Direct killing by humans pushing Earth’s biggest animals toward extinction – “70% of megafauna species are decreasing and 59% are threatened with extinction”

By Steve Lundeberg30 January 2019 CORVALLIS, Oregon (OSU) – One hundred forty-three species of large animals are decreasing in number and 171 are under threat of extinction, according to new research that suggests humans’ meat consumption habits are primarily to blame. Findings published today in Conservation Letters involved an analysis of 292 species of “megafauna” […]

Smuggled orangutan seized at Bali airport – Two-year-old male was found drugged inside a rattan basket

23 March 2019 (BBC News) – A Russian man has been arrested in Bali on suspicion of trying to smuggle a young orangutan out of Indonesia. The two-year-old male was found drugged inside a rattan basket when Andrei Zhestkov was stopped at security at Denpasar airport on Friday night. Mr Zhestkov is said to have […]

1,500 live turtles found wrapped in duct tape at Manila airport

By Hannah Ellis-Petersen 4 March 2019 (The Guardian) – Police in the Philippines have discovered 1,529 live turtles wrapped in duct tape inside suitcases abandoned in an airport. The customs bureau seized four suitcases in Manila on Sunday and found they were filled with rare and protected varieties including star tortoises, red-footed tortoises, sulcata tortoises […]

Iceland will allow more than 2,000 whales to be killed within next five years

By Lauren Kent23 February 2019 (CNN) – Only two whaling companies remain in Iceland. It’s a small industry that conservationists say is inhumane, has minimal economic benefits, and defies the international ban on killing whales. But this week the Icelandic government announced it will allow up to 2,000 whales to be killed in the next […]

Trump wins 2018 Rubber Dodo award as top eco-villain – “From wildlife to public lands to climate, Trump has wrecked, poisoned, and polluted our environment on an unprecedented scale”

TUCSON, Arizona, 15 February 2019 (CBD) –  President Trump is the winner of the Center for Biological Diversity’s 2018 Rubber Dodo award. The statue is awarded each year to the person or group who has most aggressively sought to destroy America’s natural heritage or drive endangered species extinct. “From wildlife to public lands to climate, Trump […]

Global insect population faces “catastrophic” collapse – “If we destroy the basis of the ecosystem, which are the insects, then we destroy all the other animals that rely on them for a food source”

12 February 2019 (University of Sydney) – A research review into the decline of insect populations has revealed a catastrophic threat exists to 40 percent of species over the next 100 years, with butterflies, moths, dragonflies, bees, ants, and dung beetles most at risk.Author of the review, Dr Francisco Sanchez-Bayo, an honorary associate with the […]

GoFundMe: Protect the National Butterfly Center from Trump border wall – $82K of $100K goal raised – UPDATE: Goal reached!

10 December 2018 (National Butterfly Center) – Congress funded 33 new miles of Border Wall in the 2018 omnibus Appropriations Act  and contracts for the first 6 miles have been awarded to SLSCO . The real kicker is, the border wall is not being built on the border, but over 2 miles inland, moving the […]

Calls for emergency action plan as myrtle rust pushes Australia plants to extinction – “That extinction is the end point of millions of years of evolution so, to me, that’s pretty profound”

By Graham Readfearn 23 January 2019 (The Guardian) – Australia must roll out an emergency national response to an invasive plant disease that is rapidly pushing at least four plant species to imminent extinction, experts have told Guardian Australia. A draft emergency action plan for the fungal disease myrtle rust proposes that a rapid collection […]

Trump chooses David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist, to head the Interior Department – “David Bernhardt is the most dangerous man in America for endangered species and public lands”

By Coral Davenport 4 February 2019 WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – President Trump on Monday announced he would nominate David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist and current deputy chief of the Interior Department, to succeed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who resigned amid allegations of ethical missteps.In a message on Twitter, Mr. Trump wrote, “David […]

National Butterfly Center to file restraining order to stop Trump border wall construction

By Beatriz Alvarado 6 February 2019 MISSION, Texas (Corpus Christi Caller Times) – Amid a legal battle to stop the federal government from erecting a 36-foot “wall system” topped with steel bollards through its property, the National Butterfly Center is conducting business as usual. On a Wednesday morning, the parking lot at the 100-acre wildlife […]

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