George Mgbang battles to rein in his anger whenever he encounters wire snares, newly cleared farms, empty cartridges, hunting camps, loggers, or shotgun-wielding hunters during his regular patrols in Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS). For the past eight years, Mgbang, 42, has toiled to stop these threats from taking over the 100-square-kilometer (39-square-mile) sanctuary in […]
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A third of Madagascar’s lemur species on the brink of extinction, IUCN warns
Human actions have pushed 13 more lemur species, the iconic primates native to Madagascar, to the brink of extinction, according to an update to the list of the world’s threatened species. Those now in the critically endangered category of the IUCN Red List include the tiniest primate in the world, the Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur […]
Podcast: Five years after the death of Cecil the Lion, trophy hunting debate rages on
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we take a look at the state of the debate over trophy hunting five years after the killing of Cecil the Lion sparked widespread outrage. Listen here: Last week was the fifth anniversary of the killing of Cecil the Lion, who lived primarily in Hwange National Park in […]
Pandemic or not, the mission to save the rare Philippine eagle grinds on
MANILA — “How can we rehabilitate a Philippine eagle during a lockdown?” That was the first thought Jayson Ibañez says crossed his mind after he answered a phone call bearing news of a rescued raptor on April 17. As the Philippine Eagle Foundation’s resident eagle expert and head of its research team, Ibañez has always […]
For two rhino species on brink of extinction, it’s collaboration vs. stonewalling
Fatu doesn’t seem to care about the carrot she’s been offered by her caretaker. She raises her enormous head and gives it a sniff before returning to what she was doing, which is nipping delicately at the dry, scraggly grass at her feet. A few yards away, her mother, Najin, is doing the same. “They’re […]
Trafficking of thousands of songbirds highlights rampant trade in Indonesia
MEDAN, Indonesia — Smugglers managed to ship more than 7,000 birds, including wild-caught songbirds, by air from Sumatra to Java in Indonesia, highlighting the country’s weak enforcement against the deeply entrenched bird trade. Indonesian authorities said the birds were transported in several batches on flights on June 11 and 12 from Medan in North Sumatra […]
Calls for swift action as hundreds of elephants die in Botswana’s Okavango Delta
Nearly 400 elephants have died in Botswana’s Okavango Delta since March, in what wildlife experts say is one of the largest elephant mortality events ever recorded. Conservationists have criticized the government’s handling of the matter and are urging them to speed up investigations. Botwsana’s environment ministry registered the first of these unexplained elephant deaths in […]
Marcellus Adi Riyanto: The Indonesian vet who lived for the Sumatran rhino
Camera traps monitor a handful of the world’s remaining Sumatran rhinos in Sumatra’s Way Kambas National Park. Wildlife managers tend to a female rhino at a breeding center in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, hoping she can help ensure a future for this critically endangered species. Like many efforts to protect […]