The COVID-19 pandemic has had a sobering impact on global nature conservation, with Africa and Asia the most severely affected, according to new research papers published in PARKS, the journal of the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas. More than half of protected areas in Africa reported that they were…
Authorities in Botswana say that toxic cyanobacteria, a kind of algae found in water sources, is behind the mysterious death of elephant herds earlier this year. Dr. Mmadi Reuben, the principal veterinary officer for the Department of Wildlife & National Parks, said Monday that the laboratory samples of water obtained…
Conservationists from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are among the recipients of this year’s prestigious Whitley Awards, announced Tuesday by the United Kingdom-based sponsor organization. Abdullahi Hussein Ali, above, is the founder of Kenya’s Hirola Conservation Programme, and works with pastoralists and local communities to protect the critically endangered antelope….
Thirteen park rangers and drivers have been killed in an ambush attack at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo Those killed ranged in ages between 23 and 40, according to updated totals from the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, while another four civilians died. The…
Lupita Nyong’o has met with plenty of accolades, and now the Kenyan-Mexican actor is receiving a new one for her commitment to wildlife protection. Nyong’o was named this year’s Wildlife Champion on Monday by WildAid, a global conservation organization with a mission to end the illegal wildlife trade and a…
In Geneva, the World Wildlife Conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) wrapped up on Wednesday with the adoption of a number of measures meant to protect wildlife and support global conservation. Among them is the revision of trade rules meant…
Three people have been named as short-list finalists for the 2019 Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa. The award, administered by the Tusk Trust in the UK, seeks to support wildlife and habitat protection. This year’s finalists include nominees from Uganda, Kenya and Senegal. Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka was the first…
It’s been one year since the death of Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino. He lived to be 45 before age-related health complications and infections claimed his life at Ol Pejeta, the conservancy in Nanyuki, Kenya, that Sudan called home. He left behind a daughter, Najin, and her…
An op-ed on maintaining protections against the illegal wildlife trade is getting lots of attention in the United States. It’s not just because of its stance against rollbacks from the President Donald Trump administration or the commitment to work with groups like the Elephant Project – but rather, because of…
Botswana has been named the best African country for safari adventures, narrowly edging out Tanzania for the first time in annual ratings conducted by SafariBookings.com. “Botswana – a study in contrasting landscapes, from the impossibly beautiful Kalahari Desert with its big skies to the watery wonderland of the famous Okavango…
There’s good news for the water-weary residents of Cape Town, where 4 million people living under severe-level water restrictions since February will see them ease at the end of September. That’s because Cape Town’s dam system has recovered to a 71.5 percent capacity level, up from the dry and dire…
The cut marks on ancient bones from a long-extinct giant bird show that humans arrived on Madagascar some 6,000 years before scientists previously thought, according to new findings from a research team led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The bones of the extinct Madagascar elephant bird, found in…
Madagascar is known for its breathtaking biodiversity, but it appears that conservation efforts there often are disconnected from the scientific research that might inform the decisions made by managers of the nation’s many protected areas. That’s according to a new study from a team at Bangor University in the UK,…
Toxic toads that arrived in Madagascar as an invasive species pose a threat to the island nation’s wildlife because – unlike animals in the toad’s native Asia – they’ve developed no gene mutations to protect them. That’s the conclusion of a team of European researchers who urge the government in…
More than two dozen people held by an armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo since March 3 were released on Friday, following successful negotiations supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The group of 27 people was on assignment at Kahuzi-Biega National Park with the…