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…
Across Laikipia County in central Kenya, large wild herbivores, including endangered species like the reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra and African wild dog, coexist alongside rapidly growing numbers of people and associated livestock. A Biological Conservation study published this month reveals that whether wild herbivore species thrive or decline in Laikipia is linked mainly to the abundance of livestock…
GUINEA, WEST AFRICA – The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA)—the largest alliance of wildlife centers in Africa—has announced the launch of Action for Chimpanzees (AFC), a program to curtail the illicit trade of western chimpanzees for bushmeat and the pet trade, and prevent their impending extinction. By forging collaboration in West Africa and worldwide, AFC combines policy with direct action…
Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration reveal that the number of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in the 340-square kilometer transboundary protected forest have increased to 459 from an estimated 400 in 2011 This announcement brings the global wild population of mountain gorillas to 1,063 when combined with the published…
Over the past few decades, South Africa has seen a dramatic conversion from livestock or crop farming to wildlife ranching – known locally as game farming. The result has been a rapid rise in areas enclosed by game fences and a high demand for wildlife. Animals are increasingly being traded privately and at wildlife auctions….
Social networking, even between competing species, plays a much bigger role in ecology than anyone previously thought, according to three biologists at the University of California, Davis. “There’s mounting evidence that different species pay attention to each other in the wild, especially if they share predators,” said Mike Gil, postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis. “The…
The Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ZNSPCA) has been denied access to the country’s captive elephants, reportedly about to be sent to captive facilities in China. This suggests that welfare concerns are being ignored. The ZNSCPA is constitutionally permitted to access any part of the country if they suspect cruelty…
Alley Cat Rescue Protects African wildcats in Kruger National Park through TNR. Six hundred free-roaming cats have been sterilized and vaccinated by Alley Cat Rescue‘s international partnership to protect African wildcats in South Africa. The project aims to protect vulnerable populations of genetically pure African wildcats (AWCs) from hybridization by sterilizing free-roaming domestic and stray cats…
There are only two northern white rhinos left worldwide, both of them female. Saving this representative of megafauna from extinction seems impossible under these circumstances, yet an international consortium of scientists and conservationists just completed a procedure that could enable assisted reproduction techniques to do just that. On August 22, 2019, a team of veterinarians…
Gorillas have more complex social structures than previously thought, from lifetime bonds forged between distant relations, to “social tiers” with striking parallels to traditional human societies, according to a new study. The findings suggest that the origins of our own social systems stretch back to the common ancestor of humans and gorillas, rather than arising…