There was good news from Nepal last month as the country proudly announced that absolutely no poaching had occurred in the 12-month period ending with February 2014—the second year with zero poaching. Back in 2011 Nepal also celebrated a year without poaching, and in 2012, only one rhino was poached. Nepal has strict anti-poaching laws […]
One of Australia’s iconic creatures, the koala is beloved around the world, yet if current trends continue, a day may come when this cuddly marsupial may be no more than a memory. The koala is facing extreme threat from habitat destruction, attacks by domestic and feral dogs, road accidents, climate change, and other factors. According […]
The seemingly relentless slaughter of orangutans and the destruction of tropical rainforests across the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are hardly breaking news, but the problems continue to intensify.. Rapid increases in the international demand for palm oil have resulted in the felling of more than half of Indonesia’s rainforest, with more than 70 percent […]
More than a dozen rhinos are cruelly slaughtered in South Africa each week in order to fuel an increasing demand from Asia for their highly coveted horn. The South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, recently confirmed that 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year as a result of poaching. […]
The world’s last remaining turtle farm has recently come under heavy criticism from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Sea Turtle Conservatory (STC). As part of a global campaign targeting sea turtle farming practices, the WSPA has proposed that the Cayman Turtle Farm (CTF) transition its business from a facility […]
The ethics of using animals for the amusement of tourists was again called into question recently following an attack on an animal keeper in Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, Australia. Lucy Melo was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after being crushed against a post by a baby elephant during a morning training session […]
Watamu Beach in Kenya attracts flocks of tourists who spend their days sunbathing, snorkeling and diving along hundreds of miles of coastline on the Indian Ocean. Yet increasing tourism—Reuters reports total visitors to Kenya as a whole rose 15.4 percent to 1.26 million in 2011—and other human-induced factors are putting marine wildlife, particularly sea turtles, […]
Born into the Samburu tribe of northern Kenya, Tom Lalampaa could have ended up following the traditional pastoral lifestyle of his people – had his brother made a different choice. When Tom was a child, his father called his sons to him and said, “I’d like one of you to go to school and the […]
As more and more large animals are driven to the brink of extinction, one of the primary challenges facing conservationists lies in counteracting the belief that such wildlife endangers human settlements and livelihoods. A number of organizations are now aiming their work at alleviating conflict between humans and large animals, with tourism identified as an […]
