LUBUMBASHI Democratic Republic of Congo Three chimpanzees have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom after intruders broke into a primate sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Franck Chantereau, founder of the J.A.C.K. Primate Rehabilitation Centre, says the kidnappers got into the 7-hectare (17-acre) facility in the southern city of Lubumbashi at around 3 […]
Tag: traditional chinese medicine
In Sri Lankan waters, endangered but unprotected rays encounter a killing field
COLOMBO — When fishermen in southern Sri Lanka recently caught a giant oceanic manta ray, they needed a backhoe to haul it out of the water once they reached land. Weighing 800 kilograms, or nearly 1,800 pounds, the catch drew much local attention. It sold for 170,000 rupees, or about $470, and soon this endangered […]
The Years of the Tiger: the demand for tigers and the price they pay
On the 1st of February 2022, the Year of the Tiger starts. The Chinese zodiac is an increasingly popular pseudoscientific classification scheme with followers in Asian countries, like China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, and Thailand. Hundreds of millions of primarily Asian people observe the start of the Year of the Tiger, but […]
Siberian tigers are being hunted at night for their body parts
The tiger was already dead when they spotted it, the hunters said—a furry, ochre mound against the snowy backdrop of Primorye, a sprawling region eight time zones from Moscow, in Russia’s Far East. The seven men took a picture with the massive Amur tiger, their arms casually slung around each other’s shoulders, the straps from […]
Indonesia ranks high on legal wildlife trade, but experts warn it masks illegal trade
JAKARTA — A recent analysis of the legal wildlife trade in the last 46 years puts Indonesia, a biodiversity hotspot in Southeast Asia, among the top 10 exporters of live animals. The research, published Nov. 11 by Oslo-based outdoor and nature website Outforia, looked into data from CITES, the global convention on the international wildlife […]
How did America end up with the world’s largest tiger population?
The first red flag was the shiny Chevy Camaro with no license plate. “Anything to declare?” asked the US Customs and Border Protection officer. “Nothing,” replied the 18-year-old driver, Luis Eudoro Valencia, a native of the tiny desert town of Perris, California. It was 1.30am on 23 August 2017, at the Otay Mesa port of […]
Fashions to die for: The fur trade’s role in spreading zoonotic disease
In the complex universe of COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases (those that can jump from animals to humans and back), key questions remain largely unaddressed, including what role fur farming for the fashion industry plays in the spread of highly transmissible zoonotic diseases, and how the industry should be managed to minimize risk. Zoonoses are […]
Mother tiger and her cubs found dead in Sumatran forest
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A mother Sumatran tiger and her two cubs were found dead this week in a snare trap in Indonesia’s westernmost Aceh province. Local people in Buboh, a village in South Aceh, discovered the tiger carcasses on Aug. 24 and reported them to authorities. “The mother was entangled in the neck and […]