Category: Wildlife Trade

We must complete these three projects for animals – before the year is out

With just a few days left until the year ends, we are reaching out for your help one last time in 2025. This year, animal-lovers like you helped us achieve outstanding victories for wild animals in Africa, Asia and beyond. But there are still a few wildlife projects we’d love to complete before the year is out. And, with your help, we will. While we were able to provide a lifeline to these precious and vulnerable animals, there are a few projects we were unable to fully fund. In the Nigerian city of Lekki, we are helping to establish the country’s first pangolin nursery and intensive-care unit (ICU) with our partner, Greenfingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative (GWCI) – but we are short $3,000 (£2,300).  This vital facility will help care for endangered pangolins saved from the country’s horrific illegal trade. Without intensive medical care, these rescued infants and their mothers will not survive. We are so close to completion – we just need one final push. In Laos – a key hub for the illegal wildlife trade in Asia – we are desperate to equip our partner, Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife (LCTW), with a high-tech drone. It is vital in the fight against increasingly cunning poachers. To do so, we must raise a final $5,200 (£3,200). In Alldays, South Africa, three lions have finally found safety after being saved from the Ukraine war. Rescued by our partner, Wild Animal Rescue Centre (WARC), and now in the care of the LionWatch Project, these animals can look forward to a lifetime of peace in a spacious African sanctuary – but the one thing they need is a sustainable waterhole.  With your help, we will install an energy-efficient water system in their sanctuary area – particularly necessary as South Africa enters its sweltering summer season. We are short $1,700 (£1,300) on this project. Make your final donation for 2025 count. Help us complete these life-saving projects for wild animals in Africa and Asia. Through our donors’ generosity this year, we helped save and improve the lives of thousands of wild animals around the world, by: funding critical anti-poaching drones and AI-powered camera traps to help protect endangered animals – and prosecute criminals – in Southern Africa… …relocating three traumatized lions from the frontlines of the Ukraine war to a safe, beautiful, permanent sanctuary in South Africa… …rescuing critically endangered tortoises from deadly flood waters in Madagascar… …providing solar-powered water pumps to desperately thirsty elephants in drought-ravaged Zimbabwe… …and so much more. But unfinished projects, when animals need help, badly trouble us. Large or small, any amount you donate will help us finish 2025 strong for the animals – animals who will be endlessly grateful for your help in an increasingly hostile world. Please help get us all the way there – before the end of year.

Shameful testing on bodies of living animals goes on in Hong Kong

Article written by Trevor Bailey Originally published by Hong Kong Buzz, 12 December 2025 To their shame, all universities in Hong Kong use animals for testing — just look at their websites. Mice, rats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, goats, and ferrets are being caged in laboratories, and their bodies are exploited for research. But the Financial Times said the need for testing on the bodies of innocent creatures is much reduced now. Growing miniature human organs in a test tube and modelling human biology with AI mean many experiments need no longer be conducted on animals. Briefly, a look at what is happening locally: The University of Hong Kong has its Centre for Comparative Medicine Research, which breeds animals for medical research. HKU’s CCMR has colonies of mice and rats, rabbits, pigs, goats and guinea pigs that their faculty and students can experiment upon. Exploitation of animals is happening in the HKU at scale. From the HKU website: “The CCMR encourages standing orders for regular supply (of animals), which helps ensure continuous availability.” It goes on: “Orders for large quantities of animals with narrow specifications … should be submitted well in advance, as setting up specific breeding colonies takes time.” And more: “If the required strain is not available in-house, the CCMR can import animals from overseas suppliers . . .” This “service” is limited to “authorized users” who have approval from the HKU Committee on the Use of Live Animals in Testing and Research. (BUZZ reached out to HKU for this article but had no response). City University of Hong Kong has its LARU, which “provides centralized animal care” for its life sciences faculty and students. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology operates its Animal and Plant Care Facility for animal-based study. The Chinese University of Hong Kong has its LASEC, which “supplies animals and ensures high welfare standards.” These include mice, rats, hamsters, shrews, pigs, goats, ferrets, guinea pigs and chickens. The latest FT Weekend includes an editorial on animal testing. “The heart-rending expression of a baby macaque in a lab brings home the moral urgency of change.” Hear, hear! Globally, governments and regulators have made encouraging commitments to phase out animal testing, the FT says. But cruel practices still go on. “Toxicity testing for an antibody product can involve more than 100 monkeys over six months. Often this cruelty happens despite the later banning of the product for other safety reasons.” In the UK last year there were 2.64 million scientific procedures involving animals. Worldwide an estimated 100 million animals are used in testing. “Biology and electronics are coming together in models of human systems to test if drug candidates are safe and effective, e.g., through organ-on-chip technology,” The FT says. “Scientists are also creating increasingly sophisticated digital twins — computer representations of the human body — to predict how people will respond to diseases and treatments. . . . Everyone involved in life sciences should work to ensure the new technological opportunities to replace (animals) are used as far as possible.”

Lions are being mutilated by poachers in Zimbabwe

A few months ago, a horrifying poaching incident shook Victoria Falls, the famed tourist town in Zimbabwe. The mutilated remains of a lioness were found with her flesh stripped from her bones, and her head and paws viciously hacked off. The mother’s death left her three nine-month-old cubs to fend for themselves – and we knew we needed to act immediately before the vulnerable cubs, and their older siblings, were targeted by poachers. The best way to protect them is to install AI-powered camera traps. These camera traps are highly-effective in the fight against poachers. They detect human movement in real time and send instant alerts to anti-poaching units. Teams are immediately dispatched to stop the poachers before they can lay cruel snares or kill a helpless creature. For adequate protection, the cubs need 10 camera traps. We have already funded five – now we need a final push to fund the remaining five. We are halfway to our goal – so close to ensuring comprehensive protection for the cubs. This year alone, using its existing camera traps, Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit (VFAPU) rescued six animals from snares, removed 97 snares, detected 49 incursions, and arrested 11 poachers. Our team patrols a vast area covering 124,000 acres (50,000 hectares). The more camera traps we can install, the more animals we can protect. Please donate as much as you can today.

Africa: The Last Great Bulls – Inside Botswana’s Silent Struggle Over Its Elephants

Article written by Adam Cruise Originally published by All Africa, 2 December 2025 Cape Town — When Dr Mike Chase banks the small survey plane over northern Botswana’s mopane woodlands, he can see the country’s wildlife story written in the dust below. Carcasses — some months old, others more recent — lie scattered along ancient elephant paths, mute evidence of drought, hunting and poaching. Farther ahead, the shadows of living elephants stretch across the floodplains of the Chobe. But the aerial view tells a different story — one that challenges years of political messaging and sparks a contentious debate over how one of Africa’s largest elephant populations should be managed. Chase, who leads Elephants Without Borders (EWB), has spent two decades studying Botswana’s elephants from the air. His latest report  , with co-author, Scott Schlossberg, shows irrefutably that the country’s hunting programme — reinstated in 2019 and expanded since — is based on flawed assumptions, outdated models and an incomplete picture of the pressures elephants now face. “ Botswana’s crisis is not one of too many elephants — it is one of too little understanding,” he says. “We don’t have an elephant problem. We have an information problem. Everyone has an opinion, yet too few rely on evidence. Too many opinions. Too little truth, and the science capable of guiding us is too often left unused.” A Population That Isn’t Growing — But Is Changing For more than a decade, Botswana’s government has stubbornly maintained that the country is home to too many elephants and that their growing numbers are putting pressure on people and landscapes. Yet aerial surveys conducted in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 show a remarkably consistent figure: about 130,000 elephants in the north, which holds 94% of the country’s population, contradicting the claims of population growth. The new EWB report confirms what scientists have been observing quietly for years — that this number has not risen significantly in over a decade. Instead, another trend has emerged: carcass ratios, a key indicator of mortality, have been steadily increasing. Higher carcass ratios signal a rise in deaths from poaching, drought, disease or hunting. Between late 2023 and mid-2025 alone, EWB documented at least 120 poached elephants, almost all of them adult males. The pattern reflects an earlier surge in 2017–2018, when up to 400 elephants were believed to have been killed. The scale of these deaths matters not just for the numbers themselves, but for the type of elephants being lost. The Selective Pressure on the Last Great Bulls Botswana reopened trophy hunting in 2019, issuing quotas that have increased annually. This year’s quota of 431 elephants represents about 0.3% of the population — a figure defenders of hunting often describe as insignificant. Chase argues that this statistic obscures the real ecological impact. “ The quota of 410 elephants is often shrugged off as ‘only 0.3% of the population.’ But this statistic is dangerously misleading,” he says. “The real threat is not how many elephants are killed; it is which elephants are being removed. This is not random offtake. Trophy hunters and ivory poachers selectively target the rarest animals in Botswana: the last great bulls, the oldest males, that carry the largest tusks. These elephants represent only a tiny fraction of the population.” Older bulls, 40 to 60 years old, carry tusks large enough to attract high-end hunting clients. They represent a tiny percentage of the population — perhaps 1–3% — and play an outsized role in elephant society. They father most calves due to female mate choice, teach younger bulls’ social behaviour and seasonal movements, and act as cultural memory keepers for drought-hard landscapes. Modelling in the EWB report shows that hunting at current levels could halve the number of bulls aged 50 and above and reduce bulls aged 30 and older by nearly a quarter compared with a scenario without hunting. These declines are amplified when drought or poaching is added into the equation. Critically, the government’s justifications of hunting quotas do not take drought or poaching into account. Climate and Conflict: A Changing Landscape Northern Botswana is scorched ever more frequently by drought. Climate projections for southern Africa indicate that severe dry seasons could occur in up to 40% of years by 2080. During drought, elephants crowd around diminishing water sources, increasing the likelihood of conflict with communities and disease transmission. Drought also affects the long-term structure of elephant populations. Calves and reproductive females suffer higher mortality during dry years, reducing the number of future males that will eventually reach trophy size. When hunting and poaching selectively remove older males at the same time, the demographic pyramid begins to narrow from both ends. Hunting Blocks as “Sink” Landscapes One of the report’s more striking findings is that many hunting concessions function as “sink” areas — landscapes where elephants die faster than they can be naturally replaced. The only reason these areas still produce huntable bulls, the researchers argue, is that males disperse from protected areas like Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve. These dispersal patterns, however, may be changing. Survey teams noted shifts in elephant distribution between 2018 and 2022, suggesting that some elephants are beginning to avoid hunting areas altogether. If that trend continues, the supply of older bulls will diminish regardless of how large the overall population is. Old Models and Missing Data The EWB report scrutinizes the scientific basis for Botswana’s hunting quotas. It finds that the primary model used by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks was developed in 2011, relying on survival rates that were not based on field data and assuming steady population growth without accounting for density dependence — a key factor in any large mammal population. Density dependence means that as an elephant population gets larger and more crowded, natural pressures like food scarcity, drought, and competition automatically slow its growth. The model also assumed annual elephant emigration to neighbouring countries at levels not supported by survey data. These assumptions, the report argues, make the model unsuitable

Unsustainable elephant hunting is a growing economic risk for Botswana, says report

Article written by Don Pinnock Originally published by Daily Maverick, 1 December 2025 When poaching amplifies the effect of higher hunting quotas, it is bad news for the future of Botswana’s elephant population and its contribution to the economy, according to research just in. Botswana – home to the world’s largest remaining population of African elephants – is losing its most valuable wildlife asset at a rate far higher than officials have acknowledged, according to a major new report released by Elephants Without Borders (EWB). Combined with an aggressive trophy-hunting quota and rising mortality from hunting, drought and human-elephant conflict, the country’s elephant management system is entering what researchers describe as a dangerous period of biological and economic fragility. Adding to this, elephant poaching in northern Botswana is now occurring with “alarming regularity”, targeting the nation’s biggest and most economically significant bulls. According to one of the authors, Scott Schlossberg, “poachers and trophy hunters are both targeting the same elephants: older bulls with big tusks. So poaching directly affects hunting by reducing the number of bulls available to hunters. In the long run, controlling poaching is one of the best ways to ensure the sustainability of legal hunting.” EWB’s population simulations demonstrate that: When hunting quotas are high, the population has no buffer to absorb spikes in poaching, drought mortality, or human–elephant conflict; Even minimal poaching deeply depresses trophy sizes; and A decade-long poaching outbreak of around 500 elephants a year reduces trophy size for up to 50 years. Unfortunately, says the report, the monitoring system used by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) relies primarily on tracking the tusk sizes of hunted elephants. This approach detects declines a decade too late – after irreversible depletion has already taken place. In economic terms the findings are a warning: Botswana could be losing an estimated BWP2.5-billion (about R3-billion) every year from elephant poaching – losses that fall disproportionately on rural communities, tourism operators and the national treasury. When numbers of bulls become depleted, says Schlossberg, it directly affects the hunting industry. “They have fewer bulls to hunt, and hunters are forced to take younger bulls with smaller tusks. That sort of change can impact the hunting outfits’ bottom line and the revenue that Botswana receives from hunting fees.” Poachers target old bulls with big tusks In Botswana, poachers select for the biggest tusks – and therefore the oldest males. In EWB’s datasets, the average age of poached elephants is around 41 years, compared to 29 years in elephants dying of natural causes. These old bulls are the country’s biological crown jewels: They carry the largest, most impressive tusks, crucial for high-value photographic tourism; They serve as leaders in male elephant societies, guiding younger bulls through landscapes and migrations; and They are disproportionately important for mating success. Losing such bulls has cascading effects – not only on tourism revenue and genetic health but on elephant behaviour. When old males are removed, younger bulls can become more aggressive and less disciplined. Collision course with science While poaching escalates, Botswana has sharply increased its trophy-hunting quota. After lifting the hunting moratorium in 2019, the 2025 quota rose to 410–431 elephants, equivalent to 0.29–0.31% of the national population.In 2019 the elephant quota was 290. By 2025 it had risen to 431 – an increase of 48.6%. The assumption was that this level of hunting would be biologically harmless to a population of roughly 140,000 elephants. But this statistic is dangerously misleading. According to one of the report’s authors, Dr Mike Chase, “the real threat is not how many elephants are killed, it is which elephants are being removed. “Trophy hunting doesn’t remove a random sample of elephants. It disproportionately targets the largest, oldest bulls, usually over 40 years old, the carriers of Botswana’s biggest tusks and strongest genetic traits. These elephants represent only a tiny fraction of the population.” Trophy hunting also does not occur across the whole elephant range. It is concentrated in specific hunting blocks that together hold only about 45,000 elephants. Within those areas, the effective harvest rate reaches 0.9% – almost double the rate that the government itself previously declared “biologically safe”. EWB’s modelling shows that at a 0.9% harvest rate, older bulls disappear entirely within 25 years. Tusk sizes shrink steadily until hunters are forced to take bulls that barely meet minimum trophy thresholds. The government’s justification for these high quotas is based heavily on a 2011 study that the EWB report identifies as seriously flawed. EWB alleges that the 2011 study used invented survival rates, ignored density-dependent population dynamics (the way an elephant population’s growth rate changes in response to its own density) and failed to incorporate known ecological processes. Bull immigration One of the report’s most striking findings is the extent to which hunting zones in Botswana are population sinks – areas that lose more bulls to hunting than they can naturally produce. Trophy hunting relies on a constant flow of big bulls migrating out of protected areas such as Chobe and the Okavango Delta into the hunting block. The latest quota allows for 84 elephant to be hunted in blocks bordering immediately on the Okavango Delta and 75 to be hunted in blocks bordering Chobe National Park, of which 30 may be hunted along the Chobe River itself. But because trophy hunting targets the biggest and the best, it will become more difficult to find trophy-quality bulls with big tusks. Early survey data suggests that elephants may be starting to avoid hunting areas, a behavioural shift that would undermine the entire hunting model. If bull immigration slows, hunting operators could face a rapid collapse of trophy quality within a few years. The poaching problem The report shows a consistent trail of ivory-poaching interceptions from 2023 to 2025, exposing organised international syndicates operating with troubling efficiency. On 23 November 2023, authorities seized 26 elephant tusks weighing 652kg, the equivalent of more than 10 large bulls. Three days later, another batch of 15 tusks was intercepted, followed by nine

Rhinoceros horns worth $1.13m and other animal parts seized at Changi Airport in record haul

Article written by Koh Xing Ying Originally published by Asia One, 18 November 2025 A record 35.7 kg of rhinoceros horns, along with about 150 kg of other animal parts, was seized during a routine transit inspection at Changi Airport on Nov 8 (Saturday). The 20 pieces of rhino horn, valued at about $1.13 million and found in four cargo parcels, were en route from South Africa to Vientiane, Laos, the National Parks Board (NParks) and Sats said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Nov 18). Other parts discovered included bones, teeth, and claws.  Senior director of wildlife trade at NParks Dr. Anna Wong said this seizure of rhino horns was the largest to date, adding that most people purchase rhino horns because they are believed to have medicinal value. “This is our largest seizure ever, surpassing the seizure we had in 2022, which was 34.7 kg,” she said. Vengadeswaran Letchumanan, a SATS cargo acceptance staff member, recounted how he discovered the suspicious package. “I was inspecting the cargo for any damage. When I got closer, there was a strong, unpleasant smell, as if something had decomposed,” said the 30-year-old, who has been working with the cargo handler for three years. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the contents were inconsistent with those declared on the airway bill, which listed the shipment as “furniture fittings.” Vengadeswaran then alerted his duty manager, who then activated Sats Security Services to conduct a detailed inspection. One package contained what appeared to be animal parts. The remaining three cargo parcels were subsequently X-rayed and found to contain similar contents. The Airport Police Division of the Singapore Police Force was also alerted, and the items were subsequently seized by NParks. Kuah Boon Kiam, senior vice-president of Sats cargo services, said that the trade in illegal wildlife is multinational, with air transport being a common mode of shipment. He added that training is crucial in enabling staff to detect such shipments. “Part of their training requires them to focus on how to handle animals as well as animal parts. It also teaches them how to detect false declarations of cargo. And this is very important, because it affects aircraft safety,” said Kuah.  Horns from white rhinos During a tour of the center for wildlife forensics, the media was given a demonstration of how animal species are identified through testing. Based on species identification carried out at the center, the 20 pieces of rhinoceros horn were confirmed to be from white rhinos, a species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). NParks noted that species identification of the other animal parts is ongoing. Dr. Wong said, “As a signatory to CITES, Singapore takes a zero-tolerance stance against illegal wildlife trade, and we are very committed to combating illegal wildlife trade. Please do not purchase items that have wildlife specimens, especially endangered species.” The earlier major haul was on Oct 4, 2022, when NParks’ K9 Unit detected and inspected two pieces of baggage at Changi Airport, uncovering 20 pieces of rhino horn weighing 34.7 kg. The owner of the bags, a South African national, was immediately arrested. He pleaded guilty on Jan 26, 2024, and was sentenced to 24 months in jail. Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, the maximum penalties for trading Cites-listed species transiting through Singapore without a valid CITES permit are a fine of up to $200,000 for each specimen and/or imprisonment of up to eight years.

Not only lionesses: another part of the animals was seized from a private zoo in Khmelnytskyi

Article written by UNN Kyiv Originally published by UNN, 21 November 2025 Prosecutors, together with animal rights activists, seized some animals from a private zoo in Khmelnytskyi. Two lionesses, a fox, a raccoon dog, and a badger were transferred to the Center for the Rescue of Wild Animals. Animal rights activists, together with prosecutors, seized some of the animals from a private zoo in Khmelnytskyi, from where lionesses had escaped. The issue regarding the rest is being resolved, UNN reports with reference to the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office. As part of the pre-trial investigation, prosecutors, together with representatives of UAnimals, the Association of Animal Protection Organizations of Ukraine (AZOU), and the Wild Animals Rescue Center, seized some of the animals from the shelter. Two lionesses, a fox, a raccoon dog, and a badger were transferred to the Wild Animals Rescue Center today. They will stay there temporarily until permanent homes with appropriate conditions are found for them. – the message says. According to the prosecutor’s office, the issue of placing other animals remaining in the shelter in favorable conditions is currently being resolved. Recall On November 15 of this year, two lionesses escaped from their enclosure, resulting in the death of animals that were in adjacent premises. One lioness was found on the territory of the shelter; the other was searched for throughout the day. The owner of the shelter was notified of suspicion, and a preventive measure in the form of round-the-clock house arrest was chosen.

Advocates want to give bears rights in South Lake Tahoe sanctuary city proposal

Article written by Tara Campbell Originally published by ABC 7 News, 21 November 2025 After a tense summer of bear break-ins in South Lake Tahoe, wildlife advocates say it’s time for a new approach to try and keep both its beloved black bears and people safe. “What we’d like to do is make the City of South Lake Tahoe a city where bears would be given some rights,” Ann Bryant, the Bear League Executive Director. Next month, the nonprofit plans to present a proposal to the city council to designate South Lake Tahoe as a sanctuary city for bears. The move comes as one video after the next surfaces of bears getting into everything from trash to homes and vehicles. This summer, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife clashed with residents trying to protect a mama bear and her cub, affectionately known as ‘Hope’ and ‘Bounce,’ after officials announced plans to euthanize Hope, citing several break-in attempts. “So what we’re thinking is, people would need to do a little bit more to avoid having a problem in the first place. And there are many things they can do, and the Bear League helps them with that. And so does the Department of Wildlife, and so does the police,” said Bryant, noting bringing those entities together is the key to the sanctuary city proposal. “Then instead of just the Department of Wildlife being the only agency or the only group that says, okay, he has to die, then we have a governing board and we sit down and we look at this practically. And what did the bear do, and what did the people do to avoid it? And what can be done to avoid it happening again? And then we decide together, kind of like a trial, in effect, you know, we give the bear a fair shake.” The Department of Fish and Wildlife says it’s committed to supporting a thriving black bear population and will continue prioritizing non-lethal methods of control.

Conviction Shows Nigeria’s Efforts Against Pangolin Trafficking are Paying Off, Officials Say

Article written by Nathalie Bertrams Originally published by OCCRP, 19 November 2025 Pangolins have the regrettable distinction of being the world’s most trafficked mammals. But the recent conviction of a man in Nigeria — formerly the world’s hub for smuggling the scaly ant eaters — shows progress against wildlife trafficking. Nigeria’s recent conviction of a man for illegally selling a metric ton of pangolin scales was welcomed this week by government and NGO officials, who are hailing better protection against the trafficking of the threatened scaly anteaters. Steven Chinonso — also known as Chukwunonso Stephen Obunadike — was convicted by the Federal High Court in Lagos on November 7 of conspiracy, unlawful possession, and the illegal sale of pangolin scales and sentenced to one year in prison. The verdict “sends a clear message to the world that we do not encourage or tolerate those who participate in the illicit trade in endangered species. We understand the ecological value of making sure that these animals are protected,” Timi Bomodi, Deputy Comptroller General for Nigeria’s Customs Service (NCS), told OCCRP. Pangolins, found across Africa and Asia, are the world’s most trafficked mammals. With the four Asian species hunted to near extinction, the African Wildlife Foundation estimates that around 2.7 million pangolins are trafficked from Africa’s rainforests each year. Because their survival is threatened, the trade in pangolins or their scales is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Now, stronger law enforcement appears to be reducing the smuggling of pangolins from Nigeria, which used to be the center of their trafficking. A joint operation by the NSC and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), a nongovernmental organization, seized around 1 metric ton of pangolin scales from Chinonso. Many of the scales came from other African countries and were destined for Asia, where they are popular in traditional medicine. The conviction of Chinonso was hailed as a “major step forward in disrupting the wildlife trafficking networks operating in West Africa” by Olivia Swaak-Goldman, Executive Director of the WJC. “It demonstrates that traffickers who once operated with impunity in Nigeria — previously the world’s largest hub for pangolin trafficking — are now being held accountable, sending a strong signal that wildlife crime carries real consequences,” she told OCCRP. “Increasingly, the risks of engaging in wildlife trafficking in Nigeria now outweigh the potential rewards.” She noted that Nigeria’s newly passed Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill will soon introduce stronger penalties for trafficking, including sentences of up to 10 years and fines of 12 million naira (approximately $8,300), further bolstering the country’s ability to combat wildlife crime.” The case against Chinoso is part of a broader investigation by NSC and WJC into Lagos-based wildlife trading networks, which has so far resulted in 3.7 metric tons of pangolin scales seized and five arrests, with the remaining accused still before the courts. “The conviction of this trafficker marks a major victory for biodiversity conservation in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole,” said Denis Mahonghol, the Central Africa director of wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, who estimated the one metric ton of seized scales corresponded to 2,008 individual pangolins. “It disrupts a critical link in the wildlife trafficking network, reduces immediate pressure on pangolin populations, and signals Nigerian authorities’ strong commitment to prosecuting wildlife crimes,” he told OCCRP. But TRAFFIC’s Mahonghol and Customs officer Bomodi noted enforcement should focus more on the demand side of pangolins. “Without demand, there won’t be a supply,” Bomodi said. “So it is important that while we do our bit here in Nigeria and Africa in particular, that those of you in Europe and in Asia […] work towards exposing the cartel that encourages the trade in this endangered species. That would really help us.”

War could wipe out critically endangered gorillas forever

A few months ago, we reached out for much-needed help: critically endangered gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were at risk of being wiped out forever. Caught between warring groups, they were inching closer to doom. With our supporters’ help, we raised half the funds we needed to provide critical monitoring tools to rangers protecting these vulnerable animals. With your help today, we can raise the remaining amount and help ensure the continued survival of these precious animals.  Here’s what you need to know. Conflict could wipe out the last of the DRC’s already critically endangered gorillas. The DRC has endured decades of conflict and broken peace deals. This year, war erupted again, leaving millions of people displaced and thousands dead. Peace deals have stalled and fighting continues unabated.  The war has led to a surge in poaching. Driven by desperation, starving people are hunting wildlife, and this puts the region’s iconic gorillas – all of which are listed as endangered or critically endangered – at grave risk. Amid the chaos of war, critically endangered gorillas face a terrifying fight for survival, because they are at risk of being POACHED for their meat. We are working with The Gorilla Organization (TGO), which protects gorillas and their habitats in the Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. Recently, gorilla rangers have battled increasingly hostile conditions, making their already dangerous work even more perilous. To protect the animals, they’ve been forced to dodge armed militia and navigate a terrifying, war-torn landscape – yet the rangers continue their vital work despite the lethal dangers all around them.  Rangers desperately need satellite communication devices if they have any hope of protecting the last of the DRC’s gorillas. In a crisis like this, reliable communication is critical to saving animal lives. It allows teams to alert one another to situations that could put gorillas at risk, and to coordinate their efforts effectively, intercepting hunters and poachers, and protecting wild animals.  But much of the country’s telephone networks are disrupted, and communication is one of the biggest challenges for the team, leaving many helpless gorillas at grave risk of being killed. A few months ago, with your help, we raised half the amount needed for satellite phones. Today, we are asking for your help to raise the outstanding funds.  If the gorilla rangers have any hope of protecting these vulnerable animals, we MUST equip them with satellite phones. If we can raise the outstanding $2,800 (£2,200), this is exactly what we will do. These devices are designed to provide reliable communication even in the most extreme and remote environments, as well as offering GPS location tracking and an SOS alert button. Some species of gorilla have declined 80% since the 1990s, placing them on the critically endangered list and on the fast-track to extinction. The chaos has enabled poachers in the country to intensify their illegal activities, while driving people to kill gorillas for food. Unless we act, the conflict could easily undo more than 30 years of conservation work.  Without help, gorillas will be pushed closer and closer to the brink of extinction – until it’s too late to save them. Please donate right away and help us do all we can to help protect this fragile species.

European wildcats could be seen again in England for first time in 100 years

Article written by Steven Morris Originally published by The Guardian, 18 November 2025 Two-year study finds area of woodland in Devon to be ideal habitat to support a controlled release of the creatures The prospect of European wildcats prowling in southwest England has taken a leap forward after a two-year study concluded a reintroduction was feasible – and most local people were positive about the idea. Felis silvestris has been absent from mid-Devon for more than a century, but the area has been judged to have the right kind of habitat to support a population of the wildcat. The area has the woodland important for providing cover and den sites while its low intensity grasslands and scrubland create good hunting terrain. According to the study, the wildcats would not be harmful to humans or to farm livestock and pets. It envisages between 40 and 50 animals being released, though not before 2027. There may be some hitches. Interbreeding between wildcats and feral/domestic cats is an issue for wildcat populations in Scotland, threatening the genetic security of the species. For a reintroduction project in the southwest to succeed, the study says there would have to be cooperation with local communities and cat welfare organizations to support a neutering program for feral and domestic cats. The two-year investigation was carried out by the South West Wildcat Project – a partnership of organizations led by Devon Wildlife Trust, which includes Forestry England and the Derek Gow Consultancy, which works on “rewilding” projects. It looked at the effects on people, communities, other wildlife, farming livestock, and pets and examined the long-term sustainability of a wildcat population after reintroduction. European wildcats – historically also known as “woodcats” – were once widespread in the southwest of England. Centuries of persecution, plus the loss and fragmentation of their favored habitats, resulted in them disappearing across much of their range. The southwest’s last wildcats are thought to have survived on Exmoor until the mid-19th century. Cath Jeffs, southwest wildcat project lead at Devon Wildlife Trust, said, “It’s exciting that this report suggests wildcats could be part of the region’s nature once again. The return of this critically endangered species would be another step in the restoration of our native wildlife and will help rebalance local ecosystems. “Wildcats were once a widespread part of our countryside, and today they remain an important part of woodlands throughout continental Europe, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. “A lot of work remains to be done before the first wildcats could be released in the southwest. Honest and open dialogue with stakeholders will be key.” The UK’s only remaining wildcats live in the Highlands of Scotland. Despite being given protected status in 1988, wildcats are now classed as at risk of extinction, with as few as 115 individuals remaining in the wild. The Southwest Wildcat Project was established in 2023 to investigate the feasibility of a reintroduction to the region. Its report, published on Tuesday, concludes: The southwest contains enough woodland cover connected by other suitable habitat to support a sustainable wildcat population. Two surveys were conducted by researchers at the University of Exeter. In one, 71% of 1,000 people liked the idea of the wildcat’s return. In the other, 83% of 1,425 who responded expressed positivity. Wildcats pose no significant risk to existing endangered wildlife populations such as bats and dormice. Wildcat diets concentrate on widespread, commonly found species, with 75% of their prey consisting of small mammals, including voles, rats, wood mice, and rabbits. Wildcats pose no threat to people, domestic pets or farming livestock such as lambs. Commercial and domestic poultry can be protected from wildcats with the same precautions deployed for existing predators such as foxes. There is a wildcat captive breeding program in Britain, with the studbook managed by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. If they were to be re-introduced in Devon, cats would be selected from this cohort and brought to breeding enclosures. It would be their offspring that may be released.

These lions are safe from war – but now, they need water

When lion cubs Zorya and Mira dragged their tiny, broken bodies through the wreckage of war on the Ukraine frontline, it seemed almost impossible that these terrified, severely injured infants would ever find safety. We helped care for them for over a year in a temporary Ukrainian shelter – and recently, our supporters helped us get them to safety in South Africa. Now they need your help to not just survive, but to thrive. Credit: WARC No-one knows how the infant cubs, both with their back legs broken, ended up frightened and alone on the frontlines of the Ukraine war. We do know they were just two of many victims of animal abandonment. Thanks to the generosity of animal-lovers like you and the help of our partners, Wild Animal Rescue Center (WARC) in Ukraine and the LionWatch Project in South Africa, we achieved something truly extraordinary for the lions: financing medical care to heal their wounds and, recently, evacuating them from the war zone. While their escape was the crucial first step, it’s only the beginning of what they need to truly thrive. From a Ukrainian zoo to the turmoil of war, Cleopatra, Mira and Zorya are now adjusting to their new lives on African soil. Credit: WARC (Left) and ASI/Luke Kruyt (Right) Safety is the bare minimum. It doesn’t mean their needs are over. Far from it. The lions are safe now, but Zorya and Mira have one vital need and are counting on your support: they need water, as their new home is in an area where temperatures reach around 104°F (40°C), and the rainy season has passed.  With your help, we will install an energy-efficient, self-sustaining water system in their sanctuary area – particularly necessary as South Africa enters its sweltering summer season. This system will automatically refill the waterhole whenever necessary. It will be a huge benefit for Zorya and Mira. Credit: WARC (Left) and ASI/Luke Kruyt (Right) Together, we can create the oasis they deserve in Africa. Today, Zorya and Mira no longer hear bombs falling. They feel the sun on their backs, the earth beneath their paws, and the safety of a home they can finally call their own, but they do need a reliable source of water. If we can raise $8,000 (£6,100), we can keep the lions hydrated and healthy through the harsh summer, and beyond.  It will ensure the lions always have access to clean, fresh water as summer temperatures soar to 104°F (40°C). Every contribution, large or small, will make a tangible difference to their lives.

Spanish photographer captures world’s first ever white Iberian Lynx on camera

Article written by Javier Iniguez De Onzono Originally published by Euro News, 30 October 2025 The genetic anomaly testifies to the good progress of the Lynx pardinus conservation plans in the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula, after releases began in 2011 when the species was on the verge of extinction. The white ghost of the Mediterranean forest. This is how Ángel Hidalgo, an amateur nature photographer, has described his latest find while reviewing the images from one of his photo-trapping cameras, placed in the depths of one of Jaén’s mountain ranges in southern Spain. Hidalgo has managed to record an Iberian lynx with leucism, a genetic condition that causes a partial or total lack of pigmentation in its skin, although not in the eyes, as would occur in the case of albino animals. According to local media ‘Ahora Jaén’, this unprecedented discovery took place on 22 October in the province of Jaén. The place where this specimen of ‘Lynx pardinus’ has been recorded in the wild, as attested by the absence of a tracking collar, is kept secret. The Iberian lynx, despite the conservation efforts of the Spanish and Portuguese authorities, is still listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition estimates that the animal’s population exceeded 2,000 in 2023, spread across the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula. The animals have spread to geographical areas such as Sierra Morena, the Montes de Toledo, the Spanish-Portuguese Guadiana basin and Doñana, as well as other places where they are being reintroduced that would have been unthinkable until a few years ago, such as the Sierra Palentina.

Poachers are killing animals YOU helped save

Last year, you helped us provide life-saving water for thousands of wild animals caught in a dreadful drought in Botswana. Now, a new danger is threatening their lives: a recent surge in snaring. This horrifically cruel poaching method leads to brutal death for wildlife – all to feed the insatiable demand for animal parts. Lions are at particular risk. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead Recently, a lioness succumbed to a snare that slowly strangled her to death.  Now, her orphaned cubs are in grave danger. The snared mother lioness was spotted by our partner, Camelthorn Farmstead, along the banks of the Boteti River in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi National Park.  She had a snare wound tightly around her neck, causing severe injury and hampering her ability to hunt and eat. The snared mother lion was in obvious pain as the wire cut into her neck. She ultimately succumbed to her wounds. Now, without our immediate help, her cubs face the same threat. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead We tried to find and de-snare the animal, but each time rescuers got close, she would disappear into the thick bushes, making it impossible to keep tabs on her long enough for rescuers to dart her.  Tragically, she died before we could reach her, leaving two orphaned cubs behind. A drone would have helped save the mother lion’s life. Now, it is urgently needed to protect her surviving cubs. Drones have become critical to protecting wildlife in high-risk areas. They allow teams to locate injured animals quickly, identify poachers or hunters, and stop illegal activity fast. In this case, it would have allowed our team to keep their eyes on the lioness at all times, and dart her fast to save her life. The snare caused significant damage to the right side of her jaw through to the back of her neck. Can you imagine the incredible pain she suffered up to her death? Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead As the dead mother’s cubs roam the wilderness, oblivious to the lethal threats all around them, they dearly need our protection. Will you help them? We have already raised almost half the funds needed for a drone. Please help us raise the outstanding $5,400 (£4,000) to purchase it. There is a growing demand for lion parts in “traditional Chinese medicine” (TCM) and local “muthi” (traditional African medicine). There have been increasing instances of poached lion carcasses found with their body parts removed – a key indicator of the illegal trade. Credit: Thomas Retterath/Shutterstock We must help these animals. The surviving cubs and their pride are crucial to the survival of the species in Botswana.  Today, lions are extinct in 26 of 48 African countries. Roughly 3,000 of those who remain live in Botswana, including these cubs – and if we do not protect them, we could lose this population entirely.   Please, donate now. We are almost halfway to our goal – help us get all the way there.

Here is why for the first time in their lives, 11 captive wild cats are free from human cruelty

When authorities raided a so-called ‘conservation center’ in the UK, they discovered a truly shocking scene: lions, lynxes and other wild cats were being kept in horrific conditions, malnourished, neglected and yet still forced to perform for paying visitors. Our partner, WildSide Exotic Rescue, saved 11 of the cats from being euthanized, and supporters like you helped us give them the food and care they needed to heal and recover. 11 big cats rescued from bitterly cruel conditions have a chance at peace – with your help. Credit: WildSide Exotic Rescue WildSide originally promised to take in four cats, because that was all they had space for. But with the looming threat of the animals being euthanized, they rescued seven more – a total of 11 abused and miserable wild animals with a huge need for care. Without WildSide, these animals would in all probability be dead. Instead, they have a chance of a stress-free life, but right now, they are confined to temporary enclosures. With 11 additional big cats to feed and care for, our partner simply cannot afford to construct new, spacious areas for their newest residents. But with your help, we know we can raise the funds to give these majestic animals the forever homes they deserve. 11 lions, lynxes and bobcats were saved from death – now, Friend, they need somewhere to live. This is the facility where the 11 big cats, and many other animals, were kept in cruel and abusive conditions. Credit: Hertfordshire Zoo (Left) and ITV News Anglia (Right) After the cruelty they endured, most of the cats are terrified of humans. WildSide does not allow visitors and no unnecessary human presence is allowed. Even when our team visited the sanctuary recently, we required special permission to see the rescued cats. It means the animals can begin to recover in quiet seclusion, far from human exploitation and stress. This is what makes a true sanctuary so special – it exists entirely for the animals, not for people. The cats were spared death – but our mission isn’t complete. They need more space to heal physically and emotionally. Vets provide immediate on-site treatment to the worst-affected animals during their rescue. Credit: WildSide Exotic Rescue Every donation will help create larger enclosures designed not for visitors’ entertainment, but for the animals themselves, with cleverly designed tunnels to give them even more freedom of movement and provide stimulation to enrich their lives. The cats will then have true sanctuaries – quiet, secluded and safe – where they can finally live without fear, intrusion, or the constant stress of human presence. After everything they’ve suffered, they deserve nothing less. Please donate today.

Why do bats spread so many diseases? They’re evolutionary marvels.

Article written by Andrew Paul Originally published by Popular Science, 14 October 2025 Survival of the fittest doesn’t always mean smartest, fastest, or strongest. There are way more bats than you might think. Second only to rodents, bats make up around a fifth of all mammals, with over 1,500 species of winged nightflyers. But it’s this wide biodiversity that also contributes to their (somewhat undeserved) reputation as disease carriers. According to biologists, 50 million years of evolutionary adaptation make bats uniquely suited to not only contracting and spreading pathogens, but also resisting them. “[Infectious disease] has been the biggest factor in all of evolution,” University of Florida veterinary pathologist Jim Wellehan said in a recent profile. “People are always looking for an excuse why bats are magic, and the truth is bats have just been exposed to a lot of stuff and selected for those genes accordingly.” Wellehan contends the most important factor for an animal population to thrive from an evolutionary standpoint is its genetic diversity. A broad spectrum of variation greatly increases the chance that at least some individual animals will possess immunity genes that are effective against whatever new pathogen strains may come their way. Ideally, these immune creatures survive long enough to reproduce and pass along those valuable genes to the next generation of offspring. “When I first learned about Darwin and evolution, ‘survival of the fittest,’ I assumed, meant ‘smartest and fastest and strongest,’ but if you look at our genomes, [it] turns out that’s wrong,” explained Wellehan. “The genes that are selected for are mostly immune-related.” Among bats, these pathogens spread even more because many species live in highly social colonies. Taken together, this means bats pass diseases between one another in tandem with the genes necessary for developing immunity better than most other animals. But what can make the animals dangerous is also what primarily sets them apart from all other mammals—its wings. Flight has dramatically expanded bats’ habitat range over millions of years, allowing them to traverse humanity’s artificially constructed geopolitical borders without a second thought. This is how disastrous pathogens like Ebola, Nipah virus, and even the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 can wreak such havoc on society. That said, don’t start blaming bats just yet. They’re simply living in a world that is increasingly disrupted by society’s encroachment. This avoidable close contact between humans and bats is what ultimately can cause diseases to leap between species. “Pathogen transmission to humans and conservation efforts go hand-in-hand. When populations get under stress, that’s when ecological balances get shifted, and zoonotic jumps occur,” said Wellehan. “It turns out that if we think of ourselves as something separate from nature, it doesn’t work so well.”

These critically endangered pangolins will die without your help

Every year, thousands of critically endangered species are ripped from the wild and slaughtered for their body parts. Pangolins, bears, tiger cubs, primates and countless other wild species suffer this gruesome fate. Other animals are shamefully abused and torn from their mothers’ sides as infants; terrified, bereft and enslaved as ‘pets.’ Almost no wild animal in Southeast Asia is safe. From the very moment they are born, every helpless creature lives with the threat of poaching hanging over its head. There is only one hope for these terrified, tortured animal victims: your support today, Friend. Because together, we have the power to save them. Sold like commodities, live and dead animals are advertised across social media. Pictured here: sun bear head and paws (left) and three Indian civet cubs ready to be slaughtered and sold (right). Credit: LCTW In Laos, a key animal trafficking hub, our partner fights on the frontlines of this crisis. The small team at Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife (LCTW) works day and night, rescuing animals from bushmeat markets, intercepting wildlife traffickers and racing against the clock to save lives that are constantly under threat. It works closely with local law enforcement to bring perpetrators to justice. LCTW has successfully rehabilitated and released over 400 animals into the natural, protected forest surrounding its sanctuary – including monkeys, jackals and critically endangered Sunda pangolins – and today has 250 animals in its care. But now, the threat has reached its doorstep. Poachers have started targeting the animals in the forest surrounding the sanctuary, and without vital equipment, our team is struggling to protect them. In Laos, animals are sold for their skins or as pets: pictured here is a marbled cat in an open market, waiting to be skinned or sold. Credit: LCTW When poached, these animals face imprisonment, torture and probable death – but there IS something we can do to stop this. Today, you can help keep them safe. The best way to help protect Laos’ wildlife from poachers is with high-tech drones. A drone will enable LCTW to patrol large areas of forest effectively and discreetly, identifying suspicious activity before poachers can strike. This will ensure that criminals are quickly identified, intercepted and handed over to law enforcement for punishment. A drone will help make the difference between allowing a poacher to take a life, or putting an end to their operation – and each day without one puts the animals at risk. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in many Asian cultures. Here, a live pangolin is about to be butchered alive at a Chinese restaurant in Vientiane, Laos. Credit: Agent C Wildlife Initiative Prevention is ALWAYS better than rescue. In markets across Laos, you can witness the horror of tiny civet kittens in cages, beheaded bears, animal skins hung next to their live, caged counterparts, and pangolins reduced to just their scales. We cannot let this go unchallenged – and an advanced drone is a crucial weapon in the fight against poachers. If we can raise $7,000 (£5,200), we can equip the LCTW team with this vital tool. One of thousands of live pangolins sold at Dongmakkhay market, Vientiane. Credit: Agent C Wildlife Initiative This is an awful lot for a sanctuary that is already stretched to its limits, yet still continues to save every life it can. Together, I know we can help them protect precious wildlife, ensuring animals never experience the horrific suffering that awaits them if they are caught by poachers. So please: I am calling on you to donate as much as you can today. The animals will be endlessly grateful for your compassion.

Cheetah cubs destined for illegal trade in exotic pets rescued in Somaliland

Article written by The Associated Press Originally published by Seattle Times, 2 October 2025 Eleven cheetah cubs were rescued from illegal trade in Somaliland in what a conservationist said was “one of the largest confiscations of the species.” NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Eleven cheetah cubs were rescued from illegal trade in Somaliland in what a conservationist described on Thursday as “one of the largest confiscations of the species.” The cubs were packed in bags that resembled sacks of potatoes and were being transported in a small dhow off the Somaliland coast at Berbera when the local coast guard intercepted them on Sunday. Two locals and three Yemenis were arrested during the rescue operation, and the cheetahs were taken to a rescue center owned by the Cheetah Conservation Fund, or CCF. Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, is a major transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade. Hundreds of cheetahs and leopards from the Horn of Africa have been transported to Gulf countries through the Gulf of Aden. Credit: MoECC via AP Possession of wildlife is illegal in Somaliland, and police often crack down on suspected traders. In August, local authorities arrested two people and rescued another 10 cheetah cubs that were destined for the Gulf. CCF founder Laurie Marker said the rescued cubs were “very malnourished” and were being reintroduced to food slowly, starting with fluids. “The cubs were in very poor condition,” she said. “One died only a few hours after arriving at CCF’s centre, although in ICU and critical care administered. Another died the next day under same conditions. Two others are in critical care, one of which is in very bad state. The other seven are responding.” Credit: MoECC via AP Marker, whose center now has 128 rescued cheetahs, said the illegal trade in cheetahs was driving the species into extinction. “Cheetahs are not pets. They are wild animals, top predators and play an important role in the ecosystem,” she said. “Wildlife belongs in the wild. Please help us stop the illegal wildlife pet trade in cheetahs and other wildlife species being illegally traded around the world.” The rescue of cubs is “critical” in the fight to save the cheetah from extinction, Marker said, adding: “With fewer than 7,000 cheetahs left in the wild, we can’t afford to lose a single one to the illegal pet trade.” Conservationists in the Horn of Africa have previously expressed concern over the rise in demand for exotic pets in Gulf countries and the resulting illegal trade affecting ecosystems in Horn of Africa nations.

Man jailed after killing Spotted Eagle Owl in Cape Town, South Africa

Article written by Angelica Rhoda Originally published by Cape{town}Etc, 7 October 2025 A Cape court found 38-year-old Gustigu Mthini guilty of four charges after he beat a protected Spotted Eagle Owl on the Sea Point Promenade on 16 February 2025. The attack was filmed and shocked people who were nearby. The Cape of Good Hope SPCA said it ‘welcomes the successful conviction and sentencing.’ The footage, witness reports and the SPCA’s investigation led police to arrest Mthini on 22 February 2025. He remained in custody until his trial. A postmortem found that the owl had multiple fractures and later died from its injuries. Credit: Cape of Good Hope SPCA / capespca.co.za The court found Mthini: guilty of animal cruelty two counts of killing a protected species an immigration offence The Magistrate imposed the following sentences: Count 1-Animals Protection Act: R2000 fine or 2 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 5 years Count 2-Nature Conservation Ordinance: R3000 fine or 3 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 5 years Count 3-Nature Conservation Ordinance: R3000 fine or 3 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 5 years Count 5-Immigration Act: R2000 fine or 2 months’ imprisonment, of which R1,000 or 1 month is suspended for 5 years The magistrate further ordered that Mr Mthini be deported back to Mozambique upon completion of his one-month imprisonment sentence under count 5. Count 4 was withdrawn under CoCT By-Law. The court ordered one month of immediate custody for the immigration count and that Mthini be deported to Mozambique after he serves that sentence. Chief Inspector Jaco Pieterse, who led the case for the SPCA, said: ‘This is a victory for the animals we serve and protect.’  (Cape of Good Hope SPCA) He thanked the Sea Point CID and members of the public who shared footage and information that helped the investigation. The SPCA asked people to report cruelty if they see it and to help protect the city’s wild animals. The organisation said the outcome sends a clear message that those who harm animals will be held to account.

Frail Asian elephant is permanently scarred after 30 years of hard labor

A few months ago, we told you the story of Boon Dee – a Thai elephant forced into 30 years of back-breaking labor in the tourist camps of Pattaya. Day after excruciating day, this poor animal carted endless loads of tourists on her aching back. By the time she was rescued by our partner, Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), Boon Dee was emaciated and nearly blind in her right eye, and her skin was marred by deep, painful abscesses. Our dream for Boon Dee is a beautiful oasis to call her own. While some funds have been raised, we’re shy of our goal – and that’s why we are reaching out to you today. Boon Dee survived 30 years of horrific abuse in Thailand.  With your help, we will give her the happy final years she deserves. For 30 years, Boon Dee was chained up and abused in Thailand. She has been left nearly blind in one eye. Credit: WFFT An estimated 3,000 Asian elephants – much smaller than their African counterparts – live like prisoners in entertainment venues across Thailand. Through desperation, ignorance or simple indifference, people use these animals as little more than money-making machines, usually keeping them chained up, and controlling them through regular, brutal beatings. Elephants are forced to work long hours in debilitating heat without rest. Constant, agonizing pressure from carrying tourists on their backs leads to permanent, excruciating damage to their spines. Some elephants suffer this way for decades – like Boon Dee. Until she was saved, this tragic animal had not experienced kindness in nearly 30 years. As she was led to freedom, Boon Dee resisted with all her might, no doubt expecting even more excruciating abuse. Elephants used in tourist camps, like Boon Dee, are chained, beaten and overworked, leaving them permanently injured and in agony. Credit: WFFT Boon Dee took her first steps to freedom with great fear and anxiety – but then something miraculous happened. During her first walk in her new sanctuary, she approached another rescued elephant named Gan Da. The team discovered they had worked together at a riding camp in Chiang Rai many years before, and Boon Dee immediately recognized her old friend.  Help give Boon Dee the retirement she dreams of – after 30 years of hard labor.  In her new home, Boon Dee discovered something that she never had the chance to find out before – she loves to swim!  But accessing the water is a terrifying prospect for Boon Dee. Sadly, due to years of trauma, Boon Dee is afraid of the other elephants, even her old friend Gan Da. As naturally social creatures, this fear underscores her deep physical and psychological scars. After 30 years of torment, we dream of giving Boon Dee the retirement she deserves. Will you help us? Credit: WFFT While this sweet girl gets two lovely, long “walks” a day with her carers, there is one thing that would make her life complete: a large enclosure with permanent access to her very own lake, so she can swim whenever her heart desires.  Nothing brings this sweet elephant more joy than her daily swims, and with your help, we can build her the retirement home of her dreams. We know you will agree, that after decades of heartache and abuse, Boon Dee deserves every bit of happiness she can get. Please, give as generously as you can today, and help give Boon Dee the happy retirement she deserves.

Angus, an orphaned otter, was found crying for his mother

When otter pup Angus was just one month old, he was found terrified, emaciated and alone on the side of the road in Limpopo, South Africa, desperately crying for his mother and snapping in fear at those trying to rescue him. No one knows what happened to Angus’s mother, but it is likely she was struck by a car and left for dead, or cruelly killed by poachers. Angus, found terrified and emaciated, is now safe in the care of our partner, but his road to recovery has only just begun. Credit: Umoya Khulula Baby otter Angus is bereft without his mother. But with your help, we can give this precious orphaned pup a second chance. Angus was rushed to our partner, the Umoya Khulula Wildlife Center, which specializes in the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. The infant weighed just two pounds (one kilogram) – the same as a small bag of rice. In the wild, baby otters like Angus stay with their mothers for around a year, learning to swim, hunt and survive on their own. The animals form strong family bonds, and otter pups have even been seen holding hands with their mothers while floating or resting, just to make sure they stay close at all times. Angus does not have this chance. He is alone, with no mother to guide him, and no paw to hold. Just a few days into rehab, Angus was already splashing playfully in his pool. With continued support from animal lovers like you, he will have the future he deserves. Credit: Umoya Khulula After losing his mother, baby Angus needs your help to survive. Can he count on you? Umoya Khulula is doing everything it can to recreate the nurturing environment Angus would have had in the wild, feeding him a natural diet of fish, crabs and clams, and teaching him to swim in its dedicated baby enclosure. But our partner has so many injured and orphaned animals to care for, and to keep giving Angus everything he needs to develop and grow, we need your help. If we can raise $3,500 (around £2,500), we can help provide specialized care, nutrition, shelter and treatment for this precious otter pup who has already lost so much in his short life. Will you help him today? African clawless otters are under increasing threat. We must give baby Angus the best possible chance at survival. Baby otters are poached from the wild and sold into the exotic pet trade. To capture the infants, their protective parents are often electrocuted or shot to death. Credit: EuroNews/Reuters Around the world, otters face mounting threats to their survival. Urbanization, agricultural development and pollution are destroying their habitats, while in countries like South Africa, they are slaughtered for their skin and body parts, to be used in traditional ‘medicine’ and to make clothes, hats and even musical instruments.  Because so many people find them adorable, they are also increasingly snatched from the wild to feed the exotic pet trade.  Horrifically, protective parents may be shot or electrocuted just so poachers can easily snatch the babies. They are then bred in inhumane conditions, sold to the highest bidder, and forced to live life in captivity, ‘performing’ for likes on social media or being handled by streams of visitors in Asian ‘pet cafes.’ This is how Angus should be living – wild and free. With your help, we can get him there. Credit: Liaan Lategan Angus is lucky to have survived – and to have escaped a fate of lifelong imprisonment. But the loss of his mother means his survival is in the hands of animal-lovers like you. Together, we can give him the expert care he needs to develop and grow, so he may one day have a family of his own. Please, donate today, and help give Angus the happy future he deserves.

High hopes that new Lappet-faced vulture chick can help rebuild species numbers

Article written by Morgan Van De Rede Originally published by Eyewitness News, 29 September 2025 On Heritage Day, a new chick hatched for the first time in four years. A newly hatched Lappet-faced vulture is now expected to play a critical role in rebuilding population numbers of the critically endangered species. On Heritage Day, a new chick hatched for the first time in four years. The chick hatched at Vulpro’s captive breeding facility based at Shamwari Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, which currently has three breeding pairs. It’s the first of the species that has been specifically bred for conservation purposes. Vulpro CEO, Kerri Wolter, said they would like to reach a minimum of 10 breeding pairs. “They’ve produced a fertile egg and this chick has hatched, which is phenomenal. They’re a very difficult species to breed. Globally, there’s only a handful that are breeding and even when they do start breeding, it’s not to say that every year they’re going to breed.” Image for illustrative purposes by cws_design from Getty Images

Snares are killing Zimbabwe’s elephants. This vital equipment can save them

It was a gut-wrenching scene: a frantic mother elephant standing guard over her helpless calf, who had been caught in a deadly snare. Desperate and distressed, the pair were vulnerable to predators and poachers alike – and with the baby unable to move, it was only a matter of time before tragedy struck. As soon as our partner, Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust (KAWFT), was alerted to the danger for the snared baby elephant, it raced to the rescue. But the combination of dense bush, a terrified, territorial mother, and outdated equipment made their work extremely difficult. Without the right tools, rescuing injured wild animals – especially large creatures like elephants – can be incredibly dangerous for both the animals and the rescue team. Our expert team acted just in time – sedating the calf, removing the snare, treating its wound, and reversing the sedation before it was too late. Credit: KAWFT Mother elephants are extremely protective of their young, posing a lethal threat to rescuers trying to help – yet if the rescue teams can’t safely access the injured calf, the infant is almost sure to die. Over two days, the team attempted to sedate the animals – but these attempts failed, as they lacked the enhanced equipment needed to safely tranquilize them both through the dense bush from a safe distance. For the baby elephant and her mother, time was rapidly running out. Luckily, on the third day, a local partner was able to help them with the equipment they needed. Once the pair was safely sedated, the team worked fast to remove the snare, treat the calf’s wound and administer powerful medication, and both animals quickly recovered. Mother elephants are fiercely protective of their young, which can pose a serious danger to rescuers trying to save a snared calf. For illustrative purposes only. Next time, the animals might not be so lucky. The only way to ensure our partner can rescue baby elephants and other poaching victims is to equip them with the specialized, life-saving tools they need. This close call highlights just how important it is for our teams to be properly equipped; in just a few more days, the calf would likely have died from infections, predators or poachers. Our partner needs a vital piece of equipment to ensure they’re ready to sedate and treat snared elephants and other animals at a moment’s notice, saving countless lives. Snares are a serious problem in Zimbabwe, posing a deadly threat to wildlife. These cruel wire traps leave animals with horrific wounds, and often cause a slow, painful death if they aren’t removed in time. Credit: KAWFT If we can raise $2,390 (£1,800), we can equip our partner with enhanced tranquilizing equipment, as well as more essential medicines and supplies to carry out life-saving de-snaring operations. The better our teams are equipped, the more animals we can help save. But we can only do it with your support today. Will you help us fund this vitally important tool for animals in distress? Please, donate as much as you possibly can now, and help us reach our goal.

From the frontline to freedom: Three lions rescued from Ukrainian war zone find sanctuary in South Africa

South Africa, 15 September 2025 In a monumental and logistically challenging operation, Animal Survival International today announced the successful relocation of three lions – a lioness named Cleopatra and two cubs, Zorya and Mira – from war-torn Ukraine to a permanent sanctuary in South Africa.  After a demanding journey spanning thousands of miles and navigating a live conflict zone, the lions have finally arrived in their ancestral homeland, where they will live out the rest of their lives in peace and safety. The lions in their crates after disembarking at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa – Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert. Background and summary The lions were rescued from the war in Ukraine by Animal Survival International’s partner, the Wild Animal Rescue Center (WARC). Lioness Cleopatra was saved from a private zoo that ran out of funds during the war; without WARC, she likely would have been left to fend for herself amidst the violence. Cubs Zorya and Mira were found wandering the battle-scarred frontlines, both with broken back legs and suffering from extreme malnutrition. With help from Animal Survival International, the cubs received the life-saving care they needed – but with missiles exploding closer to the sanctuary every day, they were still not safe.  The rescue mission, coordinated and conducted by Anthony Peniston of the LionWatch Project and his dedicated team, was a year in the making and characterized by immense logistical hurdles. The complex undertaking required custom-built crates sponsored by Animal Survival International, veterinary teams on standby, and coordinated ground teams to ensure the animals’ safety and well-being at every stage. Ukraine is a no-fly zone, and the team was forced to plot a meticulous overland route across the country to Warsaw, Poland, constantly on high alert for explosions and military activity.  “The challenges we faced were a constant reminder of the war’s devastating impact on all living beings,” said Animal Survival International executive director David Barritt. “Special permits from multiple countries had  to be secured and it took a network of dedicated partners to move the lions safely. But with the war creeping closer to the lions’ temporary shelter by the day, we knew we had to get them out before the worst happened.” The lions safely boarded their flight from Warsaw to Doha, and then on to Johannesburg, South Africa. Qatar Airways Cargo provided the flights, free of charge, as a part of their WeQare Rewild the Planet Initiative. Zorya’s release at the LionWatch sanctuary in Alldays, South Africa. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert Mark Drusch, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways Cargo said, “Our WeQare Rewild the Planet initiative is our commitment to returning wildlife and endangered species back to their natural habitat, free of charge. “It takes a lot of effort and logistics for our team to organize moving such large animals; from the logistics at the airports, loading and unloading the animals from the aircraft, to ensuring the correct cages and well-being of the animals are in place, but it is something we are all collectively very proud and passionate to be a part of.” Upon arrival at the LionWatch Project sanctuary in Alldays, South Africa, the lions took their first steps onto African soil – a moment that symbolized their true homecoming. Here, they will have the space to roam, the shade of trees to rest under, and the sun on their backs – a life that is a world away from the bombs and suffering they have endured in Ukraine. “This is more than just a relocation; it is a life-saving rescue and a chance for these magnificent animals to finally find peace and comfort,” added Anthony Peniston of the LionWatch Project. “They endured unimaginable trauma, but now they are home in Africa, where they belong. The success of this operation is a testament to what we can achieve when we all work together to help vulnerable animals in crisis.” The relocation would not have been possible without the dedication and coordination of all the people and organizations who contributed towards its success. Animal Survival International extends a heartfelt thanks to the following contributors: Wild Animals Rescue Center (WARC) for their incredible work saving animals from active war zones in Ukraine, including Cleopatra, Zorya and Mira, and for providing the lions with shelter and care while they waited to return to Africa. Anthony Peniston and the entire LionWatch Project team for initiating, planning and executing the evacuation and relocation of the three lions from Ukraine to South Africa. Qatar Airways Cargo for sponsoring the flights free of charge from Poland to South Africa via Doha through their WeQare Rewild the Planet initiative, and the flight and ground crews for ensuring a safe, smooth journey for the lions. Leszek Garczarczyk from AirTrans in Poland for constructing the three customised crates for the lions, and Ewa Zadorożna, Dżesika Cyl, Szymon Zawada and Alen Sierżęga for organising all logistics and providing customs support in Poland and across Europe. Leszek Kwiatkowski and LucasK9 for providing the vehicle and driving the team and the three lions in their crates out of Ukraine to the airport in Poland, where they were safely boarded and flown to their new homes. Michael Falls from Pride of Africa Wildlife Solutions (PAWS) for organising all logistical arrangements and providing customs support in South Africa. Customs agencies BROKBRIDGE in the Ukraine and PORTALLS in Poland for helping to clear the lions at the Ukraine-Poland border. The ground staff and airport teams at Warsaw Chopin Airport, Hamad International Airport, and O.R. Tambo International Airport for their incredible support in ensuring the safe passage of the three lions on their journey to their new home in South Africa.   Cleopatra in a transport cage at OR Tambo Airport. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert.   Banner credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert

Rare ‘super tusker’ elephants are being relentlessly hunted for their tusks

Every year in East Africa, thousands of cross-border elephants migrate between Kenya and Tanzania – including fewer than 30 ‘super tuskers’ – which are about to be wiped out for good. These rare bull elephants – the last remaining in the region – have enormous tusks that each weigh over 100 pounds (45 kilograms), and which often grow long enough to touch the ground.  As you can imagine, these magnificent tusks make them a prime target for blood-thirsty poachers and trophy hunters. This is the fate of a super tusker in Africa. Credit: Africa Geographic The tragic result? Today, fewer than 90 super tuskers remain on the entire African continent – and they’re being killed as you read this. We MUST help them right away. Less than 90 ‘super tusker’ elephants remain on the African continent. Poachers and hunters want to kill them. In the last 100 years, 90% of all African elephants have been wiped out. Of those that remain, less than 90 individuals are famed ‘super tuskers’, with the rare and special big-tusk gene. Super tuskers are prime targets for trophy hunters and poachers. Credit: Africa Geographic (left); Game Animals of the Past and Present (right) Right now, it’s the dry season in East Africa, and these super tuskers travel through wildlife corridors between Kenya and Tanzania in search of food and water. As they traverse the vast, unfenced corridors, they are extremely vulnerable to being poached and killed.  While all the region’s elephants face these constant threats, super tuskers are especially targeted – both by ivory poachers and trophy hunters, who see them as a ‘big ticket’ prize. Their efforts to evade these dangers aren’t the only threats. Increasingly frequent droughts across the region are also shrinking elephants’ habitats. Hunger and thirst drive these large animals into human-populated areas. In desperation, they may eat farmers’ crops or seek out water within communities, leading to retaliatory killings. Desperate herds of elephants are facing deadly threats from all sides. Drones will help them. Please, donate today. After decades of excessive hunting and poaching, fewer than 30 super tuskers remain in East Africa. Credit: CTT We are working with Conservation Through Tourism (CTT), dedicated to safeguarding elephants across wildlife corridors between Kenya and Tanzania. Over the past 10 months, it has responded to approximately 740 elephant-related incidents, saving countless lives. It is also the first team in the area to successfully manage human-elephant conflict at night – the most dangerous time for elephants – using advanced anti-poaching technology. Using drones, the team guides elephants toward safe, designated water sources and food, and then back to safety. This ‘guarding from the sky’ keeps elephants away from humans and hunting zones, reducing the animals’ risk of being illegally poached, shot by trophy hunters, or killed by the authorities for damaging human settlements. Thousands of elephants travel between Kenya and Tanzania through wildlife corridors, crossing vast landscapes in search of water and food. This can put them at risk of injury, death, or being shot. Super tuskers are especially vulnerable because their large tusks are highly prized. Credit: Project Kazi Ya Tembo (“Working with Elephants” in Swahili) by CTT. Credits: CTT Our partner is successfully protecting elephants in three key wildlife corridors, but two remain unprotected. Please help us cover the final two corridors. Right now, our partner has three of the five major corridors covered, but must expand into the remaining two unprotected areas. To do this, they need additional drones. Each drone costs $7,000 (around £5,100). Ultimately, our partner needs nine more drones. Every additional drone brings us closer to full protection across all five corridors. Super tusker ‘Mkungunero,’ named after the area in Tanzania where he spends much of his time, is one of the thousands of elephants that our partner works hard to protect every day. Credit: CTT With the dry season well underway, now is the most perilous time for elephants as they wander thousands of miles in search of food and water each day. The threats are everywhere. We must help right away. Please, donate now, and help us protect East Africa’s last remaining super tusker elephants.

Lions rescued from the Ukraine war have ONE CHANCE to get to safety.

Right now, preparations are underway to evacuate three terrified lions from the war in Ukraine to a safe sanctuary in South Africa. After months of careful planning, we are finally ready to fly the animals – a lioness and two cubs rescued from the war – to safety in South Africa. Securing the relocation of these battle-scarred animals during a horrific war has been a very slow and complex process. Now, as bombs explode right outside their temporary shelter in Ukraine, we are racing to get the lions out before the worst happens. Rescued from the frontlines of the war in Ukraine, a lioness and two cubs have ONE CHANCE to escape the violence. WARC is a temporary shelter for big cats rescued in war-torn Ukraine, but lions can’t stay there forever. With your help, we will relocate Cleopatra, Zorya and Mira to the safety of a sanctuary in South Africa. Credit: WARC These animals have been through hell. Cleopatra the lioness was rescued from a private zoo in Ukraine after it ran out of funds during the war. Without our partner, the Wild Animal Rescue Center (WARC), she likely would have been left to fend for herself amidst the violence – and that’s exactly what happened to the two tiny lion cubs, Zorya and Mira. These helpless cubs were saved from the frontlines, both suffering from broken back legs and malnutrition. We don’t know where they came from or how they were injured; all we know is that they don’t belong in the Ukrainian war zone. The road to freedom for these three lions has been a long one. Ukraine is a no-fly zone, so it was necessary to plot a careful route on land through the war-torn country. For the safety of the animals and our team, we cannot divulge any further details. Now, with a lifetime of safe sanctuary waiting for them in South Africa, we are finally ready to send them home – and for that, we need your support. Recent missile strikes hit nearby Kyiv, shattering windows at WARC. The shock from the blast killed one vulnerable rescued animal and left others traumatized.  Credits: Fox News (left); WARC (right) Missiles are exploding all around the lions’ temporary sanctuary in Kyiv Oblast. We MUST evacuate them FAST! Every day we delay puts the animals at a greater risk – right now, missiles are landing so close to WARC’s sanctuary that its windows have shattered. Tragically, a young rescued deer recently died from the shock of the blasts. As the war creeps closer and closer to WARC’s shelter, time is rapidly running out for the animals! WARC has rescued countless big cats from war-torn Ukraine, but with the war escalating, animals and caregivers are at a greater risk than ever. Please help us get them out – fast. Credit: WARC We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relocate Cleopatra and the cubs to a safe sanctuary in South Africa – please, Friend, help us get them there. We have partnered with an established wildlife rescue center in South Africa, which is conducting the rescue and has pledged to give Cleopatra, Zoyra and Mira a permanent home at its magnificent, species-appropriate sanctuary. The animals’ transport permits have been approved, and plans are in place to evacuate the cats soon. But we need your help to fund their travel. We promised to do everything we could to find a home for Zorya and Mira last year — and now that home is finally within reach. Help us bring them HOME! Please help us transport Cleopatra, Zoyra and Mira to the safety of a sanctuary in South Africa. Credit: WARC Today you have the opportunity to change the course of three lives forever – and possibly even more. This is because Cleopatra will be joining a lonely male lion, Mufasa, who desperately desires a partner. Together, they will form their own small pride. This beautiful story is about to unfold in Africa – and together, we can write its happy ending. Please, donate as much as you possibly can today. Cleopatra, Zoyra and Mira deserve happiness, freedom and safety – and together, that is exactly what we will give them.

This infant flying fox is fighting for life after falling from his mother

Tragically, baby flying fox Onyx was orphaned when he lost his grip on his mother and fell from her body. He was tiny and just a few weeks old. Infants like Onyx are born blind, hairless and completely reliant on their mothers. Becoming separated is bewildering, terrifying and, in most instances, fatal. The odds of survival for orphaned flying foxes are low – but, with your help, Onyx has a chance. Baby flying foxes, also known as pups, cling to their mothers for the first several weeks of their lives. This (pictured right) is what happens when they fall. Credit: Batusi Nights and Hugh Pitty For these remarkable little ecosystem engineers, life can be brutal, and deadly threats are everywhere. Tiny Onyx would have been completely defenceless in an inhospitable landscape. Infants fall from their mothers for a variety of reasons: predator attacks, flying difficulties (due to mothers’ injuries), or their mothers being ill, injured or starving. They are also torn apart when hunters catch the mothers to be killed and eaten in ‘bat curry’ – a local ‘delicacy’ fed to tourists. Most of these helpless infants do not make it. But Onyx was one of the lucky ones, because our partner, Protect Paradise Seychelles (PPS), came to the rescue. He was immediately taken into their care, given critical nutrition and treated for parasites. Now in the safe care of Protect Paradise, the fight is not over during this critical period of treatment and rehabilitation. Credit: Protect Paradise But Onyx’s fight for survival is not over yet – and he needs YOUR help today. This vulnerable infant will need close monitoring, treatment and expert rehabilitation for at least six months. If we can raise $3,000 (£2,240), we can cover his treatment for six months, as well as help provide life-saving care and nutrition for the other orphaned baby bats in our partner’s care. Flying foxes are delicate, harmless and vitally important to the environment. Flying fox mothers and their pups share a strong, dependent bond. Credit: Nico Faramaz/Shutterstock Flying foxes are critical in pollinating flowering plants and dispersing seeds, keeping forests healthy. They reproduce very slowly, giving birth to just one pup a year, so every life counts. Caring for our planet means caring for all its creatures – not only the majestic elephants of Africa, but also the tiniest flying foxes fighting for survival in an unforgiving landscape – like Onyx. Today, this little fighter and so many others like him need every ounce of your support to survive. He’s counting on you – please, donate to his recovery today.

Vulture capitalism: how black markets for black magic threaten African vultures

Article written by Nico Arcilla and Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra Originally published by Cambridge Core blog, 26 August 2025 Many species of vultures in Africa and Asia have exhibited precipitous global declines in recent decades. In Asia, vulture declines have been linked to unintentional poisoning by the veterinary drug diclofenac, which is highly toxic to vultures feeding on carcasses of treated livestock. In Africa, poisoning related to pastoralism has been identified as a major driver of vulture declines, and mass vulture mortality events have occurred at poisoned carcasses illegally left by livestock herders to target carnivores. However, vultures in West Africa are also heavily persecuted for a poorly understood, yet rapidly growing threat: a thriving international black market to supply wildlife for belief-based treatments in what is often called black magic. Across West Africa, vultures are among the highest-priced and most coveted birds among at least 354 avian species persecuted for the rapidly growing international trade related to African religious practices. In Ghana, for example, hooded vultures are persecuted, trapped, and killed at landfills and outdoor slaughterhouses for illegal trade to meet demand in Nigeria. Despite the fact that much of this trade is illegal, black markets in Benin alone feature at least 268 bird species, 96 mammal species, and 59 reptile species, and vultures feature prominently. Although ~50% of Benin’s population identifies as Christian, vodun (also known as voodoo) is recognized by Benin’s government as a national religion. Vodun practices include ritual sacrifice, including both the sacrifice of live animals in rituals as well as the ritual use of animal carcasses and body parts. Vultures and other raptors are among the most traded and valuable products sold in vodun, or “fetish,” markets. High demand for vultures has driven prices paid for a single hooded vulture to exceed the average monthly income in Benin. The result is that hooded vultures are the most commercially exploited vulture species in West Africa, despite the fact that they are critically endangered. We interviewed 115 vendors selling hooded vultures and/or their body parts at nine different markets in Benin to understand the extent and drivers of this illegal trade. The vast majority (95%) of Beninois vulture traders we interviewed reported practicing vodun. Nearly all (99%) were male, and most (85%) were aged between 18 and 30 years old. Most (58%) vendors had no formal education and most (59%) identified themselves as witch doctors. All vendors we interviewed were Fon, the largest of Benin’s approximately 42 ethnic groups. Over four months, we counted a total of 522 hooded vultures in market stalls. The majority (73%) of these consisted of whole dried vulture carcasses, while 17% were vulture heads, and 9% were live birds. Previous research published nearly 10 years ago estimated an annual take of 975–1,462 hooded vultures across West Africa. Our counts of vultures for sale in Benin alone suggest that trade in vultures has grown significantly since then. Vultures offered for sale in Benin originated from at least 10 foreign countries, especially Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Niger, suggesting there are far-reaching impacts of illegal trade on vulture populations in West Africa. Vodun practitioners believe the regular consumption of vulture meat makes them invulnerable to witchcraft. Those willing to pay the price can also obtain prescriptions including vultures or their parts that promise benefits such as bringing good luck, winning the lottery, and success in business and/or politics. Live vultures can fetch prices up to seven times higher than the average monthly income in Benin. Moreover, over a 20-year period, prices paid for hooded vultures increased by over 100 times in Nigeria, and prices paid in Ghana and Benin appear to be even higher. Although Benin laws ban the hunting, capture, possession, and trade of vultures, there has never been a prosecution relating to this legislation in Benin. We also found other endangered and critically endangered vulture species offered for sale, including the white-backed vulture, Rüppell’s vulture, white-headed vulture, and lappet-faced vulture. Current legislation protecting vultures thus appears to be ineffective, despite serious legal, conservation, and animal welfare concerns. The vast majority (92%) of vendors we interviewed reported that they were aware of legislation protecting vultures but did not consider that such legislation applied to them. Benin’s wildlife markets also featured at least 12 other raptor species, including rare and endangered species, for sale, together with a vast array of other wildlife. Previous research in Africa has found that many people relying on belief-based approaches to their problems tend to be poor and that payments associated with visiting witch doctors tend to total more than 10 percent of their household budgets, driving ongoing poverty. On the other hand, recent increases in wildlife trade for belief-based use are partly attributed to wealthy buyers relying on animal sacrifice and other fetish practices to solicit success. For example, a recent study found that nearly half of buyers at Togo’s main fetish market comprised businessmen and politicians seeking to increase their power and wealth.

Devastating – 22-year-old critically endangered black rhino killed by poachers in Zimbabwe

After nearly two decades without a single poaching incident, our anti-poaching partner in Zimbabwe recently suffered a horrifying loss. Gomo, a 22-year-old black rhino, was brutally killed in a meticulously planned poaching attack. Within just 15 minutes, poachers had breached an electrified fence, shot Gomo – whose name means ‘Mountain’ in the Shona language – and hacked off both his horns at the base. They then escaped with the horns and left his still-warm carcass for our devastated team to find. Poachers used an axe to hack off the horns of a 22-year-old black rhino. Gomo didn’t deserve to be brutally killed for his horns. Credit: IRWC (left) & The Guardian (right) The poachers deliberately struck when the team would least expect it – the middle of the day. Most poaching typically happens under the cover of darkness. Anti-poaching equipment alerted our partner, Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservation (IRWC), to the breach. But by the time they had navigated the dense bush and difficult terrain, it was too late. Gomo was dead. To prevent more rhino deaths, our partner must improve its early warning system so it can locate rhinos and catch poachers before they kill again. This is where we need your help. Zimbabwe is home to just over 600 black rhinos – a population under severe threat.  Credit: Alpha Wolf Vision The anti-poaching team has one drone which they use every day to locate the rhinos and ensure they are safe. But with 11,200 acres (4,500 hectares) to patrol, one drone just isn’t enough. A second drone, as well as training an additional pilot, is crucial to enable the team to provide 24/7 monitoring throughout the massive conservancy. These are no ordinary drones. They have been specifically designed to help anti-poaching teams protect animals and catch criminals before they can strike. Each drone boasts night-vision and thermal imaging technology, so they can be used at any time and in any terrain – ensuring full coverage even at night, or in dense forested areas. Drones also capture crucial footage that can be used to prosecute poachers in court, where those found guilty of killing protected animals like rhinos can face up to nine years in a Zimbabwean prison. Gomo’s death is a tragic reminder of the vulnerability of these animals – and of the deviousness of the criminals who hunt them. If we can raise $10,575 (around £7,848), we can pay for the additional drone, giving the remaining rhinos like Gomo, and other animals, an extra layer of safety and protection from cunning poachers. To prevent more needless deaths, we must strengthen security, respond faster, and stay one step ahead of poaching syndicates. Drones are vital in identifying poaching threats, especially in thick brush, and are a critical tool in protecting rhinos from attack. Credit: SANParks Rhino horn is mistakenly believed to have medicinal properties and is sought after for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Driven by greed, poachers are becoming increasingly smart and well organized. Our partners MUST remain a step ahead. Drones are the best solution, and with your help today, we will purchase another for our team, doubling their ability to track and protect endangered animals. Please, donate right away. Gomo’s death is tragic — let his loss be the motivating force we need to better protect our rhinos.

‘Rhino baron’ John Hume in court for 964 ‘fraudulent’ horn permit deals

Article written by Tony Carnie Originally published by The Daily Maverick, 19 August 2025 South African “rhino baron” John Frederick Hume built up the world’s biggest private herd of more than 2,000 rhinos, betting to make a fortune by selling their horns legally to traders in the Far East. But his dreams turned sour roughly two years ago when he was forced to sell his rhinos after failing to overturn an international ban on the sale of rhino horns from this increasingly threatened species — and now he is in the dock with five fellow suspects, facing more than 50 criminal charges centered around allegations of theft, fraud, and “possible racketeering and money laundering.” The 83-year-old former property developer, who grew up on a sheep farm in the Cape and a cattle ranch in Zimbabwe, was released on R100,000 bail after appearing in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 19 August. John Hume in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on 19 August. Credit: Felix Dlangamandla With him in the dock were two attorneys, Izak du Toit and Elizabeth Catharina van Niekerk; former rhino ranch manager Johannes Hennop; insurance broker and part-time farmer Mattheus Pogenpoel from the Free State; and Clive John Melville, a relative of Hume who has previously been charged with forging a document to falsely authorise the transport of rhino horns belonging to Hume. According to the National Prosecuting Authority, all six suspects are alleged to be involved in an illegal rhino horn trafficking syndicate. “It is alleged that between 2017 and 2024, the accused operated an international rhino horn trafficking syndicate and defrauded the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE). “They allegedly obtained permits to trade rhino horn locally while intending to channel the horns into illegal international markets in Southeast Asia. The fraudulent scheme is estimated to involve 964 rhino horns valued at R250 million.” Further details of the charges against Hume and his alleged conspirators will emerge in Daily Maverick shortly — including claims that they recruited homeless people as part of a fraudulent scheme to disguise the illegal sale of rhino horns destined for black market dealers in Vietnam, China, and other Far East nations where rhino horn is prized as a cure for hangovers and cancer or simply as a status symbol due to its global rarity. John Hume, Clive Melville, Izak du Toit, Catherina van Niekerk, Matheus Poggenpoel and Johannes Hennop in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on 19 August. Credit: Felix Dlangamandla Search and seizure raids It is understood that the Special Investigating Unit (the Hawks) has been on the trail of Hume and his alleged accomplices for at least eight years, culminating in a series of search and seizure raids earlier this month that led to the confiscation of numerous documents, as well as batches of M99, a powerful veterinary drug used to immobilise large mammals such as rhinos. Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Singo on Tuesday said Hume and five fellow suspects handed themselves over to the Hawks investigation team at the Sunnyside Police Station in Pretoria following a “complex investigation into transnational trafficking of rhino horns. “Investigations discovered an allegation of fraud against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), where the suspects allegedly applied for the permits to sell and buy rhino horn locally, but they were earmarked for the international illegal markets in Southeast Asia. “Over the past 15 years, more than 10,000 rhinos have been slaughtered by poachers and international syndicates hoping to profit from the illicit smuggling of horns. “The identified fraudulent permit scheme accounts for an estimated 964 rhino horns with an estimated value of millions of rands. Further investigation revealed that the DFFE was allegedly defrauded by a well-designed scheme by the suspects to traffic rhino horns and to participate in the international illegal rhino horn markets.” Singo noted that rhino horns can be bought and sold legally to South African citizens, provided that the seller and buyer apply for permits in terms of the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act, 2004. The DFFE is the only body that can authorise the issue of permits for the buying and selling of rhino horns at a domestic level, but in terms of an international ban, they may not be exported or sold to non-South African citizens. A rhino is drugged before its horn is removed at John Hume’s farm in Mpumalanga. Credit: Gallo Images / Rapport / Conrad Bornman Sources have indicated to the Daily Maverick that there were attempts to disguise sales of legally registered horns by recruiting homeless people as legal domestic buyers, before the illegal export of horns to the Far East Daily Maverick reached out to some of the suspects and their attorneys for comment but had not received responses by the time of publication. In his WordPress web page, Hume describes himself as one of the world’s greatest rhino conservationists and “a passionate campaigner against their extinction.” In this narrative, Hume recorded that in 1992, at the age of 50, “having made a good living from developing holiday resorts,” he bought his first wildlife ranch, Mauricedale Game Ranch, next to the Kruger National Park. In 1993, he bought his first rhinos and “soon fell in love with this iconic species. “For the next 13 years, he successfully bred 143 rhino calves from a breeding herd of 130 southern white rhinos, until tragedy struck in 2007. This was when he lost his first rhino to poachers. He realised then that Mauricedale’s proximity to both the Mozambican border and the Kruger National Park exposed his rhino to far too much danger, and he made the difficult decision in 2008 to relocate to the safer North West province of South Africa. This more remote location, as well as the flat expansive savanna grassland, provided the ideal habitat for his rhino and afforded much better security options.” Captive breeding ranch With the rhino poaching crisis escalating, Hume established the first captive breeding ranch for southern white rhinos in South Africa “to serve

Last call to have your name honored at new vet clinic for abused tigers

For almost 20 years, Rambo the tiger lived in a concrete cell in Thailand, sentenced to life imprisonment for tourists’ entertainment. The first thing he did upon being rescued was take a swim. For five blissful hours, the Bengal tiger – a species known to love water – experienced the joy of swimming for the first time in his life. Rambo is elderly, half blind, and suffers from severe dental issues due to years of malnutrition and gnawing on the metal bars of his cage. In order to live his final years without pain, he needs the very best, dedicated care – and for that, he needs you. An injured and malnourished Rambo was rescued from the now defunct Phuket Zoo. Credit: WFFT Rambo and other sick, elderly, disabled wild animals have only ever known abuse. Can they count on YOU for kindness in their final years? Rambo was rescued along with 10 other tigers from the defunct Phuket Zoo by our partner, Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT). He and his fellow captive cats had been used as photo props, most likely kept drugged and chained to prevent them from harming visitors. Most suffer from severe health and psychological issues due to malnutrition and poor care, combined with the stress of living in cruel captivity. When the zoo closed down, many of the animals were abandoned to die. By the time Rambo was rescued by our partner, one eye was damaged beyond repair. No one knows what happened, but the injury was so severe it was causing him painful ulcers, and the eye had to be removed. Malnutrition and years spent gnawing on the bars of his cage in desperation has led to Rambo’s severe and chronic dental issues. Credit: WFFT Freeing tigers like Rambo from their cages is only the first step – without your kindness, they cannot receive the life-saving care they need to survive. After decades of abuse, they DESERVE a happy retirement! After 20 years of suffering, Rambo now spends his days lazing in the refreshing lake at WFFT’s Tiger Rescue Centre and hanging out with his best friend and fellow Phuket Zoo rescue, Susu. But the abuse has left him and his friends with life-long damage that causes chronic pain, illness and discomfort. WFFT has an ever-increasing number of animals like Rambo needing rescue and treatment, including animals whose teeth were filed down or removed by their cruel captors. Many of these animals require constant medical care if they are to live a pain-free life – and WFFT needs specialized veterinary equipment to give this to them. Our partner has just built a crucial on-site clinic to enable them to provide the animals with the expert veterinary care they need. But they are missing critical equipment and supplies – and until we can purchase these essentials, the clinic cannot be fully operational. Rambo with his friend and fellow liberated tiger, Susu. Credit: WFFT If we can raise the outstanding $12,000 (approximately £9,000), we can transform our partner’s new clinic into a fully-functioning hospital for animals in desperate need. You have the opportunity to make a lasting impact for these deserving souls. The clinic is about to open, but there are still desperately needed medical supplies outstanding. With your support today, WFFT can be fully operational when its clinic opens, ensuring that every animal gets the high-quality care they need and deserve. If you donate $600 (£440) or more, you will be honored with a personalized plaque at the entrance of the hospital to thank you for your generosity. Any donors who gift $600 (£440) or more will be honored with a personalized plaque at the entrance of the hospital to thank you for your generosity. Should you make this generous donation, please email info@animalsurvival.org once you have completed your donation, and let us know what name you would like on the plaque. Please, donate today, and give Rambo and his friends the greatest gift they could ask for: a healthy, pain-free retirement.

Lizard Island coral death reaches 92 per cent after 2024 bleaching event, study finds

Article written by Stuti Mishra Originally published by The Independent, 08 July 2025 Last year’s bleaching was part of a global marine heatwave that hit tropical reefs across the planet Almost all of the surveyed coral at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef died after last year’s bleaching event, a new study found, revealing one of the highest coral mortality rates ever recorded anywhere in the world. The 2024 bleaching was part of a global marine heatwave that hit tropical reefs across the planet. Even though Lizard Island did not experience the most extreme temperatures, the coral death rate was still “unprecedented”, researchers noted. “These results highlight the fragility of coral ecosystems facing increasing stress from climate change, and the possible devastation resulting from the 2024 global bleaching event,” study lead author Dr Vincent Raoult of Griffith University explained. The study team used drone surveys and in-water observations to monitor 20 reef sections at the island’s northern and southern ends. Bleaching had affected an average of 96 per cent of living coral. By June, after peak heat stress, mortality had reached 92 per cent, with some areas seeing losses of more than 99 per cent. “Our results are concerning for coral resilience considering the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme heat events predicted for the near future, with potentially irreversible consequences for reef ecosystems,” Prof Jane Williamson from Macquarie University, the study’s senior author, said. The researchers used high-resolution imagery from drones to track the same reef areas before and after the bleaching, giving them precise visual data on coral loss. “Using drone-derived imagery, we followed the amount of bleached and living coral during and after the bleaching event,” Prof Williamson said. “Use of this technology lets us upscale the effects of the bleaching event over larger areas but still at high precision.” Unusually, the study found no significant difference in mortality between the northern and southern reef sections. “We often expect environmental differences between sites to influence bleaching outcomes, but in this case, the damage was widespread and severe across all surveyed areas,” Dr Raoult said. In some reef patches, less than 1 per cent of coral remained alive, indicating that even moderate heat stress could lead to catastrophic outcomes for ecosystems already weakened by repeated events. Bleaching is a phenomenon where corals lose their vibrant colours and turn white, normally due to changes in temperature. Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, providing habitat and food for an array of marine species. Scientists say the 2024 event pushed an already vulnerable ecosystem over the edge. According to Animal Survival International (ASI) researcher, Savannah Anderson, coral bleaching leaves corals highly vulnerable to disease, mortality and even more sensitive to environmental changes. “This is a problem because corals provide habitat, shelter, nursing grounds and food for a huge diversity of marine organisms. Corals are “habitat creating organisms” or “ecosystem engineers” as their colonies develop physical habitat for numerous other species. Coral bleaching often results in coral death which ultimately causes “dead reefs” and the loss of important species.” Lizard Island has suffered repeated ecological shocks in recent years, including severe bleaching in 2016 and 2017, cyclones, and outbreaks of coral-eating Crown-of-Thorns starfish. Despite experiencing a heat stress level of 6C-weeks, lower than some other parts of the reef, coral mortality at Lizard Island exceeded historical records. There was no major difference between the northern and southern sites, but the cumulative impacts of climate-linked events appeared to have compounded damage to the reef. The researchers continue to monitor the Lizard Island corals, hoping to assess whether any recovery happens by 2026.

Extreme tourism congestion at Serengeti River crossing imperils lives of wildebeest

We are deeply disturbed by recent social media coverage showing extreme congestion of game-watching vehicles and tourists during the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti National Park. Wildlife tourism should never occur at the cost of the animals’ wellbeing. It is unacceptable that hundreds of vehicles and thousands of tourists blocked key access points for animals, forcing confused and panicked wildebeest to jump off of cliffs, and leaving several injured. We condemn the actions of all those involved and call on Tanzania National Parks and Serengeti National Park authorities to urgently improve regulation and enforcement. Witnessing wildlife is a privilege, not a right. We urge rangers, tour operators, and tourists alike: Do better. Respect the wild.   Banner credit: Instagram / @nickkleer

Poachers are decimating critically endangered rhinos in South Africa.

Today, I want to share a truly heartbreaking fact: 95% of all rhinos have been wiped out by humans. There are only around 27,000 rhinos left in the wild. If we allow the slaughter to continue, these majestic animals could vanish in our lifetime. Rhino horn has long been in high demand across Asia, prized for its supposed medicinal qualities – none of which have ever been proven by science – and as a twisted status symbol. To extract a rhino’s horn, poachers will brutally kill the animal, often in front of its infant – mother rhinos are particularly vulnerable as they will not leave their helpless calves alone, making them easy, slow-moving targets. Sometimes, horns are viciously hacked off while the animal lies dying in agony. Credit: Cat Reed Photography South Africa’s anti-poaching teams are on the frontline of the fight to save these precious creatures.  With so few rhinos left alive, here’s how YOU can help. We are working with a small private reserve in the North West province of South Africa, which is safeguarding a number of critically endangered rhinos; for safety reasons, we cannot tell you where it is or how many rhinos live there.  The team has a multi-faceted approach to providing 24-hour monitoring and protection for their rhinos, including a highly-trained Rhino Protection K9 Unit. Expanding this Rhino Protection K9 Unit is critical to protecting vulnerable rhino populations. Credit: Cat Reed Photography Last year, the team introduced eight new K9s to improve coverage of its vast reserve, especially at night when the risk of poaching is greatest and when the dogs’ keen sense of smell is a crucial asset.  The K9 unit is dispatched solely for tracking scents – a critical skill in anti-poaching efforts – and each dog works closely with its handler. The wellbeing, safety and protection of the dogs is a top priority for the team. We know that measures like this are working. Poaching declined 16% in South Africa in 2024, due in large part to the efforts of anti-poaching teams – but if we are to save the species, we must do more.  To care for these dogs properly, they need premium nutrition, vaccinations, parasite treatment and shelter.  But after being forced to use almost all their emergency funds to feed and water their animals during a devastating drought – and with no help from the government – our partner is now struggling to cover these critical costs.  If we can raise $5,400 (£4,050), we can support eight canines for an entire year, providing critical shelter, nutrition and care.  This elite rhino protection K9 unit is essential in the fight against poaching – and it works. But without funding by wildlife warriors like you it cannot survive. Your donation will care for teams dedicated to protecting rhinos. Their protection is crucial to safeguard the future of this majestic species.  Credit: Jacaranda FM Thanks to the dogs’ agility and exceptional sense of smell, they can track poachers over vast distances, sniff out contraband items, and gather crucial intelligence for convictions, making the K9 unit a vital tool in preventing wildlife crime and prosecuting criminals. Please, donate today, and help us protect our iconic rhinos from disappearing forever.

Cyborg bees to be Chinese military scouts

Article written by Allegra Mendelson Originally published by The Telegraph (July 10, 2025) Scientists direct where insects fly by inserting controllers in their brains How it works: The brain-controlling device, weighing 74mg, is strapped to the bee’s back Scientists in China are turning bees into cyborgs by inserting controllers into their brains and deciding where they should fly. The bees – part insect, part machine – could serve as military scouts or be used to search for survivors following a natural disaster. Zhao Jieliang, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, and his team recently developed the world’s lightest brain controller – weighing only 74 milligrams, or less than a pinch of salt. The device is strapped to the back of a worker bee and pierces its brain with three needles to instruct it to fly in specific directions. Based on the tests conducted by Prof. Zhao and his team, the device worked nine times out of 10, and the bees obeyed the instructions. With this type of technology, the scientists believe that “cyborg bees” can be used in covert operations or in missions in locations inaccessible to humans. The microdevices can be equipped with cameras, listening devices, and sensors that allow the insects to collect and record information, which can then be relayed back to their operator. Given their small size, they could also be used for discreet military or security operations, as they would be able to crawl through small spaces that humans and larger robots wouldn’t be able to reach and do so without arousing suspicion. “Insect-based robots inherit the superior mobility, camouflage capabilities, and environmental adaptability of their biological hosts,” Prof. Zhao and his colleagues wrote in their paper, which was published in the Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering on June 11. “Compared to synthetic alternatives, they demonstrate enhanced stealth and extended operational endurance, making them invaluable for covert reconnaissance in scenarios such as urban combat, counterterrorism, and narcotics interdiction, as well as critical disaster relief operations,” they wrote. Earlier reports on this research showed scientists outfitting other insects, such as beetles, with microchips and wiring, which they would use to control the bug’s movement with infrared rays and Bluetooth signals. One of the “backpacks” that the scientists had developed weighed only 23 mg, nearly a third of what the cyborg bees carry. Scientists in Singapore have also developed miniature cyborg controllers, but these were bigger and heavier. These devices, however, were strapped to cockroaches, which were used to help the search and rescue efforts following Myanmar’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake in March. Several other countries, including the US and Japan, are also racing to create cyborg insects. While Prof. Zhao’s team has made great strides in advancing the technology, challenges remain. For one, the current batteries aren’t able to last very long, but any larger and the packs would be too heavy for the bees to carry. The same device cannot easily be used on different insects, as each responds to signals on different parts of their bodies. China has been working to miniaturize its technology in other fields, with the country unveiling mosquito-sized drones in June as well.

War threatens the last remaining gorillas in the Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has endured decades of conflict and broken peace deals. This year, war erupted again, leaving millions displaced and thousands dead. Amid the chaos, critically endangered gorillas face a terrifying fight for survival, because they are at risk of being POACHED for their meat. In the chaos of war, endangered and critically endangered gorillas are in serious danger. Rangers recover the bodies of poached gorillas in the DRC. Credit: rwandagorilla.com War has led to a surge in poaching. Driven by desperation, starving people are hunting wildlife, and this puts the region’s iconic gorillas – all of which are listed as endangered or critically endangered – at grave risk. This conflict could wipe out the last of the DRC’s gorillas. We must help right away. We are working with The Gorilla Organization (TGO), which protects gorillas and their habitats in the Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. Recently, gorilla rangers have battled increasingly hostile conditions, making their already dangerous work even more perilous. To protect these precious animals, they’ve been forced to dodge armed militia and navigate a terrifying, war-torn landscape – yet the rangers have continued their vital work despite the lethal dangers all around them. Dozens of wildlife species, including critically endangered gorillas, are poached for their meat and body parts. Credit: Pan African Sanctuary Aliance The gorilla rangers desperately need satellite communication devices if they have any hope of protecting the last of the DRC’s gorillas. In a crisis like this, reliable communication is critical to saving animal lives. It allows teams to alert one another to situations that could put gorillas at risk, and to coordinate their conservation efforts effectively, intercepting hunters and poachers, and protecting wild animals.  But much of the country’s infrastructure, telephone networks and public services are disrupted, and communication is one of the biggest challenges for the team, leaving many helpless gorillas at grave risk of being killed. If the brave, dedicated rangers have any hope of protecting these vulnerable animals, we MUST equip the team with satellite phones right away. If we can raise $4,800 (£3,600), this is exactly what we will do. These devices are designed to provide reliable communication even in the most extreme and remote environments, and offer voice and text messaging, GPS location tracking and an SOS alert button, all with near-global coverage. There has never been a more important time to have a reliable communication network than right now. Some species of gorilla have declined 80% since the 1990s, placing them on the critically endangered list and on the fast-track to extinction. The chaos has enabled poachers in the country to intensify their illegal activities, while driving people to kill gorillas for food. Unless we act, the conflict could easily undo more than 30 years of conservation work.  Without help, gorillas will be pushed closer and closer to the brink of extinction – until it’s too late to save them. Please donate right away and help us do all we can to help protect this fragile species.

England wildlife regulator chair ‘enthusiastic’ about lynx rewilding

Article written by Patrick Barkham Originally published by The Guardian (June 30, 2025) Views on apex predators are still polarized, says Natural England head, as activists apply for trial release in Northumberland The head of the government’s wildlife regulator has said he remains enthusiastic about reintroducing lynx to Britain and would be “absolutely delighted” if it could be achieved during his two-year term. But Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, said debates over the animal’s release were “still quite polarized,” and more engagement was required to understand how communities would be affected. The Lynx UK Trust has submitted a draft application for a trial return of lynx to England’s largest forest, Kielder, in Northumberland, using wild animals rescued from culls in Sweden. The charismatic but elusive Labrador-sized cats live in forests and prey mainly on deer or rabbits, posing no threat to humans. The species was hunted to extinction in Britain, finally disappearing from Scotland in the Middle Ages. By the 1950s there were barely 700 Eurasian lynx left in Europe, but in recent decades the population has bounced back to 18,000, boosted by a reduction in persecution and successful reintroductions to areas of Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and other countries. Natural England officials have told the Lynx UK Trust that a trial reintroduction cannot proceed because the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) rules it illegal under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act. According to the trust, this could be solved with a simple statutory instrument – a legal tweak – but the charity’s chief executive, Paul O’Donoghue, said Steve Reed, the environment secretary, had not responded to attempts to arrange a meeting despite giving an initial warm response. O’Donoghue said that if the government would not review the trust’s application for a licence for a trial release, it would launch a court challenge. Asked if he believed lynx could be reintroduced, Juniper said, “It should be looked at, and I know people are looking at it.” He said he hoped that “a cross-border conversation with colleagues in Scotland” could boost prospects for the return of the species. “Lynx do need big areas of habitat, and there could be some opportunities to combine nature recovery over parts of northern England with what’s going on in southern Scotland,” he said. “It is still quite polarized, and some of these things will remain divided no matter how much effort you put in, but we need more engagement to understand how communities that would be living with these animals would be able to continue with what they do. There are in some places still serious doubts about that.” O’Donoghue said calls for more engagement were a waste of time and money. “Unless he has been living under a rock for the past 30 years, Tony Juniper must know that sheep farmers will never change their position on lynx reintroduction, making more calls for more engagement utterly futile,” he said. “The sad and stark truth is that currently the government is actively blocking any legal attempt at lynx reintroduction.” As well as the draft application from the Lynx UK Trust, two other charitable collaborations are conducting consultations over lynx reintroduction. The Missing Lynx Project is exploring the feasibility of reintroducing the carnivore to Kielder, while the Lynx to Scotland partnership last month produced a 100-page report after consulting 53 stakeholders including farmer interests, about a potential return to the Cairngorms. The report identified potential conflict between lynx and sheep farmers and recommended payments for losses and coexistence, as well as a funded rapid-response system for farmers experiencing sheep predation. Any reintroduction in Scotland requires approval from the Scottish government after another public consultation and ecological assessments. Four lynx were illegally released in the Cairngorms in January, with one dying and three females recaptured and rehomed at the Highland Wildlife Park. Rogue rewilders were blamed, but the animals were tame, and many believe they were simply released from a private collection. O’Donoghue said the Kielder reintroduction area in England – where Lynx UK Trust had an application declined in 2018 – would be ideal, offering the spacious landscape that most benefits lynx in a forest environment with relatively few sheep-farming interests. “I have no idea why the government is so scared of lynx. Lynx have naturally recolonized countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands with great celebration and no issues,” he said. “Lynx are proven drivers of both economic and ecological restoration. They would generate millions of pounds every year to the local economy in Kielder, providing both green, sustainable jobs and improving the health and resilience of forest ecosystems. In Germany, a reintroduction in the Harz mountains has been so successful that a second reintroduction is now planned in Bavaria.” Juniper agreed that lynx reintroductions such as that in Harz had boosted regional economies with lynx-related tourism. Juniper also sits on the board of the Fauna & Flora charity, which has projects helping Romanian farmers coexist with the wolf and bear. Juniper said, “It’s not so much about the ecology of whether these animals would have enough to eat or whether they’d have a big enough home range, it’s much more about the social conditions that they arrive in and the attitudes of the communities that would live with them. And so we probably do need to do some more work there to be able to get to that point. But that’s work in progress, and people are working on that, and Natural England is talking to those folks who are doing some of that work.” Asked about a potential legal challenge over the latest lynx reintroduction application, a Defra spokesperson said, “This government is absolutely committed to restoring and protecting nature, and we support species. We will continue to work with Natural England on species reintroductions in England.” It is understood that the government wants more evidence of the effects of the management of large predators before any reintroduction is considered. O’Donoghue said, “The fact that the UK is one of the only countries in

Study reveals surge in illegal arachnid trade via Facebook in Philippines

Article written by Keith Anthony Fabro Originally published by Mongabay (June 30, 2025) New research by wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC reveals a thriving online trade in live tarantulas and scorpions in the Philippines, with more than 16,000 arachnids found offered for sale on Facebook in 2020 and 2022. Most traded species are nonnative, but native and threatened tarantulas are also being poached and sold, often before being scientifically described, raising red flags for conservationists. The study highlights legal and enforcement gaps, with many sellers likely operating without required permits and rare species potentially being smuggled through postal services. Researchers urge stronger regulation of online platforms and closer collaboration with courier services and authorities to curb the illicit trade and protect vulnerable arachnid species. In 2019, customs officers at a post office in the Philippine capital Manila unwrapped what looked like an ordinary parcel from Poland. Inside, they found 757 live tarantulas stuffed inside plastic containers, neatly packed like a twisted birthday surprise. Far from an isolated incident, this seizure reflects a long-running issue. Between 2010 and 2019, arachnids were the most frequently confiscated invertebrates in the Philippines, with nearly 3,000 tarantulas and 1,000 scorpions from more than 40 species seized. Many were rare, newly discovered, or hard-to-breed nonnative species, and were likely caught from the wild and smuggled by post. A study by wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, published in the Journal of Nature Studies, highlights this troubling trend. Researchers manually reviewed posts from five of the Philippines’ most active Facebook groups for live arachnid sales, analyzing nearly 7,000 posts from October to December 2020 and February to April 2022. They documented price, quantity, species, and seller location. In total, they recorded at least 14,662 tarantulas from 135 species and 1,387 scorpions from 25 species across nearly 7,000 posts. Although the majority of arachnids recorded in TRAFFIC’s study were nonnative — 96% of tarantulas and 64% of scorpions by volume — many fall under international trade regulations. Of the 42 arachnid species listed under the global wildlife trade treaty CITES, the study recorded 28 tarantula species and one scorpion species being traded online. CITES listing means all of these require proper permits for legal import and export. “Some of these could have been captive-bred,” study co-author Emerson Sy said in a news release. “But for threatened or CITES-listed species, legal trade in the Philippines requires a wildlife farm permit — and that’s rarely, if ever, indicated in these posts.” The top tarantula was the curlyhair tarantula (Tliltocatl albopilosus), native to Costa Rica and Nicaragua and globally popular in the exotic pet trade. Though relatively easy to breed in captivity, it continues to be heavily wild-sourced despite being listed under CITES Appendix II, which requires permits to regulate international trade and prevent overexploitation. The most traded scorpion was the Asian forest scorpion (Heterometrus longimanus), with 373 individuals recorded. Native to Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, this species is popular for its large size and ease of care in captivity. But in the Philippines, it’s frequently poached from the wild in Palawan province and smuggled to Metro Manila and other urban centers. Researchers identified more than 1,097 unique Facebook accounts involved in the trade. Of these, 200 were classified as active users, with 163 (81%) based on Luzon, the Philippines’ largest and most populous island. This concentration, the researchers say, highlights the need for prioritized law enforcement efforts in the area to curb illegal activities and for companies like Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, to take a more active role in policing trading groups. “Social media plays a significant role in facilitating wildlife trafficking,” Sy told Mongabay by email. “These platforms need to take a more proactive approach to mitigate the issue.” Regulatory roadblocks Under the Philippines’ Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, or RA 9147, all wildlife — whether wild-caught or captive-bred — must have permits for possession, transport or trade. In theory, this provides a clear regulatory framework. But in practice, Sy said, the main challenge is “weak law enforcement.” “The Philippines has sufficient laws and policies regarding wildlife, but the implementation, as in other countries, is the main gap,” Sy said. What’s needed, he added, is proactive trade monitoring, consistent enforcement, and in-depth investigations to identify key traffickers. Serene Chng, TRAFFIC’s Southeast Asia program manager and study co-author, echoed that call for stronger coordination. While she praised past enforcement successes in the Philippines, including major seizures, she emphasized that efforts must be sustained and expanded across online platforms and international ports. “The private sector, specifically online platforms and courier services, also has crucial roles to play. We urge them to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to ensure that they are not implicated in the online trade and transport of illegal wildlife,” she added. Despite existing restrictions, traffickers adapt by using private chat groups and coded listings on online platforms, said Darell Acuña, a systematist and co-founder of the nonprofit research group Philippine Arachnological Society, Inc. This digital anonymity makes regulation and enforcement especially challenging, Acuña, who was not involved in the study, told Mongabay by email. “Platforms or couriers should be held accountable.” Acuña also underscored the issue of poor compliance and awareness. “Many hobbyists are unaware of the legal requirements for owning or trading arachnids,” he said. “Meanwhile, the public often assumes that all arachnid keeping is illegal by default.” He called for public education campaigns to clarify the legal framework and highlight conservation risks. Policy reforms should focus on stricter enforcement, more transparent permitting, and community outreach, especially among potential poachers and sellers, he added. Rising risk for native species Beyond exotic imports, the study flags a more alarming trend: the emerging trade in native Philippine arachnids. Although fewer in number, these species are of significant conservation concern. They’re being poached and illegally shipped both domestically and internationally, primarily to supply the pet trade and, to a lesser extent, the scientific community — a pattern researchers inferred based on observations from online advertisements. For instance, the Palawan blue

Lions butchered in Zimbabwe as poaching surges.

A horrifying poaching incident has shaken Victoria Falls, a small tourist town in Zimbabwe. An adult male lion was found caught in a deadly snare. Injured but alive, he was darted, treated, and released back into the wild – but there was a much more gruesome discovery waiting nearby… The brutalized remains of a lioness – the snared lion’s partner – were found near the snare, her flesh stripped from her bones, and her head and paws hacked off. She leaves behind two four-year-old offspring and three nine-month-old cubs – all of whom must now fend for themselves. Without their mother, their chances are slim.  Worst of all, the tiny cubs are acutely vulnerable to poachers. This lion died after being caught in a lethal snare. These torture devices leave animals suffering for hours or days before they succumb to their injuries. Credit: Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust We need to act FAST to prevent more despicable acts of cruelty like this. The grim discovery was made by local conservationists who immediately alerted Zimbabwean wildlife authorities and our partner, the Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit (VFAPU). There has been an alarming rise in poaching in Zimbabwe, and criminals seem to be particularly targeting lions. This iconic species may be king of the jungle, but lions stand no chance against armed and ruthless poachers, who violently kill and sell their body parts into the illegal wildlife trade. Lion paws, teeth and bones are especially sought after as fake ‘medicinal’ cures and status symbols in Asia. For poachers in the Zimbabwean wilderness, killing one of these majestic beasts and hacking off its paws and head is nothing more than a quick way to make money. The remains of the freshly butchered female lion that was found near the injured male. Credit: Shutterstock/Juanita Layne (left, IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY) & VFAPU (right). One of the best ways to stop poachers in their tracks is through innovative AI-powered technology. AI-powered camera traps are a critical and highly-effective tool in the fight against poachers – and with your help, we will install them throughout poaching hotspots in Zimbabwe. This year alone, using four existing camera traps, our partner VFAPU has removed 97 snares, detected 49 attempts, and arrested 11 poachers who, if convicted, could face up to nine years in prison. The team also rescued six animals from snares. AI-powered cameras detect human movement in real time and send instant alerts to anti-poaching units. Teams are immediately dispatched to stop the poachers before they can lay cruel snares or kill an innocent creature. But four camera traps are not enough to catch every poacher, and we must install more as soon as possible. Camera traps are vital to identify poachers, day or night, and send immediate, real-time alerts to anti-poaching teams. Credit: VFAPU For every $400 (£312) raised, we can install an additional camera trap, helping our partner to protect lions and catch poachers. VFAPU patrols a vast area covering 124,000 acres (50,000 hectares). The more sophisticated camera traps we can install, the more animals we can protect, and the more poachers will end up behind bars – where they belong. We need to install at least 10 more camera traps to help the team cope with the dramatic surge in poaching – but we can only do this with your support today. Right now, lions are sitting ducks for poachers. With your support, we can not only protect vulnerable animals, but actively arrest and prosecute the criminals profiting off their deaths. Please donate as much as you can today.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes endangered status for seven pangolin species

Article written by The Washington Post Originally published by The Washington Post (June 18, 2025) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it plans to declare seven species of pangolin endangered, a move meant to stiffen penalties for those who poach and smuggle “the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal.” The pangolin, which looks like a cross between an anteater and an armadillo, holds the distinction of being the only mammal on Earth covered head to tail in scales. But that scaly shield, and people’s quest for it, has led to the undoing of pangolin populations. Demand for both pangolin scales and meat has driven the animal to the edge of extinction – and may have played a role in instigating the coronavirus pandemic. The Fish and Wildlife Service posted a Federal Register notice on Monday proposing to add all species of pangolins to the endangered species list. The notice means pangolins will be among the first species to be added during the second Trump administration. The public will have 60 days to offer feedback before the listing becomes official. Protection under the Endangered Species Act “is long overdue,” said Nicholas Arrivo, an attorney for the Humane World for Animals. “But it’s a good day for pangolins.” Found in savannas and forests from West Africa to Southeast Asia, pangolins scour the earth for ants, termites and other insects at night, scooping them up with their sticky tongues. When threatened by predators, they curl into a ball and protect themselves with their tough keratin scales. But their adaptations for the wild leave pangolins vulnerable to trafficking. As nocturnal animals, they have poor eyesight, which makes them easy to capture in snares, and their defensive curling strategy allows poachers to swoop them up. Fueling the pangolin trade is demand in Asia, where their meat is considered a delicacy, and their scales are believed to heal liver, skin and other problems in traditional Chinese medicine. Scientists who have reviewed the research say there is “no reliable evidence” that pangolin scales – made of the same substance as human fingernails – have special medicinal value. A ban on international commercial trade was agreed in 2016. But illegal trade has continued. That’s how pangolins came to be cited in 2020 as a possible intermediate host for the coronavirus behind the pandemic, with the deadly pathogen potentially jumping from bats to pangolins and, finally, to humans. As poaching and habitat loss have led to the decline of pangolin populations in Asia, poaching and trade from Africa has increased. Researchers estimate that more than 8.5 million pangolins were removed from the wild in West and Central Africa between 2014 and 2021. There is evidence that organized crime networks are involved, the Fish and Wildlife Service said. The proposed listings would add penalties to trading the animals and give law enforcement additional resources for combating trafficking, Arrivo said.

Pangolins Should Receive Endangered Protections, U.S. Officials Say

Article written by Catrin Einhorn Originally published by New York Times (June 16, 2025) The armored mammals are trafficked for their scales and meat. Pangolins—strangely adorable, scale-covered creatures believed to be the most heavily trafficked mammal in the world — should receive protection under the Endangered Species Act, federal officials said Monday. The animals are native to Africa and Asia, but the Endangered Species Act requires the government to protect endangered species whether they live in the United States or abroad. The proposal to bring pangolins under U.S. protection comes in response to years-old legal action by conservationists and despite recent moves under President Trump to weaken the Endangered Species Act and other environmental policies. For foreign animals, Endangered Species Act benefits include prohibitions on import and export, hunting, and commercial activity. Protection can also open the door to financial assistance to develop and manage conservation programs in the species’ native countries, although that has been thrown into question recently by funding freezes and cuts under the Trump administration. “The proceeds from the illicit sale of pangolins and other imperiled species often fund serious crimes, including drug and arms trafficking,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wrote in a news release. “This proposed listing reaffirms the service’s commitment to protecting these magnificent species and ensures the United States does not contribute to their continued decline.” Pangolins are so threatened that it would be legally indefensible to deny their inclusion, conservationists said. One species of pangolin is already protected under U.S. law, and the proposal would add the seven other widely recognized ones. They would be classified as endangered, the more dire of the two possible categories, which means a species is at risk of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. When pangolins feel threatened, they can roll into a protective ball. While this behavior can be effective against certain predators, it makes it easier for poachers to nab them. Pangolin populations have declined because of habitat loss and poor genetic health, in addition to illegal trafficking, officials said. Pangolins are hunted for their scales, which have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, and their meat, considered a delicacy in China and elsewhere. The scales are made from keratin, like human fingernails, and Chinese research has found that the currently available medical evidence does not support their clinical use. China has been removing pangolin scales from its list of approved medicines, but they are not banned. International trade in pangolins is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an agreement between governments that is also known as CITES. The proposed U.S. listing would tighten restrictions a bit further, ending an exemption that allows for the sale of some older pangolin parts within the United States. It would also send a message to China, which continues to have a fairly active domestic market for pangolin scales, said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that petitioned and sued for pangolins to be listed. “Being a leader in absolutely closing our domestic market as we’re asking China to close their domestic market sure seems wise,” she said. International trade in pangolins has decreased since the CITES protections came into force in 2017, experts say, but illegal trade persists. In the 1970s, the United States listed one African species, the Temminck’s ground pangolin, as endangered. But since 2014, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, which is the scientific authority on the status of species, has found all eight widely recognized pangolin species to be threatened with extinction. Two are classified as vulnerable, three as endangered, and three as critically endangered. One thing going for pangolins is how they have expanded into the public consciousness in recent years. “They were virtually unknown 15 years ago, and now my kids have stuffies of them, and they’re showing up in Disney movies,” Ms. Uhlemann said. “That kind of interest, it can really make a difference.” A 60-day comment period on the proposed rule will start Tuesday, and officials will review comments before publishing a final decision.

Will you help protect these two rhino orphans from poachers.

When two mother rhinos were mercilessly slaughtered for their horns in South Africa, their infant calves were left starving, vulnerable and alone. In the first 90 days of 2025, 103 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa. Infants Nola and Cathy could be next – if we do not help them today. Our partner, Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary (CFW), immediately took in the two vulnerable, grieving babies, who were found standing helplessly beside their slain mothers. Dianna, an older orphaned rhino at the CFW Rhino Sanctuary, has been a source of comfort for Nola and Cathy after the loss of their mothers. Credit: CFW They had been forced to watch helplessly as poachers murdered their mothers, then brutally hacked the horns off their dead bodies. Dehydrated, confused and deeply traumatized, Nola and Cathy were quickly airlifted to the safety of CFW’s intensive care unit (ICU). Every rhino lost pushes the species closer to extinction forever. Unless we take action, these animals could disappear forever. Preventing poaching is a vital step in safeguarding rhinos, and we are working with partners across Africa to stop criminals in their tracks. Anti-poaching teams, artificial intelligence and satellite tracking are vital to stopping wildlife crime – and they WORK. Nola and Cathy are growing stronger by the day, which is wonderful news for these orphans. But this is only half of the battle won. This is an example of an advanced AI tracking collar used to protect rhinos from poachers. Credit: CFW Will you help us protect Nola and Cathy with vital anti-poaching tracking collars? Now, each calf MUST be fitted with a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence tracking collar specially designed to provide enhanced protection against poachers and other threats when they are released into a protected wild area. This will ensure the rhinos get to live in a safe, wild area, just as they deserve – AND that they remain protected. For this, they are relying on you, *|FNAME|*. Will you help them? Credit: CFW We couldn’t save Nola and Cathy’s mothers. But with your support, we can save their orphaned babies, giving them a chance at a safe future. We cannot let heartless poachers destroy this species’ only chance at survival. Your support is crucial in the fight to save Africa’s rhinos, and to stop the criminals who are so intent on killing them. Nola and Cathy are counting on you today. Please donate generously, and help give them the safe, protected futures they deserve.

Capuchin monkeys caught abducting baby howlers

Article written by Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Konstanz Originally published by Max Planck Institute (May 25, 2025) Cameras on a remote island in Panama captured the origin and spread of a bizarre “fad” To the point Animal abduction: On Panama’s Jicarón island, biologists documented five male capuchin monkeys carrying at least eleven different infant howler monkeys—a behavior never before seen in wild primates. Rise and spread: The sightings were remotely recorded by over 85 camera traps, which allowed scientists to pinpoint the origin and subsequent spread of this social tradition over a 15-month period. (See interactive timeline https://www.ab.mpg.de/671374/Capuchin-tool-use/interspecies-abduction-tradition). Novel animal tradition: The research offers the first known documentation of a cultural tradition in which animals repeatedly abduct and carry infants of another species—without any clear benefit to themselves. On an island off the coast of Panama lives a population of wild primates with a remarkable culture. White-faced capuchins on Jicarón Island in Coiba National Park use stone tools; and scientists have been monitoring this unique tradition with an array of motion-triggered cameras on the island since 2017. In 2022, doctoral researcher Zoë Goldsborough was looking through the camera trap footage when she found an unusual sighting, something they had never seen in the previous five years of data: a capuchin monkey carrying an infant howler monkey on his back. “It was so weird that I went straight to my advisor’s office to ask him what it was,” remembers Goldsborough who is conducting her dissertation at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. The biologists knew it was a rare animal behavior and so they immediately started investigating. If there was to be more evidence of this occurring on the island, they were confident they would find it: “We had all the footage from cameras on Jicarón for the whole year,” says Brendan Barrett, a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and Goldsborough’s advisor, “so we could reconstruct the scene to see if this weird behavior was just a one-off, or something bigger.” The influencerGoldsborough manually dug through the tens of thousands of images and videos collected by all cameras deployed around this time period. She found not one, but four different howler infants being carried. In nearly all cases, the carrier was the same individual: a subadult male she named Joker. These observations raised several questions. How did Joker get these infants? And why did he carry them for days at a time? “At first, we thought it could be adoption,” says Goldsborough. Anecdotes exist of some animals adopting babies of other species. In a well-known case from 2006, a pair of capuchins adopted a baby marmoset and succeeded in raising it into adulthood. But there was a problem with this interpretation: animal adoption is almost always carried out by females, who presumably do it to practice “caring” for infants. “The fact that a male was the exclusive carrier of these babies was an important piece of the puzzle,” she adds. Then, the trail went cold. Goldsborough found no evidence of howler carrying for months. “We’d decided that it was one individual trying something new,” says Barrett, “which is not uncommon to see among capuchins. These are deeply curious animals who are constantly exploring the forest and figuring out how they can interact with their world.” Eventually, though, the researchers struck the motherlode: they discovered a series of images and video, timestamped five months later, of more howler infants being carried. The authors called on a howler monkey expert, Lisa Corewyn at Ithaca College, who verified that the babies were separate individuals. “We assumed that Joker was at it again,” says Goldsborough. But they soon realized that the carrying behavior had in fact spread to four other capuchins—all young males. The spread Over the course of 15 months, these five capuchins carried 11 different howler monkeys for up to 9-day periods. The camera footage showed the howler babies clinging to the backs or bellies of their young male carriers who appeared to be going about their normal business of travelling or using tools to crack open food sources. The researchers collated the footage on an interactive website documenting the spread of the behavior. “The complete timeline tells us a fascinating story of one individual who started a random behavior, which was taken up with increasing speed by other young males,” says Barrett. The authors describe this as a social tradition or cultural fad—a behavior that spreads in a population through social learning. It parallels trends observed in other animals, such as killer whales donning “salmon hats” or chimpanzees wearing a blade of grass in their ears like an accessory. The implications of the capuchins’ fashion fad, however, are more than skin deep. The howler babies, all less than four weeks old, appear to have been abducted from their parents who were captured on camera calling to infants from nearby trees. Four babies were observed to have perished. The authors suspect that none of the babies survived. “The capuchins didn’t hurt the babies,” stresses Goldsborough, “but they couldn’t provide the milk that infants need to survive.” As is often the case in the natural world, one animal’s loss is another animal’s gain. But what the capuchins gain from this social tradition is a mystery. The males don’t eat the infants, they don’t play with them, and they don’t receive more attention from their group mates while carrying an infant. “We don’t see any clear benefit to the capuchins,” says Goldsborough “but we also don’t see any clear costs, although it might make tool use a little trickier.” Rethinking animal culture The research offers the first known documentation of a social tradition in which animals repeatedly abduct and carry infants of another species—without any clear benefit to themselves. It highlights the ways in which animal culture can parallel our own. Says Barrett: “We show that non-human animals also have the capacity to evolve cultural traditions without clear functions but with destructive outcomes for the world around them.” This, he says,

We’re close to translating animal languages – what happens then?

Article written by David Farrier Originally published by The Guardian (June 1, 2025) AI may soon be able to decode whalespeak, among other forms of communication—but what nature has to say may not be a surprise Charles Darwin suggested that humans learned to speak by mimicking birdsong: our ancestors’ first words may have been a kind of interspecies exchange. Perhaps it won’t be long before we join the conversation once again. The race to translate what animals are saying is heating up, with riches as well as a place in history at stake. The Jeremy Coller Foundation has promised $10 million to whichever researchers can crack the code. This is a race fueled by generative AI; large language models can sort through millions of recorded animal vocalizations to find their hidden grammars. Most projects focus on cetaceans because, like us, they learn through vocal imitation, and also like us, they communicate via complex arrangements of sound that appear to have structure and hierarchy. Sperm whales communicate in codas—rapid sequences of clicks, each as brief as 1,000th of a second. Project Ceti (the Cetacean Translation Initiative) is using AI to analyze codas in order to reveal the mysteries of sperm whale speech. There is evidence the animals take turns, use specific clicks to refer to one another, and even have distinct dialects. Ceti has already isolated a click that may be a form of punctuation, and they hope to speak Whaleish as soon as 2026. The linguistic barrier between species is already looking porous. Last month, Google released DolphinGemma, an AI program to translate dolphins, trained on 40 years of data. In 2013, scientists using an AI algorithm to sort dolphin communication identified a new click in the animals’ interactions with one another, which they recognized as a sound they had previously trained the pod to associate with sargassum seaweed—the first recorded instance of a word passing from one species into another’s native vocabulary. The prospect of speaking dolphin or whale is irresistible. And it seems that they are just as enthusiastic. In November last year, scientists in Alaska recorded an acoustic “conversation” with a humpback whale called Twain, in which they exchanged a call-and-response form known as “whup/throp” with the animal over a 20-minute period. In Florida, a dolphin named Zeus was found to have learned to mimic the vowel sounds A, E, O, and U. But in the excitement we should not ignore the fact that other species are already bearing eloquent witness to our impact on the natural world. A living planet is a loud one. Healthy coral reefs pop and crackle with life. But soundscapes can decay just as ecosystems can. Degraded reefs are hushed deserts. Since the 1960s, shipping and mining have raised background noise in the oceans by about three decibels a decade. Humpback whale song occupies the same low-frequency bandwidth as deep-sea dredging and drilling for the rare earths that are vital for electronic devices. Ironically, mining the minerals we need to communicate cancels out whales’ voices. Humpback whale songs are incredible vocal performances, sometimes lasting up to 24 hours. “Song” is apt: they seem to include rhymed phrases, and their compositions travel the oceans with them, evolving as they go in a process called “song revolutions”, where a new cycle replaces the old. (Imagine if Nina Simone or the Beatles had erased their back catalogue with every new release.) They’re crucial to migration and breeding seasons. But in today’s louder soundscape, whale song is crowded out of its habitual bandwidth and even driven to silence—up to 1.2 km away from commercial ships, humpback whales will cease singing rather than compete with the noise. In interspecies translation, sound only takes us so far. Animals communicate via an array of visual, chemical, thermal, and mechanical cues, inhabiting worlds of perception very different to ours. Can we really understand what sound means to echolocating animals, for whom sound waves can be translated visually? The German ecologist Jakob von Uexküll called these impenetrable worlds umwelten. To truly translate animal language, we would need to step into that animal’s umwelt—and then, what of us would be imprinted on her, or her on us? “If a lion could talk,” writes Stephen Budiansky, revising Wittgenstein’s famous aphorism in Philosophical Investigations, “we probably could understand him. He just would not be a lion any more.” We should ask, then, how speaking with other beings might change us. Talking to another species might be very like talking to alien life. It’s no coincidence that Ceti echoes NASA’s Seti – Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence—Institute. In fact, a SETI team recorded the whup/throp exchange, on the basis that learning to speak with whales may help us if we ever meet intelligent extraterrestrials. In Denis Villeneuve’s movie Arrival, whale-like aliens communicate via a script in which the distinction between past, present, and future times collapses. For Louise, the linguist who translates the script, learning Heptapod lifts her mind out of linear time and into a reality in which her own past and future are equally available. The film mentions Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf’s theory of linguistic determinism—the idea that our experience of reality is encoded in language—to explain this. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was dismissed in the mid-20th century, but linguists have since argued that there may be some truth to it. Pormpuraaw speakers in northern Australia refer to time moving from east to west, rather than forwards or backwards as in English, making time indivisible from the relationship between their body and the land. Whale songs are born from an experience of time that is radically different from ours. Humpbacks can project their voices over miles of open water; their songs span the widest oceans. Imagine the swell of oceanic feeling on which such sounds are borne. Speaking whale would expand our sense of space and time into a planetary song. I imagine we’d think very differently about polluting the ocean soundscape so carelessly. Where it counts, we are perfectly able to understand what nature has to say;

Reps pass wildlife protection bill

Article written by Abdullah Lamino Originally published by Radio Nigeria (May 28, 2025) The bill will now proceed to the Senate for concurrence. A major milestone has been reached in Nigeria’s fight against wildlife trafficking and habitat destruction as the House of Representatives passed the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill, 2024, at its third reading. The legislation introduces tougher penalties for wildlife crimes and significantly strengthens Nigeria’s legal framework for investigating and prosecuting environmental offenses. It also empowers judges to fast-track wildlife-related cases, allows for the recovery of assets tied to environmental crimes, and aligns Nigeria’s efforts with international treaties and best practices. The bill’s sponsor, Hon. Terseer Ugbor, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, emphasized its significance in combating transnational wildlife trafficking. “This Bill sends a clear message that Nigeria will not serve as a transit point for the illegal trade in wildlife products like pangolin scales and ivory,” Ugbor said. “We are modernising our laws to protect the ecological and economic value of our biodiversity for future generations.” He added. Nigeria has been recognized as a major transit hub for the illegal trade in wildlife products, particularly ivory and pangolin scales destined for Asian markets. Between 2016 and 2019, over half of the pangolin scales seized globally were linked to shipments originating in or passing through Nigeria. Environmental groups and conservation advocates have welcomed the passage of the bill. Tunde Morakinyo, Executive Director of Africa Nature Investors Foundation (ANI), praised lawmakers for taking a firm stance: “This is a testament to Nigeria’s commitment to wildlife governance and conservation. The House of Representatives deserves credit for its leadership and dedication to this crucial issue,” he saiid. Mary Rice, Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency UK (EIA UK), added: “This legislation demonstrates Nigeria’s determination to secure regional security and disrupt international trafficking networks.” Peter Knights, CEO of Wild Africa, described the move as a landmark moment: “This is a great step forward for Nigeria to lead the region in tackling wildlife crime head-on.” ANI, EIA UK, and Wild Africa have all supported the Nigerian government’s efforts to curb illegal wildlife trafficking. These efforts have received backing from international partners including the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and the Pangolin Conservation Fund. The bill’s next step is review and concurrence in the Senate. If approved, it will be sent to the President for assent and become law.

Baby pangolin found clinging to her dead mother’s body

Between 2010 and 2021, over 200 tons of pangolin parts were seized in wildlife crimes linked to Nigeria. That’s at least 800,000 slaughtered pangolins.   Today, this number will be closer to one million.   Hundreds of thousands of pangolins are poached every year.  They are the most trafficked mammal on earth. Today, they have one last hope.   African pangolins are routinely trafficked to Asia to be used in useless traditional “medicines,” and Nigeria is a key hub for this despicable trade.   But there are good people fighting to save these vulnerable animals.    Our partner works tirelessly to intercept poachers and rescue pangolins — like tragic baby pangolin Lulu. This tiny pup was found bewildered and confused in a chaotic bushmeat market in Nigeria, still clinging to her mother’s lifeless body.   Heartbreakingly, it was too late for her mother, but today, the heroes who rescued Lulu need your help to keep saving lives.   Nigeria’s first dedicated pangolin nursery and ICU is almost complete. With your continued support, we will fill it with vital equipment to save baby pangolins.   Countless pangolins – mostly babies – arrive in our partner’s care with severe, life-threatening injuries. They need critical, intensive care immediately to stand a chance of survival. Credit: Green Fingers Conservation Centre   Together with our partner, Greenfingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative (GWCI), and with our supporters’ help, we built Nigeria’s first dedicated pangolin ICU and nursery. This is a groundbreaking step in protecting the species. The building and interior is now complete. The facility provides a safe, quiet and sterile environment for rescued pangolins – a species notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, as they are highly susceptible to stress and infections. But… Without vital diagnostic tools and veterinary equipment, the clinic is unable to meet all the medical needs of pangolins arriving with severe, life-threatening injuries and illnesses, or those in shock after their traumatic experiences. Will you help us complete this critical care unit today?   Rescued pangolin ‘Little Lulu’ was found clinging to her mother’s lifeless body. She survived – but like so many others, she needs long-term, round-the-clock intensive care. Credit: Green Fingers Conservation Center   With your help, we can raise the $7,000 (around £5,270) needed to finish equipping this facility with crucial, life-saving veterinary equipment. Your donation will help stabilize, diagnose and provide immediate intensive care for up to 15 pangolins at a time, including severely traumatised infant pangolins rescued from bushmeat markets, who arrive orphaned and in critical condition. Without specialized medical care, they will not survive. Every day we delay could mean the difference between life and death for pangolins rescued from poachers and meat markets across Nigeria. We cannot rescue more pangolins until we have a fully equipped facility. We need your help TODAY.   Credit: ASI/Byron Seale   Pangolins are fragile, helpless and rapidly declining at the hands of ruthless poachers. Every life matters – and this clinic is critical.   The faster we act, the sooner we can save them. Please, donate right away, and be a beacon of hope for this precious species.   

Poachers have killed more than 100 rhinos in South Africa this year, most of them in national parks

Article written by Euronews Green Originally published by Euronews (May 6, 2025) South Africa has the largest rhino population in the world, with an estimated 16,000 to 18,000 animals. Poachers in South Africa killed more than 100 rhinos in the first three months of this year, most of them inside national parks, highlighting an ongoing battle to protect one of the best-known endangered species. South African Environment Minister Dion George announced the figures Monday and said that of the 103 rhinos killed between 1 January and 31 March, 65 were poached in national parks. The average of more than one rhino killed a day is in line with last year’s count and “a stark reminder of the relentless threat to our wildlife,” George said. Who is killing South Africa’s rhinos? South Africa has the largest rhino population in the world, with an estimated 16,000 to 18,000 animals, according to conservation groups. That includes black and white rhinos. Black rhinos are only found in the wild in Africa and are listed as critically endangered, with around 6,400 left, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Around 2,000 are in South Africa. South African authorities have focused in recent years on criminal syndicates they believe are behind much of the country’s rhino poaching. The environment ministry hailed a conviction last year of what it called a poaching “kingpin” from Mozambique. Simon Ernesto Valoi was sentenced to 27 years in prison by a Mozambique court for running an operation poaching rhinos in South Africa’s huge Kruger National Park, which borders Mozambique.

This magnificent jaguar cub was discarded in a dumpster

Khali was a helpless cub when she was found abandoned in a dumpster in Santa Rosa del Yacuma, Bolivia. Torn from her mother and terrified, she cowered from her rescuers, confused, anxious and starving. Khali’s mother was likely killed to feed Bolivia’s brutal illegal trade in jaguar bones. We’ll never know for sure, but we do know Khali deserves a different fate.   Jaguar cub Khali was saved from Bolivia’s horrific wildlife trade. Today, you can help us protect her future.   In Bolivia, jaguars like Khali are killed for their body parts, which are in high demand in Asia for use in unproven traditional ‘medicine.’ Their teeth are particularly sought-after, while their bodies are either left to rot or boiled down into a treacle-like ‘paste’ and sold. Body parts are even smuggled into prisons, where they are fashioned into goods for resale. Khali was rescued by ONCA Wildlife Sanctuary, a haven for wild animals on the banks of the Amazon’s Beni River. It seems she was discarded by someone who illegally kept her as a pet – but, as so often happens, this wild animal was abandoned when she became  less ‘cute’ and harder to handle. ONCA’s goal is to encourage and maintain Khali’s wild nature, which will be vital to her survival if she is released into a protected forest. Under its care, she has grown into a healthy, wild jaguar.     The team is working hard to ensure Khali is released into a protected natural area – but this could take two years and she needs your help today.   Initially, Khali went on supervised walks with handlers. These are not like the casual dog walks you may be accustomed to – handlers keep a safe distance, do not interact with the animal, and allow the cat to follow its natural instincts as it explores the jungle.  Khali’s natural instincts are now very strong, and for her safety and the safety of her carers, she must stay in her enclosure while ONCA secures the ideal release site and prepares her for the wild. Her current enclosure is too small for her to truly embrace her wild nature, and unless we can build a larger space, she may start to lose the instincts ONCA has done so well to preserve.   Credit: ONCA Wildlife Sanctuary The best place for a wild animal is in the wild!   Your donation today will help ensure that a wild animal can remain just that – wild! It will give Khali the room she needs to remain unhabituated, hone her natural instincts, and eventually be released into a safe, protected area where she can embrace her true nature. With its number of rescue cases constantly increasing, ONCA simply does not have the funds to enlarge Khali’s enclosure – but without it, her entire future is at risk. Khali needs you to live a wilder life.

Two teens and 5,000 ants: how a smuggling bust shed new light on a booming trade

Article written by Peter Muiruri Originally published by The Guardian (Apr 24, 2025) Two Belgian 19-year-olds have pleaded guilty to wildlife piracy – part of a growing trend of trafficking ‘less conspicuous’ creatures for sale as exotic pets Poaching busts are familiar territory for the officers of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), an armed force tasked with protecting the country’s iconic creatures. But what awaited guards when they descended in early April on a guesthouse in the west of the country was both larger and smaller in scale than the smuggling operations they typically encounter. There were more than 5,000 smuggled animals, caged in their own enclosures. Each one, however, was about the size of a little fingernail: 18-25mm. The cargo, which two Belgian teenagers had apparently intended to ship to exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia, was ants. Their enclosures were a mixture of test tubes and syringes containing cotton wool – environments that authorities say would keep the insects alive for weeks. “We did not come here to break any laws. By accident and stupidity we did,” says Lornoy David, one of the Belgian smugglers. David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, pleaded guilty after being charged last week with wildlife piracy, alongside two other men in a separate case who were caught smuggling 400 ants. The cases have shed new light on the booming global ant trade – and what authorities say is a growing trend of trafficking “less conspicuous” creatures. These crimes represent “a shift in trafficking trends – from iconic large mammals to lesser-known yet ecologically critical species,” says a KWS statement. The unusual case has also trained a spotlight on the niche world of ant-keeping and collecting – a hobby that has boomed over the past decade. The seized species include Messor cephalotes, a large red harvester ant native to East Africa. Queens of the species grow to about 20-24mm long, and the ant sales website Ants R Us describes them as “many people’s dream species,” selling them for £99 per colony. The ants are prized by collectors for their unique behaviors and complex colony-building skills, “traits that make them popular in exotic pet circles, where they are kept in specialized habitats known as formicariums,” KWS says. One online ant vendor, who asked not to be named, says the market is thriving, and there has been a growth in ant-keeping shows, where enthusiasts meet to compare housing and species details. “Sales volumes have grown almost every year. There are more ant vendors than before, and prices have become more competitive,” he says. “In today’s world, where most people live fast-paced, tech-driven lives, many are disconnected from themselves and their environment. Watching ants in a formicarium can be surprisingly therapeutic,” he says. David and Lodewijckx will remain in custody until the court considers a pre-sentencing report on 23 April. The ant seller says theirs is a “landmark case in the field.” “People travelling to other countries specifically to collect ants and then returning with them is virtually unheard of,” he says. Scientists have raised concerns that the burgeoning trade in exotic ants could pose a significant biodiversity risk. “Ants are traded as pets across the globe, but if introduced outside of their native ranges, they could become invasive with dire environmental and economic consequences,” researchers conclude in a 2023 paper tracking the ant trade across China. “The most sought-after ants have higher invasive potential,” they write. Removing ants from their ecosystems could also be damaging. Illegal exportation “not only undermines Kenya’s sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits”, says KWS. Dino Martins, an entomologist and evolutionary biologist in Kenya, says harvester ants are among the most important insects on the African savannah, and any trade in them is bound to have negative consequences for the ecology of the grasslands. “Harvester ants are seed collectors, and they gather [the seeds] as food for themselves, storing these in their nests. A single large harvester ant colony can collect several kilos of seeds of various grasses a year. In the process of collecting grass seeds, the ants ‘drop’ a number … dispersing them through the grasslands,” says Martins. The insects also serve as food for various other species, including aardvarks, pangolins, and aardwolves. Martins says he is surprised to see that smugglers feeding the global “pet” trade are training their sights on Kenya, since “ants are among the most common and widespread of insects.” “Insect trade can actually be done more sustainably through controlled rearing of the insects. This can support livelihoods in rural communities such as the Kipepeo Project, which rears butterflies in Kenya,” he says. Locally, the main threats to ants come not from the illegal trade but from poisoning from pesticides, habitat destruction, and invasive species, says Martins. Philip Muruthi, a vice president for conservation at the African Wildlife Foundation in Nairobi, says ants enrich soils, enabling germination and providing food for other species. “When you see a healthy forest … you don’t think about what is making it healthy. It is the relationships all the way from the bacteria to the ants to the bigger things,” he says.   While Animal Survival International (ASI) applauds the decision to recognise the sentience of all animals, we feel the sentences were not commensurate with the crime, and that a much bigger fine should have been imposed. Harsher punishments for wildlife smugglers would send a strong message that animal cruelty, in all its forms, will not be tolerated.

Orphaned rhino calves in Africa need critical milk formula to survive.

Poachers relentlessly hunt rhinos for their horns. Hunters shoot them and mount their heads on walls. Their natural habitats are disappearing faster and faster every day. For South Africa’s rhinos, almost nowhere is safe. Now, one of the few sanctuaries looking after orphaned, abandoned and injured rhino calves has run out of space and funds.    As rhino populations creep closer to extinction by the day, we need your help to keep the species from disappearing forever.   Credit: HESC   Today, we ask for your help to construct dedicated enclosures and provide specialized milk formula for orphaned rhino calves, in partnership with the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center (HESC) in South Africa. HESC is at the forefront of rhino rescue and rehabilitation, but the number of rhino calves in their care has outgrown their capacity to give them the support they need.    Soon, our partner could be forced to turn calves away because they don’t have the space or resources – leaving these helpless animals with no prospects of survival.    Many of the baby rhinos at HESC witnessed the brutal poaching of their mothers. Others lost their moms to natural causes, leaving them starving and defenseless against predators.  Gertjie was just three months old when he was rescued, grieving beside his mother’s lifeless body after poachers killed her. Matimba, only one month old, was found alone and needed round-the-clock care to survive. Bula, a seven-month-old calf, lost his mother to old age and was too weak to survive on his own. These rhino calves need specialized care, constant monitoring and proper enclosures to heal, grow, and one day return to the wild where they belong.   Rehabilitating orphaned rhinos is an incredibly intensive process. From the moment they arrive at HESC, they require 24-hour monitoring to ensure their safety and well-being.   Credit: HESC   One of the biggest challenges is providing them with proper nutrition. A baby rhino drinks up to 25 liters of specialized milk formula every day, and the cost quickly adds up. Since this formula is specially designed for rhinos and often needs to be imported, it is one of the most expensive but essential parts of their care. After months of preparation, the young rhinos are gradually released back into the wild or moved to protected game reserves, where they can roam freely and contribute to the future survival of their entire species.   To heal and grow, these orphaned rhino calves require more than a specialized diet – they need dedicated enclosures specifically tailored to meet their needs.   Credit: HESC   The enclosures the rhinos are staying in now are not built to accommodate them. They need new spaces designed for their needs, ensuring healthy development in a secure, stress-free environment. Only with the right milk formula and enclosures will they have the best possible chance of returning to the wild. Together, we can give them this chance. By funding both the construction of proper enclosures and the cost of the calves’ milk formula, we can help these orphaned rhinos survive, recover and hopefully be released into protected wild areas.   In the fight to save these precious, endangered animals, every life counts.    Help us save this species, one life at a time. Donate today.