Land grabs threaten last elephant bastions

By Richard Lardner20 April 2014 WASHINGTON (AP) – Political and military elites are seizing protected areas in one of Africa’s last bastions for elephants, putting broad swaths of Zimbabwe at risk of becoming fronts for ivory poaching, according to a non-profit research group’s report that examines government collusion in wildlife trafficking. Zimbabwe has maintained robust […]

Japan will ‘redesign’ Antarctic whaling program to make it more ‘scientific’ – ‘They intend to ignore the verdict of the International Court of Justice, and they intend to continue killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary’

Tokyo, 18 April 2014 (AFP) – Japan says it will redesign its controversial Antarctic whaling mission in a bid to make it more scientific, after a United Nations court ruled it was a commercial hunt masquerading as research. The bullish response, which could see harpoon ships back in the Southern Ocean next year, sets Tokyo […]

Death to the Greenies! The message is clear: ‘Get in the way of our profits and we will kill you’

By Captain Paul Watson 16 April 2014 (Facebook) – Being a wildlife conservationist or an environmentalist is now considered one of the planet’s most dangerous occupations. We face very dangerous and powerful vested interests each day. They outnumber us and they are financially and politically connected. They are ruthless and they will deal harshly with […]

Graph of the Day: Annual species offtake rate for one bushmeat market in West Africa

Estimated annual offtake rates for Friday/Sunday bushmeat market days at the Daobly market in the Ivorian town of Taï along the Cavally River. The annual offtake was calculated by doubling the average of the observed Friday offtake, and doubling again to account for the similar volume of primates traded at Sunday markets. This value was […]

U.N. court orders Japan to halt whale hunt – ‘A fair and just stance on the right side of history that protects the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and the vital marine ecosystem of Antarctica’

By Saeed Ahmed31 March 2014 (CNN) – The International Court of Justice ruled Monday that Japan can no longer continue its annual whale hunt, rejecting the country’s argument that it was for scientific purposes. “Japan shall revoke any extant authorization, permit or license granted in relation to JARPA II, and refrain from granting any further […]

Over 9,000 primates killed each year for single bushmeat market in West Africa

By Ariel Mark 24 March 2014 (mongabay.com) – Over the past 25 years, West Africa’s primates have been put at risk due to an escalating bushmeat trade compounded with forest loss from expanding human populations. In fact, many endemic primates in the Upper Guinea forests of Liberia and Ivory Coast have been pushed to the […]

Just how bad is the logging crisis in Myanmar? 72 percent of exports are illegal – ‘A ban is only as good as the enforcement that governs it’

By Jeremy Hance26 March 2014 (mongabay.com) – Just days before Myanmar, also known as Burma, implements a ban on exporting raw logs, the Environmental Investigative Agency (EIA) has released a new report that captures the sheer scale of the country’s illegal logging crisis. According to the EIA, new data shows that 72 percent of logs […]

Scientists urge ban on roads in intact wilderness areas – ‘We’ll have another 25 million kilometers of paved roads by 2050—enough to encircle the Earth more than 600 times’

21 March 2014 (mongabay.com) – A group of prominent scientists chose to mark the second International Day of Forests by urging the world to support an initiative that aims keep wild areas free of roads. Roadfree, an initiative led by Member of the European Parliament Kriton Arsenis, has been growing in prominence over the past […]

New report exposes nine of the dirtiest U.S. fisheries – ‘Hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles, and fish needlessly die each year as a result of indiscriminate fishing gear’

Contact: Dustin Cranor, dcranor@oceana.org, 954-348-1314, 954-348-1314 (cell); Amelia Vorpahl, avorpahl@oceana.org, 202-467-1968, 202-476-0632 (cell) Washington, D.C., 20 March 2014 (Oceana) – Today, Oceana released a new report exposing nine of the dirtiest fisheries in the United States. These nine fisheries combined throw away almost half of what they catch and are responsible for more than 50 […]

South Africa loses nearly 150 rhinos to poachers so far this year

By Jeremy Hance28 February 2014 (mongabay.com) – Since the first of the year, South Africa has lost 146 rhinos to poachers or approximately 2.5 rhinos every day. This is a slight dip from last year’s poaching rate, which hit 1,004 for the whole year or 2.75 a day. South Africa is home to more rhinos […]

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