A US government move to downgrade the conservation status of manatees and green sea turtles is premature, an environment group has warned, despite encouraging signs that both species are recovering. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed that the West Indian manatee be down-listed from endangered to threatened under the endangered species act. […]
Tag: extinction
UK’s last resident killer whales ‘doomed to extinction’
The UK’s last pod of killer whales is doomed to extinction, with new research revealing western European waters as a global hotspot for the lingering legacy of toxic PCB pollution. The persistent chemicals, used in electrical equipment but banned in the 1980s, are still leaking into the oceans and were also found in extremely high […]
POLL: Should African countries be allowed to sell elephants to China?
In October 2014, tens of young elephants were taken from their family groups in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, where they were held in a capture unit for eight months until July 2015. That’s when 24 were flown to the Qingyuan quarantine facility in Guangdong Province before being transferred to Chimelong Safari Park, also in Guangdong. […]
‘Catastrophic’ decline: nearly 99% of African grey parrots wiped out in Ghana
African grey parrots are known to be smart, talented mimics. Alex, one of the most well-known African grey parrots in the world, could mimic over 100 human words, differentiate between various shapes and numbers, and would even wish his trainer “goodnight”. Predictably, these birds are extremely popular as pets. But their popularity has taken a […]
Video: Cancer-free Tasmanian Devils returned to homeland
The Tasmanian devil population has plummeted to around 10,000 from an estimated 250,000 before 1996, when Devil Facial Tumor Disease was first discovered. The disease causes large lumps to form around the animal’s mouth and head, making it hard for it to eat. “Tasmanian Devils in the wild have been absolutely decimated by this disease,” […]
POLL: Should the euthanasia of wildlife for scientific study be stopped?
In the mid 2000s, Patricia Parker of the University of Missouri-St. Louis and her colleagues were trying to solve a mystery. Concerned by how avian pox was wiping out several bird species on the Hawaiian Islands, the researchers wanted to find out if the disease was a threat to a unique bird species of another […]
Chinese Giant Salamander: millions farmed, nearly extinct in the wild
The world’s largest amphibian sounds like a work of fiction: virtually unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, and reportedly growing as long as a man, the Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) is clinging to survival in the wild in a few fast-flowing rivers scattered across the highlands of China. Meanwhile, the aquaculture industry is […]
Half of world’s rare antelope population died within weeks
More than half of the world’s population of an endangered antelope died within two weeks earlier this year, in a phenomenon that scientists are unable to explain. At least 150,000 adult saiga antelopes were buried during a fortnight in May, but scientists say the actual figure will be significantly higher as many more carcasses were […]