Environmental groups in the Cape Verde islands praised authorities for the arrest of four men who are charged with killing protected sea turtles, the first such arrests since tougher wildlife legislation was enacted in 2017. Biosfera, an NGO based on São Vicente, thanked police working in Santo Antão who pulled…
Legislation to protect wildlife from poaching in the Okavango River Basin of southern Africa was passed this week by the United States House of Representatives, where members who sponsored the bill raised the alarm over ties between wildlife trafficking and terrorist organization finance. “This ecosystem spans three countries,” said bill…
Wildlife experts at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya were thrilled to hear the news Wednesday that scientists, working to save the nearly extinct northern white rhino, found a breakthrough in their search to develop an embryo suitable for assisted reproduction. Scientists at Avantea announced that their technique for developing…
There’s a new strategy to combat the illegal wildlife trade in Africa, and it relies on local communities and their role in curbing elephant, rhino and other wildlife trafficking. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, in partnership with the International Institute for International Development (IIED), rolled out a toolkit…
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced Monday the deaths of five park rangers and a staff driver killed during an ambush in the park’s central sector. “A sixth ranger was also wounded,” the park said in its statement, adding that additional information will be released as…
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…
Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino, has died following a series of age-related health complications and infections. The 45-year-old rhino has been at the center of global attention because unless science can perform a technological miracle, the northern white rhino – which once roamed East and Central Africa…
An initiative designed to protect environmental defenders around the world from threats, intimidation, harassment and murder was launched Tuesday by the United Nations Environment Program. The UN Environmental Rights Initiative was introduced in Geneva with guests on hand including John Knox, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment;…
In Botswana, nine elephants have died from electrocution that happened when they were trying to reach a pond, but accidentally knocked down a utility pole while trying to get past it to get to the water. Authorities with the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) say they went to the Dukwi community…
Alan Root, the award-winning British filmmaker who documented the beauty of the Serengeti and other African ecosystems and wildlife for decades, has died at age 80. Root, a resident of Kenya, traveled for years with his wife Joan as they worked together on films that helped to build an understanding…
Scientists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) say their new study results demonstrate a clear link between climate change and impacts on endangered African wild dogs who have fewer surviving pups in hotter temperatures. “When most people think about wildlife in a changing climate, they think of polar bears…
At least 200 environmental activists, NGO personnel, journalists and wildlife defenders died in 2016, and the work of rangers in the national parks of Democratic Republic of Congo continues to make the country among the seven deadliest in the world, the new “Defenders of the Earth” report from Global Witness…
Wildlife traffickers are exploiting the air transport sector to smuggle ivory, rhino horn and other protected animals and products on commercial airline flights, but there are ways to stop them. Those recommendations are found in a report, “Flying Under the Radar: Wildlife Trafficking in the Air Transport Sector,” produced as…