By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com January 24, 2011 Since the 1980s, Liberia has lost 19,000 elephants to illegal poaching, according to Patrick Omondi of the Kenya Wildlife Service speaking in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. The poaching of Liberia’s elephants has cut the population by 95% leaving only 1,000 elephants remaining. “Though, Liberia opposes trade in […]
By Rob HastingsWednesday, 26 January 2011 In a remarkable feat of endurance, a polar bear has been tracked swimming for nine days continuously in a desperate bid to reach new ice floes, covering 426 miles in the process. The bears are excellent swimmers and are known to travel long distances in search of seals. But […]
By ELISABETH ROSENTHALJanuary 21, 2011 KINANGOP, Kenya — Simon Joakim Kiiru remembers a time not long ago when familiar birdsongs filled the air here and life was correlated with bird sightings. His lush, well-tended homestead is in the highlands next to the Aberdare National Park, one of the premier birding destinations in the world. When […]
By Tiffany Stecker and ClimatewireJanuary 18, 2011 Atlantic cod is yet another species being threatened by climate change. According to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, warmer summer waters off the Norwegian coast are dwarfing the growth of the fish. The researchers culled data from surveys dating back […]
Developers of hydroelectric plant have redrawn the boundaries of a crucial freshwater reserve for rare and economically important species By Jonathan Watts, Asia environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk Tuesday 18 January 2011 07.00 GMT The last refuge for many of China’s rarest and most economically important wild fish has mere days to secure public support before it […]
By John PlattJan 18, 2011 04:55 PM Are Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) doomed to extinction in the wild? The infectious cancer known as devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) has killed off as much as 90 percent of the world’s Tasmanian devils since it was first observed in 1996 (up from 70 percent when we last […]
By Bagehot for The EconomistJan 13th 2011, 15:03 THERE is a lot of talk in the air, just now, about the madness of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and how its strict quota system forces British trawlermen to throw vast quantities of fish back into the sea, dead. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a television chef […]
By John Platt Jan 13, 2011 11:15 AM Rhinoceros poaching in South Africa hit an all-time high in 2010, with 333 animals slain for their valuable horns. That’s nearly triple the 122 rhinos killed in the country in 2009. Most of the poached rhinos were southern white rhinoceri (Ceratotherium simum simum). The most prolific type […]
By Danny Vittore, Karl Smallwood Jan 06, 2011 Animals aren’t extremely ambitious. Sometimes, however, all they need is a little helpful prodding in the right direction to start conquering everything around them like warlords. As we first pointed out a couple of weeks ago, human stupidity is always there to give them a helping hand. […]
Certification granted to controversial fisheries has prompted severe criticism of the sustainable fisheries organisation By Lewis Smith, www.guardian.co.ukThursday 6 January 2011 06.00 GMT The body which certifies that fish have been caught sustainably has been accused of “duping” consumers by giving its eco-label to fisheries where stocks are tumbling. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) manages […]