Apart from poaching and habitat loss, climate change-induced droughts have been threatening the rhino population in Africa, pointed out a new report. On the other hand, climate disruptions in Asia can lead to the deaths of rhinos. Increased precipitation, longer monsoons and seasonal floods are already resulting in stranding, drowning …
Wildlife troopers shot dead three armed men in Kenya’s Mount Elgon National Park on Wednesday while two other suspected poachers were injured but escaped, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said. “The officers were on routine patrol inside the park when they encountered five poachers, two of whom were armed,” KWS …
Big Life Foundation, which operates in northern Tanzania where human-wildlife conflict has resulted in retaliatory killing of lions, is among six organisations in Africa that have been selected for a $500,000 funding by the Lion Recovery Fund. The funding targets saving African lions, one of the most iconic and revered …
Armed with a dart gun in a helicopter hovering above Somkhanda game reserve in South Africa, the vet Dr Mike Toft has just shot a powerful cocktail of drugs into the massive white rhino below. The 2,000kg (315st) bull starts to stagger and sinks slowly to its knees as the …
There has been a dramatic drop in the number of rhino poaching cases on privately owned game reserves in KwaZulu-Natal following an intensive de-horning project in the last three years. Chris Galliers‚ head of the Project Rhino anti-poaching umbrella group‚ says an analysis of poaching statistics shows that nearly 25% …
Wildlife poachers in Kenya will face the death penalty, the country’s tourism and wildlife minister has reportedly announced. Najib Balala warned the tough new measure would be fast-tracked into law. Existing deterrents against killing wild animals in the east African nation are insufficient, Mr Balala said, according to China’s Xinhua …
Myanmar has seen an increase in the number of elephants killed over the past several years, with some of the carcasses found skinned. A report by the U.K.-based conservation group Elephant Family has identified growing demand for elephant skin products from Myanmar’s giant neighbor, China, which it blames for driving …
There’s a new strategy to combat the illegal wildlife trade in Africa, and it relies on local communities and their role in curbing elephant, rhino and other wildlife trafficking. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, in partnership with the International Institute for International Development (IIED), rolled out a toolkit …
A senior State Department official said on Tuesday the US has no evidence that violent extremist groups such as Al-Shabaab are financing their operations through elephant poaching. The comments by Mr Richard Glenn, the department's top monitor of wildlife trafficking and transnational crime in Africa, contradict an earlier assertion by …
Illegal hunting poses a considerable threat to the wildlife of Serengeti National Park and its affiliated protected areas. Techniques for successful mitigation of this threat are heavily debated. Bottom-up community-based initiatives aim to curb poaching by linking local communities with wildlife conservation. Top-down anti-poaching enforcement of protected areas seeks to …
Walia ibex (Capra walie) is an endemic and endangered species restricted to Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP). The population of walia ibex appeared to have gradually increased during the decade before our study. Our goal was to determine the current population status of walia ibex in SMNP. We conducted censuses …
Remaining habitat for P. tapanuliensis is threatened by forest fragmentation, habitat degradation, and conversion that are slated to continue. These are critical factors for the survival of large primates, and particularly Sumatran orangutans, including P. tapanuliensis. Presently, individuals of this species are divided among three forest fragments in the Batang …
The incident happened at around 6.30pm, where security at the sanctuary heard gunshots and rushed towards the direction of the sounds but failed to see the suspected poachers. “A thorough search, both aerial and ground was conducted on first light where carcasses of two adult rhinos and a calf were …
International conservationists in Madagascar have been treating more than 10 000 critically endangered radiated tortoises that were seized from traffickers who had crammed them into a home with no access to food or water. The Turtle Survival Alliance and other groups are caring for the tortoises at a wildlife facility …
Maputo — The Mozambican government plans to invest, over the next five years, 100 million US dollars in building infrastructures and stimulating conservation agriculture in those districts where national parks and reserves are located. The Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, announced this intention on Wednesday at …
A population assessment survey of the endangered Ganges river dolphin was made between February and Apil 2005 in the Brahmaputra River starting from Assam-Arunachal border to the India-Bangladesh border. One hundred and ninety seven dolphins were recorded in the entire 856 km river stretch with an encounter rate of 0.23 …
While poaching and wildlife crime are on the rise with high-tech criminals posing new threats online, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a Central wildlife crime investigation agency, is grappling with lack of staff. Of 109 sanctioned posts, at least 38 are lying vacant. Shockingly, the Bureau, an arm of …
We present a range-wide assessment of sympatric western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla and central chimpanzees Pan troglodytes troglodytes using the largest survey data set ever assembled for these taxa: 59 sites in five countries surveyed between 2003 and 2013, totaling 61,000 person-days of fieldwork. We used spatial modeling to …
A new TRAFFIC report identifies Uganda as one of the common transit points for the trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products in the Central and East Africa region. Criminal organizations in Uganda are mainly associated with the smuggling of ivory, but in recent years have also been heavily linked to …
Anti-trafficking authorities have seized 513 kilograms (1,131 pounds) of pangolin scales at Cotonou airport in the West African country of Benin, the Beninese newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune reports. The paper reported that three people were arrested on March 19 on their way to Vietnam with 23 bags of scales, likely …
Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and conservationist Jane Goodall have joined a list of famous names who have signed an open letter to South Africa's government calling for an end to rhino poaching. More than 1,000 rhinos were killed across the country in 2017 for the fifth year running. The international …
