In 1914 the world’s last passenger pigeon died. Nicknamed Martha, she was not killed by hunters—like so many others of her species—but simply old age. With her passing, the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was lost forever to extinction. A hundred years before Martha’s death, however, the passenger pigeon may have been the most populous bird […]
Tag: iucn red list
Zambia lifts hunting ban on big cats
Nine months after Zambia lifted its general trophy hunting ban—including on elephants—the country has now lifted its ban on hunting African lions (Panthera leo) and leopards (Panthera pardus). The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) lifted the ban after surveying its big cat populations and setting new regulations. During the announcement the country’s Minister of Tourism and […]
Five tons of frozen pangolin: Indonesian authorities make massive bust
Five tons of frozen pangolin, 77 kilograms (169 pounds) of pangolin scales, and 96 live pangolins: that’s the grisly haul of the latest pangolin bust in Indonesia. Officials confiscated the illegal wildlife goods in Medan, Sumatra and busted the smuggler, who has only been identified as SHB. This is the largest pangolin bust in Indonesia […]
Recently discovered ‘punkrocker’ frog changes skin texture in minutes
In 2006, a husband-and-wife team – Katherine and Tim Krynak – discovered a tiny new frog species, smaller than a U.S. quarter, in the Reserva Las Gralarias, a nature reserve in north-central Ecuador. They took its photograph and nicknamed it the “punkrocker” frog because of spine-like projections coming out of its skin. For the next […]
Australia becomes first country to ban lion trophies
Last month, Australia became the world’s first country to ban the import or export of lion trophies, often taken from so-called canned hunting where lions are raised solely to be shot by foreign hunters. “These new rules mean that if you go overseas and engage in the appalling act of canned hunting, you can forget […]
42 pangolins rescued, then sold to restaurants
On February 1st, local police seized 42 live Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) from poachers and handed them over to forest rangers in Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Ninh. While the poachers were slapped with a fine, the rangers turned around and sold the live pangolins to local restaurants for a reported $56 a kilo, netting […]
Authorities catch kingpin responsible for killing 20 rhinos
With the aid of Interpol, authorities have arrested the leader of a rhino poaching gang responsible for killing 20 Indian rhinoceros in Nepal. Last month, authorities nabbed Raj Kumar Praja in Malaysia where he had been evading capture for two years. Kumar was already evicted of 15 poaching incidents in absentia and sentenced to 15 […]
Mother and cub: researchers photograph rare cat with cub in Sumatra
Researchers working in Kerinci Seblat National Park have captured a remarkable image of a mother Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) carrying her young in her mouth. The image was taken in mid-2014 as reported by Mongabay Indonesia by the Sumatran Tiger Research Team. Asian golden cats are just one of five wild cat species found […]