Thousands of saffron finches are being snatched out of South American forests and sold in Brazil for use in brutal, illegal fighting rings. Lax wildlife laws have made it difficult for authorities to crack down on the lucrative trade, leaving traffickers and ring runners undeterred. Dozens of tiny yellow birds chirped as they flitted from […]
Tag: wildlife trafficking
10 Stories Highlighting the Horrors of the Trophy Hunting Industry
In 2015, the killing of Cecil the Lion shocked the world. An American trophy hunter paid tens of thousands of dollars to bow-hunt Cecil, a lion being studied by researchers and beloved by wildlife viewing tourists at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Tragically, Cecil did not die right away and spent hours in agony before […]
It’s not too late – yet – to save the Philippine pangolin, study finds
MANILA — Knowledge of the Philippine pangolin, the only pangolin species in the country, is scant. Sightings of the animal are rarer still. But unlike other pangolin species around the world that teeter on the brink of extinction, a new study suggests that with the appropriate conservation measures, the Philippines’ endemic pangolin still has a […]
Ivory by any other name: Illegal trade thrives on eBay, study finds
Two miniature sculptures sold on eBay in December 2020: a tiny egg with a chick hatching through the shell, and an intricately carved man in traditional Japanese dress with a rat perched on his shoulder. The egg sold for $195 and the figure for $1,345. But there’s a problem. Both objects are made from a […]
Petition: House Members Reintroduce Bill to Ban Trade of Wild Animals for Human Consumption
House members reintroduced The Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2021 on the first day of the new Congress. The bill would end the import, sale, and export of certain wild animals for animal consumption and medicine in the United States. The bill, supported by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was introduced by […]
Brazil’s blue macaws, golden lion tamarins back in traffickers’ sights
Experts at two of Brazil’s leading wildlife conservation bodies are on high alert following a spate of seizures of hyacinth macaws and golden lion tamarins from alleged traffickers in recent years. The illegal wildlife trade was what drove the hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), the world’s biggest flying parrot species, and the golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus […]
Beheaded tiger is discovered among grim haul of pelts and animal corpses during wildlife trafficking raid on a private zoo in Thailand
A beheaded tiger has been discovered among several other animal corpses during a wildlife trafficking raid at a private zoo in Thailand. Thai wildlife officials made the shocking discovery at the Mukda Tiger Park and Farm in the northeastern province of Mukdahan. They found a severed tiger head and other tiger carcasses, including body parts, in […]
Wildlife emergency in Bolivia as fires threaten animal sanctuaries
A ghastly orange grin extends across the treetops in Guarayos, Bolivia, marking a cruel turn of fate for rescued wildlife. On the ground, the air is too smoky to breathe, and hot enough to scorch. The woods are so dry that everything burns. Fire is eating its way through one of the world’s great efforts […]