Green Options

Comparing DNA from seized ivory to an elephant DNA database is revealing new information on how poaching syndicates and illegal dealers are operating.

The development of a DNA forensics technique may prove to be a valuable weapon in the bloody war against elephant poaching.

According to BBC News, Professor Sam Wasser of the Center or Conservation Biology at the University of Washington is fighting back against these criminals using DNA collected from elephant dung and ivory to expose poaching hotspots.

Hungry villagers have been caught stealing meat from the nearly extinct lions of Waza National Park.

The villagers likely scare off the lions with sticks or fire shortly after they make a fresh kill. Researchers fear the practice may be more common than previously thought, and it may help explain why lion numbers are plummeting in Cameroon.

Ngorongoro World Heritage Site Under Threat

Thirty years after being listed as a World Heritage Sites the Ngorongoro Conservation area is in danger of being ‘deleted’ from the prestigious listing. This legendary wildlife-filled crater, is a  8,300 square kilometer part of Tanzania’s Serengeti.

The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority very tight goals which must be met if Ngorongoro is to retain its World Heritage Sites listing.

With help from the Wildlife Conservation Society, a population of 600 lowland gorillas will find protection within the borders of a new National Park in Cameroon.

The designated area, to be called Deng Deng National Park, is approximately 224 square miles in size, which is roughly the size of Chicago’s city limits.

Deng Deng is the second National Park created by the Cameroonian government in the last three months, and is the latest in swift actions taken to help protect the country’s abundant but threatened wildlife. Aside from the gorillas, the park will also shield a rich population of chimpanzees, elephants, buffaloes and bongos.

A new trade in parrot heads and tail feathers is adding to the pressure on the world’s wild population of African Grey Parrots, which is confined to the tropical forest area of West and Central Africa.

This is highlighted by a recent post by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from Cameroon, which reports on a suspect arrested by game rangers who was found to be carrying 353 parrot heads and 2000 tail feathers. The suspect stated that he had collected the material for a witch doctor who was treating his mentally ill brother.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the government of Cameroon have just created a new national park to preserve habitat for the Cross River gorilla, the world’s most endangered great ape.

Besides the Cross River gorillas, the 261 square mile Takamanda National Park will also protect populations of forest elephants, chimpanzees, and a rare primate and close relative of the mandrill, the drill.

Takamanda also forms part of a trans-boundary protected area with Cross River National Park in Nigeria, safeguarding about 115 gorillas (a third of the Cross River gorilla population). Trans-boundary protected areas allow species to roam freely between nations.