Study warns of ‘biotic annihilation’ driven by hunting, habitat destruction

Study warns of ‘biotic annihilation’ driven by hunting, habitat destruction

Humans are driving species to extinction 1,000 times faster than what is considered natural. Now, new research underscores the extent of the planet’s impoverishment. Extinctions don’t just rob the planet of species but also of functional and phylogenetic diversity, the authors of a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argue. […]

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From safaris to slaughter: Butchered for valuable horns, rhinos are among the tragic victims in a new poaching epidemic – as Africa’s deserted game reserves lose the tourist millions that protected its wildlife wonders

From safaris to slaughter: Butchered for valuable horns, rhinos are among the tragic victims in a new poaching epidemic – as Africa’s deserted game reserves lose the tourist millions that protected its wildlife wonders

When Prince Harry was seeking to impress Meghan Markle in the early days of their courtship, he took her on a surprise trip to Botswana, the African country he used to call his ‘second home’. There they celebrated her 36th birthday in a $2,000-a-night deluxe tent at the Meno a Kwena safari camp on the […]

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Spots of hope: Some good news for South Africa’s cheetahs

Spots of hope: Some good news for South Africa’s cheetahs

DURBAN, South Africa — South Africa is home to around 1,300 of the world’s roughly 7,100 remaining cheetahs. It’s also the only country in the world with significant cheetah population growth, thanks largely to a nongovernmental conservation project that depends on careful and intensive human management of small, fenced-in cheetah populations. Because most of the […]

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‘It’s a success’: Pangolins return to a region where they were once extinct

‘It’s a success’: Pangolins return to a region where they were once extinct

Pangolins have been locally extinct in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province for the last 30 or 40 years, experts say. But now, local conservationists are working to slowly reintroduce these shy, sensitive animals in a world-first effort to reinstate wild populations. The eight species of pangolins together are considered to be one of the most widely […]

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