Hong Kong, 3 January 2013 (AFP) – Hong Kong conservationists expressed outrage Thursday after images emerged of a factory rooftop covered in thousands of freshly sliced shark fins, as they called for curbs on the “barbaric” trade. The southern Chinese city is one of the world’s biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to […]
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN31 December 2012 KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa (The New York Times) — They definitely did not look like ordinary big-game hunters, the stream of slender young Thai women who showed up on the veld wearing tight bluejeans and sneakers. But the rhinoceros carcasses kept piling up around them, and it was only […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, 21 December 2012 (AP) – Two types of ice seals joined polar bears Friday on the list of species threatened by the loss of sea ice, which scientists say reached record low levels this year due to climate warming. Ringed seals, the main prey of polar bears, and bearded seals in the Arctic […]
By Zac Unger17 December 2012 On January 24, 2004, in the frigid moonscape of an Arctic winter, wildlife biologist Steven Amstrup rode in a helicopter flying low over the ice. Using an infrared heat detector, he hoped to find polar bears in their dens. When the gun recorded a hit, Amstrup circled around for a […]
Manila, 6 December 2012 (AFP) – Efforts to curb overfishing of tuna in the Pacific were blocked by big countries that refused to cut their catch at a meeting of tuna-fishing nations in the Asia-Pacific, delegates said Thursday. The Western and Central Pacific Commission, comprising 30 member nations and territories, ended a five-day meeting in […]
By JIM ROBBINS7 December 2012 The death rate of many of the biggest and oldest trees around the world is increasing rapidly, scientists report in a new study in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. They warned that research to understand and stem the loss of the trees is urgently needed. “It’s a worldwide problem […]
By Miguel Llanos, NBC News6 December 2012 Africa’s lions are running out of habitat and some populations, especially those in West Africa, are running toward extinction, according to a study published Tuesday. Using new satellite data, a research team at Duke University found that about 75 percent of Africa’s savannahs were fragmented by farmers and […]
By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press 2 December 2012 MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Pacific island nations and environmentalists raised an alarm Sunday over destructive fishing methods and overfishing that they say are threatening bigeye tuna – the fish popular among sushi lovers worldwide. Palau fisheries official Nanette Malsol, who leads a bloc of Pacific island nations, […]
By Jon Gambrell 28 November 2012 By the time ranchers found the rhinoceros calf wandering alone in this idyllic setting of scrub brush and acacia, the nature reserve had become yet another blood-soaked crime scene in South Africa’s losing battle against poachers. Hunters killed eight rhinos at the private Finfoot Game Reserve inside the Vaalkop […]
By Adrienne Mong24 November 2012 RAJA AMPAT, Indonesia (NBC News) – They’ve been described by one scientist as “pandas of the ocean.” “They’re such an iconic species, beloved by divers,” said Andrea Marshall, director of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, who came up with the description during an interview with NBC News. “They’re just amazing.” Unlikely […]
