Ivory poaching over decades has led to the evolution of tuskless elephants, researchers have found, proving that humans are “literally changing the anatomy” of wild animals. A previously rare genetic mutation causing tusklessness has become very common in some groups of African elephants after a period in which many were killed for their tusks, according […]
Tag: ivory
Eight men convicted in French court for trafficking rhino horn and ivory
A French court has convicted eight men including members of an Irish crime gang for trafficking rhino horn and ivory between Europe and east Asia. Four men – three Irish and one English – said to be members of the Rathkeale Rovers gang were given prison terms, though two were spared jail as the sentences […]
Namibia to sell off wild elephants in controversial auction
Despite a petition of over 100,000 signatures condemning the sale, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) plans to finalize a controversial auction of 170 of its wild elephants on Friday, January 29. The auction has been met with sharp criticism by some conservationists who have questioned the population data and claims of human-elephant […]
Petition: Tell Sri Lankan Officials to Protect Elephants and Their Habitats
Elephants, an endangered species, face a multitude of threats to their survival, most of which are at the hands of humans. They are trophy-hunted, pushed out of their natural habitat, poached for their ivory, neglected in zoos, exploited for various tourist attractions, and forced to perform in circuses. Now, a new threat has joined these […]
Petition: Ban ALL Ivory Imports to the United States
Although importing ivory to the U.S. has banned since the 1989 moratorium, there is a legal exception; sport-hunted trophies. The legal loophole permits Americans to shoot elephants and import the ivory into the USA. And it isn’t just the ivory. Safari hunters bring back elehant hide and the leather makes belts, ladies purses & gun […]
Rapidly warming oceans have left many northern marine mammals swimming in troubled waters. But perhaps none more so than than the strange and mysterious “unicorn of the sea,” the narwhal.
An exhaustive new study estimates, habitat suitable to narwhals could shrink by a staggering twenty-five percent by century’s end. Thanks to manmade climate change, their watery home is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. And, in a scant few decades, sea-ice, so vital to their survival, could be gone altogether during Arctic summers. Narwhals […]
Petition: Protect Elephants in India From Being Struck by Trains
Elephants are large, beautiful, majestic creatures that almost every child will love from the minute they see a stuffed elephant, an illustration of one in a storybook, or maybe even one in person. But as we get older we realize that elephants suffer so much at the hands of humans. African elephants are threatened by […]
Petition: Ask the UN to Protect Asian Elephants From Being Poached for Jewelry!
The threat of poaching for ivory looms over all elephants, but mostly African elephants. Amongst Asian elephants, only males have tusks. Most illegal ivory comes from African elephants. This doesn’t mean that Asian elephants are safe from poaching, though. Their suffering in the tourism industry is quite well documented. They are often taken from the […]