoc on gorillas, but they social distance better than we do
Endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s famous Volcanoes National Park could face “population collapse” within 50 years if some of them contract COVID-19, new research suggests. There are only around 1,000 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) left in the wild, all in protected areas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and tourists come […]
When North America locked down, birds filled the gap left by people
An analysis of bird sightings in Canada and the U.S. showed that many North American species, from mighty eagles to diminutive hummingbirds, gained ground during COVID-19 lockdowns as humans sheltered in place. “Bald eagles changed their use of the entire North American continent,” said Nicola Koper, professor of conservation biology at the University of Manitoba […]
Black-footed ferrets riding out COVID-19 with a vaccine and a lot of TLC
In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic took off in the United States just as the breeding season for the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) commenced. Disease is always at the forefront of the mind for the conservationists who work with this human-dependent species, but the pandemic kicked things into high gear. Suddenly, breeders at seven different […]
Wildlife trafficking, like everything else, has gone online during COVID-19
MANILA — When COVID-19 emerged in early 2020 in Southeast Asia, its governments took rapid containment actions: lockdowns, travel restrictions and trade suspensions, alerting the public about the virus. The pandemic has also put illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade under the spotlight due to enhanced restrictions on movement and increasing awareness about the public health […]
Why Wildlife Trafficking is Not Just Immoral But Extremely Unsafe
For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted virtually every aspect of life on Earth. As we find ways to adapt to the new living, working, and social conditions necessitated by the pandemic, and look forward to an eventual end to it as vaccines become more widely available, we must ask what we […]
Lessons learned from Covid-19 must spell the end of the badger cull
The badger cull policy has cost the lives of more than 140,000 badgers since 2013, in the largest destruction of a protected species in living memory. Badgers have been shot across a geographical area stretching from Cornwall to Cumbria at an estimated public cost of over £70m, when the costs of policing, training, monitoring, equipment, […]