Experts from the University of Stirling, working closely with the Government of Gabon, have led an international study into the impact of climate change on Central Africa’s rainforests and the threat posed to elephant populations in the region. Dr Emma Bush and Dr Robin Whytock, of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, along with Professors Kate…
Throughout their range leopards are in rapid decline, having disappeared from North Africa, much of the Middle East and Asia. Declines have been so severe that the species is now considered vulnerable to extinction. No comprehensive estimates of the number of leopards remaining in the wild exist. In southern Africa, 62% of leopard distribution falls…
South Africa is turning towards the implementation of new laws that fully allows the economic exploitation of wildlife. The intention is to market the use of all kinds of wild species, including giraffes, zebras, emu, and duikers, in order to produce cheap meat. However, the current corona virus crisis shows this can be a public…
100+ civil society organisations to the African Development Bank: Don’t finance the East African Crude Oil Pipeline More than 100 civil society organizations have written to the President of the African Development Bank, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, warning the bank against financing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, which they call “an exceptionally high-risk project.” The proposed 1,445-kilometer…
What do the coronavirus and the extinction of endangered species have in common? With the current outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), global attention has been drawn to the significant health risks posed by eating wild animals. COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2 in short. Originating in Wuhan in Hubei, China early December…
We are in the midst of an elephant poaching epidemic across the African continent. Fueled by a growing middle class in Asia that is hungry for ivory status symbols, these iconic and intelligent mammals are being slaughtered for their tusks at an alarming rate. While there has been a lot of media focus on savannah…
With a passion that is inextricably linked to the natural world, conservation artist Pooja Gupta works with the language of video, illustration, graphics, animation and everything in between to translate thoughts, concepts and stories into visuals. Pooja travels around the globe to document the natural world and communicate conservation through a range of creative mediums. For the last…
Kampala and Goma – Nearly 50 civil society organizations (CSOs) from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and their partners have written to the presidents of Uganda and the DRC calling on them to avoid sensitive ecosystems in the planned and ongoing oil exploration licensing round in the Albertine Graben. The CSOs made the…
A new study has found that hornbills, vultures and eagles are being hunted for bushmeat in Cameroon in much greater numbers than previously thought. Researchers estimate that people living around the proposed Ebo National Park in Cameroon’s Littoral region consumed an average of 29 hornbills and eight raptors per month. But they remain unsure how…
As much as 150 million rural households across the Global South may be involved in bushmeat hunting, new studies led by the University of Copenhagen find. Hunting is prevalent in the 24 countries surveyed but only providing a small contribution to households and mainly for subsistence rather than for trade. The studies thus contradict earlier…