Over the past 50 years, lion numbers have decreased by three-quarters. Only 20,000 to 40,000 of these majestic big cats survive in the wild today. A third of lion deaths are a result of poaching, and even where lions are killed in retaliation over livestock predation, in many cases their body parts are harvested for […]
Tag: wildlife crime
Two Software Engineers Are Revolutionizing India’s Fight Against Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking
Rather than taking their software and programming degrees into the tech sector, two young Kerala men are using them to bring India’s efforts to track, prevent, and punish wildlife crime into the 21st century with a suite of sophisticated apps and tools. They believe they are the first to bring this level of digitization into […]
Illegal bird of prey killings fall to lowest level in decade, but ‘true figure may be far higher’
Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report. But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian […]
Man charged with many wildlife crimes after ex-wife’s tip to officials
A Wyoming man accused of killing two grizzly bears and illegally collecting grizzly claws, golden and bald eagle talons and feathers, and bighorn sheep skulls pleaded not guilty to 18 misdemeanor charges in Park County Circuit Court. The investigation into the alleged wildlife crimes of Grant L. Cadwallader began in 2019 after a tip was […]
In biodiverse Nepal, wildlife crime fighters are underpowered but undeterred
CHITWAN, Nepal — When Hemanta Malla Thakuri, former deputy inspector-general of the Nepal Police, started training the country’s frontline wildlife crime investigators last year, he realized they operated similarly to how the police did when he joined the force nearly four decades ago. “The situation was such that we were given responsibilities, but not adequate […]
Smuggling of Wild Animals Persists in Balkan Region
The illicit trade of wild and rare animals remains a pressing issue in the Balkan region, as evidenced by a recent incident in northern Serbia. On September 21, 2023, a lion cub was discovered wandering on a local road near Subotica, a town situated near the Hungarian border. This incident sheds light on the pervasive […]
When it rains, it pours: Bangladesh wildlife trade booms during monsoon
DHAKA — It’s the monsoon season in Bangladesh, where the annual rains are both a boon for farmers and a worry for many living in flood-prone areas. For the country’s wildlife, the wet season also signals peril, but in another way: It coincides with an annual boom in the illegal wildlife trade, according to a […]
Hen harrier recovery has been helped by shooting estates and gamekeepers
The news that hen harrier breeding numbers in England have broken a new record is cause for celebration (More than 100 hen harriers fledge in England for first time in a century, 26 August). So too are the partnerships that were created to achieve this conservation success story. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation […]