Category: Wildlife Trade

Africa Geographic: More Forest Elephants in Gabon Than Previously Thought – New Research

Adapted from article written by Team Africa Geographic Originally published by Africa Geographic (Wednesday, January 31, 2022)   The good news is that there are more forest elephants in Gabon than previously believed. A new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Gabon’s National Park Agency (ANPN) and Vulcan offer the first countrywide elephant population estimate in nearly thirty years. Forest elephants were only recently formally recognized as a separate species by the IUCN and were immediately classified as “Critically Endangered”. This new research estimates that there are around 95,000 in Gabon, which equates to roughly 60-70% of the total global population. Astonishingly, although forest elephant numbers have been in freefall for the last century, Gabon appears to have bucked the trend, and forest elephants are believed to be present across some 90% of this Central African country. Unlike savanna elephants, counting forest elephants from the air is almost impossible given their preference for dense forest habitat. Thus, scientists have had to search for new and inventive ways to replace aerial surveys as a method for estimating population size. One such method (used in the present study) involves collecting and analyzing DNA using a genetic spatial capture-recapture model. Over three years, researchers collected 4,058 dung samples from across the country and set about identifying individual genetic signatures. Then, using complex statistical models, they used the data collected to approximate the average forest elephant densities in various regions and, by extension, calculate a population estimate. As might be expected, the highest densities were calculated in flat areas of preferred habitat with low levels of human pressure and interference (such as Loango National Park). Conversely, the lowest densities occurred in regions of low habitat suitability, such as those near major cities, along roads, and across the Bateke savanna. The authors also caution that although the results of their study are primarily positive, this does not discount significant local declines that Gabon has experienced due to poaching surges in recent years. For example, in Minkébé National Park, a previous study estimated a loss of up to 81% of the forest elephants in just a single decade, from 2004 to 2014. These pockets of low elephant density have yet to recover. Forest elephants were once widespread throughout the forests of Africa, with a population that would have numbered in the millions. Today, there are fewer than 200,000 (and likely significantly less). Most of these are found in Gabon, placing significant pressure on the country to ensure their safety and future. Protected areas constitute 22% of Gabon’s total area, meaning that the vast majority of the forest elephants exist outside these spaces. The authors estimate that some 65% of the country’s elephants occur in logging concessions. However, an accurate estimate of densities and populations is the vital first step in adaptive management strategy, which this study now provides. As the authors conclude, “These results are of interest to local, national, and international decision-makers concerned with the conservation of this species and its habitat, with the important ecological role of forest elephants on climate regulation potential of forests, and with forest elephants as a useful indicator for healthy, intact and well-governed forests.” Resources Access the full paper here: “Nationwide abundance and distribution of African forest elephants across Gabon using non-invasive SNP genotyping”, Laguardia, A., et al. (2021), Global Ecology and Conservation Forest elephants going hungry as climate change stops trees from fruiting. Read more… African, Asian & forest elephants – what’s the difference? Read more…   Banner image: zahorec/Shutterstock

CHEETAHS at RISK! Illegal wildlife trafficking, habitat destruction, loss of genetic diversity…

It’s ALARMING! Africa’s cheetah population has drastically declined. It’s estimated that only about 7,000 remain in the wild (just 1,300 in South Africa). They have been reduced from eight subspecies to just one. They can only be found on 10% of their historical range. In just one African country, Somaliland, at least 300 cheetah cubs are smuggled and sold every year. It should come as no surprise that the cheetah is today listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) RED LIST of Threatened Species. And you can be certain that Animal Survival International (ASI) is committed to using all its power to help save the cheetah in South Africa! We need your help! While South Africa is recognized as the only country in the world with an increasing population of cheetahs – there remains massive reason for concern. Indeed, intensive conservation programs have helped the cheetah population in South Africa increase from approximately 500 in 1975 to a little more than twice this number today – this is progress, but it has taken 45 years! Contrast the number of cheetahs today with the more than 100,000 cheetahs who once roamed the African bush! Cheetahs are threatened and at risk of extinction for several reasons: They are caught and sold alive into the exotic pet market, poached for their skin, illegally trophy hunted, and subject to the unrelenting destruction of their habitat.   On top of all these pressures, scientists warn that cheetah reproduction is being considerably slowed because of climate change. Due to warmer temperatures, male cheetah’s testosterone levels have been reducing and sperm counts 10 times lower than that of domestic cats are being found. Add to all of this the challenge of ensuring species diversification (and avoiding inbreeding), which are critical to maintaining a healthy population. Relocation of the cats across South Africa’s provinces is essential, and already underway, to advance diversification of the cheetah gene pool and help save the species. Recently, South African National Parks (SANParks) appealed to ASI for help purchasing two hi-tech cheetah tracking collars for use at Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP). A female cheetah is about to be relocated to the park (where her future breeding partner is already a resident) to expand the genetics of the cheetah population in the park. Understandably, time is of the essence – we need to obtain and fit the collars as soon as possible. We need your help to raise the funds required to purchase the two cheetah tracking collars. The total cost is reasonable: $4,280 (£3,160). The collars will make a real difference. By collaring the two cheetahs, we will be able to track and monitor the health and wellbeing of this genetically important pair and ensure that they have the best chance of starting a family. Newborn cheetah cubs are MZNP’s only hope of preserving and growing the cheetah population in the park. The collars will also help us to ensure that the breeding pair doesn’t encounter farmers who will shoot them as ‘nuisances’ to their livestock. A murdered mother cheetah comes with heartbreaking consequences for cubs waiting at home for dinner. Please, can we count on you to help us purchase the two cheetah tracking collars? It goes without saying that cheetahs play a vital role in the ecosystem. They are a keystone species. Their survival is already severely threatened and the combination of climate change, illegal wildlife trafficking and loss of genetic diversity could well result in extinction. How ironic – the cheetah may be the world’s fastest land animal, but it won’t be able to outrun its own extinction! Unless we help! It is not too late to help change the fate of Africa’s cheetahs! But time is slipping away. The greater the genetic difference between one individual cheetah and the next (and the next), the stronger the offspring (and the next) and the better the chances are that the species can survive these challenging times. Please, donate today so we can purchase the two tracking collars so critical to protecting this very special pair of breeding cheetahs. Help us give them a chance. Help us give their babies a chance. Help us give the species a chance.

Are Hippopotamuses to Become Belated Victims of Cocaine Lord Pablo Escobar?

Thanks to a dead drug lord, Colombia is now home to the “biggest herd of hippos outside of Africa,” says veterinarian and conservationist Carlos Valderrama (BBC News). The threat the animals pose to both public safety and the environment has fueled a global debate among scientists and animal welfare activists. While every effort is being made to ensure that their soaring numbers are brought under control, some people are calling for them to be killed. Pablo Escobar, former head of the Medellin Cartel, was the most notorious drug trafficker of his time. However, his cocaine trafficking is not the only troubling legacy he left behind. Having amassed a massive fortune from his drug empire, Escobar constructed a private menagerie on his Hacienda Nápoles estate in Antioquia, Colombia. Here, his personal collection of exotic wildlife comprised elephants, flamingos, giraffes, hippopotamuses, kangaroos, ostriches and zebras. Following his death in 1993, most of the animals were transferred to neighboring zoos. Excluded from this relocation project, however, were the hippos. It was believed the animals would eventually die off and could therefore be left alone, but this could not have been further from the truth. With no natural predators or seasonal Sub-Saharan African droughts to diminish their numbers, the hippos thrived. What began as just four hippopotamuses secured within the walls of Escobar’s estate has multiplied at an alarming rate over the last 29 years. Today, an estimated 80 to 120 hippos call the Magdalena Medio home. South America may be an ideal habitat for hippos, but hippos are not ideal for South America. The first risk is in Colombia’s main river, the Magdalena; while hippos happily bask in the water, toxic bacteria in their feces contaminate the water. Moreover, the hippos also endanger native animals such as the West Indian manatee. Lastly, these 3,000-pound territorial animals pose a significant threat to the lives of Colombian people. This is why a cull is being proposed, but there are two sides to every story; ecologist Arian Wallach puts it well, arguing that the hippos are a “story of life’s resilience” (NPR), and deems Colombia’s hippos worthy of protection. According to NGO International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), hippos are considered a vulnerable species. Animal Survival International is opposed to killing the hippos. The hippos are nothing more than the innocent victims of displacement, yet another example of the disastrous consequences of the illicit wildlife trade. Decades ago, a handful of their ancestors were ripped away from their natural habitat and smuggled across the globe to a foreign land. Today, between 80 and 120 of them remain trapped in an environment where they do not belong, and while it’s not that simple to book them a one-way ticket home, there are alternatives to slaughtering them. A sterilization program for the hippos is already underway in Antioquia, Colombia. Led by the region’s environmental agency, Corporación Autónoma Regional Rionegro-Nare (CORNARE), doses of the chemical contraceptive GonaCon have been administered to 24 of the hippos via blow dart. These doses were donated to the Colombian government by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Before the previous effort was abandoned on the basis of expense, time and safety, 11 of the hippos were surgically sterilized. GonaCon, on top of being a much cheaper alternative, is effective in both male and female hippos. However, the drug has its own complexities as it is typically used to control the populations of much smaller animals such as horses and deer. To ensure effective sterilization, CORNARE will be administering a second and third dose over the next 10 years. This is a long-term project that is going to require substantial research and close monitoring by CORNARE. Banner image: Fernando Vergara / AP file

Independent: Pangolin Kidnapped and Held to Ransom in Congo Amid Fears of ‘New Trend’ in Wildlife Crime

Adapted from article written by Emily Atkinson Originally published by Independent (Wednesday, January 26, 2022)   ‘If we pay them, then we are doomed,’ say conservationists An endangered pangolin has been taken hostage by a group of rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who sent a ransom request to conservationists for the animal’s release. It sparks fears that the kidnap could lead to a trend in using wildlife as bargaining power, the activists negotiating with the kidnappers are attempting to rescue the pangolin without payment. “This is something new and alarming,” Adams Cassinga, founder of Conserv Congo, said after “proof of life” photographs of the prized animal were sent to community conservationists. “If we pay them, then we are doomed, the whole park and all the apes would be taken hostage. “They have seen how much money is spent on conservation issues and that rare animals are prized by the international community, and they would say even more so than the poor communities who live in the same area,” he added after the pangolin was captured on the border of the eastern rainforests of the DRC. According to reports, the mammal is being held in Virunga National Park, where over 120 gangs are engaged in a long-fought dispute over land and mineral resources. It comes as the number of people being taken hostage in the area has surged over the past year in a bid to fund the conflict. Aid workers are a common target. Cassinga added that, in the wake of last year’s killing of Italy’s ambassador to the country, the armed groups have been seeking out new means of raising funds. Conserv Congo was contacted over the weekend after the pictures were sent to local conservationists in the town of Mweso. A call placed later to a group in North Kivu province was answered with: “Pay us and we hand it over for release, if not we will do what we want,” Cassinga added. The Nduma Defence of Congo, the gang thought to be responsible for snatching the nocturnal mammal, is yet to determine a price for the pangolin. “They are testing the market,” Cassinga added. Dubbed the “most trafficked mammal in the world” by the WWF, more than one million pangolins have been lifted from the wild over the last decade by poachers seeking their meat and scales (for use in traditional medicines), and tens of thousands are still trafficked every year. All eight species of pangolin are cataloged on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Chinese, Sunda and Philippine pangolins have also been labeled ‘critically endangered’, nearing becoming ‘extinct in the wild’.

EMERGENCY! We helped rescue FOUR baby rhinos whose mothers were slaughtered. Three are doing well. But one, Aquazi, is FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE!

In December, we told you about four rhino calves who had been rushed to our partner, the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary (CFW) in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The baby rhinos had been left abandoned after poachers mercilessly slaughtered their mothers. Left Aquazi being transported to safety, right Aquazi in ICU We reached out to you for support, and you responded generously, allowing us to send critical funds to kick-start the intensive medical care and rehabilitation for the four calves. But one of the baby rhinos has taken a sudden turn for the worse! We received the heartbreaking news that our beloved Aquazi, who was only a few weeks old when rescued, is not doing well. Recently, his guards reported that the young rhino was having difficulty breathing. Aquazi was immediately rushed to CFW’s intensive care unit (ICU), where it was discovered that his oxygen levels had plummeted. The young rhino calf now remains in ICU, fighting for his life. In order to save this young rhino’s life, the CFW team will continue to work tirelessly, and never leave his side. He has already been given blood plasma administered intravenously, which has helped boost his immune system and protein levels but now he requires LIFE-SAVING ANTIBIOTICS, X-RAYS and OXYGEN THERAPY. Aquazi is so fragile that he must have expensive 24-HOUR-A-DAY CARE. We cannot give up on him now! Please, help us raise the $5,000 (£3,700) needed to give Aquazi a chance of survival! It’s a miracle that Aquazi is still alive! We MUST do our best to save him! This baby rhino is in an epic fight for survival. Forced to navigate a world without his mother at only a few weeks old, then surviving severe pneumonia and compromised lungs, this little rhino desperately wants to live. 

It is no exaggeration to say that Aquazi’s survival is important for his entire species. In South Africa, a rhino is killed for its horn every 22 hours. If this continues, soon rhinos will be gone from the world forever. Every rhino life is critical for their survival! Rhinos in Africa are at risk of extinction. Rhinos are prized for their horns, which are used in Asia for phony traditional Chinese “medicines”. South Africa is a hub for the illegal trade which has led the country’s rhino population to decline drastically. If we don’t do everything we can to save rhino lives now, they will be wiped out in a matter of years. Please, help us secure little Aquazi’s survival! He is fighting so hard to survive, and his team of caregivers continue to give him the best possible around-the-clock care. But this baby rhino is still very young and won’t be able to recover from his dangerously low oxygen levels and bacterial infection without our help. Please, donate now and help us rush emergency help to Aquazi!

Mozambican Poaching Gang Leader Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

In a significant victory against wildlife poaching in Africa, a Mozambican judge has sentenced notorious rhino poacher and gang leader Admiro Chauque to 30 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay 28 years’ worth of fines after being convicted of multiple crimes relating to the illegal wildlife trade and possession of weapons in Mozambique and South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The Southern African nation of Mozambique has been imposing stricter penalties on poachers in recent years, culminating in the record sentencing of Chauque. In Zimbabwe, where the poaching epidemic is believed to have begun in 2008, there is a nine-year minimum sentence for poachers. In South Africa, where poaching is rampant, there is no minimum sentence. According to Save the Rhino, one rhino is slaughtered every day in South Africa for its horn. It estimates that a total of 9,985 African rhinos have lost their lives to the scourge. “Animal Survival International (ASI) applauds the Mozambican government and judiciary for taking a stand against the detestable illegal wildlife trade and welcomes the sentencing of one of Africa’s worst offenders,” says campaigner Tayla Lance of ASI. “However, it is of great concern that South African legislators are not treating the issue with the urgency needed. We call upon the South African government to create a five-year minimum sentence for poaching.” Image Credit: World Animal News.com

Elephants, rhinos and more face unrelenting threat from heartless POACHERS who work for CHINESE CRIMINALS!

A poaching epidemic underway in South Africa is killing endangered animals including elephants and rhinos every day. Protecting wild animals is a huge challenge because they roam over such massive areas. Our partner, the Addo National Park alone covers 630 square miles (1,640 square kilometers) of dense vegetation offering poachers ample places to hide. The animals need our help to provide a high-tech drone to locate poachers before they kill animals. The poachers work for Chinese criminals seeking rhino horns, elephant tusks, lion bones, leopard skins – in fact, any wild animal body part they can peddle in Asia. They are merciless and would have no hesitation in ambushing and killing game rangers. This makes patrolling the area a difficult and seriously dangerous job. We need to prevent this from happening at Addo National Park Criminals are smart – we must be smarter! We need to raise $7,500 (£5,500) to provide Addo with a high-tech anti-poaching drone. For animals, drones can be lifesavers. Flown at night and equipped with stealth technology, they identify poachers from their body heat, lock onto them and track them through the bush. This information is sent to nearby anti-poaching teams who home in on the gangs and ARREST THEM if possible. A drone like this is an invaluable weapon in combating poaching so, your donation will have an immediate impact on the scourge of poaching and save countless animal lives. Addo is home to the world’s southernmost population of elephants and one of the best hopes for their survival. Some 600 elephants live there, along with critically endangered rhinos and thousands of other animals. With your help to buy a drone, we can protect the animals and crucially, track down the killers. Please help us raise the funds needed to provide Addo’s animals with the technology to protect them. Given Addo’s dense vegetation, poachers can easily hide from foot patrols, but they cannot hide from the sky. Another plus is that sky patrols prevent anti-poaching teams from coming face-to-face with murderous armed poachers on the ground. We work extensively with the Addo National Park to help protect animals – but we can’t do it without you. Thanks to your generosity, we have helped Addo to obtain additional land for animals, set up boreholes to provide critical water supplies during times of terrible drought and have funded translocations to diversify animal gene pools – a critical part of wildlife conservation. Please, if you can, help us now in our mission to preserve the precious wildlife of the Addo National Park. We must protect them from senseless and blood-thirsty poaching. Drones are also a vital tool in biological monitoring, helping conservation teams locate animals for medical emergencies. A drone will also play an important role in monitoring animals without stressing them. Importantly, anti-poaching units can use video footage and images obtained via the drone as evidence in court cases to put poachers behind bars. Your support has previously helped us protect and care for Addo’s animals. The animals need your help yet again

Rescued baby wild animals, including critically endangered pangolins, need medical treatment and intensive care to be readied for return to the wild!

In a remote part of South Africa, sick and injured orphaned baby wild animals desperately need a bush veterinary clinic to help them. Our partner, the Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre, is a rescue and rehabilitation center for baby wild creatures, orphaned when their mothers were killed. Right now, Umoya Khulula has dozens of very young animals, all of whom need medical treatment and intense care to be readied for return to the wild. Among them are aardwolves, springbok, zebras and critically endangered pangolins. When orphaned babies arrive at Umoya Khulula, they are always traumatized, terrified and often have injuries that need X-rays and scans. Currently, they must be bundled into a vehicle for an arduous 150-mile (240-kilometer) round trip to the nearest clinic. These are creatures who feel pain and fear just as we do – can you imagine the terror they must feel? But at the moment there is no alternative. With your help, we are going to change that by assisting with the creation of a small emergency clinic at Umoya Khulula. A clinic will save baby orphans and give hope to endangered species! This is truly important because some of these creatures are so endangered that the survival of even a single animal, to be returned to the bush, is a major victory. Vitally important RIGHT NOW are three baby pangolins rescued from the Asian pangolin trade. It may be hard to believe but there are entire international criminal syndicates that stretch their tentacles from Asian headquarters to places as remote as the deep South African bush. They have one purpose: to capture pangolins – small, solitary, gentle nocturnal termite-eaters – and skin them for their scales or keep them alive before being served as a meal for sick customers in heartless restaurants from the Congo to China. In a Congo restaurant, a slice of pangolin costs $60 (£45) and is openly on sale. The trade involves ghastly cruelty. In Asia, they like to smoke live pangolins over a fire so that oil drips from the body, which is then sold as a tonic. There is not a single shred of evidence the oil – or any other part of the pangolin, including scales – has any health benefit, but they do it anyway. All eight pangolin species are supposed to be protected under national and international laws – but in reality, they are the most trafficked animals in the world and are quickly being wiped out. All pangolin species are threatened; two are critically endangered. So, you can see why this animal welfare issue is so important. The survival of these and other babies to grow up in the wild and breed will give new to an entire species. Here’s our plan to help the orphans… We have promised to help equip a small veterinary clinic at Umoya Khulula, where the newly arrived orphans can be scanned, X-rayed and assessed immediately. An X-ray machine and scanner are available and the building is ready to have the equipment installed. Please help us provide medical help for countless orphaned animals for years to come by making a donation today. Your kindness and concern will play a crucial role in giving hope for the survival of creatures we risk losing forever. Please donate what you can today.

We helped SAVE SIX BABY PANGOLINS! Finally, they are about to be RELEASED!

In August, we told you about the rescue of five baby pangolins whose mothers were slaughtered for the illegal bushmeat market in Lagos, Nigeria. A few weeks later, a mother and her newborn baby were also rescued. Sadly, the newborn died, but this meant that the Saint Mark’s Animal Hospital and Shelter team now had six pangolins’ lives in their hands. They turned to Animal Survival International (ASI) for help. Thanks to you, Saint Mark’s managed to save the lives of all six pangolins. Your donations ensured they were provided with constant medical attention, specialized milk formula and around-the-clock care. But the job is not over! We must now keep these babies safe as they are released into the wild. We need your help in keeping these six pangolins safe! The rescued pangolins are ready to be returned to the wild to ensure there will be new generations of these gentle creatures. But we need to help Saint Mark’s buy six GPS trackers, one for each pangolin. The trackers will allow the Saint Mark’s team to monitor their movements at all times – any unusual movement that indicates poachers may have caught them will be flagged and investigated. It is critical that we prevent them from becoming victims of the meat market in Nigeria. Your help could be the difference between life and death for these pangolins! We must urgently raise $4,300 (£3,250) to provide Saint Mark’s Animal Hospital and Shelter with the six GPS trackers. These pangolins will be EXTREMELY VULNERABLE once they are released. Nigeria is at the center of Africa’s illegal wildlife and bushmeat trade. Corruption and a lack of law enforcement have made it nearly impossible to shut down the illegal bushmeat market in Nigeria. This has resulted in hundreds of pangolins in desperate need of being rescued and rehabilitated. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world. Please donate today and help us save these six! Pangolin scales and meat are in high demand in Asia which has accelerated the species to become the most trafficked mammal in the world! Saint Mark’s is the ONLY animal rescue center in Nigeria’s capital city of Lagos. Each year, the number of rescued animals brought to Saint Mark’s is growing. Founder, Mark Ofua, has made it his mission to save as many wild animals as he can from the many illegal markets… But, for Mark to continue his mission, he needs our help to ensure the safety of the pangolins after they have been released into the wild. Please donate today so that our work to save these animals from being slaughtered and ending up in the illegal bushmeat market can continue.

It is not too late to SAVE COUNTLESS ANIMALS FROM EXTINCTION!

These are frightening times for animals and the planet! Climate change, the relentless destruction of forests, coral reefs and wilderness areas and the illegal trafficking of creatures large and small, powered by greedy humans, are sending animals and marine creatures hurtling towards extinction. Without determined action, we could lose the wild and its creatures soon and forever. That’s the grim, but true, situation as we enter 2022. But there is good news too! As you know, ASI fights every day to save animals and protect the wilderness. We also raise awareness about the situation, because truly, most people don’t realize how bad it is for animals. Elephants are a good example… Can you imagine a world without elephants? Elephant numbers are plummeting, and climate change is making a bad situation even worse. This year alone, we provided water systems and waterholes for elephants in South Africa and Namibia. At the Addo Elephant National Park, the systems we provided are giving water 24 hours a day to hundreds of elephants and thousands of other animals in the worst drought in 93 years. We were there to help and will be in 2022, thanks solely to our supporters who value our animals and the planet as much as we do. At the other end of the size scale, the world is on the way to losing pangolins, the gentle, shy, solitary and nocturnal scaly anteaters, who pose no threat to anyone. Yet they are the most illegally trafficked animal in the world. Once captured, their scales are ripped from their bodies to be used as hangover ‘cures’ in Vietnam and traditional ‘medicines’ in China. Often pangolins are kept alive, long enough to be boiled alive and sold in Asian restaurants as menu items. With the help of our supporters, we support rescue operations and pangolin rehabilitation programs in Nigeria and South Africa. So threatened are pangolins that rescued creatures have to be kept in guarded secret locations. Thanks to our supporters, we are at the forefront of the fight to save them. Our work never stops, and we need to do so much more. Make no mistake, the world and its animals are in peril, and we need your help to fight it. We get no help from governments – our support comes from caring, thoughtful people who are as concerned as we are. It’s donations from people like you that allow us to help animals – so please, if you can, make a donation to help ASI fight for animals and the planet. In 2021, we helped endangered tortoises in Madagascar, frogs in Turkey and hyenas and toads in South Africa. We financed anti-poaching and anti-snaring activities in Zimbabwe. Zebras, aardwolves and aardvarks, badgers, barn owls, giraffes, wildebeests, rhinos, monkeys and birds of prey have all benefited from the work our supporters allow us to do. Sea creatures who benefited from your donations include seals and turtles. We focus much of our attention on direct action to save wild creatures, but we also finance scientific research to learn more about animal populations in the wild. This work is vitally important to help maximize the chances of animal survival in an ever-diminishing wilderness. None of what we do can be done without people who care enough and realize how bad the situation is. Wild animals need your help – the planet needs your help. Please donate generously to Animal Survival International right now. Your donation is important. ASI works internationally – we go where we are needed but we can only do so with the help of caring people like you. We live and breathe these issues every day, and each day, we become more alarmed at the seriousness of the situation: animals are headed for extinction and extinction is forever. The need for urgent action is vital. For 2022, ASI has pledged to expand our help to wild creatures and to increase our efforts to protect the environment. The work we do is critical for animals and the world we live in – don’t doubt for a moment that your donation really makes a difference – even a small amount is a godsend for animals. There is so much good work to be done. Animals need you – please do your best to help. Orphaned baby animals URGENTLY need a clinic! Let us end 2021 by telling you about our plans to help create a wildlife emergency veterinary clinic at the Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre in a remote bush region of South Africa. Umoya Khulula is a volunteer organization that rehabilitates baby animals rescued from traffickers or whose mothers were poached. At the moment, if an animal needs emergency care, the nearest clinic involves a 114-mile (284 kilometer) round trip. Many animals die during the journey. It would be so wonderful if you could make a small donation to help animals there. The list of needs is long, but there is hope. ASI helps improve animal lives and protects the wilderness. Please join us in this crusade for the animals and the planet we live in by making a donation right now.

It’s a staggering task to rescue and save four baby rhinos. Please, help us!

We have terrible news! Right now, four baby rhinos have been orphaned after their mothers were killed for their horns in the South African bush. We have been asked to help save them. Taking advantage of freak storms, likely driven by climate change, poachers swooped in on a game area in South Africa’s Mpumalanga area and slaughtered every rhino they could find. These orphans need our help! They are the innocent victims of a poaching epidemic that has swept the country. Poachers have killed 24 rhinos in South Africa since the beginning of December, according to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Each baby rhino story is more heart-wrenching than the next… it’s a miracle that four babies survived! One baby was no more than 12 hours old when she was found lying next to her mother’s mutilated carcass with the umbilical cord still attached. Now named Daisy, she had yet to take her first steps; she couldn’t even stand. She was rushed to our partner, Care for Wild’s (CFW) sanctuary where she received an emergency blood transfusion from an older rescued rhino. Daisy now has intensive round-the-clock care. She is fed hourly and always has a caregiver with her. She is a tiny, tiny baby and has already lost out on receiving the nourishing colostrum from her mother’s milk that should’ve kick-started her development. Only with our help, does she have a chance to survive and grow strong. One of the last of his species, baby Taro wandered hungry and alone for days… followed by hungry hyenas! It couldn’t be more important that Taro, a baby black rhino, survives because black rhino are hurtling towards extinction, with only 5,000 left in the world. Taro’s survival could make an important contribution to breeding – if we can keep him alive. Poachers used the cover of a storm to brutally kill his mother and he wandered alone in the wilderness for several days before an anti-poaching unit found him and sent him to our partner. For 18-month-old Taro, proper nutrition is crucial – he must eat between 20 and 30 different shrubs and trees every day as well as take special medication for the next two months if he is to have a chance. So traumatized by his ordeal, Aquazi had to be sedated and blindfolded before his pneumonia could be treated! Aquazi was found when he was just three weeks old. He’s another little miracle because he had wandered the bushveld on his own for several days and still survived, just. He was so stressed that he had to be blindfolded, given earplugs and sedated before he could be put on a drip to fight pneumonia in his body. Aquazi is now stable. He has a sweet nature and has befriended an orphaned zebra at the sanctuary. Shiloh was so close to death she had to be medevacked by helicopter during a ferocious storm! Shiloh was found lying motionless close to her mother’s body just as a ferocious storm rolled in. A rescue helicopter managed to get the baby to our partners just in time and veterinarians immediately began treating him on the helipad. All four babies are so stressed by their ordeals that they must be given medication to prevent the development of deadly ulcers. Without it, vets say all four would die. It is amazing that these defenseless babies survived long enough to be rescued. Although they are now safely in the hands of a devoted team of caregivers (in an undisclosed location – for their safety), it remains a touch-and-go situation for all of them. The CFW team is working in shifts to ensure a caregiver is always by the orphans’ sides – they must be monitored around the clock. The youngest calf, still only a few days old, must be fed every hour because she is not stable, and her condition is of major concern. All of the babies are severely traumatized and fighting for their lives, we must urgently raise $7,000 (£5,285) for costly medical treatment and 24-hour care for these orphaned rhinos to survive! We have never before been called upon to save four baby rhinos at the same time – it is a staggering task and one we cannot complete without the help of animal lovers like you. If these rhino calves are to survive these crucial weeks of recovery, we need urgent help so we can rush emergency funds to CFW. Your donation will be put to immediate use for comprehensive medical treatment and continuous care. Each one of these animals is vital to the survival of their species, and we must do everything within our power to ensure that all four babies survive and are released to a protected area.

Poachers have already killed 75% of Zimbabwe’s majestic lake elephants. Now, THE REST ARE IN PERIL!

A few months ago, we told you about the terrible slaughter of Zimbabwe’s lake elephants and the efforts of the Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit (BHAPU) to protect the last of these magnificent creatures. BHAPU is a small, committed team that put their lives on the line every day. But now, the team, and the animals they protect, are in trouble! Their anti-poaching boat is out of commission and without it, there is no one to patrol the waters of the vast Lake Kariba, where poachers pose as local fishermen. We must urgently raise $5,500 (£4,100) to repair the boat before poachers take advantage of its absence! 65% of BHAPU’s arrests are made by boat! For the sake of the elephants, we MUST get the team back on the water NOW! Poachers killed 75% of the majestic lake elephants. But then, BHAPU was formed to defend them. This expertly trained team has been successful in protecting these iconic creatures for years, but without their boat, they have lost their first line of defense. Lake Kariba, the largest man-made lake in the world, is used as a highway for illegal wildlife smuggling. The lake forms 140 miles (220 kilometers) of the international border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Poachers and smugglers take advantage of the difficulty of patrolling this enormous stretch of water and regularly move wildlife contraband across the lake. With BHAPU’s operations limited to the land, smugglers are now free to move with little fear of being caught. We have promised to send help, but we need your support. Please donate generously today to get BHAPU back on the water! The anti-poaching boat has been an important tool in protecting these animals for over 25 years. But thousands of operations and chases have battered the boat badly, causing the fiberglass hull to collapse completely. Only the support of animal lovers like you can keep these elephants safe. Elephants are highly intelligent, emotional beings who form strong bonds with each other. They protect each other fiercely and mourn the deaths of their kin for months, even years. Across the African continent, these animals are in peril. Poaching, habitat loss and climate change threaten their survival as a species, making every single elephant population a priority for conservation. Please, help us protect the last of the lake elephants! Without their boat, BHAPU is unable to respond to wildlife emergencies! BHAPU must often respond to wildlife emergencies where animals’ lives are imminently at stake. Snared animals, human-wildlife conflict incidents and trapped baby animals all rely on the BHAPU team to come to their rescue. But without their boat, the team must travel by land – and many of these animals won’t survive long enough for them to make the long arduous journey across miles of rugged terrain. Please, for the animals, donate generously today!

The Yorkshire Post: Lack of Action on Illegal Hare Poaching Not Good Enough – David Bean of Countryside Alliance

Adapted from article written by John Blow Originally published by The Yorkshire Post (Tuesday, November 16, 2021) Having dashed, zigzagged and seasonally boxed across British fields since Roman times at least, few inhabitants of our landscape are more iconic than the hare. Changes in farming practices, especially in the West of the country, saw significant declines in the hare population through the middle of the last century, but numbers have stabilized in recent decades and, especially where farming is predominantly arable, there remain high densities of hares in many areas. However, nearly everywhere that hares are abound, including many parts of Yorkshire, poaching with dogs has become endemic. In its wake comes criminal damage, theft, vandalism, and violence. The “season” usually begins after harvest, as poachers take advantage of bare fields. A single incident can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to land and crops, and see farmers and landowners violently abused. This is not the romantic poaching of rural myth. A local going abroad with his dog to take ‘one for the pot’. Poachers in powerful four-wheel-drive vehicles smash down gates, drive through crops and hedges to run their dogs on hares in competition with one another. At its extreme, it can involve organized criminal gangs betting thousands of pounds on the outcome of matches. Police forces have struggled to tackle this sort of blatant criminality despite their best efforts and increasingly close cooperation between different forces. One of the issues they face is that hare poaching is most often prosecuted under the Game Acts, which date back to the 19th century. The offenses in the Acts precisely describe the problem: “trespassing in pursuit of game”, but they are burdened by a range of deficiencies that have been rectified in more modern wildlife law. For instance, they lack robust powers to seize dogs and vehicles or recover kennelling costs, or penalties stiff enough for effective deterrence. For many years the Countryside Alliance has campaigned for reforms that would strengthen the power of the police and courts to act in partnership with groups as diverse as the Country Land and Business Association, the National Farmers’ Union and the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). In May, it appeared that this activity was at last bearing fruit: the government’s much-vaunted Action Plan for Animal Welfare finally included a commitment on hare poaching, and its specific proposals closely resembled the measures we had sought for so long. What we lacked was a timetable: a firm indication of when the government planned to act and as such, how much longer the rural community must wait for action. With no government legislation in the pipeline the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which was already before parliament, seemed the ideal vehicle for reforms that already enjoy broad consensus. Our proposals would increase penalties, allow the courts to disqualify offenders from owning or keeping dogs and let the police recover kennelling costs for dogs that have been seized. They have the support of all politicians of all parties, rural organizations, the RSPCA and the police, and would deliver almost everything the Government says it wants to achieve without the need for another piece of legislation. Last Wednesday, therefore, when the Police Bill was being considered in the House of Lords, amendments to tackle hare poaching were tabled by a group of sympathetic peers headed by the Lord Bishop of St Albans. He opened the debate with a powerful exposition of the threat illegal hare poaching poses to rural life, and as it progressed it quickly became clear that unlike much of what has been a controversial bill, the measures attracted broad cross-party support. Yet as the crossbench peer Lord Carrington observed, when similar amendments were brought to the House of Commons, “[t]he response by the Minister was that Defra was aware and dealing with the issue. Nothing further has been heard yet.” It was therefore more with dismay than surprise that we learned the government was once again fumbling a prime opportunity for action. It would not accept the amendments and they were withdrawn. Responding on behalf of the Government, Lord Sharpe of Epsom repeated what we have heard time and again: ministers are looking at it, there are detailed discussions, it will take time, we need to get it right; however, he failed to explain any objections to the proposals, what the government wants as an alternative or what timescale it has in mind. All he could offer was action “when parliamentary time allows.” That is simply not good enough when there is a clear and urgent need for action and parliamentary time now. Given the level of support for these measures, and the concern across the countryside about the activity of hare poachers, we fully expect these proposals to be revisited in the House of Lords. The government’s opportunity has not yet passed, but there can be no more excuse for delay. Rural communities have been waiting far too long for the Government to get serious about tackling hare poaching. It is time for talk to give way to action. David Bean is the Parliamentary and Government Affairs Manager for the Countryside Alliance.

BADGER BAITING! Hunters call this “SPORT” – ripping PREGNANT badgers from their dens and letting savage dogs TEAR THEM APART!

Each year in the United Kingdom (UK), it is estimated that more than 10,000 badgers are tortured and killed for entertainment by huntsmen and their dogs! The barbaric and illegal blood sport of “badger baiting” is wreaking havoc on this protected species. We need your help to bring this carnage to an end by putting the cruel perpetrators where they belong – behind bars. Badger baiting involves sending trained dogs down badger setts (dens) to locate and hold the animal at bay while hunters dig them out. Once exposed, the badger is dragged from its sett and TORN APART by a pack of savagely trained dogs. And this is considered “sport!” With your help, we can raise the £5,000 ($6,800) to fund undercover investigations into the networks responsible for this horror and BRING THEM TO JUSTICE! Badger baiting takes place mostly between November and March when badger sows are pregnant or giving birth… Badgers are typically shy and peaceful creatures. But during the cold winter months, they become defensive – ferociously protecting their homes when females are pregnant or nursing their young. Badger baiters exploit this defensive behavior which makes for “better sport”. So-called “better sport” also means graver injuries to the hunters’ dogs. A badger has great strength and their powerful digging claws can do serious damage when they’re fighting for their life. The dogs are often left with horrific wounds. Worried that veterinarians may report them, hunters usually stitch the dogs’ wounds themselves, without giving the animal pain relief or antibiotics. If the dogs are severely hurt, they are simply shot or tied up and left to die. We must do our best to bring this horror to an end, but we need your help. A horror that is becoming more common is underground badger baiting events, where a badger is brought to a makeshift arena and as many as 15 blood trained dogs are set on it – and tear it to pieces. Even if a badger manages to best one of the dogs, its fate is sealed. Either through injury or exhaustion, the terrified creature will eventually succumb while crowds place bets and cheer on the pack of dogs. A large badger, such as a pregnant female, can be sold for as much as $970 (£700) to the gangs who run these underground torture events. In addition to the horrific injuries from being viciously attacked, the badgers are often deliberately wounded to guarantee a longer fight or to “protect” valuable winning dogs. This is usually done by either breaking their jaw or leg or pulling their teeth out! These animals suffer long, agonizing deaths. It is critical that we fund investigations to identify these criminal networks and bring them to justice! The badger is the UK’s last remaining large carnivore – an iconic creature who urgently needs our help. Despite being a protected species since 1992 – despite badger baiting being illegal for almost 200 years, the unspeakably cruel “sport” continues to thrive on a terrifying scale, particularly in Wales and the surrounding areas. ASI cannot – will not – allow this to continue. Please, donate today and help us root out the people responsible! Those found guilty of badger baiting face sentences of up to six months in prison per offense, hefty fines and lifetime bans on owning animals – but the challenge lies in catching them. That is why it is critical that we fund undercover investigations to root out the callous criminal gangs at the heart of this horror.

EMERGENCY! Lily the pregnant pangolin has taken a SUDDEN TURN FOR THE WORSE!

In October, we told you about Lily, the terribly emaciated pangolin who was rescued from traffickers in South Africa and miraculously turned out to be pregnant despite her horrific ordeal at the hands of callous criminals. We reached out to you for support, and you responded generously, allowing us to send critical funds to kick-start her intensive medical care and rehabilitation. But Lily has taken a sudden turn for the worse! Her red blood cell count has plummeted, and her only chance for survival is a blood transfusion! We cannot give up on Lily and her unborn baby now. Please, help us raise the $3,000 (£2,200) needed to give her and her baby a chance of survival! If we are to save Lily and her baby’s lives, two teams must work simultaneously to meet a tight deadline. A medical team will be at the wildlife hospital working to stabilize Lily’s condition so that the procedure can be successful, while a second team will have just hours to track another pangolin, draw a safe amount of life-saving blood for Lily and rush it back to the hospital! An undertaking like this has NEVER BEEN ATTEMPTED before! We MUST try to save Lily and her baby! Lily was rescued from traffickers in a shockingly emaciated state Lily and her baby are lucky that a large adult male pangolin was recently rehabilitated and released in a nearby protected area. Using his state-of-the-art GPS tracking tag, the team know exactly where to find him and is standing by to deploy. Rangers will track him on foot and an expert wildlife veterinarian will draw blood after confirming that it will not negatively impact his health or affect his strength. The blood will be packed into cold storage and rushed to the hospital to hopefully give Lily the strength she needs to recover and see her pregnancy through. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal on earth. Every pangolin life is critical for their survival! Every single species of pangolin in Africa and Asia are at risk of extinction. Their scales are used widely in phony traditional “medicines” and their meat is served as an illegal delicacy in many countries. A thriving black market for these gentle creatures is driving them to extinction at a rate we have never seen before, and if we don’t do everything we can to save pangolin lives now, they will be wiped out in a matter of years. Lily has been fighting so hard to survive and to see her pregnancy through, and her team of caregivers continues to give her the best possible around-the-clock care. But pangolins are very delicate creatures and Lily won’t be able to recover from her dangerously low red blood cell count without our help. Please, donate now and help us rush emergency help to Lily and her baby!

OUTRAGEOUS! Leopards slaughtered by the thousands for their skins! In the name of FASHION!

Leopards are the most persecuted big cats in the world! In the last 50 years, almost ONE MILLION of these magnificent animals have been killed in Africa for trophies, to make coats from their beautiful skins and because some farmers view them as pests. It takes EIGHT leopard skins to make one coat! Fashion has played a big role in pushing leopards to the brink of extinction. Sadly, in the 1960s, their beauty fueled the slaughter of 50,000 of these exquisite creatures for their skins to be made into coats and hats – every year. Even today, thousands are being killed for their skins annually. It’s only a matter of time before they disappear forever – unless we do something. It’s OUTRAGEOUS! Leopards slaughtered by the thousands for their skins! In the name of FASHION! There is a booming illegal trade in leopard skins too, but because we know so little about leopard numbers, it’s difficult to pinpoint from where these animals are being poached. Please, will you help us raise the $8,000 (£5,812) needed to learn this critical information and give leopards the protection they so desperately need? Leopards’ massive territories and their secretive behavior make it exceptionally difficult to determine how many are left. There is a dreadful suspicion that a conservation disaster is looming. Researchers say that their populations are declining faster than they can understand – and at a rate that surely cannot continue for long. The Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe may just be one of the leopards’ last strongholds in Africa. But we need to find out how bad the situation is and establish the threats they face to protect them. Please, help us raise the funds needed to humanely collar and track leopards in Hwange to secure a future for these mysterious, imperiled big cats before it’s too late. Leopards have lost almost 70% of their habitat – and the rest is shrinking fast! This leopard was saved just in time from a snare thanks to a tracking collar Leopards are solitary animals who each need territories of up to 270 square miles (700 square kilometers). But with human settlements growing and encroaching on wild areas, these creatures are being put into fierce competition with each other for space or killed when they enter farms or communities in search of food. Sometimes, these cats are shot by farmers who view them as pests. Those who don’t die immediately are left to suffer and slowly succumb to bullet wounds or starvation. We must do everything we can to protect these magnificent creatures! At almost 6,000 square miles (15,000 square kilometers), the Hwange National Park could be a haven and support a large breeding population of leopard. But we must first learn more about their behavior, movements and the threats they face here. Please donate today and help us secure a future for these cats.

African Elephants Evolving Towards Tusklessness, New Study Finds

A recent study on African elephant genetics has found that the species is evolving towards tusklessness in areas where ivory poaching has been rampant. This is according to research published this month in Science and based on findings observed in the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. What was observed was that a genetic mutation that caused elephants to be born without tusks has now become much more common in groups that were once relentlessly massacred for their tusks. Slaughtering elephants for ivory skyrocketed in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s when global demand for the material reach an all-time high. It was during this period that the elephant population in Africa was reduced by half – a major contributing factor being the Mozambican civil war between 1977 and 1992. Armed forces all but decimated the country’s elephant population, using ivory as currency to fund the conflict. Only 10% of the animals survived. Naturally, elephants without tusks were ignored by poachers. As a result, the once-rare mutation is now being seen in growing numbers of female elephants at Gorongosa during periods of heavy poaching, elephants without ivory are more likely to pass on the gene. “One of the conspicuous features is that a lot of the female elephants don’t have tusks and we were getting intrigued by this phenomenon,” said Robert Pringle of Princeton University’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology, which led the study. “We realised that although there had been a fair amount written with people observing the fact that elephants were sometimes tuskless, especially in places where there had been a lot of poaching, nobody really understood why. And nor had anybody really quantified or documented the phenomenon and been able to really attribute it to a cause, as opposed to just speculating about the origins.” The research shows that tooth-building genes are most likely involved in the syndrome, which also presents in humans and is lethal to males in both species. But, while the mutation might protect some elephants from poaching, could it have implications for the species, in light of the fact that males with the syndrome do not develop properly in utero? “About half of male elephant calves with a tuskless mother will have this genetic abnormality, which means elephant herds where there has been a lot of poaching can end up severely depleted of males,” said Pringle “But this problem is reversible over time.” “There’s such a blizzard of depressing news about biodiversity and humans in the environment and I think it’s important to emphasise that there are some bright spots in that picture,” he added. Elephant numbers have risen steadily for two decades and the population has more than tripled in size since being pushed to the brink of extinction in the 1990s. Given those statistics, Pringle says it’s expected that the prevalence of the mutation will once again decrease provided that concerted conservation efforts remain firmly in place. Adrienne West of Animal Survival International (ASI), an organization that works extensively with elephants in South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park, said that the findings match her experience at Addo. “The area experienced extensive elephant hunting in the last century and today the number of tuskless elephants is of such concern that Park officials enlisted our aid to bring big tuskers in from other areas,” she said. “Our program commenced in 2019 and it is too early to know the results but we are optimistic, and the findings that with good conservation, tusks will return is encouraging indeed.”

IT’S WRONG! Top UK vet body supports CRUEL AND POINTLESS badger slaughter!

We have told you before about the horrific cruelty involved in the slaughter of more than 160,000 badgers in England in a futile bid to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence that badger culling has not and never will have any significant impact on the transmission of the disease to cattle, the UK government said it would phase out the killing. Instead, it broke that promise and announced that up to 76,000 more badgers will be slaughtered this year alone! We really need your help to STOP THIS KILLING! The cull, which has already killed over ONE-THIRD of England’s badger population and cost $96 million (£70 million) does no good and is inherently cruel, yet the British government and British Veterinary Association (BVA) continue to support it! A PROTECTED SPECIES is being trapped, maimed and killed en masse – with the blessing of the UK’s vets, the very people trusted to care for animals! The BVA represents 18,000 of the UK’s 28,900 veterinarians, each of whom takes an oath, which includes the statement: “…above all, my constant endeavour will be to ensure the health and welfare of animals committed to my care.” How can this cruelty be in the interest of these animals’ health and welfare? The simple answer is that it cannot. These creatures are being betrayed by the people whose duty it is to protect them! Badgers have the highest protection status of any animal in the UK. It is ILLEGAL to willfully kill, injure or remove a badger (or even attempt to do so!) in England. These animals and their homes have been protected by law since 1973, yet the same government that gave them this protection now flouts its wildlife laws and for no other reason than what many people say is to pander to the ill-informed views of a powerful lobbying group of commercial farmers! The scientific evidence is clear! Badgers are not to blame! Defra, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, claims that its bTB policy of killing badgers is science-led but independent scientific experts agree that culling badgers is ineffective. The government continues to ignore this evidence and is continuing with an impractical and ineffective policy – signing death sentences for an additional 76,000 badgers in 2021 alone. Even though cows are twice as likely to contract bTB from other cattle than from badgers, these shy creatures who are an icon of the English countryside continue to be blamed and executed. Please donate today so that our work to save these creatures from senseless and painful extermination can continue.

50% of the Badger Population in the UK to be Wiped Out by 2026 Makes for a Somber National Badger Day

October 6th is National Badger Day in the United Kingdom (UK). Usually, this would be a day to celebrate one of Britain’s most iconic animals, but this year, any celebration is marred by the recent announcement that the controversial badger culls are set to expand to seven additional counties. Up to 75,000 badgers could be killed this year, bringing the cull’s total death toll to roughly 200,000 – almost half the UK’s badger population. Culling badgers has been the nationwide policy for controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) since 2011, in an attempt to manage the spread of the disease in the interest of commercial beef and dairy industries. This is despite bTB vaccinations being readily available, and data consistently showing that culling badgers makes no meaningful contribution to the control of the disease. In May of this year, the UK government confirmed that no new cull licenses would be issued after 2022. But the four-year licenses will allow thousands more badgers to be killed before they expire in 2026. By this time, close to 60% of the UK’s entire badger population will have been wiped out courtesy of £700-million in taxpayer money. Wildlife conservation organizations warn that the cull will not achieve its objective and could have severe impacts on ecosystems. “It is desperately frustrating that the UK government continues to ignore scientific data proving that the cull is ineffective,” says Adrienne West of Animal Survival International (ASI). “Instead, they continue to massacre a protected animal which is also a keystone species. The knock-on effect on natural habitats could be devastating.” Authentic scientific data indicates that the UK government’s current attempt to bring the spread of bTB under control is failing dismally. Badgers are the UK’s last remaining large predator and despite being legally protected throughout the UK, they have become the scapegoat for the spread of bTB.

On the verge of death! Starved and wounded pregnant pangolin in need of critical medical care!

In a daring undercover sting operation in South Africa, a pangolin on the brink of death was rescued from traffickers. The most trafficked mammals in the world, pangolins are prized in Asian restaurants as a delicacy and their scales are used in phony Chinese ‘medicines’. Pangolins are racing towards extinction, and every single life is important for their survival. The pangolin had been badly injured by her captors and was terribly emaciated. She was rushed to a veterinary center where the team made a shocking discovery – she’s pregnant! But now, both her and her baby’s lives are at risk. We urgently need your help to provide critical medical care to this pregnant pangolin if she is to survive these crucial weeks and keep her baby. Starved and wounded by her captors, we must urgently raise $6,500 (£4,700) for costly medical treatment and around-the-clock care for this pangolin and her baby to survive! It is nothing short of miraculous that the stress of her ordeal didn’t cause her pregnancy to fail. Our partner, Umoya Khulula, informed us that the pangolin, named Lily, is in the worst condition they have ever seen. Tied up and stuffed into a backpack for at least 12 days with no food or water, she is critically underweight and her condition is very fragile. Her captors ripped off fistfuls of her protective scales, causing immense pain and leaving her delicate skin bleeding and exposed. Although Lily is now safely in the hands of a committed team of caregivers in an undisclosed and closely guarded location, she is not out of the woods yet. She needs to be carefully rehydrated on a drip, anesthetized and fed through a tube to receive critical nutrients and monitored 24-hours a day for signs of pneumonia, which is a common but deadly side effect of stress in pangolins. There are two lives at stake! Please help us rush funds to provide intensive medical treatment and around-the-clock care! This gentle creature is in desperate need of our help. We have pledged to provide support, but, we need your help to do so. Please help us raise the $6,500 (£4,700) so urgently needed. Your donation will be put to immediate use for intensive medical treatment and around-the-clock care. Each one of these animals is vital to the survival of their species, and we must do everything within our power to ensure that Lily and her baby survive and return to a protected area. If we do not save every pangolin we can, these rare and unique creatures could become extinct in our lifetime. We are working towards a long-term solution to the worldwide illegal trade in pangolins for traditional ‘medicine’ and meat. But in the meantime, rescuing individual pangolins from traffickers, rehabilitating and releasing them into protected areas with high-tech tracking equipment, is our best course of action to try to prevent their extinction. Lily’s captor has been arrested and faces a lengthy prison sentence, but it is now a race against time to save his victim and her unborn baby. Please, can we count on your support? Rescuing a pangolin from traffickers and securing arrests is a big success, but this is only the start. These criminals have no regard for the welfare of the captured pangolins, who are often close to death when they are confiscated. As a result, it becomes a race against time to assess the animal and start emergency treatment. In Lily’s case, the team must provide the emergency care she needs, but also be very careful to keep her stress levels down and her treatment as non-invasive as possible for the sake of her pregnancy. Any additional stress could cause her body to abort the baby. Lily’s medical costs are already skyrocketing, but she and her baby are worth it. Please donate to help us secure their survival. Lily has a long road to recovery ahead of her, and the team must work harder than ever before to ensure that she is healthy enough to be released and give birth in the wild. She will need to be stabilized as soon as possible so that she can begin her rehabilitation and build up her strength. Thankfully, she has dedicated caregivers who are committed to giving her the best possible care. But they cannot do it without our support. Please, help us save Lily and her baby. They have a chance of survival, but only with our help.

We Did It! The Baby Elephant Rescue Operation Was a Success!

Just days ago, we were alerted to a baby elephant in Zimbabwe with a wire snare wound tightly around the top of its leg. The swelling was so severe, veterinarians worried the calf would lose its leg if the snare wasn’t removed soon enough. The only option we had to save this baby elephant was to charter a helicopter, dart the elephant from the sky and send in a team of experts to treat it as quickly as possible. It was a race against time to save the baby elephant! A nail-biting two days passed while waiting for the flight plan to be approved by all the relevant authorities, as a team of Zimbabwe National Parks Rangers kept a vigilant eye on the herd. But early yesterday morning, the team took to the sky. They quickly located the herd and darted the baby from the helicopter. The ground team of vets and rangers worked fast to clean and treat the wound, administer antibiotics and reverse the immobilizing drugs, while the expert helicopter pilot kept the mother elephant at bay for the team’s safety. Once the baby elephant (who the vets discovered is a girl!) started to wake up, the helicopter pilot herded the mother back to her baby. The team watched as they reunited with the rest of the herd and moved off together. This baby elephant is expected to make a full recovery, but something MUST be done to prevent this from happening again! The snare had cut deeply into the elephant’s leg, but treatment came just in time, and she is expected to make a full recovery. This, however, is not always the case and that is why ASI is committed to ending the use of snares. Snares are horrific devices that torture and kill animals indiscriminately; not even elephants are safe from their cruelty. Thanks to your support, ASI was able to make a generous donation to the Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust, which will sponsor regular snare sweeps in the area. We will do everything we can to prevent this from happening to another animal!

Elephant Appreciation Day

Today is Elephant Appreciation Day – a day to reflect on these great, grey, gentle giants which never cease to evoke a sense of awe in humankind. The more we learn about them, the more we marvel at their social structures, their caring family lives and the sheer wonder of their being. Yet, we are destroying our elephants, pushing them to the brink of extinction through trophy hunting, ivory poaching and habitat destruction. Greed and corruption beset elephants at every turn. Even CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the international body tasked with protecting elephants from exploitation, has blatantly justified Namibia selling its wild elephants into captivity. Read more… At Animal Survival International (ASI), we strive to protect African elephants in every way we possibly can. At Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa, ASI is providing water for more than 600 elephants as the worst drought in a hundred years takes its toll. In Zimbabwe, we financially support anti-poaching efforts to help save the last of Kariba’s famous Lake Elephants, the targets of ongoing ivory poachers. Just this week, we provided emergency funding to prevent a baby elephant from losing his leg to a deadly snare in Zimbabwe. In Namibia, we provided water for some of the last free-roaming elephants in the country, so that they would stay in safe areas and not be shot at by farmers and hunters. But the efforts we have made are being undermined by the Namibian government which has announced it intends to sell 57 wild elephants, many of which will almost certainly end up in zoos. Sometimes it seems that we are fighting a losing battle as with every elephant life we save, another is lost. More than 50 elephants die every day at the hands of ivory poachers. The situation has become so serious that if humanity doesn’t change the way it exploits elephants, they will soon be gone forever. To prevent this from happening, we need to act now. We at ASI promise that with the commitment of our supporters, we will be at the forefront of the fight to save elephants. Please don’t let today be the only day you think about these majestic creatures. Be part of the daily effort to save elephants. Become a supporter of Animal Survival International, and we promise to do whatever it takes to protect elephants across Africa.

International Body Tasked With Protecting Endangered Species Shamefully Allows Namibia to Export Wild Elephants

By Melissa Reitz The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the international body that oversees trade in endangered species, has given Namibia the go-ahead to capture and sell 57 wild elephants, of which around 35 will be exported to captive destinations. According to an investigation by US welfare organization, Animal Survival International (ASI), these elephants, including calves, are likely to be sent to zoos and safari parks in the Middle East. The Al Ain Zoo in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has confirmed that it is expecting elephants early next year but would not say from where. Previous elephant exports to the UAE have required a five-month quarantine period. This green light by the CITES Secretariat flies in the face of the Convention’s legislation to prohibit Namibia from exporting its live elephants outside their natural habitat under their, and according to conservationists is a deliberate misinterpretation by Namibia of, trade regulations. “Namibia is making a mockery of international laws with its deliberate abuse and misinterpretation of trade regulations which are meant to protect elephants,” says Adrienne West, Chief Campaigner of ASI. “What is deeply concerning to conservationists is that it is not the role of the CITES Secretariat to verify Namibia’s elephant exports, instead, it is the duty of CITES signatory countries.” The legality of Namibia’s actions will be examined by CITES Standing Committee (its executive body) at its next meeting in 2022. But by this time, the sold elephants will have already been freighted to their destination. In a convoluted statement, the CITES Secretariat attempted to justify the sale with a complex set of explanations that highlight the ineffective role CITES plays in protecting endangered species from trade exploitation. In essence, the statement alleges that Namibia is permitted to export the elephants under a questionable interpretation of elephant Appendix II listing, saying that under certain circumstances, the country may export its elephants abroad using an Appendix l listing. Appendix I-listed elephants can be exported under certain conditions, which includes being sold to zoos. CITES approves zoos and safari parks as “acceptable destinations” if they cite “education” or “captive breeding programs” as their purpose for import. This leaves plenty wiggle room for zoos to invest in elephants, which draw high ticket sales, under the guise of wildlife conservation efforts. Elephant experts, including the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Elephant Specialist Group, say keeping elephants in captivity has no conservation value to the species and is severely traumatic for individuals. Research shows conclusively that elephants in captivity suffer significant physical and psychological suffering, with high calf mortality and low reproduction rates. The capture has already begun in the northwest regions of Namibia, where the famous and extremely vulnerable population of desert-adapted elephants live. A recent two-month on-the-ground investigation, partly sponsored by ASI, found that elephant populations in the northwest regions are on the verge of collapse, and removing elephants from these areas will be devastating to the future existence of the population. “The capture of just a few individuals in the Kunene Region will have serious consequences on this isolated population of desert-adapted elephants already reeling from years of trophy hunting, drought, habitat encroachment and human persecution,” says Dr Adam Cruise, who carried out the investigation. “If elephants are removed from this area, we may as well bid farewell to Namibia’s desert elephants for good.” While it is not clear what the Secretariat’s motivation is in backing the exports, Namibia’s motivation is clear. The sale of the wild-caught elephants will amount to $4.1-million (£3-million), which Namibian officials claim will be used for wildlife conservation and benefit community conservancies. But no evidence has been provided to support how the money will be spent. “We’ve seen African states exploiting international agreements over and again to sell elephants to zoos or safari parks in the US and Asia,” says ASI’s West. “A complete overhaul of CITES outdated Treaty Terms is long overdue.” This controversial endorsement by the Secretariat of Namibia’s elephant transaction, underlines a deep dissatisfaction with CITES by those African countries seeking to protect elephants, making it clear that CITES does not act as “a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals” but rather as a treaty to keep score and support the trade in natural endangered resources to the best of its ability.

EMERGENCY RESCUE OPERATION! Baby elephant has wire snare wound tightly around his leg – cutting off blood-flow. WE CAN’T LET HIM DIE!

A baby elephant in Zimbabwe’s Kariba region urgently needs your help – and the clock is ticking! The Zimbabwe National Parks Authority has been alerted to a baby elephant with a wire snare wound tightly around the top of his leg. Now, together with the Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust (KAWFT), we are working as quickly as possible to help arrange the logistics, specialized equipment and personnel for an emergency rescue operation. We are in a race against time to save a baby elephant’s life! Every step he takes is tightening the device and putting him in greater danger of death. We must urgently raise $7,000 (£5,000) to charter a helicopter and buy medical supplies to dart the baby elephant and remove the snare before it’s too late! The wound is already dangerously swollen, and vets fear his time is running out! The team at KAWFT saw this baby elephant just five days ago, with no sign of a snare. That means the damage is worsening dangerously fast, and he will soon lose the use of his leg. It is critical that we relieve the swelling and return blood-flow to the leg as soon as possible. Please, donate now so that we can rush life-saving assistance to this injured animal. It will be a dangerous rescue operation, but we are committed to saving this baby elephant! This elephant herd is well known by KAWFT, and the calf’s mother is notoriously unpredictable. We anticipate that she will protect her baby fiercely from human interference. This means the expert team of Zimbabwe National Park rangers, veterinarians and a highly trained pilot must execute the rescue with military precision and with the highest level of care. The adult elephants are already on edge because the calf is struggling. But they will need to be kept at a safe distance from the rescue team and the injured calf once he has been successfully darted from the air. Again, we are in a race against time to raise $7,000 (£5,000) to charter a helicopter and purchase medication to save this baby elephant. The team on the ground is busy preparing so they can be ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice. Another team of rangers are keeping as close as possible to the calf, while the veterinarians, who are donating their time and expertise to save the life of this baby elephant, are standing by. All that remains is to secure the helicopter and to purchase the immobilization drugs and medical supplies to dart and treat the injured calf. Please, donate right away so that we can get the team in the air! This baby elephant is an example of why ASI is so committed to ending the use of snares! Snares are horrific devices that torture and kill animals indiscriminately. No animal is safe from their cruelty. This calf is the second baby from the same mother to be caught in a snare. ASI cannot stand by and let this baby elephant suffer and die because of a snare. We have promised to send emergency help, but we cannot do it without you. Snares function like a noose – tightening with pressure! The wire where the snare was anchored to a bush or tree is now catching under the calf’s foot with each step, causing it to become tighter and tighter. We cannot imagine the pain and stress this little elephant is experiencing. Please help us end this anguish and save his life.

This is our BEST CHANCE to end the horror of snaring!

We have told you before about the atrocities caused by LEGAL snaring – daily acts of murder that kill up to 1.7 million animals in the United Kingdom (UK) every single year. But now, we have a chance to put an end to this horror, and we need your help. Every 20 seconds, another innocent animal is caught in a snare. Our partner, the National Anti-Snaring Campaign (NASC), has worked tirelessly towards a complete ban on snaring in the UK, and the government has finally responded: “The Government recognises that some people consider snares to be an inhumane and unnecessary means of trapping wild animals and will launch a call for evidence on the use of snares…” To secure a ban, we must ensure that in-depth reports and damning evidence of the cruelty of snares are submitted by the NASC and other organizations as soon as possible. Can we count on your support of our plan to sponsor the development of these reports and collate the evidence? This is extremely important and perhaps the only chance animals have to avoid being trapped and dying in agony. Please, help, us raise the $9,000 (£6,500) needed to secure evidence and develop reports on the atrocities of snaring! Sadly, the animals are up against the might of the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which has publicly stated that snares are “an effective and relatively humane form of control.” We cannot fathom how being slowly tortured for hours – or sometimes days – until finally succumbing, could ever be considered “humane”! Nor can we count on vets who belong to the authority created for the welfare of animals, the British Veterinary Association (BVA). Even the BVA’s so-called “Ethics and Welfare Group” supports snaring. These two major decision-makers in the UK, which exist for the care of animals, are advocating for the slow and agonizing torture of millions of animals. So, it is up to us! We do not accept that millions of animals will continue to suffer such horrific pain that some resort to gnawing off their own limbs in an attempt to free themselves. With your help, we have a chance to show the UK government what snares truly are: devices of torture that must be totally banned! Snares trap indiscriminately – it could be a fox, a protected species or even a beloved family pet. These so-called “humane” traps do not know the difference, and whichever animal it catches, will never die humanely. Authorities claim that ‘non-target’ animals such as badgers are able to free themselves from snares, but even adult deer are not strong enough to break free! We will sponsor independent, professional testing, which we are confident will prove that no animal is strong enough to break free from one of these torture devices without suffering life-threatening injuries. Please, donate now towards securing this critical evidence. As of 2020, it is estimated that a quarter of the UK’s native mammals are now at risk of extinction. NASC is taking on the government, and they reached out to Animal Survival International for support. We agreed and are now reaching out to you. Please donate so that we can stop this horror once and for all! There are simple and effective alternatives to the cruelty of snaring. For example, fox and rabbit-proof fencing are animal friendly, safe and more effective at protecting livestock and crops. There is no reasonable argument to support the continued use of these torture devices. This is exactly what these in-depth reports will show the government. We need your support if we are going to help protect millions of wild animals from torture and death. Please, donate now to support this very important cause. Together, we have a chance to outlaw this horrific practice and secure a victory for the animals.

Unable to respond to animals in need! Time is running out!

We’ve told you before that an estimated 3,000 snares have been set around the unfenced Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe – so many that the very survival of entire populations is threatened. Lying in wait, these cruel devices trap and strangle animals, causing severe pain, injury and ultimately death. Our partner in Zimbabwe, DART (Dete Animal Rescue Trust) is a dedicated team that works around the clock to remove snares and rescue injured animals in the Hwange area. But now, DART faces an emergency that is preventing them from doing this vital work! The organization’s only two vehicles, vital for its operation, are out of working order and need costly repairs. Without these vehicles, the team cannot respond to emergency calls to rescue snared and injured wild animals. We must help DART continue saving animal lives. It will cost $4,800 (£3,500) to repair the vehicles and get them back on the road. Every day they are out of action means more suffering for animals trapped in snares. Please donate generously today so we can get help to the animals RIGHT NOW. The snares are primitive, yet deadly. Made with any available material such as telephone wire, steel fencing wire, nylon rope, electrical cable, and even braided tree bark – the Hwange area has become a lethal killing zone for wild animals. Even elephants and lions aren’t spared the torture and possible death caused by deadly snares. We cannot ignore the suffering Hwange’s wild animals are enduring. We need your help to save Zimbabwe’s already endangered wildlife from being caught by these deadly devices. Without DART able to do its job, hundreds of animals who become trapped by snares will die long, painful deaths. Or the few lucky enough to get away will live with horrific festering wounds that, in the end, will also kill them. Each life saved is hope for an entire species. Several years ago, DART saved a snared female cheetah on the verge of death. Thankfully, the team got to her just in time and managed to treat and release her. A short time ago, we received news from DART that this cheetah had recently given birth to a SECOND LITTER of cubs since her rescue! These babies have increased Hwange’s critically endangered cheetah population by 25%. This goes to show how vital DART’s work is. Please help us get them back in action. We have no time to lose. With snares, no animal is safe. Endangered creatures such as wild dogs, lions and elephants are at risk of being caught, tortured and killed. The animals of the national park roam free, crossing main roads, even passing through villages. Every step they take is a possible disaster waiting to happen. They need the assistance and life support that DART gives them. Please, help us today to support DART and save indiscriminately snared animals from excruciating pain, prolonged suffering and death. Donate as generously as you can – together we can get DART back on the road.

Two more pangolins have just been rescued! THEIR SURVIVAL IS TOUCH-AND-GO!

Last week, we told you about five baby pangolins rescued from the illegal bushmeat market in Nigeria who are in desperate need of our help. As the Animal Survival International (ASI) team was preparing to rush life-saving funds to the Saint Mark’s Animal Hospital and Shelter, two more pangolins – a mother and newborn baby – were rescued. The mother’s condition is critical and if she doesn’t survive, we cannot guarantee the survival of her baby. We must urgently raise an additional $2,500 (£1,800) if they are to have a chance of survival. We’ve told you before about the crisis facing Africa’s pangolins. This shy, scaly creature is the most poached and trafficked mammal in the world. Asia’s insatiable demand for pangolin scales and meat is fast-tracking the species to extinction, which means every single pangolin life is important. Right now, seven pangolins, who were rescued from the illegal bushmeat market in Nigeria, are in desperate need of our help. Five mothers have already been killed, but with medical attention, specialized milk formula and around-the-clock care, we can give the rest a chance at survival. Please will you help us help them? If we don’t act immediately to help these unique and rare animals, pangolins could become extinct in our lifetime. ASI received news that our partner, the Rare and Endangered Species Trust (REST), had been called upon to provide urgent critical care for the five baby pangolins. Despite travel difficulties amidst COVID-19 restrictions, pangolin rescue expert, Maria Diekmann, immediately journeyed from her home in Namibia to Saint Mark’s Animal Hospital and Shelter in Lagos, Nigeria, to care for the fragile babies. Nigeria has become Africa’s epicenter for illegal wildlife and bushmeat trade. A criminal cocktail of lax governance, corruption and powerful trafficking syndicates has caused rapid growth in poaching and illegal wildlife exports over recent years. Yet, Saint Mark’s is the ONLY animal rescue center in Nigeria’s capital city of Lagos, where nearly 15 million people live. Founder, Mark Ofua, has made it his mission to save as many wild animals as he can from the many illegal markets. Our pangolin emergency fund has run dry. We must urgently raise an additional $2,500 (£1,800) to provide the emergency care these rescued pangolins need. With each passing year, the number of rescued animals being brought to Saint Mark’s is growing. Right now, the small, basic center is struggling with the influx of rescued baby pangolins saved from the bushmeat market where their mothers were killed for food. Mark says on average the center receives three to four rescued adults every month and this number goes up during breeding season when more babies are rescued. Every pangolin we can save from this horror is a victory for their species. Earlier this year, we asked you to help us set up an emergency fund for rescued pangolins in need of critical care. Your generous response allowed us to rush Saint Mark’s funding to help the five baby tree pangolins in Maria’s care. But these funds have run out, and the rescued pangolins are still months away from recovery. The road ahead is long, and these fragile creatures need 24-hour, hands-on care to ensure they are stable and can grow strong enough to be released back into a safe wild area. They must be fed a specialized milk formula every four to six hours, be taken on regular walks to help them build their strength and encourage their instinctive ability to forage for food. It’s also critical that their environment is stable, calm and the temperature regulated in these early weeks to ensure they can thrive without unnecessary stress. It will be at least three months before the strongest of the seven is ready to be released into the wild. During this time, we must help provide enough milk and medical care for them to survive. Before the baby pangolins were rescued and brought to Saint Mark’s, their only contact with humans was being snatched from the wild and then separated from their mothers who were killed and eaten. The noise of the markets and the barbaric way they are handled by poachers is mentally and physically traumatizing for the tiny pangolins. This means that not only do they need physical care, but it’s imperative they receive emotional support too. We cannot ignore how precious each baby pangolin life is to the entire species. We must do whatever we can to help every single one survive! Please help us take care of these precious creatures to make sure every baby pangolin survives long enough to be released back into the wild with a tracker to monitor its wellbeing. We have promised to provide more help, but we need your support.

Celebrating World Lion Day by Supporting the Shut Down SA’s Captive Lion Breeding Industry

Today is World Lion Day, a day to celebrate one of Africa’s most iconic species and raise awareness on lion conservation globally. And this year we have something well worth celebrating. The South African government recently announced a complete ban on its controversial and shameful captive lion breeding industry. For more than 20 years, the cruel industry which supports breeding lions for cub petting, canned lion hunting, and trade in lion bones has been growing at an unprecedented rate. Over 10,000 captive-bred lions have been living in squalor waiting to either be ‘hunted’ or slaughtered for their bones. In the meantime, only about 20,000 lions are left on the entire African continent. Conservation and lion experts have proven that breeding lions in captivity has no conservation value whatsoever because of genetic deficiencies and human habituation. The South African government has recognized this and that the squalid captive facilities are a breeding ground for zoonotic diseases, posing a major threat to people. There is still much work to do to finalize this major move in securing a better future for lions in South Africa. Many decisions need to be made and 10,000 lion lives still need to be accounted for. We are not there yet. But this is a major step forward which Animal International Survival (ASI) supports. Lions belong in the wild. “We applaud this move in the right direction for lion conservation. Although there is much work to be done in realizing this massive shut down of nearly 350 captive lion breeding facilities, it is the only way forward if we are going to secure the lives of lions in the wild,” says Adrienne West of ASI.

Wildlife Traffickers Exploit Weak Law Enforcement in the Shipping Industry

By Melissa Reitz Maritime supply chains are becoming increasingly exploited by wildlife traffickers who use loopholes and lax law enforcement to smuggle illegal wildlife products. Despite the growing demand for and movement of these products, many shipping companies are unaware they are being misused. A recent report has revealed that an estimated 80% of wildlife products are trafficked by sea. With 90% of all international trade in goods carried by ships, it’s become easy for illegal trade syndicates to use the shipping industry to transport illicit wildlife products undetected. While live creatures are mostly smuggled using air freighter and courier services, container ships are a popular choice for smuggling large quantities of wildlife products. Heavy loads of elephant ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn, are easily moved in containers where there is a low likelihood of being detected. Bribes of between $130 (£93.50) and $260 (£187) per ton are frequently, and successfully, pushed on to law enforcement or customs officials. Employees are also routinely bribed into falsifying documentation, including CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) permits, which are meant to regulate legal trade and ensure it does not threaten the survival of wildlife and plant species. In recent years, Nigeria, with its well-developed transportation system, has become a key export point for illegal wildlife products to major Asian consumers, namely China and Vietnam. Earlier this year, 8.8 metric tons of elephant ivory, pangolin scales and rare animal bones were found at a Nigerian port. In 2019 alone, 15.5 tons of elephant ivory and 90 tons of pangolin scales were seized on container ships heading to Asia from Africa. “Wildlife smugglers are growing bolder as the demand for animal products grows in Asia. It’s vital that the global maritime industry clamps down on this reckless lawlessness,” says Adrienne West of Animal Survival International. “We are prepared to support initiatives that tackle and respond proactively to this rampant illegal trade in wildlife.”

UK Announces Plan to Ban the Keeping of Captive Elephants

By Melissa Reitz Years of research proving that keeping elephants in captivity is cruel is finally paying off. The United Kingdom (UK) has announced its intention to ban the captivity of elephants in zoos and safari parks. Initiated by environment minister, Zac Goldsmith, the amendment to the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill to outlaw elephants in captivity, is part of a broader set of zoo reforms that will be passed later this year. The UK government already banned circuses from keeping elephants in January 2020. Research has repeatedly shown that keeping elephants in captivity is cruel and has no conservation value whatsoever. As highly intelligent and sentient beings with complex family structures, captivity does not provide for the needs of normal elephant behavior and reproduction. As a result, captive elephants suffer both physical and emotional trauma including hernias, arthritis, mental degradation, and high calf mortality. The average lifespan of a captive elephant is 17 years; in the wild, elephants can live for 50 years or more. “We applaud this move by the United Kingdom,” says Adrienne West of Animal Survival International. “It is long overdue, and we appeal to the rest of the world to take heed of this progressive decision and follow suit.” There are 51 elephants in 11 zoos across the UK. Once the ban is in place, existing captive elephants will be allowed to live out their natural lives, but there will be no elephants bred or captured to replace them. Photo by Irene Grace Tolentino on Unsplash

More than 800 of some of the world’s most endangered creatures face an horrific crisis!

More than EIGHT HUNDRED critically endangered radiated tortoises were recently rescued from smugglers on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. Hidden in vehicles with no food or water and suffering life-threatening injuries, these animals needed intensive care to survive the days and weeks following their rescue. The death of these rare tortoises will be a critical blow to the survival of the entire radiated tortoise population. With your help, ASI provided emergency funding for food, water and medical supplies for their recovery. But with drought ravaging the island, food and water for the tortoises is now dangerously scarce, and costly. Already, 68 have died! But we have a chance to save the rest. We urgently need to raise $6,500 (£4,700) to get food and water to the tortoises. In a daring operation, Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar (TSA Madagascar) rescued the tortoises which were found in a shocking state, crammed on top of each other and covered in their own urine and feces. Some of the creatures had been brutally manhandled by their captors and sustained life-threatening injuries, including open wounds and broken shells. Radiated tortoises can survive without water for more than a month, but these were dangerously dehydrated, meaning they had been kept without food or water for a very long time. Some were too weak to even drink, and the rescue team resorted to injecting water under their skin to keep them alive. Unless we act now, radiated tortoises will be extinct in less than 20 years! Rampant poaching for the illegal pet trade, has caused the number of radiated tortoises to drop by 80% in just 30 years. Their beautiful star-patterned shells and the ‘rain dance’ they perform when sprayed with water, make them popular pets – but they don’t survive for long in captivity. Each one of these rescued radiated tortoises is vital to the survival of its species. If protected, these individuals could produce thousands of baby tortoises. But before that can become a reality, they must survive a new threat, a result of climate change: drought! In the wild, radiated tortoises eat specific types of grasses and leaves that are high in protein and nutrients. When they are in recovery, they are fed a combination of fruits and vegetables such as sweet potato, loose-leaf greens, berries and prickly pears for extra nutrition. But, in the face of a devastating drought, the TSA Madagascar team are traveling further and further afield, and paying increasingly more to secure fresh organic food so that these animals can recover. We have promised to support them and are counting on your donation today to help this critically endangered species survive.

We Celebrate World Giraffe Day by Taking a Moment to Consider the Plight of These Gentle Giants

Traditionally, the tallest mammal on Earth has not received as much attention as other wild African species such as elephants and rhinos. So, with today being World Giraffe Day, we’d like to shine the spotlight on this graceful creature which is becoming increasingly threatened. Dubbed the ‘silent extinction’, giraffe populations have quietly been declining over the past two decades. Once teeming across Africa, now fewer than 100,000 mature individuals are left on the continent – a 40% decline since 1980. Like so many other threatened African species, giraffe numbers are dwindling because of climate change, habitat loss, urban encroachment, poaching, and the effects of war and civil unrest. Considered ‘easy prey’ by poachers, these gentle giants are especially targeted for the bushmeat trade in countries where unrest and lax law enforcement prevails. Trade in giraffe ‘products’ is also rife, and in some regions, giraffe bone marrow and brains are now being consumed as a ‘cure’ for HIV/AIDS. It wasn’t until 2019 that the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) finally agreed to protect giraffes under an Appendix ll listing, to regulate international trade in giraffe parts. Before that, an average of one giraffe a day was imported into the United States (US) by trophy hunters, who enjoy the exotic prize that giraffes represent. Half of all the giraffe species and sub-species are listed as critically endangered and endangered. The most endangered of all is the Nubian giraffe found in northeast Africa, of which only 450 are left. What’s more, the entire giraffe genus has declined overall in eight out of its 21 range countries. “It’s time we take notice of this iconic African species and do whatever we can to save it from sliding into extinction,” says Adrienne West of Animal Survival International (ASI). “Until now, there has been limited conservation research on giraffes. ASI is committed to supporting giraffe conservation wherever possible.” New findings show that there could be nine species and subspecies of giraffe. This information is still under review and will hopefully soon be taken into consideration for future conservation assessments, giving each giraffe their own taxonomical status and mandate for greater conservation action.

The horror and pain that snares indiscriminately inflict on defenseless animals, EVEN ELEPHANTS, is UNIMAGINABLE!

We have told you before about the horror and pain that snares inflict on defenseless animals. Today, we must tell you about the plight of wild animals living around Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, who are indiscriminately caught and severely injured by illegal snares. Please, will you help us? Together, we can save many animals from this horrific fate. More than 3,000 of these deadly devices lie in wait to trap and torture defenseless wild animals! COVID-19 has intensified unemployment and poverty in Zimbabwe so severely that rural communities in the Hwange area have turned to snaring wild animals to feed their families. As people’s desperation has grown, so have the number of snares surrounding the unfenced National Park. Experts estimate that more than 3,000 deadly snares now surround the protected area. Simple, yet lethal, the snares are made from telephone wire, steel fencing wire, nylon rope, electrical cable, steel wire brake cables from cars and bicycles – or even braided tree bark. These devices are set along pathways that wild animals use, often on their way to find water. Tethered to a tree or bush, the loop of the snare, which is almost invisible, catches an animal by the neck or leg and pulls tighter as the animal tries to get away. The wires cut deep into the animal’s flesh as it fights to free itself, causing terrible pain and injury, and often death. No animal is safe from a snare. Even animals as large as an adult elephant can fall victim to snaring! The Animal Survival International (ASI) team traveled to Zimbabwe to meet with the Dete Animal Rescue Trust (DART) and see firsthand the challenges that these snares present. DART has been working tirelessly for more than 20 years in the Hwange area to remove snares and rescue animals injured by them. With their funding now running dangerously low, they urgently need our help to continue their vital work. This small team is winning daily victories by locating and removing snares and giving snared animals life-saving medical treatment. We joined them on a snare removal patrol through the dense bush and tough terrain, where the expertly trained team quickly located the almost invisible deathtraps. One of the snares we found was big enough to trap an adult elephant! DART urgently needs medications and darts to rescue snared animals! During their patrols, the DART team often comes across snared animals, terribly stressed and with various levels of injury. In these situations, they spring into action immediately to rescue and treat the animals. Careful not to cause additional stress, the team first darts the animal with a sedative. Once it has been successfully immobilized, the team gets to work assessing and treating the animal’s wounds. Quickly and carefully, the snare wire must be removed, and the wounds cleaned with antiseptic. Long-acting anti-inflammatory medication and antibiotics are then administered, and the sedative is reversed. From a safe distance, the team makes sure the animal is able to move away. We need to support DART so that they can continue to remove these deadly devices and save injured animals. We need to raise $7,500 (£5,500) as quickly as we can – please help us provide life-saving medication and darts. Every snare removed is a life saved! One of the biggest problems with snares is that no animal is safe from them. Endangered creatures such as wild dogs and elephants risk being caught, tortured and killed. The animals of the National Park roam free, crossing main roads and even passing through villages. Every step they take is a possible disaster waiting to happen. In 2020 alone, DART collected 387 miles (623 kilometers) of decommissioned copper-coated, high tensile steel telephone wire weighing more than 26 tons! That is approximately 207,666 potential snares removed, and thousands of animals saved from injury and death! Please, help us today to support DART and save indiscriminately snared animals from excruciating pain, prolonged suffering and death.

The End of South Africa’s Shameful Lion Breeding Industry – What Now Happens to the Lions?

By Melissa Reitz Originally published in Africa Geographic Last month, South Africa’s government took a significant step forward for animal welfare and lion conservation when the Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), Barbara Creecy, announced a complete ban on the controversial captive lion breeding industry. But as we stare into the face of the horror created over two decades, one question remains: what will happen to the thousands of captive-bred, genetically impaired and diseased lions and cubs? Conservationists and welfare experts have pushed to shut down the captive lion breeding industry for years, saying it is cruel, has no conservation value, and is damaging to South Africa’s international image. The industry has been exposed for the unethical ‘canned’ or captive lion hunting, the questionable tourist cub petting industry and, more recently, the lion bone trade to Asia. Now, as processes to close the industry are unfolding, welfare activists ask: “What will become of all the lions?” The answer is not only shocking but also sobering. With so many welfare and genetic defects, more than half, if not all, of the approximately 12,000 captive-bred lions will need to be euthanized. The unregulated captive industry has led to the inbreeding of lions, resulting in physical defects, inferior genetics, and a breeding zone for pathogens that threatens other lion populations and humans. “We must not ignore the catastrophic consequences created by this horrific industry. Let’s hope South Africa and the rest of the world does not easily forget the shameful outcome of such animal exploitation,” says Adrienne West of Animal Survival International. Conservationists say rewilding captive-bred lions is no solution due to their diseases, compromised genes and human habituation. And there is simply not enough wild habitat available to accommodate so many lions. Furthermore, despite many facilities promoting themselves as wildlife sanctuaries, only a handful of true sanctuaries exist in South Africa. None have the capacity or financial ability to home hundreds of big cats. Yet the industry must be stopped. Left unchecked, the captive predator breeding industry is a self-perpetuating animal welfare disaster. During the mid-nineties, when the Cook Report first exposed the horrific cruelty of the industry and Director of Blood Lions, Ian Michler, began his intensive investigations, there were fewer than 1,000 lions held in captive facilities. “When I started investigating, there may have been about 800 predators living in captive facilities. In 2005, I submitted a report to the government at the time, estimating that there were roughly 3,500, and when we researched Blood Lions, the number was in excess of 6,000. Today it’s estimated that there are over 10,000 lions in about 300 captive breeding facilities,” says Michler. If the captive breeding of lions were left to continue, the number could explode to tens of thousands of genetically inferior lions living in captive squalor and destined for trophies or slaughtered for their bones. “Captive lion breeding does not contribute to the conservation of wild lions and… legal trade in lion body parts risks stimulating demand and illegal trade, posing major risks to wild lion populations in South Africa and among vulnerable wild lion populations in other countries where poaching is on the rise,” says Dr. Paul Funston, director at the international wild cat organization, Panthera. In addition, a recent study found that captive lion facilities create a dangerous breeding ground for zoonotic diseases, highlighting the potential health risk to thousands of tourists and staff working at the facilities. According to Blood Lions, the first plan of action needs to be an immediate ban on captive breeding through sterilization. Following that, there needs to be an audit to ascertain exact population numbers, the welfare of individual lions and the state of the facilities. The audit will also reveal true sanctuaries from commercial breeding facilities. A true sanctuary provides a permanent home for animals and does not buy, sell, breed or trade-in animals or their parts, nor do they allow any human interaction. “Strict guidelines on breeding, keeping, animal husbandry and welfare need to be imposed on such facilities and a definition of a true sanctuary must be addressed in existing legislation” Environmental and animal welfare NGOs are now eagerly awaiting the DFFE’s Policy Paper to begin the process of shutting down the captive predator breeding industry. But lion breeders and canned hunting outfitters are frantically lobbying Creecy to reconsider her decision, and many fear this an attempt to bully the minister into watering down the policy report, which would be a devasting blow to such a bold move by government. In addition, there is a concern that lion breeders may begin illegally killing their lions and pushing illicit lion bone trade before new legislation comes into effect and clamps down. “It’s a matter of urgency that the process is swift as we would hope that the industry is not allowed to flourish while details are being sorted,” says Michler. Banning the captive predator breeding industry is a significant shift in South Africa’s attitude towards utilizing its wild animals. Hopefully, we will not easily forget the shame of being forced to dispose of nearly 12,000 lions humanely.

Even PREGNANT FEMALES and BABY pangolins are being poached and trafficked!

Pangolins are in CRISIS! Despite international protection, this shy, nocturnal creature is still the most trafficked mammal in the world. Now, with COVID-19 regulations easing, more pangolins than ever are being stolen from the wild. Pangolins are racing towards extinction. Two species could be gone in a decade. More than ONE MILLION pangolins have been poached and trafficked in the last decade. Highly sought after in Asian countries, pangolins are brutally killed for their scales which are used to make traditional Chinese ‘medicines’. But not only that, they are also considered a delicacy and eaten as a status symbol in some countries. But, with your help, we can save many of these creatures. In 2019 alone, 195,000 pangolins were poached in the wild; each one endured horrific suffering. Many were boiled alive! Smugglers get more money for live pangolins because some cooks like to boil them alive. This means the poor creatures suffer horrific physical manhandling and trauma as they’re captured in the wild and smuggled to wet markets in Asia where they are crammed into tiny cages to be sold. There are dedicated people working to rescue and rehabilitate pangolins saved from smugglers, but they often do not have the resources to respond to emergencies. We at PAL exist to prevent animal extinction, and we must ensure that when there is a chance to save a pangolin, we are ready and able to respond. We never know when a trafficked pangolin is going to be found and confiscated by law officials. It is essential that we are ready to respond to pangolin emergencies at any given time. We must be able to help rescue, transport and provide medical care immediately. Rescued pangolins need costly, emergency medical care to survive. Rescued pangolins need immediate, critical care if they are to survive the days following their rescue. Often, they are suffering from immense physical and mental trauma inflicted on them by their captors. Many have severe injuries, are critically dehydrated and too stressed to eat. Pangolins are as vulnerable as newborn babies during their rehabilitation process and must be cared for around the clock. They need to be kept at a constant temperature and rehydrated intravenously. They’re also highly susceptible to stress which makes keeping them alive in captivity difficult. But, it is critical to save them so that they have a chance of recovering and being released back to protected wild areas. All eight pangolin species are at risk of being lost forever. We need to do everything possible to save every pangolin life that we can. Sometimes pregnant females are amongst the rescued pangolins. Saving these pangolin mothers is critical if we are to ensure the existence of the next generation. If we don’t help this important species, it will only be a matter of time before pangolins become extinct.

How we are helping RIGHT NOW: May 2021

The Political Animal Lobby (PAL) exists to be a voice for animals and the planet. We tackle pressing issues threatening animals around the world. Over the past month, PAL has provided water to drought-stricken elephants in Namibia; kept up the fight to ban snares in the UK; helped a legal battle to save toads in South Africa; given emergency aid to critically endangered tortoises in Madagascar and supported an anti-poaching team fighting ivory poachers in Zimbabwe. But we couldn’t have done it without our supporters. We are deeply grateful to all our donors who make this work possible. Take a look at how your donations are making a difference to animals worldwide right now. United Kingdom Supporting a total ban on the use of wire snares In the United Kingdom (UK), snaring is still legal! We told you last month how this causes shocking suffering and kills up to 1.7 million animals every single year. Incredibly, it is still encouraged by the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and supported by the British Veterinary Association (BVA)! Millions of innocent animals are left in such horrific pain that they resort to gnawing off their limbs to free themselves. PAL plans to continue fighting against this until it is stopped. Thanks to your donations, we are supporting the National Anti Snaring Campaign (NASC) in convincing the UK government to ban the use of snares outright. We’ll keep you updated on NASC’s progress. South Africa Court action to fight for the survival of western leopard toads In Cape Town, the beautiful and endangered western leopard toad is under severe threat, thanks to plans to build a road through one of its last remaining breeding grounds. These endangered toads are clinging to survival in just a few small areas of South Africa’s Western Cape and only an estimated 320 are left. But their habitat is under serious threat. We support the Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG) which is taking the toad’s fight to court, seeking to prevent the City of Cape Town from moving forward with the road development. NEAG’s lawyers say the toads stand a good chance of winning. We will keep you posted on the outcomes. Namibia Providing water for one of the last remaining free-roaming elephant herds We’ve secured water for one of the last free-roaming elephant herds in Namibia! Ongoing drought put these vulnerable elephants at risk, forcing them to wander from the safety of a 20,000-acre (8,000-hectare) preservation area in search of water, into places where they are shot at. But now, thanks to our supporters’ help, we’ve managed to drill and strike underground water, which tested safe for elephant consumption. We’ve also erected two water tanks to store the water which is then pumped into a waterhole made easily accessible for the elephants and their babies. Our partners in Namibia have been sending us regular reports that the elephants are visiting the waterhole, which means they are safe and now have a chance of surviving this drought. Madagascar Saving endangered radiated tortoises In Madagascar, radiated tortoises are racing towards extinction. These beautiful tortoises with unique star-patterned shells are highly sought after for the illegal pet trade. Our partner, Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar (TSA Madagascar), called on us for help when they discovered 800 radiated tortoises being smuggled in shocking conditions and destined for the illegal pet market. These helpless creatures were on the brink of death when the TSA Madagascar team discovered them. But thanks to the help of our supporters, TSA Madagascar will be able to give them the emergency treatment they need to survive. It will take a few months of rehabilitation before these precious tortoises can be released back into the wild and breed. But we are confident that, with your donations, TSA Madagascar will be able to keep them alive until they are ready. With so few left in the wild, saving these 800 radiated tortoises will give the entire species new hope. Zimbabwe Helping an anti-poaching team protect the rare Lake Elephants Zimbabwe’s iconic lake elephants in the Sebungwe region are falling victim to a poaching epidemic. Up to 11,000 of these elephants have been brutally killed for their ivory in the last 15 years. Only 3,500 remain, living in a 580 square mile (1,500 square kilometer) area surrounded by the vast Lake Kariba and hunting areas, both offering ample opportunity for poachers to move in and out. A small anti-poaching team, the Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit (BHAPU), is desperately trying to protect them, but they are running dangerously low on critical supplies and equipment. We visited the area and were shocked by how vulnerable these elephants have become. We asked our supporters to help us raise funds for essential supplies like fuel for their patrol vehicle and boat, rations, and equipment like boots and radios, so that BHAPU can keep fighting for the elephants. Thanks to your generosity, BHAPU will be able to buy critical equipment and supplies and continue its vital work to protect these majestic creatures. Once again, we are deeply grateful for your generous donations and support in raising awareness of these critical issues. You make it possible for us to make a difference, protecting wildlife and wild spaces across the globe.

800 of some of the world’s most endangered creatures face an horrific crisis!

One of the world’s most critically endangered creatures faces an horrific crisis that could wipe them from the face of the earth. Radiated tortoises, who are native to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, will be extinct in less than 20 years – unless we act immediately! In a daring rescue operation by our partners, Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar (TSA Madagascar), over 800 of these beautiful creatures were recently rescued from smugglers. The team discovered the poor animals in a shocking condition. Ready to be shipped, these rare tortoises were destined for the international illegal pet trade, but many would have died before they even reached their destination. The tortoises were crammed into vehicles and hidden under dirty covers, with no food or water, and covered in their own urine and feces. Some of the poor creatures had been brutally manhandled by their captors and were suffering terrible injuries including open wounds and broken shells. Many people don’t know that a tortoise’s shell is a living part of their body and is sensitive to pain. When the shell is broken, it is not only excruciating but the creature’s spine and organs can easily be damaged. Even a small crack can lead to a deadly infection. Radiated tortoises can survive without water for more than a month, but these were dying of thirst. That means they must have been kept for a very long time without food or water. Many were too weak to even lift their heads to drink! To keep them alive, the team had to hydrate the tortoises by INJECTING WATER UNDER THEIR SKIN, where it is naturally stored. These creatures are in terrible trouble. Some of the poor animals are suffering from agonizing eye and mouth infections and need antibiotics and vitamin supplements, plus intensive treatment for the debilitating pain. The good news is that if we can care for them properly, they will survive and be released back into the wild. But they will need our help for many months – to provide lifesaving food, water, medicine and a safe space to recover. Each one of these tortoises is vital to their species. We must act now to save them! We at the Animal Survival International exist to help prevent species from going extinct. It is rare that we have such a clear-cut opportunity to make a difference to the survival of a species, but in this case, we can. Saving these 800 radiated tortoises will give the entire species new hope – if we can keep them alive until they are ready to breed. Half of the rescued tortoises are female and when they reach breeding age, each one will produce an average of eight babies every year for the next 80 to 90 years. That makes their survival as a species a little more achievable. Your donation today will mean the world to generations of tortoises for decades to come. Please help by making a generous donation right now. In the wild, radiated tortoises eat specific types of grasses and leaves that are high in protein and nutrients. When they are in recovery, they must be fed a combination of fruits and vegetables like sweet potato, loose-leaf greens, berries and prickly pears to give them the nutrition they need. But feeding 800 tortoises is terribly costly in Madagascar, where a drought has made fresh foods scarce and expensive. Please, if you possibly can, donate today so that these tortoises can be saved. Unless we act now, radiated tortoises will be extinct in less than 20 years! Because of rampant poaching, the number of radiated tortoises has dropped by 80% in just 30 years. These 800 tortoises are desperately important to the future of their species. We must help them! Radiated tortoises are beautiful, fascinating animals. The biggest threat to their survival is the illegal pet trade. Their beautiful star-patterned shells and the ‘rain dance’ they perform when sprayed with water, make them very popular as pets, but they do not survive for long in captivity. You can imagine how difficult it is for a small team to care for 800 tortoises with extensive injuries and medical needs, but that is not the full story Every day, other sick and injured tortoises are also brought to the center for care. In addition to food and medicines, TSA Madagascar’s conservation center needs an enclosure to house these tortoises while they are recovering. The price tag for food, supplies and the enclosure – all URGENT – is $10,000 (£7,250). We have our work cut out for us, but, we are fortunate to have you on our side. As an animal lover, we are relying on your support. Please donate generously right now to help save yet another species from extinction.

Barbarians intend on continuing to snare helpless animals. Sometimes these animals GNAW OFF THEIR LIMBS!

We have told you before about the atrocities caused by LEGAL snaring – a daily act of murder that kills up to 1.7 million animals in the United Kingdom (UK) every single year. Sadly, this fight is far from over. Every 20 seconds, another innocent animal is caught in a snare! Snares are still laid across the country, and incredibly, still encouraged by the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). This government body even goes so far as to publicly state that snares are “an effective and relatively humane form of control”. We cannot fathom how being slowly tortured for hours – or sometimes days – until finally succumbing to death, could ever be considered humane. Even worse, an authority created for the welfare of animals, the British Veterinary Association (BVA)’s so-called “Ethics and Welfare Group”, also supports snaring. It is unimaginable that these two major decision-makers in the UK, who are supposedly involved in caring for animals, advocate the slow and agonizing torture of millions of animals. A cat and rabbit, just two of the many victims caught by indiscriminate snares We cannot and will not let this go unchallenged. We do not accept that millions of innocent animals will be left in such horrific pain that they resort to gnawing off their limbs in an attempt to free themselves. Snares trap indiscriminately; it could be a fox, a protected species or a beloved family pet. These so-called humane traps do not know the difference, and whichever innocent animal it catches, will definitely not die in a humane way. This barbaric cruelty is LEGAL in the UK and considered to be HUMANE! As of 2020, a quarter of the UK’s native mammals are now at risk of extinction! A snare killed this badger. There is an alternate, brave voice, in this scenario, The National Anti Snaring Campaign (NASC) in the UK is a volunteer organization that sees snares for what they truly are: devices of torture that must be totally banned! NASC is taking on the ‘authorities’ and reached out to the Animal Survival International for support; we agreed to help – now we are reaching out to you. There are simple and effective alternatives to snaring! A fox caught in a snare Clearly, snaring is cruel and inhumane, and there are more effective solutions available to keep livestock and crops safe. For example, fox and rabbit-proof fencing are animal friendly, safe and more effective at protecting livestock and crops. The simple fact is that there is no reasonable argument to support the continued use of these torture devices. We are supporting NASC in its efforts to ban snares and urge you to lend your voice to this campaign. To guarantee action, we need to make people more aware of just how bad snaring is, and for that, we need your donations so we can continue to support our anti-snaring friends in this fight to end the sale and use of snares in the UK. We need your support if we are going to help protect millions of wild animals from pointless torture and death. Please, donate now to support this very important cause. Together, we have a chance to outlaw this horrific practice and secure a victory for the animals.

How we are helping RIGHT NOW: April 2021

Animals around the globe are in extraordinary peril. From the rampant illegal trade in wildlife, poaching, habitat loss and poor enforcement of wildlife legislation, thousands of species are becoming critically endangered. We need to take heed before it’s too late. If we continue to destroy biodiversity, no life on Earth can survive. The Animal Survival International exists to be a voice for animals and the planet. We tackle pressing issues threatening animals. We are deeply grateful to our supporters who make our work possible. Take a look at our most recent projects and how your donations are making a difference to animals worldwide. Namibia Securing water for one of the last remaining free-roaming elephant herds A family of elephants is at risk from the ongoing drought in the northwest of Namibia. If these 20 elephants and their babies wander from their home range on a 20,000-acre (8,000-hectare) preservation area in search of water, they face being shot at. All the other land in the area is used by hunters and the elephants would be at risk of death or injury. Thanks to our supporters’ swift response to donate funds, we were able to act quickly. ASI is paying for new waterholes to be established by drilling to reach deep underground water sources. After two attempts, we struck water. We are now waiting for test results to make sure that the water is safe for the elephants to drink. If it proves to be contaminated, we have a drilling team standing by to redrill. We will not give up on these elephants. Stay tuned! United Kingdom Supporting a total ban on the use of wire snares Up to 1.7 million animals are brutally killed by snares every year in the UK. Animals endure untold anguish and pain when they are caught in snares. Usually set to catch foxes and rabbits, other wild animals are also caught, including wild cats, hedgehogs, badgers and red squirrels. In some horrific cases, animals have gnawed off their own limbs to free themselves. But despite this horror, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the British Veterinary Association (BVA) condone and support snaring! – even though there are more humane and effective solutions available to keep livestock and crops safe from rabbits and foxes. The National Anti Snaring Campaign (NASC) in the UK is fighting to have snaring completely banned. They called on ASI to help them to secure a total ban on the sale and use of snares. Your generous donations allowed us to give NASC £2,500 ($3,500) to continue their fight to bring about an outright ban on wire snares. South Africa Court action to fight for the survival of western leopard toads A plan to build a road through one of their last remaining breeding grounds is threatening the survival of the beautiful endangered western leopard toad in Cape Town. There could be as few as 360 toads left! The Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG) called on ASI to help its legal battle to prevent Cape Town authorities from building the road. And thanks to our supporters, NEAG may just win a rare, but critical, victory for the animals. Zimbabwe Saving painted dogs in Hwange National Park In Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, some of the world’s last remaining painted dogs are facing a new threat. With COVID-19 taking its toll on already poor communities, thousands of illegal snares set to catch antelope for food, are being scattered around the park. Each snare means horrific injury and potential death to the beautiful painted dogs. With only 6,500 left in the wild and 160 living in Hwange, we cannot let this continue. Every day, rangers patrol the park on the lookout for snared painted dogs. When they find them, it’s a race to get the suffering animal to help. We partnered with the Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) and asked ASI supporters to donate towards medication essential to transport and treat the wounded animals, and to help them return to their pack in the wild. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to help PDC continue with their vital work of treating and releasing painted dogs back into the wild, as well as teaching villagers about conservation and snare removal.   Once again, thank you for your generous donations and your support in raising awareness of these issues. You make it possible for us to make a difference, protecting wildlife and wild spaces across the globe.

UNACCEPTABLE! Intelligent and highly social painted dogs are being indiscriminately SNARED and dying slow, excruciatingly painful deaths!

Painted dogs are beautiful, intelligent, social beings, who play an important role in the ecosystem, but there are only 6,500 left in the wild, and they need your help today! One of the biggest challenges to their survival is being caught in illegal snares. Painted dogs travel over 30 miles (50 kilometers) a day in search of prey. This puts them at constant risk of being caught in one of the thousands of snares set by poor people to catch small antelope for food. From half a million painted dogs to 6,500 in just 50 years! Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe is one of the last wilderness areas big enough for these creatures to survive in. 160 painted dogs live in the entire area of 14,651 square kilometers (over 5,600 square miles). Thousands of snares lie in wait surrounding the National Park. Each one could mean death for the dogs.  Researchers track and monitor the wild dog packs. Every day in Hwange, rangers patrol the National Park. When they find a snared painted dog, it becomes a race against time to get the suffering animal help!  What is urgently needed right now are medicines to treat injured painted dogs. Medicines are essential to transport and treat wounded animals and give them a chance to return to their pack in the wild.  We have partnered with Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) and agreed to ask our supporters to help get these wonderful creatures the help they need.   Painted dogs caught in these nightmare devices die slow, painful deaths. Snares are horrible devices. A painted dog caught in one faces days of terrible pain and stress before dying from their injuries or starvation. The cruelty is simply dreadful and because there are so few painted dogs left, every single one killed by a snare is a serious blow to their survival as a species. Your donation today can help save these majestic creatures, so please be as generous as you possibly can.  Painted dogs are fiercely loyal to each other. The pack leader is chosen by character and not size, unlike many other species, and if one becomes sick, the rest of the pack will take turns caring for the sick individual. Painted dogs are social creatures. They start their days with a greeting ceremony – each of them sniffing and licking one another, making high-pitched greeting sounds and wagging their tails. They are emotional creatures who mourn the loss of a pack member. Each one of these animals deserves the best possible treatment for a chance at life. We know our supporters will do all they can to save this iconic species from extinction, but it is not enough to rescue painted dogs from a snare, only for the poor creatures to be released and trapped again. To solve this problem for the long term, PDC is engaging volunteers from local villages and teaching them about conservation and snare removal. These villagers will scour the wilderness for snares, remove them and use the salvaged wire to make wire ornaments they sell to tourists Please, help today. We will rush lifesaving medicines as quickly as possible!

Breakthrough for African Elephant Conservation as Two Distinct Species Are Recognized

By Melissa Reitz In a massive breakthrough for elephant conservation, two recent and significant decisions are set to ensure that Africa’s elephants are better protected. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of natural species and measures needed to safeguard them, has elected to assess African elephants as two distinct species: forest elephants and savanna elephants. This is a major step forward for elephant conservation because their individual populations, smaller than when recognised as a single species, each endure shared, but also very unique threats. In addition, the IUCN has reclassified the status of each species. The forest elephant is now listed as ‘critically endangered’ and the savanna elephant as ‘endangered’. Previously all African elephants were categorised as only ‘vulnerable’. By blanketing both species into one category it has been found that the real status of forest elephants has, until now, been largely overlooked. Furthermore, forest elephants are more elusive, living in remote and often inaccessible habitats. This has exacerbated the inattention they’ve received in comparison to savanna elephants, which live in more open areas. Highlighting the different elephant species and redesignating their IUCN status will greatly change how each is studied and conserved. Ecologists can now focus on understanding their unique ecology and addressing the specific threats each elephant species face. “These decisions by the IUCN are a giant step forward for elephant conservation,” says Adrienne West of Animal Survival International. “If we are to protect elephant species, we need to understand as much as we possibly can about each so that we can find intelligent solutions to the threats they face.” Elephant numbers across Africa have plummeted over recent decades due to rampant ivory poaching and more recently habitat fragmentation and loss, which specialists are calling the ‘silent killer’. As human encroachment pushes into elephant habitat areas, human-elephant conflict intensifies, leading to more elephants being killed. Forest elephants have declined by over 80% within three generations, while savanna elephants declined by over 50% within three generations. The last complete survey, done in 2016, revealed that just over 400,000 savanna and forest elephants remained in Africa. The majority of the critically endangered forest elephants are in the Congo basin in Gabon, West Africa. Botswana has the largest population of some 130,000 savanna elephants. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates the international trade in endangered species, has yet to recognize the two types of African elephants as separate species.

Nearly 300 Elephants to Be Shot as Botswana Opens Its Hunting Season

By Melissa Reitz Originally published in Africa Geographic Botswana has granted permission for 287 elephants to be hunted, as it gears up for its first trophy hunting season since its ban was controversially lifted two years ago. With COVID-19 restrictions disrupting last year’s hunting season, 187 existing elephant licenses have been tagged onto this year’s 100 licenses. The licenses were auctioned for up to $43,000 (£31,087) each. A variety of other species are also allowed to be shot between April and September, including leopards. In the face of a global outcry, president Mokgweetsi Masisi reopened trophy hunting in 2019 after former Botswanan president, Ian Khama, banned it in 2014 to conserve the country’s wildlife. Masisi’s government cites that the sport provides a solution to the growing human-elephant conflict and provides income for local communities. “Human-driven habitat loss is fast becoming the ‘silent killer’, almost as big a threat as poaching is to elephants,” says Adrienne West of the Animal Survival International. “We are losing Africa’s elephants at a rapid rate, and it is outrageous that one of their most important range states would choose to put their lives up for sale.” Conservationists and ecological experts dispute hunting as an effective measure against human-wildlife conflict. “Shooting these elephants will do nothing to reduce the incidence of crop raiding in farming areas, as most of the killing would take place in trophy hunting blocks that are some distance away,” says Dr. Keith Lindsay of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. “In fact, shooting elephants could increase tensions between farmers and elephants – they can communicate over many kilometers and when elephants are killed in one area, the alarm and disturbance would be felt some distance away.” Elephants are a keystone species, and scientists say there is no ecological reason to reduce their numbers by killing them as they play an important role in ecosystem health and diversity. Over the past decade, Africa has lost more than 30% of its elephants to ongoing ivory poaching, which is having devasting effects on populations across the continent. Figures on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) international trade database reveal that Botswana’s trophy hunting ban of seven years saved more than 2,000 elephants and 140 leopards from being shot. Botswana holds the world’s largest population of approximately 130,000 elephants, which share transboundary migrations routes with neighboring countries, including Namibia and Zimbabwe. During the hunting ban, reports of increased numbers in Botswana suggested that migrating elephants sought refuge in the safety of the then hunt-free country.

Illegal Wildlife Trade Set to Boom Once COVID-19 Restrictions Are Lifted

By Melissa Reitz New evidence reveals that the illicit wildlife trade is set to boom as traffickers take advantage of COVID-19 disruptions to stockpile products. Despite data suggesting a drop in arrests and seizures of products such as ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales in 2020, additional research finds that wildlife trafficking has not dropped, and we could be in for a significant upsurge in global illicit trade. Wildlife crime experts say COVID-induced tasks have limited law enforcers’ capacity to detect and report illicit shipments. As a result, seizure and arrest data alone are not reliable indicators to measure illicit trade activity. According to the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), traffickers are stockpiling wildlife products in Africa and Asia because of disruptions caused by the pandemic. Recent reports of seizures of smaller individual parcels with an overall higher volume suggest that traffickers are dividing larger amounts into smaller parcels to evade detection. Research also shows an increase in other indicators of wildlife crime, including poaching numbers and online sales of wildlife and their parts, highlighting that seizure data alone is not a sufficient gauge for on-the-ground activity. Now the concern is that as lockdown restrictions are lifted, leading to increased flights and other travel, stored contraband will quickly be sold, feeding a pent-up demand and fuelling an explosion of animal poaching. “While we may have believed that wildlife was benefitting from pandemic lockdowns and reduced illicit trade, we cannot afford to lose our vigilance,” says Adrienne West of the Animal Survival International. “We must brace ourselves and be prepared to tackle a surge in demand and poaching. We need to be ahead of the game if we are to protect what wildlife remains.” According to the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO), the size of the booming online markets and illicit online advertisements for exotic pets, such as cheetahs, remained unchanged in 2020.

Barbarians want to keep snaring helpless animals. Sometimes these animals GNAW OFF THEIR LIMBS!

In the United Kingdom (UK), up to 1.7 million animals are brutally killed by snares every single year… Every 20 seconds, another innocent animal is caught in a snare! There can be no worse death than by a snare. Snares cause untold anguish and pain as snare wires cut deep into their flesh while the helpless animals frantically struggle to free themselves. This torture lasts hours, sometimes days, before the animals either succumb to their injuries, the elements, predation, or are executed by the snare-setter. There are horrific cases of frantic animals gnawing off their own limbs to try and free themselves. In some brutal instances, a snare tightens around the creature’s abdomen, slowly cutting them in half! This must be stopped! This barbaric cruelty is LEGAL in the UK and considered to be HUMANE! The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) not only condones the use of snares, but states that these devices are “an effective and relatively humane form of control”. Even the British Veterinary Association (BVA)’s so-called “Ethics and Welfare Group” supports snaring, particularly when the victims are badgers – a protected species in the UK. When will the UK’s decision-makers wake up and realize that their policies are endorsing the senseless torture and killing of their dwindling wildlife numbers? As of 2020, a quarter of the UK’s native mammals are now at risk of extinction! Snares are usually set to target foxes and rabbits, but as many as 50% of snaring victims are other creatures, including those that are priorities for conservation. Snares are indiscriminate because these wire death traps cannot tell the difference between a fox, a family pet or a protected species. According to the first Red List of UK mammals, animals such as wildcats, red squirrels and hedgehogs are all under imminent threat. Snares present a serious risk to protected and vulnerable species throughout the UK. This is one of the main reasons snares are banned in many European countries, where they follow the general principle that a device which could accidentally catch and injure any animal which is protected by law, cannot be made lawful. There are simple and effective alternatives to snaring! Clearly, snaring is cruel and inhumane, and there are more effective solutions available to keep livestock and crops safe. For example, fox and rabbit-proof fencing are animal friendly, safe and more effective at protecting livestock and crops. The simple fact is that there is no reasonable argument to support the continued use of these torture devices. We must ACT NOW to have snares completely banned in the UK, and together, we have a real chance to end this horrific practice. Your donation can go a long way in helping us achieve that. Volunteer organization, the National Anti-Snaring Campaign (NASC) in the UK, has an opportunity to bring this to the UK Parliament and potentially secure a total ban on the sale and use of snares. They reached out to the Animal Survival International for support, and we agreed to help. We need your support if we are going to help protect millions of wild animals from pointless torture and death. Please, donate now to support this very important cause. Together, we have a chance to outlaw this horrific practice and secure a victory for the animals.

Over Half a Million Viruses Threaten to Create an Era of Deadly Pandemics

By Louzel Lombard Steyn Human infringement on wild spaces and the destruction of Earth’s biodiversity is setting the stage for an era of deadly pandemics, according to a recently published United Nations report. The report says that up to half of the existing 1.7 million viruses found in mammals and birds are deadly to humans. On average, five new diseases are transferred from animals to humans every year – all with pandemic potential. Some of these include the deadly Ebola virus (contracted from fruit bats), HIV (most likely from chimpanzees) and Lyme disease (from ticks) which alone affects 300,000 people every year in the United States and 65,000 in Europe. Since the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918, which affected 500 million people and killed 50 million, COVID-19 is at least the sixth global health pandemic. Animals carry microbes that can be transferred to people in close proximity. With environmental destruction, including deforestation, intensive agricultural expansion, climate change and increased trade in wildlife, boundaries between humans and wildlife are jeopardized. According to the report, the cause of COVID-19, or any other modern pandemic, is “no great mystery”, and the same human activities that drive climate change and biodiversity loss also increase the risk of pandemics through their impacts on the environment. “Biodiversity loss has directly corresponded with an increase in new zoonotic diseases (diseases capable of being transferred from animals to humans) over the past 100 years. This means that the more we destroy the natural world, the greater the number of pandemics will be in the future,” says Adrienne West of the Animal Survival International. “Pandemics will spread more rapidly, have a higher mortality rate and do more damage to the world economy than COVID-19, unless there is a determined change to the global approach in preventing such diseases. For humanity’s own sake, it is essential that we prioritize nature and leave enough space for wildlife.” Compiled by 22 leading experts from around the world, the report calls for a change to the current approach to outbreaks. This means prioritizing and investing in biodiversity protection, instead of countries scrambling to contain diseases once they’ve already emerged. It’s also pointed out that preventing future pandemics would be more than 100 times cheaper than fighting the deadly outbreaks after they appear.

How we are helping RIGHT NOW: March 2021

The future of the animals in the natural world has never been more in danger. Climate change, habitat destruction and poor enforcement of international wildlife laws have already pushed numerous species to extinction and will continue to do so if we don’t act now! The Animal Survival International (formerly Political Animal Lobby) exists to be a voice for animals, and we will do everything within our power to fight for their future. Right now, we are hard at work to support the protection of African pangolins, the most trafficked mammal on earth. We can’t share details yet, but keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks to learn more. We are incredibly grateful to our supporters who help make the work we do possible. Here’s what ASI is doing now and how your donations are making a difference to animals worldwide: Taking on a City for the future of endangered toads in South Africa Another species is on the brink of extinction because authorities do not care about their survival. This time, it’s the endangered Western Leopard Toads in Cape Town’s Noordhoek valley. The City of Cape Town in South Africa plans to bulldoze a road right through one of their last breeding ponds, even though residents don’t want it. Local organizations, ToadNUTS, and the Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG) are the toad’s only hope for a future. They are taking the City to court – and the lawyers think they can win. NEAG and ToadNUTS do not have enough funds to fight the big legal teams and carry out their critical day-to-day work. They turned to ASI for aid. With your help, we’re going to do everything we can to help them. A fighting chance for Cape Town’s last Caracal cats in South Africa In the fragmented wild areas of Cape Town, South Africa, as few as 50 caracals cling to survival. Caracals – secretive and nocturnal – are famous for their golden fur and long, elegant ears. They are exquisitely beautiful… and seriously endangered. Caracals are nocturnal, and poorly lit roads crisscross the area where they live. Speeding and negligent drivers have killed 83 of these cats in the past five years. If we act now, we can save many of them from this tragedy. We want to provide a simple and effective solution. The first step is putting up warning signs on the roads, alerting drivers to their presence. The long-term goal is to build tunnels for the caracals to cross safely. The caracals need help now, and that’s why ASI is stepping in; ensuring that effective warning signs are erected in high incident areas while working on a longer-term plan. Bridges for Survival in Kenya Just 5,000 rare Angolan Black and White Colobus Monkeys remain in the entire country of Kenya. Once a stronghold for these gentle creatures, deforestation and illegal bushmeat hunting has destroyed their populations. Naturally living in the treetops, they must now risk their lives crossing dangerous roads to travel between the forest patches that remain. Many try to cross the road using the overhead powerlines, where they are often electrocuted to death. Luckily, there is a simple and effective solution. ‘Colobridges,’ ladder-like structures that provide safe passage across roads, have been tested and have shown to be effective by a local organization, Colobus Conservation. With ASI’s help, the remaining monkey populations will be provided with a network of bridges to keep them safe in their tree canopy sanctuaries. Good News! Life-giving water flows again in South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park. The ASI team returned to Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa to install state-of-the-art solar-powered pumping equipment that our generous donors helped us purchase. The situation was dire when we arrived, with temperatures soaring and thousands of animals desperate for water. We turned on the tap and animals flocked from miles around for a share of the cool, clean water that will now run every day. Once again, thank you for your generous donations and your support in raising awareness of these issues. You make it possible for us to make a difference, supporting wildlife across the globe.

COVID Aftermath Knocks Conservation Efforts

By Louzel Lombard Conservation is the latest casualty of COVID-19, with 22 countries backtracking on anti-poaching efforts and protection of natural areas. The countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, favored developments like road construction and oil and gas extraction in areas designated for conservation, new research by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows. More than half of Africa’s protected areas reported they were forced to halt or reduce field patrols and anti-poaching operations while a quarter of protected areas in Asia had to reduce conservation activities, including anti-poaching efforts of rhinos and tigers in NeASI. A total collapse of international tourism caused severe revenue losses in wildlife parks and destinations, resulting in budget cuts for both human resources and wildlife protection. In government, “more funding and more economic stimulus went towards activities that undermine nature rather than that support it, globally,” the IUCN research found. “We are not moving in the right direction. The root cause is that our use and abuse of nature has reached the Earth’s limits.” “We need to stop destroying nature and end the trade in wildlife if we want to avoid the next pandemic,” said Adrienne West of the Animal Survival International (formerly Political Animal Lobby). “Destroying habitats and cramming wild animals from all corners of the globe together in unsanitary conditions has dire consequences for human populations. Deadlier pandemics are imminent if we disregard nature.” Scientists warn of close to half a million wildlife (zoonotic) viruses with the potential to threaten human lives and have similar or worse outcomes than the current COVID pandemic. To avoid this, natural areas must not only be protected, they need to be expanded. Only 17 of the countries surveyed by the IUCN, including New Zealand and Pakistan, maintained or increased support for protected and conserved areas. Less than 15% of Earth’s land area and about 3% of the ocean is protected. These protected areas encompass some of the world’s most precious ecosystems which include forests, wilderness areas and natural habitats that support endangered species.

Victory for Elephants as Global Ivory Bans Gain Momentum

By Louzel Lombard More than 20,000 elephants are killed every year for their tusks. Conservationists and animal welfare groups, such as the UK’s Animal Survival International, have been urging the British government to implement a full ban on the sale of ivory. This week, the government made a step forward. The UK’s Ivory Act was passed in 2018 but implementation was delayed because of lobbying from art and antique traders. Now, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) intends to move ahead with a near-total ban on the import, export and dealing of items containing elephant ivory in the UK. In the US, the State of New York rejected a challenge by trade groups to its landmark ban on elephant ivory and rhino horn trade. This is particularly important because the State was one of the biggest destinations for ivory traffickers in the US. Before the law came into effect in 2014, the State of New York was home to the country’s largest ivory market. “These moves should have been taken decades ago,” said Adrienne West of ASI. “The world has known for 50 years that elephants will be wiped out if the ivory trade continues.” In 2016, experts estimated that Africa’s elephant population had dropped by 111,000 elephants in the span of a decade. Today, it is estimated that there are little more than 400,000 elephants across Africa. “We are glad the UK government is moving ahead, even if it is at a far too slow pace. It is also worth noting that the government announcement leaves plenty of wriggle room which could see the trade continue for a long time to come.” “The truth is that much more needs to be done. For example, China ‘banned’ the sale of any ivory within the country in 2017, yet in certain parts of China the trade openly continues.”

It’s the toads versus City Hall! REALLY, and it’s gravely SERIOUS!

Yet another species is in trouble because of heartless decisions by authorities who seem not to care that their actions threaten the survival of an endangered species. This time, it’s toads. Western leopard toads are harmless, beautiful creatures who help keep nature in balance by eating insects and snails. They are so endangered that they cling to survival in just a few small areas of South Africa’s Western Cape. In 2020, ToadNUTS, a small volunteer organization in the area where the toads live, conducted a census during the breeding period – they could only count 369 toads and 55 of those were dead! Roadkill is already a significant problem. A new road would be the final straw. City plans to bulldoze endangered species’ critical breeding habitat! Now, the Cape Town City Council has decided to bulldoze a road through one of the last breeding areas left for the toads in the Noordhoek valley of Cape Town. This makes their long-term survival even more doubtful. It just gets worse – there are viable alternatives to this road development! This makes destroying their habitat completely senseless. The Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG), a small volunteer group living in the Noordhoek area, challenged Cape Town’s decision to destroy the toads’ habitat, but the powers that be gave the go-ahead anyway. It’s the toads versus City Hall! Now, the only hope the Noordhoek toads have is if NEAG can successfully take court action to stop the road from being built. Lawyers say that the toads have a good chance of winning, but court documents must be filed very soon, or the case will not be heard. NEAG and ToadNUTS simply do not have enough money to fight the might of the city and continue their hands-on work, so they turned to ASI for help. No one who cares about animals, and is aware of the massive catastrophe that threatens them because of habitat destruction, could ignore a plea like that. We are not a rich organization and our budget is already stretched, but we promised to ask our supporters to join the fight to save these poor creatures, whose only sin is to be born in a place where roads are more important than the survival of a species. What a crazy world it is where bureaucrats can say a road – and not even an important road at that, and when there are alternatives – is more important than one of the last pockets of an endangered species. This is such a frustrating issue because it is so unnecessary. There is no good reason for this road to go ahead. Local people don’t want it, but big developers do. So, these toads will die, and the species may even go extinct. WE SAY NO, let’s fight this and win a rare victory for endangered creatures in the battle against the machines. It is our view that governments and local authorities get away with doing things like this because they know very few people have the ability to fight unjust decisions. One of the reasons ASI exists is to right wrongs. WHAT CAPE TOWN IS DOING IS WRONG! It will result in an endangered species becoming closer to extinction… and there’s no coming back from extinction! We really hope that you can find it in your heart to make a donation today so that we can help leopard toads live to breed another day. Please, be as generous as you can so that at least one endangered species has a chance of survival.

Again, Gray Wolves in Montana Are Under Siege, as State Considers New Hunting Bills

By Melissa Reitz Gray wolves, in US state Montana, are once again under threat by a series of proposed legislative bills to relax trapping and hunting regulations. This comes less than six months after their removal from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the legislation is an “unprecedented attack” on the state’s wild animals and if passed, Montana will be declaring “an outright war against wildlife.” The bills, currently under consideration by legislators, will impact wolves and grizzly bears, both of which have historically struggled to maintain viable populations in the area. Two bills have already been passed by the state’s House to allow wolf snaring and to lengthen the wolf trapping season. In response to calls by farmers and hunters that there are too many wolves and numbers should be reduced to save deer, elk and moose, two more bills are being considered with an aim to reduce wolf populations. One of the bills allows any individual with a single wolf hunting or wolf trapping license to “harvest” an unlimited number of wolves and permits hunters to use artificial light for night hunting. Under this bill, all but 15 breeding pairs can be killed. The other bill allows licensed hunters to be reimbursed for the money spent on hunting or trapping wolves. The HSUS is equating this to a “bounty system”. Grizzly bears, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, are also at risk of being impacted by the proposed bills. Under the new legislation, it will be legal to kill grizzly bears if they are considered “threatening” to people or livestock. The bill also claims that Montana’s grizzly population has recovered, and it should be removed from the endangered species list. Historically, wolf populations in Montana have been devastated by trapping and hunting. By the mid-1900s, wolves had almost completely vanished in 48 states. It wasn’t until the 1980s that wolves were able to start establishing populations again in parts of Montana. Today, a population of about 850 gray wolves remain in Montana, with the highest densities in the northwest. In 1995, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. The project was a ground-breaking ecological success; the wolves’ presence triggered an unexpected chain reaction in the ecosystem that saw other species, including beavers and fish life, dramatically recover, baffling researchers who are still studying the effects. Now HSUS says that removing their federal protection is leaving wolves across that country vulnerable and that the proposed bills are set to unleash “a mass slaughter of wildlife”, jeopardizing ecosystems and creating huge losses in the tourism economy. “With so many threats facing wildlife, we should be strengthening laws to protect remaining wild populations, not weakening them,” says Adrienne West of the Animal Survival International (formerly Political Animal Lobby). “These proposed hunting bills by the State of Montana, in addition to the delisting of gray wolves, is an assault on the State’s biodiversity.”