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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A novel conservation project in Kenya’s Maasailand is employing the lion’s greatest enemy to conserve, rather than kill, lions.
In Maasailand, the biggest threat to lions is retaliatory and traditional spearing by Maasai warriors. However, an innovative approach to lion conservation is now paying Maasai warriors to protect lions.
The last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle laid 188 eggs this year, but none of them will be hatching.
A disappointment for turtle conservationists: The world’s only known pair of critically endangered Yangtze giant soft-shell turtles (Rafetus swinhoei) have failed to reproduce for the second consecutive year. 81-year-old “China Doll” is the last known female of the species and her 101-year-old partner is one of possibly three known males.
As wild tiger populations dwindle, poachers are turning to lions to feed the insatiable Chinese appetite for ‘potions’ made from big cat bones.
Conservationists are sounding the alarm about a disturbing development in the fight to save wildlife from poaching: Lions are being killed as a substitute for tigers so their bones can be sold as Chinese “remedies.”
