When it comes to commercial whaling, Japan is in the limelight. The country has been widely accused of using a scientific research program as a guise for hunting hundreds of whales a year and selling their meat. Last year, an international court agreed that the program isn’t scientific and ordered Japan to shut it down—to […]
Tag: slaughter
POLL: Should the ivory trade in South Africa be legalized?
This week, representatives from countries around the world are gathered in Geneva to discuss the wildlife trade. The agenda ranges from rhinos to totoabas, but one of the hottest topics is ivory: Some 30,000 elephants are slaughtered for their tusks each year. One thing that came up at the 66th meeting of the Standing Committee […]
POLL: Should the National Wildlife Crime Unit be properly funded by the British Government?
There is a crime wave cascading through Britain that the government doesn’t appear much to care about. In Lincolnshire alone, police have arrested or reported for summons 152 people for hare coursing since September 2015, compared with just 65 for the entire “season” last year. Across the country, the Badger Trust logged 441 incidents of badger […]
POLL: Should all badger culls in the UK be stopped?
The government is to relax the restrictions on its controversial badger culls as it rolls them out to new areas in 2016. But a leading scientist has warned that the move makes it even less likely that culling will achieve its aim of reducing tuberculosis in cattle and could even make it worse. The badger […]
POLL: Can Fake Rhino Horn Stop the Poaching of an Endangered Species?
Fake rhino horn cell phone cases coming to a store near you? It may sound strange, but that’s what one San Francisco-based startup has in mind—and it thinks such products can save the animals. The company, Pembient, plans to bioengineer fake rhino horn that artists could carve into lifestyle items such as jewelry, libation cups, […]
POLL: Should the whale slaughter in the Faroes be banned?
A pod of 11 pilot whales has been slaughtered on in the sixth drive hunt – or grindadráp – of the season. Conservationist said today that 501 pilot whales have so far been slaughtered this year in the northern archipelago. While the Faroese authorities say the slaughter is quick, Sea Shepherd campaigners refute the claims […]
POLL: Should wolf hunting in Norway be banned?
Wolves have emerged as the most sought-after animal for Norwegian hunters this season, with 11,571 people registering for licences to shoot 16 animals – a ratio of 723 hunters per wolf. The animals – of which Norway may have as few as 30 living in the wild – top the league in new figures that […]
POLL: What should China do with its ivory stockpile?
After years of defending and supporting a legal domestic trade in ivory, China made a big announcement in September: It’s shutting down the trade. The United States is, too. Together, the presidents of both countries have made an unprecedented public pledge to put a stop to all ivory trading—legal and illegal. The U.S. is on track […]