Nearly half of the planet’s bird species are in decline, according to a definitive report that paints the grimmest picture yet of the destruction of avian life. The State of the World’s Birds report, which is released every four years by BirdLife International, shows that the expansion and intensification of agriculture is putting pressure on […]
Tag: zoonotic diseases
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 […]
Why Wildlife Trafficking is Not Just Immoral But Extremely Unsafe
For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted virtually every aspect of life on Earth. As we find ways to adapt to the new living, working, and social conditions necessitated by the pandemic, and look forward to an eventual end to it as vaccines become more widely available, we must ask what we […]
As forests shrink, mammals are stressed out— with possible fallout for humans
Humans aren’t the only ones feeling anxiety about environmental destruction. As forests shrink, small mammals are also feeling stressed, and we can tell by their fur. A team of scientists collected fur samples from 106 small rodents and marsupials in six forest fragments in the Atlantic Forest of Paraguay. After grinding each fur sample into […]
Petition: Urge Congress and Senate to Pass Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2020
This year, the world has come face to face with the consequences of how we treat animals and our environment. From isolation to job loss, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on our daily lives and how we experience the world. Most people know that Coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it spreads between […]
As wild areas become farmland, species that carry zoonotic diseases flourish
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, much of the blame for the human and economic devastation caused by the virus has been directed toward China. In particular, the country’s “wet markets” have come under fire for endangering public health, despite the fact that few offer the species of wildlife hypothesized […]
Wildlife traffickers target lion, jaguar and leopard body parts as tiger substitutes
Lion, jaguar and leopard body parts are being increasingly sought as substitutes to tiger products by wildlife traffickers, a major UN report has found, but demand for ivory and rhino horn has shown signs of a sustained fall. Wildlife trafficking continues to pose a major threat to nature, global biodiversity and human health, the UN’s […]
Horrific scale of SA’s live wildlife trade to China exposed
Chimpanzees, Bengal tigers, wolves, wild dogs and lions are among thousands of endangered wild animals exported, sometimes in contravention of CITES regulations, often in shameful conditions. At a time when the entire globe is reeling from a deadly disease that originated in wild animals and many species face the risk of extinction, a new report […]