Dramatic decline of Borneo orangutans – Global demand for natural resources has reduced the orangutan population by more than 100,000 in the last 16 years

15 February 2018 (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) – Nearly 50 years of conservation efforts have been unable to prevent orangutan numbers on Borneo from plummeting. The latest data published by a team from 38 international institutions, led by researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, the German Centre […]

Eastern U.S. cougar declared extinct 80 years after last sighting

By Laura Zuckerman; Editing by Steve Gorman and Sandra Maler 23 January 2018 (Reuters) – Eastern cougars that once prowled North America from Michigan to South Carolina were officially declared extinct and removed from the U.S. endangered species list on Monday, eight decades after the last confirmed sighting of the wild feline predator. The large […]

Right whales, after deadly year, could become extinct, officials say – “You do have to use the extinction word, because that’s where the trend lines say they are”

By Patrick Whittle  10 December 2017 PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Officials with the federal government say it’s time to consider the possibility that endangered right whales could become extinct unless new steps are taken to protect them. North Atlantic right whales are among the rarest marine mammals in the world, and they have endured a […]

Endangered vaquita porpoise dies in captivity – Fewer than 30 vaquitas remain

By Mark Stevenson 5 November 2017 MEXICO CITY (AP) – Researchers were thrilled to have captured one of the few remaining vaquita porpoises, but announced Sunday that the adult female died after a few hours in captivity in a floating pen, raising questions about the last-ditch effort to enclose the world’s smallest porpoises to save […]

Smuggled, beaten and drugged: The illicit global ape trade – “What we’re looking at is endgame conservation”

By Jeffery Gettleman 4 November 2017 MBANDAKA, Democratic Republic of Congo (The New York Times) – The sting began, as so many things do these days, on social media. Daniel Stiles, a self-styled ape trafficking detective in Kenya, had been scouring Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp for weeks, looking for pictures of gorillas, chimps or orangutans. […]

Orcas headed to extinction unless we get them more chinook and quieter waters – “There is an urgency here that is not well-appreciated; they are certainly in jeopardy”

By Lynda V. Mapes 27 October 2017 (The Seattle Times) – Orca whales are on a path to extinction within a century unless they get a big increase of chinook salmon to eat, and significantly quieter seas in which to find their food, a new study has found.The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, […]

New UN-led partnership to help curb unsustainable wildlife hunting, protect biodiversity – 4.6 million metric tons of wildmeat are consumed annually in the Congo Basin

10 October 2017 (UN News) – To help African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries stop unsustainable wildlife hunting, conserve natural heritage and strengthen people’s livelihoods and food security, the United Nations agriculture agency launched on Tuesday a €45 million multi-partner initiative.Funded by the European Commission, the seven-year Sustainable Wildlife Management programme will be led by the […]

Mexico launches desperate attempt to save the world’s last vaquita porpoises – “These beautiful animals deserve to live free in the Gulf of California, but that will never happen until the Mexican government eliminates the illegal gillnet fishing that has driven these porpoises to the very brink of extinction”

SAN FELIPE, Mexico, 5 October 2017 (Center for Biological Diversity) – Wildlife officials in Mexico next week will attempt to capture and protect some of the last vaquita on Earth in a desperate effort to save these small porpoises from extinction. The operation in the Gulf of California, scheduled to begin 12 October 2017, will […]

Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction

By Jennifer Chu 20 September 2017 (MIT News) – In the past 540 million years, the Earth has endured five mass extinction events, each involving processes that upended the normal cycling of carbon through the atmosphere and oceans. These globally fatal perturbations in carbon each unfolded over thousands to millions of years, and are coincident […]

Trump administration denies 25 animal species endangered protection – “This is a truly dark day for America’s imperiled wildlife”

By Doyle Rice 5 October 2017 (USA Today) – From walruses to turtles and woodpeckers to toads, the Trump administration Wednesday declined to list 25 species as endangered, noting that extra protection “is not warranted at this time.” Of particular concern to environmental groups is the Pacific walrus, which had been considered a candidate for […]

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