The export of 22 wild-caught elephants from Namibia to the United Arab Emirates in March has raised concerns over their welfare and stoked criticism of how Namibia manages its wildlife. Fifty-seven elephants were sold at auction in 2021 to private buyers, and 37 have already been captured. Fifteen of those were moved to a private […]
Tag: United Arab Emirates
A lifeline for the last leopards (commentary)
The Arabian Peninsula is home to one of the greatest — yet mostly unrecognized — species resurrection stories in recent times: the Arabian oryx. Left for dead after it disappeared from the wild in the 1970s, this iconic species, characterized by its long straight horns, was saved from extinction by a visionary captive-breeding and reintroduction […]
Illegal cheetah trade continues through Instagram, 4sale, YouTube
Cheetahs continue to be illegally traded through social media platforms, according to a new analysis published by theCheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), a non-profit research and lobby organization based in Namibia. Between February 2012 and July 2018, a total of 1,367 cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) were offered on sale through 906 posts on social media, the analysis […]
Cheetah cubs were saved from the illegal pet trade just in time
Conservationists are applauding officials for taking swift action to rescue 10 young cheetahs from the illegal wildlife trade, who would’ve otherwise been destined to end up as pets. In all, 9 cubs and one adolescent were confiscated by the Somaliland Ministry of Environment and Rural Development (MoERD) with assistance from the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). […]
Group of ‘extinct’ antelope released into wild in southern Sahara
A group of scimitar-horned oryx, an antelope declared extinct in the wild, have been reintroduced to their original home on the edge of the Sahara desert. Fourteen captive-bred animals were released in a remote area of Chad and joined a first group reintroduced in August 2016, conservationists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said. […]
POLL: Should the UAE’s exotic pet ban be adopted by other countries?
Cheetahs sitting in fancy cars. Tigers running on the beach. Lions playing with chew toys. It’s easy to find images on social media of pet owners in Gulf countries flaunting their exotic animals—but in the future there likely won’t be as many posted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The country has banned residents from […]
POLL: Should Arab sheikhs be allowed to hunt bustards?
One of Pakistan’s four provinces has banned Arab sheikhs from hunting a protected species of bird, defying Islamabad’s longstanding policy of giving hunting licences to key regional allies. Swaths of habitat used in the winter by the migratory houbara bustard are allocated in blocks to the some of the most senior people in the United […]
Arabian Green Bee-eater – A new Arabian endemic?
The Handbook of Birds of the world have just split Arabian Green Bee-eater from Green Bee-eater. Philothrus cyanophrys Cabanis and Heine, 1860, Arabia = mountains of Al Qunfudhah, southwestern Saudi Arabia. Usually treated as conspecific with M. viridissimus and M. orientalis, but differs from both in its very short stub-ended central tail feathers; bright blue […]