As the old saying warns, it’s bad enough to put all your eggs in one basket. If you have to, though, at least try not to leave that basket sitting on the beach under an active volcano. Unfortunately, that’s basically the situation of the last population of the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus). The Javan rhino […]
Tag: poaching
POLL: Should there be a total ban on trade in rhino horn?
September 22 was World Rhino Day. Rhinos were once widespread across Asia and Africa and even in Europe, where they are depicted on cave paintings. Today their situation is precarious. The world population of the northern white rhino now consists of three individuals. Sudan, the last surviving male, is now beyond breeding age. He and […]
POLL: Should the Ortolan Bunting poaching ban be strictly enforced in France?
The French Ministry of Ecology, Nicolas Hulot has committed to ending the large-scale trapping of Ortolan Bunting, which takes place to meet demand for a cruel dish where the songbird is blinded, plumpened and drowned in brandy. It’s a practice that has driven population declines of up to 84% in Europe since 1980. Ortolan is […]
Snow Leopards Are No Longer Endangered, But They’re Also Not Safe
Snow leopards received some good news with a status change from Endangered to Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but advocates for these elusive cats are warning that it’s not quite time to celebrate yet. Snow leopards have been classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species […]
Three more rangers killed in a deadly month around the world for wildlife defenders
Three rangers have been killed in separate countries in a deadly month for wildlife defenders. A ranger at Serra da Capivara national park, in Brazil’s north-eastern Piaui region, was killed by hunters on 18 August. Edilson Aparecido dos Santos and two other colleagues were patrolling the park when they were ambushed by a group of […]
Global leaders head critical summit to save the snow leopard and its habitat
International Snow Leopard Summit and Ecosystem Forum, 23- 25 August, Bishkek Kyrgyzstan: World leaders will begin critical talks over the future of the snow leopard and its habitat; the headwaters for rivers on which hundreds of millions directly depend as a source of freshwater. WWF urges snow leopard range countries*, which include political powerhouses China, […]
POLL: Should hunting with hounds be banned?
All hunting with hounds on National Trust land could be banned in an unprecedented vote this autumn. Trail hunting – in which hounds and riders follow a scent that was laid earlier – is still allowed on trust estates but has long been regarded by animal rights campaigners as a means of circumventing the hunting […]
Karma? Another Trophy Hunter Has Been Killed by an Elephant
April 2017: Scott Van Zyl, owner of a canned hunting facility in South Africa and an organizer of trophy-hunting African safaris, is eaten by the crocodiles he’d intended to kill in Zimbabwe. May 2017: Theunis Botha, a friend of Van Zyl and the owner of another South African hunting facility, is crushed to death by […]