Next month the killing will begin in earnest. August marks the start of the annual migration of millions of birds from their European breeding areas to their wintering grounds in Africa. Many will fly across the eastern Mediterranean towards Egypt, where they will land, exhausted, on a coast along which hundreds of kilometres of trappers’ […]
Tag: threatened species
Rarities and Early Migrants at Jahra Pools Reserve, Kuwait
Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR) is a small fenced wetland reserve just off the Arabian Gulf coastline to the north of Kuwait City. Previously the pools were formed from a sewage outfall, but more recently a water network has been provided and this has allowed the pools to remain filled since the end of 2012. As […]
VICTORY: European Union Bans All Shark Finning!
We at Oceana are thrilled to share this news with you – the European Union (EU) has just officially adopted a strict ban on shark finning! Saturday ended nearly a decade of battle to close several enforcement loopholes that had permitted some forms of shark finning. Finning has technically been prohibited in the EU since […]
Blind, starving cheetahs: the new symbol of climate change?
The world’s fastest land animal is in trouble. The cheetah, formerly found across much of Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, has been extirpated from at least 27 countries and is now on the Red List of threatened species. Namibia holds by far the largest remaining population of the speedy cat. Between 3,500 […]
Illegal wildlife trade flourishes in Sumatra
In a chilly rain on Sunday, in a town just a few kilometers beyond the edge of a protected Sumatran rainforest, a young orangutan sat perched on a piece of plywood and grabbed the metal wires of his tiny cage. He has sat in that cage for six months and, like dozens of other species […]
Scientist: Australia taking ‘calculated actions’ to push Leadbeater’s possum to extinction
Australia’s leading scientific expert on the endangered Leadbeater’s possum has publicly lambasted the Victorian state government, claiming it is the first ever domestic administration to take “calculated actions” that it knew could wipe out a threatened species. In a letter published in the respected journal Science, Prof David Lindenmayer, of the Australian National University, states […]
UK’s rare spring butterflies make a late show
The UK’s spring butterflies are being welcomed by enthusiasts, but weeks later than they usually arrive. The second-coldest March on record contributed to the delayed emergence of many rare species, according to the charity Butterfly Conservation. “First sightings” recorded by the public showed the insects typically appeared a fortnight later than normal. One rare species […]
Central africa to mobilize up to 1,000 soldiers to save its elephants (Warning: graphic photos)
Central African states on Saturday said they would mobilize up to 1,000 soldiers and law-enforcement officials to immediately start joint military operations to protect the region’s last remaining savanna elephants, threatened by Sudanese poachers on a killing spree in the region. On the night of March 14-15, in southern Chad, these poachers killed at least […]