Conservationists have been sounding the alarm for years over concerns that the world’s smallest porpoise is heading towards extinction, but things are looking even more dire with a prediction that they could disappear forever as soon as 2018. The vaquita only exists in a small area in the Gulf of California, off the coast of […]
Tag: illegal trade
POLL: Should there be a crackdown on the trafficking of pangolins?
Pangolins have become the most trafficked mammal on earth, and a record-breaking discovery of their scales in Malaysia has raised more concerns about their future. Pangolins, who live in Africa and Asia, are fascinating little creatures. They’re the only mammal on earth covered in true scales. Sadly, even though their scales are made of nothing […]
POLL: Should the illegal wildlife trade in slow lorises be stopped?
The tourism industry has taken some big steps to stop the exploitation of wild animals, but a recent rescue effort has highlighted how much more needs to be done on our part to help stop the illegal wildlife trade. After receiving reports of 17 endangered slow lorises being kept in deplorable conditions as an attraction […]
Cheetah cubs were saved from the illegal pet trade just in time
Conservationists are applauding officials for taking swift action to rescue 10 young cheetahs from the illegal wildlife trade, who would’ve otherwise been destined to end up as pets. In all, 9 cubs and one adolescent were confiscated by the Somaliland Ministry of Environment and Rural Development (MoERD) with assistance from the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). […]
POLL: Should the sale of rhino horns be legalized?
A top court in South Africa just made it legal to trade in rhino horns within the country. The South African government, in 2009, imposed a moratorium that banned domestic trade in rhino horns. But after years of legal battle between commercial rhino breeders and the government’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the constitutional court […]
POLL: Should Trump stop the illegal wildlife trade from Mexico?
Traffickers from Latin America are desperate to get their product into the United States—so desperate they’ll risk the dangers of swimming across the Rio Grande with their contraband. But it’s not meth and it’s not cocaine. In one case, according to a special agent, it was about 25 parrots destined to be sold as pets. […]
High price of rhino horn leaves bloody trail across the globe
On the black market it is reputedly worth more than its weight in gold or cocaine, and this week the lure of rhino horn brought the bloody business of poaching to a zoo near Paris. There, in the dead of night, criminals broke in, shot a white rhino called Vince three times in the head […]
The Spirit of the Steppes: Saving Central Asia’s saiga
In 2015, disease wiped out 200,000+ adult saiga; now a new viral outbreak threatens Mongolia’s entire population. But these steppe antelope are resilient, and could recover, if protected from traffickers. The beauty of the saiga belies first impressions. It may be hard to look beyond the big nose — a bulbous schnozz that looks like […]