A huge legal sale of ivory intended to cut elephant poaching instead catastrophically backfired by dramatically increasing elephant deaths, according to new research. The revelation comes just months before a decision on whether to permit another legal sale and against a backdrop of more African elephants being killed for ivory than are being born. In […]
Tag: endangered species
POLL: Should trophy and big game hunting be banned?
Around 1.7m animal “trophies” have been exported across borders by hunters in the last decade, with at least 200,000 of them endangered species, according to a new report. US hunters are by far the largest killers of trophy animals, including half of all the 11,000 lions shot in the last decade, the report found. The […]
POLL: Should Southeast Asian newts be protected under CITES?
A little-known group of amphibians — the Southeast Asian newts — are in high demand as pets, a new study has found. Large numbers of these semi-aquatic salamanders are being collected from the wild and sold in the United States and the European Union, researchers say. To understand the scale of trade in these animals, […]
POLL: Should wild bird markets in Indonesia be closed down?
Thirteen species of Indonesian birds, including the country’s symbolic Javan hawk-eagle, are at serious risk of extinction mainly due to the pet trade, a wildlife watchdog warned Wednesday. The vast Indonesian archipelago is home to a dizzying array of birds and keeping them as pets has long been part of the national culture, with birdcages […]
POLL: Can there be too many eagles?
There can never be too many eagles, right? The comeback of northern Europe’s largest bird of prey could challenge that notion. Some scientists are worried that the white-tailed, or sea, eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), which has recovered from near-extinction in the 1980s, poses a new threat to other at-risk birds. There are now as many as […]
Down to the last three: can science save northern white rhino from extinction?
Under the watchful eyes of a group of heavily armed guards, three rhinos graze on the grassland of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Most of the world knows that the rhinoceros is threatened, but the status of these animals is in another league. They are the planet’s last three northern white rhinos. None is […]
World’s Smallest Porpoise Is on the Verge of Extinction
The world’s smallest and rarest porpoise, the vaquita, is on the verge of extinction. A mere 60 remain, the Mexican government announced Friday. Their numbers have dropped 40 percent in two years, down from 97 in 2014, due in large part for illegal fishing for another endangered species. The totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder […]
Will Zimbabwe Sell Off Its Rare ‘Painted Dogs’?
Last week Zimbabwe announced that because of the drought that’s ravaging the country—and leaving four million Zimbabweans in need of food aid—it will “destock” its national parks and reserves by selling off wildlife. The announcement by the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (also known as Zimparks) doesn’t say when the sales would begin, nor does […]