Vast quantities of timber from Myanmar continue to enter the United States despite sanctions on the country’s state-controlled timber monopoly, according to a new report from U.K.-based watchdog group the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Following the February 2021 military coup and violent crackdowns on citizens, countries including the U.S., Canada, the European Union, Switzerland, and […]
Tag: Helarctos malayanus
Myanmar’s snowcapped north is a haven for large mammals, new study finds
The Hkakaborazi landscape at the northern tip of Myanmar is dominated by precipitous snowcapped peaks that tower over rainforest-cloaked slopes and valleys below. Rugged and remote, the region is home to Southeast Asia’s highest mountain, Hkakabo Razi, which rises to 5,881 meters (19,295 feet) close to where the borders of Myanmar, India and China meet. […]
Tiger habitat threatened by Malaysian royals’ mining plans
An environmental report has revealed the Malaysian royal family is requesting permission from the Department of Environment for a new iron ore mine in the middle of one of the few remaining habitats of 15 threatened animals, including the critically endangered Malayan tiger. The proposed project involves the deforestation and excavation of 60.75 hectares (150 […]
POLL: Should the bear bile trade ban be strictly enforced?
In 2005, the Vietnamese government made it illegal to extract bile from bears. But the illegal trade in bear bile and gall bladder is still going strong, more than ten years after the ban, according to a new report. The unending demand for bear parts is driving two bear species — Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) […]
POLL: Should the illegal trafficking of Asia’s Sun Bear be stopped?
The Malayan Sun bear may not be the most famous animal in Southeast Asia, but it is undoubtedly one of the most endearing — though its charm hasn’t served to protect it. These gentle, inquisitive residents of the Asian mainland, Sumatra and Borneo, are threatened by poaching for traditional medicine. They’re also fast losing their […]
POLL: Should the wildlife trade on Facebook be stopped?
From the Malayan sun bear to a blood python, Malaysians seem to have found a booming marketplace for wild animals on Facebook. Much of this online trade is carried out in closed Facebook groups, and involves live, high-profile and threatened species for which trade is strictly prohibited in Peninsular Malaysia, a five-month investigation by wildlife […]
Is the end of ‘house of horror’ bear bile factories in sight?
If we grant bears any modicum of intelligence or emotional experience, if we grant them the capacity to suffer pain or mental anguish, then bear bile farming – which houses bears in tiny cages for the breadth of their life in order to repeatedly extract their bile – poses a whole slew of ethical questions. […]
Sun bear sanctuary to save ‘forgotten species’
Like a proud dad, Siew Te Wong’s office walls and desk are covered in baby pictures, but unlike ordinary infants these possess four-inch claws and a taste for insects and honey. Wong, a leading sun bear researcher, has a heartfelt passion for the world’s smallest bear that is as big as the problems facing the […]