Could it have come at a worse time for Kenya’s Tourism and Wildlife Ministry? With Kenya still stinging from the humiliation and embarrassment over the translocation-related deaths of 11 rhinos, a Kenyan court declared on August 3 that convicted ivory trafficker Feisal Mohamed Ali was to be set free. Lady Justice Dora Chepkwony ruled that […]
Tag: Kruger National Park
How many hippos are too many? Proposed cull raises questions
The hippo — really? That’s the common response when tour guides in Africa tantalize travelers with this question: “What’s the most dangerous animal on the continent?” Lion? Rhino? Elephant? No, no, no. Eventually, the tour guide delivers the answer with a twinkle in their eye: the hippo, yes, that water-loving, one-tonne mammalian oddity. Despite their […]
POLL: Should trophy hunting of lions be made illegal?
On June 7th, a trophy hunter shot a male lion in Umbabat Private Nature Reserve in South Africa, a part of the Greater Kruger National Park. Nothing surprising about this: around 500 lions, usually males, are killed every year by trophy hunters on the African continent. What’s made this different is the suspicion that the […]
Karma? Lions Eat Suspected Poacher in South Africa
A year ago, three male lions were killed not far from Kruger National Park in South Africa. Poachers poisoned them, then cut off and took their heads and paws. Last week a pride of lions in the nearby Umbabat Private Nature Reserve mauled to death and then devoured most of a man who was illegally […]
POLL: Should the Cheetah be classified as “Endangered”?
A group of passionate scientists have come together to demand that the International Union for Conservation of Nature list the cheetah as endangered. Researchers with the National Geographic Society’s Big Cats Initiative released a new study in the journal PeerJ on December 11 with updated numbers of the cheetah population in southern Africa—the biggest of […]
These Rhino Poachers Deserve the Harshest Punishment
Too often, when poachers slaughter endangered and rare animals, they get away with their crimes. That’s why we’re calling on South African officials to prosecute a trio of poachers they have in custody as harshly as possible with this Care2 petition. On 11/26, poachers killed three rhinos in Kruger National Park. The small bit of […]
POLL: Should South Africa strictly enforce its anti-poaching legislation?
It’s been one delay after another in the case against South African alleged rhino poaching kingpin Dumisani Gwala and his two co-accused. The reported reasons run the gamut—changes in venue, changes in magistrates, changes in defense counsel, and requests by Gwala’s defense attorney for more time because of a lack of preparation. The trio was […]
Why Are Some African Lions ‘White?’
The news about African lions is usually dire these days, as the species dwindles across its range. But Thiessen K. Musaah from Nakuru, Kenya, gave us a welcome break with his question about coat color. Why, he asked, are lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park “fawn to golden white” while their kin in the […]