People often worry about the risks involved of catching diseases from animals, such as rabies. However, the risk humans pose to animals is often only considered once a species becomes critically endangered. Mountain gorillas live in two isolated regions: the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) in Uganda and the Virungas, bounded by Uganda, Rwanda, and…
The African Conservation Foundation lost a dear friend and colleague recently as our co-founder John Parkin sadly suddenly passed away, aged 72. John Parkin was a gifted teacher and after taking early retirement he concentrated on developing his strategic information management skills and passing on this knowledge to organisations and conservationists in Africa and elsewhere….
The Rwanda Development Board’s (RDB) decision to double price of Rwanda gorilla permits from USD 750 to USD1500 has been received with mixed feelings from local and international tour operators, conservationists and also the people of Rwanda. Many looked at the gorilla permits increase as a gamble that is bound to fail in the near…
Liz Alden Wily, Leiden University The still new African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has issued a landmark judgement for marginalised communities across Africa. It ruled that the Kenyan government violated the rights of the Mau Ogiek people by evicting them from their ancestral land in the Mau Forest complex. Before taking their case…
Well over 7 000 rhino have been lost to the hands of poachers in Africa in the last decade and the continent continues to lose nearly three rhinos per day. The pressure on those who seek to protect and conserve Africa’s rhino has never been greater. In South Africa, while poaching is down in Kruger…
Premier online education platform MasterClass announced today that Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and one of the world’s most renowned naturalists and conservationists, will offer her first-ever online class. Pre-enrollment for Goodall’s class begins today at www.masterclass.com/jg. For over 55 years, Goodall has dedicated her life’s work and studies to animal sciences…
A King penguin – rare to South African oceans – is currently under the professional care of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) after being discovered in arrested moult on Hout Bay’s main beach on Thursday, 27 April 2017. SANCCOB was notified of the penguin’s presence by a retired marine…
Why is the illicit rhino horn trade escalating? In South Africa, domestic trade of rhinoceros horn, forbidden since 2008, is about to become legal again. On April 7 2017, a court effectively overturned the national ban. This controversial move was welcomed by commercial rhino breeders, who argue that legalising safe, sustainable horn removal from living…
Hunting is a major driver of biodiversity loss, but a systematic large-scale estimate of hunting-induced defaunation was lacking until now. In a new study published in Science, an international team of ecologists and environmental scientists warns that bird and mammal populations decline sharply in zones of 7 to 40 kilometers around villages and roads where…
Arend de Haas, African Conservation Foundation, University of Buea The highland rainforests of South West Cameroon are among the oldest forests on the continent. They comprise the richest flora and fauna in continental tropical Africa. The area is one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. The region encompasses high levels of unique, as well…