Japan has killed 333 minke whales—including more than 200 pregnant females—as part of this year’s Antarctic whale hunt, according to the country’s Institute for Cetacean Research. On Wednesday, four ships returned from their 115-day expedition to conduct “scientific” whaling activities. The hunt was in blatant disregard of the International Court of Justice’s 2014 ruling that […]
Tag: endangered
Rare Sumatran Rhino Found for First Time in 40 Years
Sumatran rhinos had been thought extinct from Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, and hadn’t been physically encountered in the area for 40 years. But on Tuesday, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced the safe capture of a female Sumatran rhino there, in what the group calls “a major milestone for rhino conservation in Indonesia.” […]
African elephants ‘killed faster than they are being born’
More African elephants are being killed for ivory than are being born, despite poaching levels falling for the fourth year in a row in 2015. The new data, released on UN world wildlife day on Thursday, shows about 60% of elephant deaths are at the hands of poachers, meaning the overall population is most likely […]
Win for Critically Endangered Australian Regent Honeyeater in Court Decision
BirdLife Australia is celebrating a landmark court decision to protect the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater. In a desperately needed win for the Critically Endangered bird, the NSW Land and Environment Court has found in favour of a challenge to the approval of a development which would have destroyed its habitat. In the decision, it was […]
African vulture pilot study aims to reduce poisoning deaths
Saving Africa’s Vultures, a new project to tackle the continent’s escalating vulture crisis, is now up and running, with three initial, targeted pilot schemes in Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe that aim to find out more about – and significantly reduce – the greatest threat facing African vultures: poisoning. Eleven species of vulture occur in Africa, […]
POLL: Should ‘canned’ lion hunting be banned?
The documentary Blood Lions exposes South Africa’s controversial “canned” lion hunting industry. In canned hunts, captive-bred, often hand-reared lions are confined in enclosed spaces on private hunting reserves, guaranteeing marksmen easy trophy heads in exchange for fees of up to $50,000. With approximately 8,000 “ranch” lions to draw on, South Africa’s hunt operators can make […]
Maryland officials search for killer of 13 bald eagles found in field
Wildlife officials have said 13 bald eagles found dead in Maryland last month did not die from natural causes. A hunt for whomever killed the birds is under way. The bodies of the 13 eagles were found in a field in Federalsburg, Maryland on 20 February. It was first thought the birds may have fallen […]
Yellowstone’s Grizzly Bears Should Not Be Hunted
Touted as one of the greatest wildlife comeback stories in history, the recovery of Yellowstone grizzly bears reached a milestone this week. In a much anticipated, though highly controversial, move, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service announced its intent to remove long standing federal protections for the bruins that make their home primarily in and around […]