Is Ross Perot Jr. taking legal action over the head of a rhino he shot and wounded during a trophy hunt?

The son of former American Presidential candidate Ross Perot - Henry Ross Perot Jr. - is reportedly engaged in a legal battle involving South African wildlife authorities over the head of rhino he wounded during a trophy hunt earlier this year.

Perot supposedly shot a bull rhino at Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, but the animal escaped. However, Perot believes he’s still entitled to his trophy - the rhino’s head.

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Have you heard the news? Habitat loss, overhunting, and unsustainable development are wiping out the world’s greatest treasure: Wildlife.

The animals and plants that call this planet their home haven’t got a chance if humans keep it up. Wildlife destruction is happening faster than current conservation efforts can replenish - or even stabilize - most endangered species numbers.

Now, the 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species figures are in - and the news isn’t good.

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Tanzania is reportedly preparing to ask CITES to lift the trade ban on elephant ivory, much to the dismay of its EAC neighbors, conservationists, and members of the tourism industry.

In a move that would surely undermine East African conservation efforts, Tanzania has taken up the position that a sanctioned sale of elephant ivory would provide much-needed financial support to the country’s anti-poaching measures.

This comes as a shock to the East African Community (EAC), considering that last year’s sanctioning of a one-off ivory auction is to blame for igniting a scourge of rampant elephant killings throughout Africa - particularly Kenya.

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Safari Details: Located in the heart of Eastern Koiyaki, Kenya, Ol Seki Mara Camp offers luxury “Nina” tents with 270 degree panoramic views of the famous Maasai Mara.

Magnificent Wildlife: Eastern Koiyaki, provides an opportunity to enjoy wildlife viewing in a pristine oasis nestled amongst Cordia and Acacia trees attracting an abundance of wildlife and birds.

Your Dream Vacation: Elegant candle lit dinners, romantic dining for honeymooners, a resident masseuse – a delight for all senses!

What are Ol Seki Mara Camp’s specific sustainability Practices?

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About 200 rhino have reportedly been killed by poachers in Zimbabwe over the last three years, and wildlife officials warn that international and regional poaching syndicates are benefiting from local cooperation.

Disappointing news: Zimbabwe may have lost a quarter of its rhino population in just three years, due to the increasing strength of organized poaching syndicates and a network of local support.

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Officials from elephant range states are meeting in Delhi this week in hopes of finding a solution to the growing number of elephant killings in India.

Loss of habitat leading to an increase of conflicts between elephants and humans, combined with the invasion of poachers into government-protected zones, are resulting in an unacceptable increase in elephant deaths in India.

To address this issue, officials from India’s elephant range states are gathering in Delhi this week.

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Darby Nelson, a member of a Minnesota state panel that advises the Legislature on fish, game and wildlife habitat spending, is a classic conservationist.

Almost 40 years after the first Earth Day, the term environmentalist is in some disrepute. Once a badge of honor for public-spirited citizens seeking to protect and clean up air, land, water and fish and wildlife, the word is now often associated with special interest politics. Is it time somehow to restore the term to its original associations or to choose another, like conservationist?

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Today the Center for Biological Diversity announced that the winner of its third annual Rubber Dodo Award is Michael Winer, portfolio manager for Third Avenue Management, LLC (”TAREX”).

The Center for Biological Diversity awards the Rubber Dodo each year to the person who has contributed the most to driving endangered species extinct. Winer was selected this year for his leadership role in Third Avenue Management, LLC (”TAREX”), a giant real-estate investment firm responsible for unsustainable sprawl in California and Florida - and the driving force behind the proposed destruction of Tejon Ranch with a luxury development known as Tejon Mountain Village.

Last year’s recipient was former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

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The Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop has reportedly claimed China’s tiger farms supply ‘medicine’ to 60 countries.

A shocking article from Nepal’s Republica says that the Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop claims China “cannot put an end to its tiger farming as medicine produced from tiger parts is supplied to 60 countries”.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded 6 grants totaling $800,000 to determine the cause and stop the spread of deadly white-nose syndrome that has killed over a million bats in the Northeast.

Six grants have been awarded through the USFWS Preventing Extinction program for research to determine the cause, find a cure, and stop the spread of deadly white-nose syndrome in bats. Since its discovery in 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than a million bats of six species in nine states - and biologists warn this is most devastating wildlife health crisis to face North America in the last 100 years.

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Bats may be considered a spooky Halloween mascot, but they are actually one of the most beneficial animals on the planet: 70% of the world’s bat species feed on insects - and one bat can consume up to 1,000 insect pests in an hour. Bats also play a critical role in pollination and seed dispersal.

Despite the fact that bats occur nearly everywhere on earth (except for arctic and desert extremes), 60 species of bats are listed as endangered. And in the U.S., an estimated million or more hibernating bats of six species have been killed by White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in nine states since 2006.

To help raise awareness for bats, here is a compilation of 10 facts about bats - and a diverse photo gallery of bat species celebrating the surprising cuteness of these creatures. Enjoy!

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Expansion of critical habitat for tigers and the establishment of a Wildlife Crime Control Committee are among the announcements from the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop. But will these efforts be enough to protect tigers from China’s ‘bizarre obsession’ with tiger body parts?

Encouraging news so far from the inaugural session of the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal announced a 900 sq km increase of Bardia National Park, expanding critical habitat for Nepal’s tigers.

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The audit, produced using New Leaf Paper’s Eco Audit Calculator, uses New Leaf EcoBook paper, which uses 100% postconsumer waste. This is something new in the book market, which is normally so sensitive to price.

While the paper does cost more than virgin, these costs are offset by the extreme environmental benefits of switching to paper made with 100% postconsumer fiber. Because virgin paper costs less than recycled papers, the book industry has traditionally gone almost exclusively with virgin stocks. But Scholastic decided to make an environmental statement — a big one.

According to the audit, on the 950,000 print run, this simple switch resulted in a savings of 29,600 trees, 12.4 million gallons of water, 20,300 BTUs of energy, 1.4 million pounds of solid waste, and 2.7 million pounds of greenhouse gases. That’s more than just a drop in the bucket.

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The recent rhino poaching incidents in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary have prompted officials to discontinue its popular elephant safaris.

In an effort to protect greater one-horned rhino in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, elephant safaris - booked months in advance by tourists - have reportedly been halted.

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14 critically endangered black rhino have been released into an undisclosed location as the WWF-EKZNW range expansion project continues.

Thanks to the project partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) to protect and expand black rhino populations, 14 additional black rhino are now in their new home.

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Hyenas are not as numerous as you might think: Poison, guns, snares, sport hunting, and habitat loss due to human expansion are taking their toll on the misunderstood hyena.

Hyenas are the subject of perhaps more myths than any other African animal, which has unfortunately led to decades of persecution against these unusual creatures. The rapid expansion of human population into remaining hyena habitat - and the intentional killing of hyenas by humans - will eventually prove to be more than this resilient species can tolerate.

To help raise awareness of hyena conservation, here are 12 surprising things you didn’t know - plus a compilation of beautiful photos. Enjoy!

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With ‘clean coal’ and nuclear power likely to play a larger-than-expected role in climate change legislation, are we heading for an iceberg? Literally, no–they’re all melting. Figuratively, maybe…

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Hyena fact 2: Although hyenas resemble dogs, they are more closely related to cats.

The hyena’s closest living relatives are mongooses, civets, and meerkats.

Pictured: Striped hyenas

Image: flickr.com/g-hat/ / CC BY 2.0

Hyena fact 3: Each hyena species has a distinct social structure.

Brown hyenas live in small family groups, striped hyenas live alone except when they have cubs, and aardwolves live in monogamous pairs. Spotted hyenas live in matriarchal ‘clans’ of up to 90 individuals.

Pictured: Brown hyena

Hyena fact 4: Spotted hyena clans are as complex as many primate societies.

Spotted hyena clans are strikingly similar in their complexity to baboon and macaque societies. The social status of a female spotted hyenas - like female baboons - is actually determined by the social rank of her mother. Spotted hyenas remain with their mothers for an extended period of time - about 15 months - in order for important social learning to take place. In a spotted hyena society, even the lowest ranking female is dominant to the highest ranking male.

Pictured: Spotted hyenas

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Hyena fact 5: Hyenas mark their territories with a scented paste that is secreted from anal pouches and deposited on various objects.

Pictured: Aardwolf

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Hyena fact 6: The female spotted hyena has a ‘psuedo-penis’ - and both male and female spotted hyenas greet each other with ‘erections.’

The clitoris of the female spotted hyena is enormously elongated to form a fully erectile pseudo-penis through which she urinates, copulates, and gives birth. There is even a “structure” that gives the appearance of a scrotal sac, but it’s actually vaginal labia folded over and filled with connective and fatty tissues.

Pictured: Spotted hyena

Hyena fact 7: Spotted hyena cubs are born with their eyes open - and with teeth.

Unfortunately, the first time a spotted hyena gives birth, her cubs often suffocate in her elongated birth canal and are stillborn.

Pictured: Spotted hyenas

Image: flickr.com/ballgame/ / CC BY 2.0

Hyena fact 8: Aardwolves are about the size of a large housecat and feed almost exclusively on ants and termites (note the hairless muzzle). An aardwolf can consume 300,000 termites in a single feeding.

Despite the fact that aardwolves are specialized insect eaters, ignorance prevails: Aardwolves are shot on sight and poisoned by farmers who believe that these diminutive animals prey on livestock.

Pictured: Aardwolf

Hyena fact 9: All hyena species (except the aardwolf ) consume carrion. However, spotted hyenas are accomplished predators; 95% of their diet is actually from kills and not scavenged.

Pictured: Spotted hyena

Hyena fact 10: Hyenas are the only animal that carries rabies without developing symptoms and dying from the disease.

In addition to rabies, hyenas can withstand anthrax and canine distemper.

Pictured: Brown hyena

Hyena fact 11: Striped hyenas can tolerate a wide range of quality in their drinking water - and even consume saltwater when necessary.

Pictured: Striped hyena

Image: flickr.com/7326810@N08/ / CC BY 2.0

Hyena fact 12: The ‘laugh’ of the spotted hyena actually indicates nervousness, not amusement.

Humans and hyenas

Although the hyena’s greatest enemy used to be the lion, it is now humans. Using a variety of methods, humans are the main source of hyena mortality in most regions.

• Poison: In retaliation for livestock depredation - whether actual or suspected - people lace a cow or other livestock carcass with poison and leave it out so hyenas will feed on it. This has been documented on a mass scale eastern Africa.
• Guns: Hyenas are shot on sight by many ranchers.
• Sport hunting: Every year, spotted hyenas are killed by sport hunters in various parts of Africa.
• Snares: Hyenas are caught by snares set in the fences of livestock corrals. If a hyena gets stuck in one of these, the tribesmen will spear or club the trapped hyena to death. Hyenas also are caught in bushmeat snares. They are killed when the bushmeat hunters check the traps. If a hyena does manage to escape, they usually die a slow death by strangulation.

Hyenas are killed inadvertently by cars when they attempt to feed on roadkill. Striped hyenas in parts of the Middle East, and spotted and striped hyenas near conflict zones in Africa have also become casualties of these war-torn areas.

Protecting hyenas

According to the IUCN Hyaena Specialist Group, misinformation about these animals is a serious obstacle to conservation efforts.

More myths have arisen in regard to hyaenas than perhaps any other animal in Africa (Glickman 1995). They are portrayed in a negative light in Western art and literature, they are mocked and derided by Hollywood producers, and they are feared and hated by many Africans today. This dark public image, born largely of ignorance, currently represents one of the most serious obstacles to the conservation of spotted and other hyenas (Mills & Hofer 1998).

Sadly, like so much of the planet’s remaining wildlife, the range size of all four hyena species is dwindling.

Habitat loss is having a major impact on the range size of all four extant members of the hyaena family. Specifically, if the ranges of the four hyaena species are compared between the late 1990s and a few decades earlier, rather shocking range contraction can be observed as more and more habitat becomes unsuitable for hyaena habitation.

To learn more about hyena conservation, visit the IUCN Hyaena Specialist Group.

Sources:

• IUCN Hyaena Specialist Group
• Predator Conservation
• Female Hyenas and Male Hormones, a strange combination
• Smithsonian Magazine

Images: istock.com unless otherwise noted.

For the second time, a convicted poacher from Linn County, Oregon, is going to prison for killing bears and selling their gallbladders.

Convicted poacher Raymond Edward Hillsman will be serving his second jail sentence for leading a team that hunted bears in five western Oregon counties in order to harvest and sell the bears’ gallbladders.

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The Idaho man who shot and killed a female wolf pup while standing behind his pickup truck on a public road has been officially charged - and faces only nominal punishment.

According to a local report, a man identified as Randy Strickland of Eagle, Idaho, has been officially charged with “taking a game animal illegally and shooting from or across a public highway.”

If Strickland is convicted, he may have to pay a small fine ranging from $200 - $1,000, and perhaps up to just six months in jail.

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Thanks to the controversial approval of a one-off ivory sale, illegal trade in ivory has been reinvigorated - and 100 elephants a day are being slaughtered.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) approved a one-off elephant ivory auction in 2008 of 119 tons (108 tonnes) - representing over 10,000 dead elephants - and this decision is believed to have stimulated the growing illegal ivory market.

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