South African police chief General Khehla Sithole has pledged a comprehensive investigation after the “senseless” killing of decorated anti-poaching officer Lt Col Leroy Brewer. Brewer, 49, was driving to work in Mbombela around 6:30 am on Tuesday, March 17, when he was ambushed and shot by an undetermined number of gunmen…
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…
At least 164 people across the globe were killed in 2018 while seeking to protect their land, water and other environmental rights, according to a Global Witness report released this week. That works out to more than three people each week, with the greatest losses in the Philippines and the…
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…
Sunday is United Nations World Wildlife Day, with much celebration of the elephant and rhino, the parrot and pangolin, and the marine life that is this year’s UN focus. It’s also a day to remember the wildlife defenders who risk and too often lose their lives in the fight against…
The Chinese government distanced itself on Wednesday from the illegal wildlife trafficking of one of its citizens, who was sentenced this week in a Tanzanian court to 15 years in prison for smuggling almost two tons of elephant-tusk ivory. The trafficking involved ivory from at least 430 elephants. The 2015…
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…
People may think that African wildlife is already facing enough threat from climate change or illegal trafficking, but the continent’s preserves are facing up to USD$2 billion in funding shortfalls that threaten protected areas. That’s according to Peter Lindsey, director of the Lion Recovery Fund and co-author of new research…
Angola’s Ministry of Environment is launching a new wildlife conservation initiative to assess the impact of poaching, and strengthen legal protections and enforcement. Aristófanes Fontes, the director of the National Institute of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas, tells state news agency ANGOP that national training, a licensing program and a law…
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…