Thirty hammerhead sharks captured on the Great Barrier Reef and exported to a French aquarium over an eight-year period have all died in captivity and the Australian government says it knows nothing about it. The deaths, which are the subject of legal action by Sea Shepherd France, could put a spotlight on the trade of […]
Tag: wildlife trade
Conservation officers forced online in fight against bird trafficking
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — “Hi, This is Kamaruddin calling in, just parking my car.” “Great, go ahead and share your experience with this broadcast’s theme with the Natural Resources Conservation Agency.” “Thanks. So, I have a cockatoo and a hawk-eagle and I’m just learning they’re protected species. I bought them online and now if I want […]
POLL: Should the Fish and Wildlife Service protect giraffes as an endangered species?
Animal advocacy and conservation organizations are taking the Trump administration to court for failing to protect giraffes who are suffering from what’s been dubbed a “silent extinction.” Although they might be one of the most easily recognizable and beloved animals on earth, giraffes have been quietly disappearing at an alarming rate. Since the mid-1980s, their […]
One-two punch of habitat loss, capture hammers Southeast Asian birds
JAKARTA — Conservationists have underestimated the combined impact of deforestation and capture when assessing the threat to Southeast Asia’s bird populations — a one-two punch that a new report warns could lead to the extinction of dozens of species by the end of this century. Focusing on 308 forest-dependent bird species in the Sundaland subcontinent, […]
Hunters are wiping out hornbills in Ghana’s forests
Hunting for meat consumption and the bushmeat trade is threatening several species of hornbills in Ghana, in some cases leading to their complete disappearance, according to a recent study. Ecologist Lars H. Holbech of the University of Ghana said hunters had shifted their focus from the large mammals, now rare in many parts of the […]
POLL: Should the trafficking of Hippo Teeth be banned?
Tanzania is auctioning off nearly four tons of hippopotamus teeth today, raising concerns among conservationists that legally purchased teeth may end up on the black market, where demand for hippo “ivory” is already threatening their long-term survival. The teeth are from hippos that died naturally or were killed because they had dangerous encounters with humans, […]
POLL: Should the wild bird trade in Vietnam be stopped?
Thousands of birds, suspected to have been caught from the wild, are being sold openly in Vietnam, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. Many of the species on sale are threatened with extinction, warns the report. In April 2016, researchers from TRAFFIC surveyed bird vendors — both shops and […]
POLL: Should the trophy hunting of bears and wolves be banned?
On August 7, footage surfaced in international media of brown bears “besieging” a Romanian village. The clip shows the animals scavenging for food in trash bins, walking through the town, and running past bewildered pedestrians. Unfortunately, images like these can invoke fear among the public and play very well into the hands of those who […]