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Kenya arrests 4 suspected ant traffickers, seize 5,300 harvester ants
In two separate but related incidents, Kenyan authorities have arrested four suspects for illegally possessing and attempting to smuggle some 5,300 ants valued at about 1.2 million Kenyan shillings ($9,250), destined for the exotic pet trade. The ants, which included the giant harvester ants (Messor cephalotes), were being trafficked to Asia and Europe. In the […]
Action plan aims to save Asia’s leaf-eating monkeys amid ‘alarming’ declines
- A new conservation plan aims to halt the decline of langur monkeys in Southeast Asia, where habitat loss and poaching have severely reduced their numbers.
- The 10-year Asian Langurs Conservation Action Plan focuses on the six countries in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, a region known for its astonishing range of habitats and species.
- Based on insights from leading primatologists, the plan prioritizes measures needed to safeguard 28 species and subspecies of langurs.
- Key goals include strengthening and enforcing existing wildlife laws, reducing demand for langurs and their body parts, and raising awareness about their protected status and cultural and ecological importance.
Back to the skies: the unlikely comeback of one of Brazil’s rarest parrots
- Habitat loss and the illegal pet trade drove the red-tailed amazon (Amazona brasiliensis), endemic to the southeastern Brazilian coast, to fewer than 5,000 individuals by the end of the 20th Century
- Thanks to a project to install artificial nests on an island on the Paraná coast, the number of parrots almost doubled in 20 years, taking the bird from “endangered” to “near threatened” status, the only case of its kind in Brazil.
- Although trafficking has decreased since then, it remains an active threat to the species’ survival.
Baby sightings spark hope for critically endangered gibbons in Vietnam
A community conservation team saw not one but two baby Cao-vit gibbons, one of the world’s rarest apes, in the remote forests of northern Vietnam in 2024, the NGO Fauna & Flora announced this month. The first infant sighting was in February 2024 and the second in November, in two separate troops. “It is very […]
Indigenous schools ensure next generations protect Borneo’s ‘omen birds’
In the rainforests of West Kalimantan, in Indonesian Borneo, the Indigenous Dayak Iban listen to what they call “omen birds,” or birds they say sing messages from spirits, Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo reported in November 2024. These omen birds include species such as the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabarincus), scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii) and Diard’s trogon […]
Wave of arrests as Madagascar shuts down tortoise trafficking network
- A crackdown on the illegal trade in Malagasy tortoises has led to a series of recent arrests.
- Following the arrest of a Tanzanian national with 800 tortoises in December 2024, officials said a major investigation had uncovered a major international trafficking network that led to the arrests of more than 20 people in Madagascar and Tanzania.
- Wildlife trade monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC says more than 30,000 trafficked radiated tortoises were seized between 2000 and 2021; the critically endangered Malagasy tortoises are in demand internationally.
Indonesia’s voracious songbird trade laps up rare and poisonous pitohuis
- In Southeast Asia, the time-honored tradition of keeping songbirds in cages has resulted in an unsustainable trade in wild-caught songbirds and an alarming decline of many species — a phenomenon ecologists have termed the Asian songbird crisis.
- A recent study finds evidence for a new family of poisonous birds — the pitohuis that are endemic to New Guinea — featuring in the songbird trade in Indonesia.
- Researchers analyzing bird market surveys over a 30-year period have found that pitohuis first entered the trade in 2015, both online and in bird markets, and their trade numbers have since increased.
- Although it’s illegal to buy or sell these birds in Indonesia, the thriving trade suggests a need for closer monitoring and stricter enforcement of laws, say conservationists.
Four new tarantula species found in India’s Western Ghats mountains
- Four new species of tarantulas, including one new genus, have been described from India’s Western Ghats mountains.
- A concerning trend shows that 25% of newly described tarantula species since 2000 have appeared in the pet trade, with some appearing for sale within months of being scientifically described.
- Tarantulas face dual threats from illegal collection for the pet trade and habitat loss in the Western Ghats, where many are found only in small patches of remaining forest surrounded by tea plantations.
- These spiders serve as important predators and indicators of healthy habitats in their ecosystems, but are particularly vulnerable due to their slow reproduction rates and the difficulty in detecting them during smuggling attempts.
Greater Mekong serves up 234 new species in a year, from fanged hedgehog to diva viper
- Researchers and local nature enthusiasts described 234 new-to-science species across the Greater Mekong region in 2023.
- Among the new assortment of critters are sweet-smelling plants, glamorous snakes, a dragon lizard, a psychedelic-orange crocodile newt, and several new mammals, including a mole shrew and a fanged hedgehog.
- The Greater Mekong is a fast-developing region of Southeast Asia, characterized by intensive agriculture, internationally significant inland fisheries and rapid urban expansion.
- As such, the newly described species and their habitats are under pressure from multiple threats, not least from the illegal wildlife trade that also flourishes in the region. Experts say consistent and concerted action is required to secure their future.
Thousands of birds seized in massive Indonesian bird-trafficking bust
- More than 6,500 illegally trafficked birds were seized from a truck at a port in the Indonesian island of Sumatra last month in what activists believe to be the largest seizure of trafficked bird’s in the nation’s modern history.
- The birds, which included 257 individuals from species protected under Indonesian law, are believed to have been captured across Sumatra and were bound for the neighboring island of Java, where songbirds are sought as pets and for songbird competitions.
- The birds were all found alive, and have since been checked by a veterinarian and released back to “suitable natural habitats.”
- Local NGO FLIGHT says more than 120,000 Sumatran trafficked songbirds were confiscated from 2021 to 2023, a number that likely represents just a fraction of those captured and sold.
China’s plans to trace wildlife trade risks inflaming trafficking, critics warn
- Conservationists are urging China’s wildlife authorities to reconsider plans to introduce a traceability system to regulate the trade and captive breeding of 18 wildlife species, including several on the brink of extinction due to the illegal wildlife trade.
- Critics say the plans, which aim to better regulate and trace the country’s extensive wildlife breeding industry, effectively expose the affected parrot and reptile species to the pet trade, which could drive up pressure on wild populations.
- Unless the traceability system is sufficiently monitored by stepping up enforcement capacity, experts warn there is a risk the new system could be used to launder wild-caught animals.
- The affected species include African gray parrots and radiated tortoises, both of which are included on Appendix I of the CITES wildlife trade convention, meaning their trade is highly restricted.
From prison psychologist to wildlife whisperer: Interview with Susan Eirich
- Dr. Susan Eirich’s journey from prison psychologist to wildlife conservationist began when she was asked to raise seven wolf puppies, leading her to found the Earthfire Institute, a sanctuary for rescued wildlife.
- Through her work and book, “Whispers from the Wild: An Invitation,” Eirich emphasizes the individuality of each animal, aiming to foster deeper connections between humans and wildlife.
- Eirich developed the concept of Reconnection Ecology, which focuses on cultivating profound experiences with nature to transform human perspectives and promote conservation efforts.
- Despite environmental challenges, Eirich says she maintains hope based on the resilience of life and encourages people to reconnect with nature to address both mental health and ecological crises.
Institutional conflict puts successful Spix’s macaw reintroduction at risk
- A successful program to reintroduce the Spix’s macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, back into its native habitat has been thrown into uncertainty over a split between the two key institutions behind it.
- ICMBio, Brazil’s federal agency responsible for managing biodiversity, has refused to renew an agreement with the ACTP, the German organization running the program with birds from its captive flock.
- ICMBio alleges the ACTP has engaged in commercial transactions of Spix’s macaws by transferring some to a private zoo in India, but the ACTP insists there was no sale and it is merely relocating to better facilities in India.
- For its part, the ACTP accuses ICMBio of politicking and undermining the reintroduction program; the split has put the future of the program into doubt, given there aren’t currently enough captive birds outside the ACTP’s flock to supply the program over the long term.
For ‘extinct’ Spix’s macaw, successful comeback is overshadowed by uncertainty
- The Spix’s macaw, one of the world’s most threatened parrots, disappeared from the wild at the turn of the millennium due to the illegal pet trade and habitat degradation in its native Brazil.
- In 2022, a reintroduction program finally released the first batch of 20 Spix’s macaws, bred from captive birds, back into the wild, achieving great results, including the first hatchings of wild chicks in decades.
- A leading parrot conservationist advising on the project calls it “the most carefully planned, the most carefully executed, and the most successful reintroduction of any parrot I have ever seen anywhere.”
- In June 2024, however, the cooperation agreement between the Brazilian government and the German breeding center that holds most of the world’s Spix’s macaws ended without renewal, casting the future of the project into doubt.
Madagascar lemurs, tortoises seized in Thai bust reveal reach of wildlife trafficking
- The recent seizure in Thailand of 48 lemurs and more than 1,200 critically endangered tortoises endemic to Madagascar underscores the global scale of wildlife trafficking networks that use Thailand as a transshipment hub.
- The operation was aided by intelligence from a joint transnational investigation between Thai law enforcement agencies and international antitrafficking organizations working to dismantle global wildlife trafficking networks spanning Asia, Africa and South America.
- Among the confiscated animals were ring-tailed lemurs, common brown lemurs, spider tortoises and radiated tortoises, all of which were suspected to be destined for illegal pet markets in Asia.
- While Madagascar authorities are keen to see the animals repatriated, experts caution that the country’s capacity to receive them are woefully lacking, and urge the government to step up law enforcement, combat systemic corruption and boost surveillance in Madagascar’s remote protected areas.
Camera-traps help identify conservation needs of Thailand’s coastal otters
- Otters are sometimes described as the “tigers of the mangrove” in Southeast Asia, where they’re well-known to display extraordinary resilience and adaptability to human activity and urbanization.
- A new camera-trap study now highlights the importance of expanses of natural habitat, such as coastal forests and wetlands, for two species of otter living along southern Thailand’s increasingly modified coasts.
- The research team found that while otters are able to live within human-modified landscapes, tracts of natural habitat offer them vital refugia from a slew of threats, such as road collisions, prey depletion due to pollution of watercourses, and conflict with fish and shrimp farmers.
- The authors used their findings to create maps that indicate where conservationists and wildlife departments should prioritize management and monitoring for these vital top wetland predators.
Conservationists look to defy gloomy outlook for Borneo’s sun bears
- Sun bears are keystone species, helping sustain healthy tropical forests. Yet they’re facing relentless challenges to their survival from deforestation, habitat degradation, poaching and indiscriminate snaring; fewer than 10,000 are thought to remain across the species’ entire global range.
- A bear rehabilitation program in Malaysian Borneo cares for 44 sun bears rescued from captivity and the pet trade and has been releasing bears back into the wild since 2015. But with threats in the wild continuing unabated, success has been mixed.
- A recent study indicates that as few as half of the released bears are still alive, demonstrating that rehabilitation alone will never be enough to tackle the enormous threats and conservation issues facing the bears in the wild.
- Preventing bears from being poached from the wild in the first place should be the top priority, experts say, calling for a holistic approach centered on livelihood support for local communities through ecotourism to encourage lifestyles that don’t involve setting snares that can kill bears.
For Vietnam’s rare reptiles, lack of captive populations may spell doom
- As an epicenter of biodiversity, Vietnam hosts a wide array of reptile species. But new research shows that many species that occur nowhere else on the planet are poorly known and lacking protection.
- The researchers also found that many of Vietnam’s rarest species are absent from the world’s zoo collections and conservation breeding programs, risking their disappearance forever should their wild populations collapse.
- They call on conservationists and authorities to focus on conservation measures to protect the country’s most vulnerable reptiles, including establishing assurance populations that could be used in the future to repopulate areas of wild habitat from which they have been lost.
Falcon trafficking soars in Middle East, fueled by conflict and poverty
- Worth thousands of dollars, migratory falcons are increasingly targeted by trappers in the Middle East, notably in Syria, where their value skyrocketed during the war.
- In Jordan, Iraq and Syria, authorities struggle to contain trafficking, which takes place nearly in the open; in Iraq and Syria, wildlife protection is hardly a priority given prevalent political instability and spiraling poverty.
- Experts say the capture and trade of falcons is driving the decline of wild populations in the Middle East.
- This story was produced with the support of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.
Popular aquarium fish from Thailand and Myanmar is new-to-science species
- Redtail garras, known for their bright orange tails and elongated snouts, are popular aquarium fish, but information about their biology has been scarce until recently — when they were described as a new species.
- Redtail garras primarily eat algae and arthropods by scraping them off rocks using specialized mouthparts. They have unique features like a snout covered in tubercles, which are hardened scales used as weapons.
- The species was named in honor of Nonn Panitvong, a Thai businessman and naturalist recognized for his efforts in biodiversity conservation.
- The late recognition of the redtail garra emphasizes the need to better understand biodiversity in understudied areas, and reflects the underestimate of fish diversity in Southeast Asia.
When “cute” is cruel: Social media videos stoke loris pet trade, study says
- Conservationists are concerned that the popularity of social media videos depicting lorises as pets is stoking the illegal and often abusive pet trade, placing pressure on already flagging numbers in the wild.
- A study of the top 100 most-viewed loris videos on social media platforms found the vast majority depicted lorises far removed from their natural forest habitat, behaviors and ecology.
- Online videos of pet lorises consistently violated basic animal welfare guidelines, according to the study, with the most popular clips depicting stressed and ill animals.
- The authors say the online content could make it socially acceptable and desirable to own a pet loris, and by engaging with content showing trafficked animals in poor health, viewers are unwittingly complicit in abuse and illegalities.
Trapping holds back speed of bird recovery in a Sumatran forest, study shows
- A decade of protection and natural regeneration of tropical forests has helped bird populations increase in the southern lowlands of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, a new study says.
- However, it adds that continued wild trapping is preventing the reforestation effort from achieving its greatest results.
- The Harapan Forest, which straddles the provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra, in 2007 became the site of Indonesia’s first ecosystem restoration concession to recover biodiversity in the region after commercial selective logging ceased in 2005.
- Since 2004, Indonesia has awarded 16 licenses for ecosystem restoration concessions, including for the Harapan Forest, covering an area of 623,075 hectares (1.54 million acres) in Sumatra and Borneo, according to 2018 government data.
Study: Online trade in arachnids threatens some species with extinction
- A recent study reveals a vast and unregulated global trade in invertebrates, posing a risk of overexploitation of some species in the wild.
- A group of scientists scoured the internet and discovered that a total of 1,264 species are being traded online.
- Tarantulas are particularly in demand, with 25% of species described as new to science since 2000 popular with collectors.
- Africa is prominent in this trade as both a source and transit hub for tarantulas and scorpions.
New protections for sharks, songbirds, frogs and more at CITES trade summit
- The 19th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, known as CoP19, ended Nov. 25 in Panama, after two weeks of negotiations.
- Member states agreed on new trade regulations for more than 600 animal and plant species, including the protection of sharks, glass frogs, turtles, songbirds and tropical timber species.
- Experts say that while these new regulations are essential, implementing and enforcing the rules will have the most significant conservation impact.
A fast-growing pipeline: The Amazon-to-Southeast Asia wildlife trade
- The legal and illegal wildlife trade continues to escalate in tandem with increasing Chinese investment in South America’s Amazon region, mirroring a similar China trafficking trend that devastated elephants, rhinos and pangolins in Africa.
- Hundreds of Amazon species are being shipped to Asia, principally China, in unsustainable numbers, ranging from jaguars to reptiles, turtles and parrots to songbirds, poison dart frogs and tropical fish. The damage to the Amazon biome could be profound, researchers say.
- These species are sought out as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine, used in the fashion industry, and sold live as pets. Online commerce is booming, too.
- The growing crisis is galvanizing efforts to build regional coordination, with agreements to strengthen laws, enforcement, and share intelligence. Banks and transport companies have committed to help prevent trafficking. With strong intervention now, experts say, it’s still early enough to turn the tide.
The slow, toxic and sleepy life of lorises is coded in their genes
- Lorises exhibit many quirky evolutionary adaptations, such as exceedingly slow locomotion, the ability to hibernate (which makes them unique among Asian primates), and their capacity to deliver a highly venomous bite.
- A new study probes the genetic underpinnings of some of these unique adaptations in pygmy lorises (Xanthonycticebus pygmaeus) to find clues to their evolution in the forests of Southeast Asia.
- Pygmy lorises are endangered due to threats from forest loss and capture for the illegal wildlife trade, fueled by a booming demand for exotic pets.
- The genetic insights could boost conservation efforts to reintroduce and translocate lorises in the wild, the researchers say, and could even pave the way for advances in human medical research into genetic disorders.
Big data monitoring tool aims to catch up to Indonesia’s booming online bird trade
- A web-trawling tool developed by researchers in Indonesia has identified more than a quarter of a million songbirds in online listings from a single e-commerce site between April 2020 and September 2021.
- More than 6% of these were species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List, including the Javan pied starling (Gracupica jalla) and the straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus), both critically endangered.
- In a newly published paper, the researchers say the online bird trade is highly successful thanks to well-developed e-commerce infrastructure such as internet and shipping services.
- The researchers have proposed the adoption of their tool by Indonesian authorities to monitor the online bird trade, given the absence of any other platform to crack down on trafficking.
Endangered species listing of long-tailed macaques: ‘shocking, painful, predictable’ (commentary)
- “Conservationists such as myself are in shock as it reflects the utter failure of the state of things if even the most opportunistic and adaptable generalist primates such as long-tailed macaques are now being classified as endangered,” writes the author of a new op-ed.
- During its latest assessment in March 2022, the IUCN declared the species as endangered due to the rapid population decline and the prognosis of decline if current trends of exploitation and habitat destruction continue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Study casts doubt on sustainability of regulated blood python snakeskin trade
- There’s no evidence to show that the trade in blood pythons from Indonesia, coveted for their skins for making luxury fashion items, is sustainable, a new study shows.
- In fact, the evidence indicates that much of the trade, which involves slaughtering and skinning the snakes by the tens of thousands every year, may be illegal.
- The species isn’t considered threatened or protected in Indonesia, the main producer of blood python skins, and exports are governed by CITES, the convention on the international wildlife trade.
- The study’s author calls on the Indonesian government to enforce stricter monitoring and scrutiny of annual harvests, traders to abide by the regulations, and global buyers to shift away from exotic leather and use alternatives.
A helping hand for red-footed tortoises making a comeback in Argentina
- Conservationists are releasing red-footed tortoises back into El Impenetrable National Park in Argentina’s Chaco province, in an effort to reintroduce the species to the region.
- The species is so rarely seen in the Gran Chaco region of Argentina that it’s believed to be locally extinct there.
- Red-footed tortoises are under threat due to the illegal pet trade, habitat destruction, and hunting for meat consumption.
- The species is the latest being reintroduced by Rewilding Argentina, which has already brought back species like jaguars and marsh deer to El Impenetrable.
‘It’s just a bird’: Online platforms selling lesser-known Indonesian species
- Social media and online marketplaces are known to offer up a variety of wildlife, opening new avenues for traffickers.
- A recent survey of online trade shows that a lesser-known Indonesian species, the pink-headed fruit dove, is being openly sold on Facebook and online marketplaces.
- Experts say the trade in this and other “inconspicuous” species is fueled in part by rising demand overseas, which stimulates interest in collecting them domestically, where they’ve historically not been kept captive.
- They call for existing laws to be enforced locally, and for online platforms to do more to address the presence of wildlife traders on their platforms.
Ugandan court hands Congolese parrot trafficker seven-year jail sentence
- A Congolese national has been sentenced to seven years in jail for trafficking African grey parrots.
- He was arrested in western Uganda in April by a joint operation of the police, the army, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
- The man’s arrest and swift prosecution have been welcomed by conservationists as sending a message that wildlife trafficking will be taken seriously by the authorities.
- However, conservationists warn that gaps in legislation in both Uganda and neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo continue to facilitate the illegal wildlife trade.
Pilot program tries to get U.S. aquariums to raise their own fish, not catch them
- A collaboration between the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts and Roger Williams University in Rhode Island has developed protocols for breeding marine aquarium fish, including five species never before raised in captivity.
- Though some fisheries for ornamental fish are responsibly managed and benefit local economies, harmful collection practices like cyanide fishing and overcollecting can harm ecosystems.
- Aquaculture of ornamental fish can improve fish welfare, reduce the spread of disease, take the guesswork out of fish sourcing, and reduce impacts on wild populations.
GM fish engineered to glow in the dark are found in Brazil creeks
- A recent study shows that genetically modified zebrafish, known as GloFish, have been found and are breeding in creeks in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.
- GloFish, which are genetically engineered for fluorescence, are advertised for sale online in Brazil, even though they’ve been banned there since 2017.
- Brazilian biologists have called for measures to prevent these fish from escaping fish farms and entering into local bodies of water, where they compete with native species for food.
- But a U.S biologist whose own research showed that GloFish fail to compete reproductively against wild-type zebrafish says this new paper is “almost a study about nothing” and was published only because it was “sensational.”
Online trade in rare silvery pigeon is cause for concern, researchers say
- Little is known about the silvery pigeon, a critically endangered bird endemic to western Indonesia and Malaysia that may number anywhere between 50 and 1,000 individuals.
- Yet despite being rare and a protected species, the silvery pigeon continues to be offered for sale online in the international pet trade.
- Researchers say there needs to be swift conservation action to prevent the currently low-level trade from growing out of control.
Campaigners against dog meat trade take on one Indonesian city at a time
- An estimated 7% of Indonesia’s 270 million people eat dog meat, a practice the World Health Organization has linked to the spread of rabies.
- Dog Meat Free Indonesia, an advocacy group, is campaigning city by city to get authorities to crack down on the trade, appealing to animal welfare, public health, and religious sensibilities.
- Authorities at the national and subnational levels have in recent years responded by issuing regulations effectively banning the sale of dog meat for human consumption.
Greater Mekong primates struggle to cling on amid persistent threats: Report
- The Greater Mekong region is home to 44 species of non-human primates, including gibbons, lorises, langurs, macaques and snub-nosed monkeys, several of which were first described within the last few years.
- Habitat loss and hunting driven by the wildlife trade and consumption have driven many of the region’s primates to the brink of extinction, with many species now only existing as tiny populations in isolated, fragmented pockets of habitat.
- Experts say controlling the illegal wildlife trade is complicated by the presence of legal markets for primates, often for use in biomedical research.
- Despite the challenges, conservation action at local levels is achieving results for some primate species in the region while also enhancing livelihoods and ecosystem services for local communities.
Wild cat trade: Why the cheetah is not safe just yet (commentary)
- Data collected by researchers show that the cheetah trade has actively continued between East Africa/Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, although news reports say there’s been a major decline in cub trafficking.
- The high numbers involved in this illegal trade is relevant to actions by the CITES, which determined that cheetah trade was limited and agreed to delete important decisions adopted in previous years pertaining to enforcement and demand reduction.
- As exotic pets are considered a status symbol in the Gulf States, fueled by the popularity of posts on social media, most people fail to understand that these pets were acquired illegally and the trend will not stop
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Indonesia ranks high on legal wildlife trade, but experts warn it masks illegal trade
- Indonesia sits at No. 9 on a list of the 80 countries with the highest number of wildlife specimens legally exported abroad since 1975, new research shows.
- The legal international trade in wildlife is governed by CITES, whose trade database shows that Indonesia exported 7.7 million live animals over the past 46 years, more than a quarter of them arowana fish.
- While these trades are legal, experts say the government should try to minimize the practice and focus more on conserving wild populations of these species.
- Critics of the legal wildlife trade have long accused it of helping mask the illegal trade, primarily through the “laundering” of wild-caught animals through captive-breeding facilities.
In Bali, prominent official faces backlash over illegal pet gibbon
- A public official in Indonesia has handed over a baby gibbon to conservation authorities following an outcry over his illegal possession of the endangered animal.
- I Nyoman Giri Prasta, the head of Badung district on the island of Bali, said he was giving up the siamang so that it could be rehabilitated and released into the wilds of its native Sumatra.
- Conservation authorities in Bali say they have not yet considered taking legal action; under Indonesian law, the illegal possession of protected species, like siamangs, is punishable by up to five years in prison.
- Giri Prasta is the latest in a long list of public officials known to keep protected species as pets, with enforcement of the crime still weak, conservationists say.
Philippine forest turtles stand a ‘good chance’ after first wild release
- Researchers released a pair of Philippine forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis) on the island of Palawan in February, they announced this month, part of a batch of only 17 to have been successfully bred under human care in the Philippines since 2018.
- After tracking the turtles for three months following the release, the researchers say there are indications the animals can mature and reproduce if released within guarded and protected areas.
- The turtles are notoriously difficult to breed in human care and the conservation group that carried out the breeding program took 10 years before recording its first successful hatchling in 2018.
- Endemic to the Philippines, the forest turtle is threatened by poaching for the exotic pet trade, with wild-caught specimens often passed off as captive-born ones by private traders, despite the great difficulty in breeding this species in captivity.
Researchers look to locals to fill knowledge gap on Philippine tarsier
- Philippine tarsiers (Carlito syrichta) are the poster child of the country’s burgeoning ecotourism industry, but little is known about their taxonomy, population size and conservation status.
- The findings of a new study suggest that tarsiers are being captured from the wild to supply tourism venues and the local pet trade, presenting a major threat to the species’ survival.
- Researchers say they hope educational programs that focus on changing local people’s perceptions of tarsiers and encouraging ecotourism in tarsiers’ natural habitat could help protect them.
Unregulated by U.S. at home, Facebook boosts wildlife trafficking abroad
- The world’s largest social media company, Facebook, regularly connects wildlife traffickers around the world, and advocates are stepping up the pressure to address the problem in the company’s home country.
- Proposed U.S. legislation targets a decades-old law that protects online companies’ content as free speech on their platform. Advocates say wildlife crime is not speech, and that online companies lack the regulation that other “real-life” companies must follow.
- Trafficking has increased since Facebook chose to self-regulate in 2019, researchers say. The company could cooperate with law enforcement or conservationists, but it has rarely chosen to do so.
- Meanwhile, researchers are gathering more and more evidence that wildlife trafficking is one of the biggest threats to global biodiversity.
CSI, but for parrots: Study applies criminological tool CRAAVED to wildlife trade
- Parrots as the most traded animal taxon have the potential to provide a primary source of data for investigating the causes and consequences of the animal trade.
- A new study applies the CRAAVED model analysis to shed new light on key drivers of the illegal parrot trade in Indonesia, home to the highest diversity of the birds and a thriving wildlife market.
- The analysis identified three main factors for which species were targeted by traffickers: how accessible parrot species are to people and traders; whether legal export of the species is possible; and whether the species is enjoyable through its color, size or mimicry.
- Other experts have welcomed the findings and their implications, but point to limitations in the CRAAVED model and the importance of considering other factors such as harvest quotas and the motivation behind wildlife crime.
An Amazonian arapaima washed up in a Florida river. It didn’t swim there
- In February, Florida officials identified the body of an arapaima (Arapaima gigas) that had washed ashore from the Caloosahatchee River.
- An expert said the arapaima, a fish species endemic to the Amazon lowlands, had likely come from the pet trade.
- Live arapaimas are mainly brought into the U.S. for aquaculture, although a small number are also imported for the pet trade, another expert said.
- While arapaimas are not currently considered to be an invasive species, there are concerns they could become problematic in the future if enough end up in Florida’s waterways.
Forest patches amid agriculture are key to orangutan survival: Study
- A recent study highlights the importance of small fragments of forest amid landscapes dominated by agriculture for the survival of orangutans in Southeast Asia.
- The research, drawing on several decades of ground and aerial surveys in Borneo, found that orangutans are adapting to the presence of oil palm plantations — if they have access to nearby patches of forest.
- The authors say agricultural plantations could serve as corridors allowing for better connectivity and gene flow within the broader orangutan population.
Study highlights ‘terrible’ signs of species decline from wildlife trade
- A new study found that the wildlife trade has led to a near 62% decrease in species abundance, raising concerns about its impact on terrestrial biodiversity.
- The authors found there to be a paucity of literature on the subject, and were only able to identify 31 studies that compared species abundance in exploited habitats with species abundance in unexploited areas.
- The paper calls for increased protections for species and better management of protected areas.
Current protected areas not enough to save parrots from extinction: Study
- Nearly one-third of parrot species are threatened with extinction, and a new study concludes that current protected areas are not sufficient to protect parrot diversity, overlapping with only 10% of the geographic range of all parrot species.
- Agriculture is the main threat to parrots and is especially relevant in the Neotropics, where parrot species richness is highest.
- The northeastern Andes and southeastern Australia are highlighted as two important hotspots for parrot conservation.
- The fate of parrots is largely tied to the fate of forests, as 70% of parrots are forest-dependent. The study concludes that the future of parrots relies on policymaking in specific countries.
Pet trade relies on ‘disposable’ wild chameleons from Madagascar
- Despite being difficult to keep alive and healthy, chameleons are among the most popular reptiles in the exotic pet trade.
- Each year hundreds of thousands of these slow-moving reptiles are taken from the wild, both legally and illegally, many of them from threatened species living in the forests of Madagascar.
- Observers say the international trade in chameleons must be changed to avoid harming wild populations and improve the well-being of animals during transit and captivity.
- They also point to the need to make the trade fairer and more transparent, so local people can benefit from it.
Songbird trade in Indonesia threatens wild Sunda laughingthrush
- The wild population of the Sunda laughingthrush, a once common songbird species, has been battered by the illegal trade in Indonesia, according to a recent study.
- Field surveys over the course of 30 years show a significant decline in the number of laughingthrushes sold at markets across 30 Indonesian cities, with an attendant rise in price.
- The absence of known commercial captive breeding records of the species also indicates that all Sunda laughingthrushes observed in trade were sourced from the wild, the study shows.
- The authors have called on Indonesian and international conservation authorities to reassess the status of the bird’s wild population to reflect the current condition and ban its trade outright.
Crimefighting NGO tracks Brazil wildlife trade on WhatsApp and Facebook
- A nonprofit, the National Network Combating Wild Animal Trafficking (RENCTAS) was founded in 1999, and since then has won international awards and acclaim for its innovative approach to tracking and combating the global illegal wildlife trade, especially the sourcing of animals in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna biomes.
- The group’s pioneering strategy: use social media to track the sale and movement of animals out of Brazil, and turn over the data to law enforcement. In 1999, it identified nearly 6,000 ads featuring the illegal sale of animals on e-commerce platforms. By 2019, it reported 3.5 million advertisements for the illegal trade on social networks.
- The most trafficked Brazilian animals currently: the double-collared seedeater (Sporophila caerulescens); a small, finch-like songbird with a yellow bill that thrives in the southern Cerrado, and the white-cheeked spider monkey (Ateles marginatus), found across the Amazon basin. Sales of animals have been tracked to 200+ illegal trafficking organizations.
- Tragically, of the millions of Brazilian animals captured, sold, resold, and transported, only an estimated 1 in 10 ever reach Brazilian and foreign consumers alive. The rest, ripped from their homes, starved and abused, die in transit.
Tradable by default: Reptile trafficking flourishes amid lack of protection
- A new study found that only 9% of traded reptile species have some level of protection under CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, which could allow for the overexploitation of wild populations.
- It also found that about 90% of traded reptile species had at least some individuals originating from the wild rather than captivity, and that newly described species often appeared in the trade within a year of studies identifying these species were published.
- The authors of the study are advocating for a reversal in the CITES process to only allow the trade of certain species and ban the trade of all other species.
Armed and dangerous, ‘murder lorises’ use their venom against each other
- A study released Oct. 19 in the journal Current Biology reveals that slow lorises use their venom not only against other species, but also against each other — a behavior that is extremely rare among animals.
- Over eight years and hundreds of capture events, 20% of all Javan lorises surveyed had fresh wounds from other lorises. Both males and females having and using weapons within the same species is also rare.
- Although it is illegal to capture, sell or own lorises in all of their range countries, they are still caught for their use in traditional Asian medicine and for the pet trade.
- The trade of lorises involves pulling their teeth and subjecting them to situations that violate animal welfare criteria. Lorises lead rich and complex lives in the forest and because they are primates, isolation from their kin can be psychologically distressing. Also, they can kill you.
Stolen from the wild, rare reptiles and amphibians are freely traded in EU
- A new report illustrates that protected reptiles and amphibians are being illegally caught in their countries of origin, but then legally traded within the European Union due to a lack of internal trade barriers and controls.
- This is the third report in a series highlighting the trade of exotic pets within Europe; it shows that the trade is continuing, and has even become more extensive.
- Traders are particularly interested in rare, endemic reptiles and amphibians, and will refer to scientific papers to locate newly identified species, the report says.
- The report authors recommend that the EU adopt new legislation similar to the Lacey Act in the U.S., which prohibits the trade of species that are protected in foreign countries.
‘We are losing’: Q&A with The Orangutan Project’s Leif Cocks on saving the great ape
- For International Orangutan Day, Mongabay spoke with Leif Cocks, founder and president of The Orangutan Project, which seeks to protect the endangered orange-haired primates and their rapidly disappearing habitats in Southeast Asia.
- All three species of orangutans — Sumatran (Pongo abelii), Bornean (P. pygmaeus) and Tapanuli (P. tapanuliensis) are one step away from extinction.
- Deforestation is the biggest threat the primates face, and at the moment most conservation efforts have only been able to slow forest loss, not turn the tide around, Leif told Mongabay.
- Oil palm plantations replacing primary rainforests is a major problem in Malaysia and Indonesia, but Cocks says simply banning these plantations is not the answer; instead, he advocates for replacing exploitative production systems with those that recognize the services that these forests provide to the local communities and building on that.
Turtles and tortoises in trouble: More than half of all species face extinction
- More than half of the world’s turtle and tortoise species are now threatened with extinction, according to a new study published by a group of 51 global turtle and tortoise experts.
- Loss of habitat is the biggest threat to turtles and tortoises globally. Other threats include the pet trade, overconsumption for food and medicine, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.
- Preventing turtle extinctions this century requires protecting their remaining habitat, the authors write, particularly limited nesting habitats.
- Individuals also have a role to play in safeguarding turtle and tortoise survival worldwide by being aware of the risks involved in the pet, food and medicine trades, keeping dogs under control in important turtle habitats, and keeping off-road vehicles away from sensitive beaches and desert areas where turtles roam and nest.
Trafficking of thousands of songbirds highlights rampant trade in Indonesia
- Smugglers in Indonesia managed to ship more than 7,000 birds on commercial flights from Sumatra to Java last month.
- Another shipment of 2,300 birds was foiled by authorities days later; more than 800 of the seized birds were found to have died due to the cramped conditions they had been kept in.
- Wildlife watchers say up to 40,000 birds a month are trafficked out of Kualanamu Airport in North Sumatra, likely with the help of complicit officials.
- The high volume strongly suggests the birds are wild-caught rather than captive-bred; the former is illegal, while the latter requires a permit and is subject to a quota.
Less than a thousand remain: New list of animals on the brink of extinction
- More than 500 vertebrate species are on the brink of extinction, with populations of fewer than a thousand individuals, a new study says.
- According to the authors, the Earth is experiencing its sixth mass extinction, extinction rates accelerating, and human activity is to blame.
- The authors call the ongoing extinction perhaps “the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible.”
- “The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked,” they say.
Prized as pets, are ball pythons being traded out of wild existence?
- The ball python is the most commonly traded African species under CITES, with more than 3 million of these reptiles exported since 1975, mainly from Togo, Ghana and Benin.
- Listed under CITES Appendix II, ball pythons can be legally traded, but exporters require special permits and need to meet certain welfare requirements.
- Some experts say that wild ball python populations are in rapid decline, and that the trade needs to be better regulated or completely stopped; others say that ball pythons are not currently threatened, and that the trade can be maintained with the proper management and captive breeding programs.
- There is a growing body of evidence purporting that reptiles are sentient beings capable of emotions, and animal welfare advocates believe this is more reason to stop the trade.
‘Don’t let your cat outside’: Q&A with author Peter Christie
- Journalist Peter Christie has published a new book about the effects that pets have on wildlife and biodiversity.
- In addition to the billions of birds and small mammals killed by free-roaming pets each year, the wild pet trade, invasive pets, disease spread and the pet food industry are harming biodiversity and contributing to the global crisis.
- Christie calls the book “a call to action,” and he says he hopes that humans’ love for their pets might extend to wild species as well.
Call for prosecution of Indonesian politician who kept baby orangutan as pet
- Conservationists are calling for a district chief in Indonesia to face charges after he was found to have kept a baby Tapanuli orangutan as a pet and later released it into the wild unsupervised.
- Local media began reporting about the critically endangered ape at Nikson Nababan’s house on Jan. 26; the next day, he instructed his staff to release it in secret, ahead of an inspection by conservation officials.
- Orangutans are protected species under Indonesian law, and keeping one as a pet is punishable by up to five years in prison; however, there have never been any prosecutions of perpetrators, who tend to be influential figures such as politicians and military officers.
- Wildlife experts have also condemned the unregulated release of the baby orangutan: on its own, they say, it’s likely to die, and if it encounters wild orangutans, it could pass on human diseases picked up from its months in captivity.
Let’s take the fight to social media giants and protect endangered monkeys and apes (commentary)
- Every year, thousands of apes and monkeys are cruelly bought and sold as part of the illegal wildlife trade. The illegal sale of wild animals must end.
- In 2015, the value of the primate trade was estimated at $138M, up from $98M just three years before. These animals are sold as pets, sold to zoos, or slaughtered and sold in markets as bushmeat. This at a time when African primate populations are shockingly decimated, putting entire species at risk of extinction.
- It’s difficult to track illegal activity and bring perpetrators to justice because wildlife dealers exploit the anonymity of social media platforms to conduct their business. Silicon Valley giants are quick to point out that they have policies in place that prohibit the sale of wildlife, and we commend them for that. However, these policies are no match for savvy traders who exploit the features of platforms to make money selling endangered wildlife.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Time is running out for Southeast Asia
- Several species and subspecies have gone extinct in the last 100 years. Others remain missing.
- Most of Southeast Asia’s large-bodied animals are now threatened with extinction.
- Deforestation and the wildlife trade have even left smaller-bodied species decimated as well.
- Southeast Asia has to decide if preserving its irreplaceable and unique wildlife is a priority – or the losses will continue to mount.
Mischaracterizing the conservation benefits of trade (commentary)
- The authors of a Science paper on global wildlife trade respond to an editorial published on Mongabay that criticized their methodology.
- Brett R. Scheffers of the University of Florida/IFAS; Brunno F. Oliveira of the University of Florida/IFAS and Auburn University at Montgomery; and Leuan Lamb and David P. Edwards of the University of Sheffield say their paper ‘uses a rigorously assembled database to make the first global assessment of traded species—both legal and illegal, and from national to international scales—and to identify the global hotspots of trade diversity.’
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Legal and illegal trade negatively impacting survival and wellbeing of Africa’s wildlife: Report
- Released last week by the London-based NGO World Animal Protection to coincide with World Animal Day, the report looks at the “Big 5” and “Little 5” most-in-demand species and how trade in those animals impacts their wellbeing and conservation status.
- Between 2011 and 2015, some 1.2 million animal skins from the “Big 5” African wildlife species identified in the report as being most in-demand — the Nile crocodile, the Cape fur seal, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, the African elephant, and the common hippo — were legally sold.
- More than 1.5 million live animals belonging to one of the “Little 5” African species — the ball python, the African grey parrot, the emperor scorpion, the leopard tortoise, and the savannah monitor lizard — were exported for the exotic pet trade between 2011 and 2015, the report finds.
Finally, Latin America is tackling wildlife trafficking (commentary)
- On October 3-4, a High Level International Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in the Americas will take place in Lima, Peru. This is the first-ever such conference organized exclusively around wildlife trafficking in the Americas, with particular focus on South and Central America. Why has it taken so long, and why is it so important?
- Latin America is the single most biologically diverse region in the world, and trade in its wildlife, including illegal trade, is not a new issue. Latin America’s unique and precious wildlife has endured threats from illegal and unsustainable commercial trade, both domestic and international, for decades—and in some cases, even longer.
- There are still large intact forest and grassland habitats across the region, and populations of species that can either be maintained or restored, if strong action is taken today. Preventive measures can and must be taken now, to ensure that Latin America’s wildlife thrives, from Mexico to the tip of Patagonia.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Cheetahs, CITES, and illegal trade: Are consumer countries doing enough? (commentary)
- The capacity of CITES to fairly balance the voices of countries that harbor source populations of endangered species subject to international trafficking with the voices of consumer countries is vital.
- Cheetahs are a case in point: Confined to less than 10 percent of their former distributional range with only 7,000 individuals left, the species is facing a significant threat from illegal trade in parts of its range. A demand for live animals as pets, primarily as cubs, is fueled by social media that glamorizes the keeping of these animals, with the Gulf States identified as a key market for this trade. All international trade in wild-caught cheetah cubs violates CITES and is illegal, and the trade in cubs is thought to be a key driver of decline in the cheetah population in the Horn of Africa.
- Yet at the recent CITES CoP, countries chose to ignore these threats and downgraded efforts to combat illegal trade in cheetahs despite concerns raised by many African range states and conservation organizations.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Asian otters gain protection from the pet trade
- The smooth-coated otter and the Asian small-clawed otter are now on the CITES list of animals with the highest level of protection from the wildlife trade.
- Asian small-clawed otters are particularly sought after as domestic pets and for ‘otter cafés,’ where wild otters are forced to interact with paying customers.
- Conservationists say that a trade ban was vital for the survival of the two species, whose numbers in the wild have fallen by at least 30% in the past 30 years.
Discovery of a metallic-blue tarantula bolsters case for trade protection
- A shiny, metallic-blue tarantula is Sri Lanka’s latest addition to the Indian Ocean island’s list of spiders, a new study reveals.
- The discovery comes as a global summit on wildlife trade takes place in Geneva, where Sri Lanka is calling for enhanced protection of tarantulas from the exotic pet trade.
- Researchers identify habitat loss and the pet trade as the biggest threats to tarantulas in the wild, and call for strict enforcement of laws against smuggling of species.
Bid for greater protection of star tortoise, a trafficking mainstay
- The illegal trafficking of the Indian star tortoise, an IUCN-listed vulnerable species, is thriving despite its trade being restricted under CITES Appendix II and domestic legislation in all three range states.
- To fight this, range states Sri Lanka and India, along with other countries, have submitted a proposal for the upcoming CITES summit to move the star tortoise from Appendix II to Appendix I.
- The CITES Secretariat has recommended rejecting the proposal, saying that adding the star tortoise to Appendix I provides no clear benefit for its protection, but proponents say the alarming scale of the trade should be reason enough, and hope to convince the CITES parties of the value of uplisting the tortoise.
New CITES head on next COP, reining in online wildlife trafficking, and more
- On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast we speak with Ivonne Higuero, secretary general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — better known by its acronym, CITES.
- Signatories to CITES will meet later this summer for the eighteenth meeting of the Congress of the Parties (or COP). The meeting was originally to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka last May, but a series of terrorist bombings in the South Asian country during Easter services in April forced CITES officials to postpone the meeting until August and move it to Geneva, Switzerland.
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, Huigero, the first woman to ever serve as CITES secretary general, discusses how her background as an environmental economist informs her approach to the job, how CITES can tackle challenges like lack of enforcement of CITES statutes at the national level and the online wildlife trade, and what she expects to accomplish at the eighteenth congress of the parties to CITES.
Exotic pet trade responsible for hundreds of invasive species around the globe
- According to a new study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment last week, Burmese pythons in Florida are just one example of the hundreds of non-native and invasive species that are harming native species and ecosystems around the world thanks to the multibillion-dollar exotic pet trade.
- “The volume of vertebrate animals that are traded worldwide is shocking, even to relatively seasoned invasion biologists,” the study’s lead author, Julie L. Lockwood, a professor at Rutgers University–New Brunswick in the United States, said in a statement. “The market in exotic pets has grown considerably since the 1970s, and so I don’t think most of us fully grasped how expansive the trade has become.”
- Lockwood and colleagues note in the study that research has shown that, of the 140 non‐native reptiles and amphibians known to have been introduced in Florida so far, close to 85 percent arrived via the pet trade.
Lemur yoga: Fueling the capture of wild lemurs? (commentary)
- In April, the BBC published a fawning article about an English hotel that is offering lemur yoga classes featuring endangered ring-tailed lemurs. Knowing full well that this media coverage would negatively impact lemurs living in the wild, we contacted the BBC, hoping to mitigate the damage.
- In today’s digital age, every lemur kept in captivity, either in Madagascar or abroad, is fueling — directly and indirectly — the illegal extraction of lemurs from the wild.
- Not a week goes by without more news of the precipitous decline of Madagascar’s biodiversity. And while it will take tens of millions of dollars to protect what is left, refusing to engage in exploitative encounters and sharing your lemur selfie online is a good place to start.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Otter cafés and ‘cute pets craze’ fuel illegal trafficking in Japan and Indonesia
- A new investigative film reveals the extent of illegal trafficking of otters to supply Tokyo’s ‘cafés’ where people pay to cuddle the wild animals, and it also shows their unsuitability as domestic pets.
- Otters kept in these cafés endure poor conditions and are fed items like cat food, which is not good for them.
- The business is highly profitable and is likely linked to organized crime, according to the film’s undercover investigation. Adults are often killed and their young captured for the trade.
- Mongabay interviewed the filmmaker as the movie was released, and one can also watch the film below.
Social media enables the illegal wildlife pet trade in Malaysia
- Conservationists say that prosecuting wildlife traffickers in Malaysia for trading in protected species isn’t easy, as traders have several loopholes to aid their efforts.
- One wildlife trafficker known as Kejora Pets has been operating in Peninsular Malaysia for years, selling “cute” pets to individuals through social media.
- Malaysia’s wildlife act doesn’t address the posting of protected animals for sale on social media, and operators like Kejora Pets appear to avoid ever being in possession of protected animals, allowing them to skirt statutes aimed at catching illicit traders.
- Proposed changes to Malaysia’s wildlife act could offer some relief to besieged populations of protected species by making it easier to prosecute online trafficking of protected animals.
Indonesia arrests 7 for allegedly selling Komodo dragons over Facebook
- Indonesian officials have arrested seven suspected members of a trafficking network that sold at least 40 Komodo dragons, along with other rare species, through Facebook and other social media platforms.
- Komodo dragons are found only in Indonesia and are a protected species, which means the suspects could face up to five years in prison and up to $7,000 each in fines for trading the animals.
- Six baby Komodo dragons were seized from the suspects, and are now being cared for by conservation officials ahead of a possible release back into the wild.
- The arrests have highlighted the dominant role of social media platforms in facilitating the illegal trade in Indonesia’s protected wildlife, with up to 98 percent of transactions believed to be carried out online.
Debunking myths about sloths is crucial to stopping the sloth crisis
- On today’s episode, we talk with zoologist Rebecca Cliffe about why the popular perception of sloths as lazy creatures is completely unwarranted — and why debunking myths like this about the animals is especially important right now.
- The increasing global popularity sloths have enjoyed in recent years has not translated into an increase in protection. That’s why Cliffe sought to debunk some persistent myths about sloths in her 2017 book — myths that she says still need debunking today.
- Cliffe tells us all about how moving slow is actually a survival strategy that has been so successful that sloths are some of the oldest mammals on our planet, the current “sloth crisis” driven by forest fragmentation and people taking “sloth selfies,” and what you can do to help protect sloths.
Indonesia rescues captive orangutans, but leaves their owners untouched
- Authorities in Indonesia have confiscated two juvenile Sumatran orangutans, a critically endangered species, being kept as pets.
- Possession of an orangutan is punishable by up to five years in prison in Indonesia, but authorities have never prosecuted any pet owners, who tend to be powerful and influential figures, and instead go after the poachers and traders.
- Conservationists say there need to be legal consequences for keeping orangutans as pets, in order to discourage the illegal trade, which involves poachers killing mother apes to capture babies and juveniles.
Warmer waters shrink krill habitat around Antarctica
- A new study has found that fewer young krill are surviving to adulthood around Antarctica as ocean temperatures have risen in the Southern Ocean in the past few decades.
- The researchers, who looked at decades of data on krill body lengths and abundance, found that the highest densities of krill had shifted southward by some 440 kilometers (273 miles) since the 1920s.
- The scientists note that the findings could alter food webs in the Southern Ocean.
- Currently, the internationally managed krill fishery does not take the location and size of the krill population into account.
Bans on the bird trade in South America yield mixed results
- After decades of rampant exports, several South American countries banned the international trade of wild-caught birds.
- In some cases, in concert with conservation, the bans have helped bird populations recover, leading several countries to invest in birdwatching tourism.
- However, the bans have also led to a significant illegal trade on the continent and a shift of the economic benefits from the wild bird trade to other countries.
New species of leaf-mimicking lizard could already be victim of pet trade
- From the forests of Marojejy National Park in Madagascar, researchers have described a new species of leaf-tailed gecko that has a somewhat compressed body, a small triangular head, and a leaf-shaped tail.
- So far, the gecko, named Uroplatus finaritra, is known only from within a small area at lower altitudes in Marojejy. Since forests in this area are rapidly disappearing due to illegal logging activity, both in and around the park, the researchers recommend that the gecko be listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- The gecko may also have already appeared in the international pet trade under the label of the more common satanic leaf-tailed gecko, Uroplatus phantasticus.
Is captive breeding the answer to Indonesia’s songbird crisis?
- In Indonesia, singing contests for songbirds have skyrocketed in popularity. Even the president is a fan.
- Demand for some species has made them extremely valuable. Poaching has risen accordingly, and some birds have been driven to the brink of extinction.
- The government is pushing captive breeding as a solution to the crisis. But some conservationists warn the policy may do more harm than good.
- A prime concern is that breeding licenses are easily exploited by “wildlife launderers” who pass of wild-caught animals as captive-bred. This only increases poaching.
‘Death by a thousand holes’: Scientists race to avert a salamander crisis
- A deadly fungus called Bsal decimated salamander populations in Europe, and scientists are very worried that it will soon invade North America.
- North America – and the U.S. in particular – is the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, hosting about a third of all species. Researchers think half of U.S. species may be susceptible to Bsal.
- Scientists say it may be only a matter of time before Bsal gets to North America. And when it does, they warn that it could mean devastation for salamanders and even drive some species to extinction.
- In an effort to head off the threat, scientists and government officials created the Bsal Task Force in 2015. Next month they intend to release their strategic plan, the culmination of years of collaboration and research, which provides a roadmap for what to do in the event Bsal is detected in North America.
Deadly parrot virus found in native birds from Asia and Africa
- Researchers have found beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) in wild parrots from eight new countries.
- BFDV spreads through captive parrots worldwide, but its prevalence in wild species is unknown. Infected escapees could threaten native parrots, especially small populations.
- Parrots in West Africa carried viruses that probably spread from other countries, showing that the human pet trade market has made the BFDV epidemic worse.
- New regulations of live parrot trades are essential to protect susceptible species, researchers say.
In the belly of the beast: journalist delves into wildlife trafficking
- Rachel Nuwer, who has written for Mongabay, Smithsonian, the New York Times and other publications, published a new book in September, “Poached,” which delves deeply into the global wildlife trafficking epidemic.
- Her book looks into the origins of the wildlife trade, its mechanisms, markets, and solutions. It covers charismatic mammals (elephants, rhinos and tigers), as well as the non-charismatic (pangolins and snakes).
- In this exclusive Mongabay Q&A, the author shares some of her most harrowing moments on the trail of global wildlife traffickers. The scariest thing of all: how accepting people can often be to the slaughter of millions of wild animals, and to the extermination of species, so as to be served a rare meat or a bogus cure.
- Still, Nuwer finds hope in the courageous individuals who fight the trade.
Group helps illegal bird traders transition into different lines of business
- Instead of focusing on putting bird poachers and illegal traders behind bars, an NGO in Indonesian Borneo is creating incentives for them to stop.
- It’s a unique approach in the Southeast Asian country, where conservation efforts have tended to focus on calls for tighter law enforcement and more rigorous punishment.
- The group, Planet Indonesia, has identified more than 100 small bird shops in and around Pontianak, the biggest city in western Borneo, and says many of them are pondering changing professions. It’s know-how and capital that’s holding them back.
Protection flip-flop leaves rare Indonesian shrikethrush in harm’s way
- The Sangihe shrikethrush is an elusive songbird found only on a single remote island in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province.
- The species, which numbers less than 300 in the wild, was one of hundreds granted protected status by the Indonesian government earlier this year.
- But the government inexplicably struck it from the list soon after, leaving wildlife activists concerned that the lack of protection will harm efforts to conserve the species.
- Activists say one workaround would be to push for protective measures by local authorities.
Latam Eco Review: Wandering hippos, condor central, and the macaw trade
Top stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay Latam, last week followed high-flying condors to their lowland home; hippos wandering through Colombia’s jungles; and scarlet macaws in their last holdout in Central America. Ecuador’s León River is ‘condor central’ No matter how high or how far Ecuador’s condors soar, they always return home to a semi-desert, […]
5 bird species lose protections, more at risk in new Indonesia decree
- Five bird species in Indonesia have lost their protected status under a new ministerial decree, issued last month in response to complaints from songbird collectors.
- The decree also establishes additional guidelines for birds to be granted protected status, which effectively sets the stage for any species to be dropped from the list if it is deemed of high economic value to the songbird fan community.
- Scientists and wildlife experts have criticized the removal of the five species from the protected list, and the new criteria for granting protected status.
- Indonesia is home to the largest number of threatened bird species in Asia, but their populations in the wild are severely threatened by overexploitation.
One-two punch of habitat loss, capture hammers Southeast Asian birds
- The combined impact of habitat loss and exploitation has been underestimated in the assessment of dangers to bird populations in Southeast Asia, a new report says.
- Of the 308 species studied by researchers, up to 90 could go extinct by the end of this century.
- The researchers have called for urgent policy intervention to curb deforestation and throttle the caged-bird trade, warning that dozens of species could otherwise be lost.
As turtles go, so go their ecosystems
- Turtles are among the most threatened of the major groups of vertebrates in the world, a new review paper says, perhaps even more so than birds, mammals, fish or amphibians.
- Of the 356 species of turtles recognized today, about 61 percent are either threatened or have become extinct in modern times.
- Turtles contribute to the health of a variety of environments, including desert, wetland, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and losing these animals could have serious ecological consequences, researchers say.
On the hunt for a silent salamander-killer
- Some time around 2008, a mysterious disease started killing off the Netherlands’ fire salamanders. Three years later, 96 percent were dead.
- The disease turned out to be Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a relative of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) that has been implicated in the decline or extinction of some 200 frog species around the world.
- Scientists think Bsal originated in Asia and spread to Europe through the pet trade. And they believe it’s only matter of time before it gets to the U.S. – the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, where nearly half of all species may be susceptible.
- Now, scientists are in a race against time to find the fungus as soon as possible after it gets here in the hopes that quickly enacted quarantines may stop, or at least slow, its spread.
Indonesia gives in to bird traders, rescinds protection for 3 species
- The Indonesian government has removed three popular songbirds from its newly updated list of protected species. They are the white-rumped shama, straw-headed bulbul and Javan pied starling — a critically endangered species.
- The move comes amid protests from songbird owners and breeders, who have raised concerns about loss of livelihoods.
- The owners and breeders now say they will push for more species to be removed from the list.
- Conservationists and scientists have blasted the ministry for backing down and called into question its assessment that protecting the three species would have had an adverse economic impact.
Cheap prices lead to more exotic pets in the wild, research finds
- New research shows that exotic amphibians and reptiles sold inexpensively as pets are more likely to end up in the wild, where they can pose problems for native wildlife.
- The authors of the study believe that many pet owners may not fully understand the responsibility of owning these animals, some of which can grow to large sizes and live for decades.
- They suggest that limiting the numbers of certain species popular as pets could help limit their often-destructive impact on ecosystems.
In protecting songbirds, Indonesia ruffles owners & breeders’ feathers
- Songbird owners and breeders have denounced the Indonesian government’s recent decision to add hundreds of bird species to the national list of protected species.
- Birdkeeping has long been a popular and highly lucrative pastime in the country, with deep cultural roots.
- The government has sought to accommodate the owners’ concerns by insisting that enforcement of bans on capturing and trading in the newly protected species will not be applied retroactively.
- It has also given owners and breeders a generous window in which to register their birds — an opportunity that conservation activists say could be exploited by people looking to stock up on wild-caught birds.
Indonesia adds hundreds of birds to protected species list
- Indonesia has revised its list of protected species of plants and animals that are endemic to the country for the first time since 1999.
- A total of 919 endemic species, most of them birds, are now banned from trading and hunting in one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth.
- Wildlife experts in Indonesia have welcomed the update, but also warned that technical changes may hinder law enforcement against wildlife crime.
- With the new list, conservation activists also expect people to hand over captive species that are now protected under the law.
95 percent of all lemur species face high risk of extinction, experts say
- More than 50 experts in primate conservation from around the world recently convened in Antananarivo to review the conservation status of the 111 species and subspecies of lemurs, all endemic to Madagascar, and provide updated threat assessments for the IUCN Red List.
- They found that 105 lemurs — 95 percent of all known lemur species and subspecies — might qualify as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable to extinction in the wild.
- The updated assessments produced by the IUCN Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group must still undergo a review process before they are fully validated, but the group’s findings would increase the number of lemurs listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List from 24 to 38.
Orangutan forest school in Indonesia takes on its first eight students
- A forest school in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province, funded by the Vienna-based animal welfare organization Four Paws and run by the local organization Jejak Pulang, has just started training its first eight orangutan orphans to learn the skills they need to live independently in the forest.
- Borneo’s orangutans are in crisis, with more than 100,000 lost since 1999 through direct killings and loss of habitat, particularly to oil palm and pulpwood plantations.
- Security forces often confiscate juvenile orangutans under 7 years of age, and without their mothers to teach them the skills they need, they cannot be released back into the forest.
- Jejak Pulang’s team of 15 orangutan caretakers, a biologist, two veterinarians and the center’s director aim to prepare the orphaned orangutans for independence.
One tortoise at a time: Q&A with zoo veterinarian Justin Rosenberg
- In April, authorities discovered around 10,000 radiated tortoises, believed to be destined for the Asian pet trade, in an abandoned house in southwestern Madagascar.
- The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) took the animals to its rescue center in Ifaty, and soon, veterinarians and keepers from around the world began traveling to Madagascar to help the animals.
- Currently, between 9,000 and 10,000 tortoises are alive, with around 100 still in need of critical care.
- Mongabay spoke with a veterinarian who spent several weeks at TSA’s facility about the ongoing efforts.
Footage of elusive Negros bleeding-heart dove captured in the wild
- New footage of one of one of the most elusive birds in the world — the critically endangered Negros bleeding heart dove — has been released.
- A team with the Bristol Zoological Society, a UK-based conservation and education NGO, spent five days searching for the bird in the forests of the Philippines’ Panay Island in order to capture a video of the rarely seen species in the wild.
- The Negros bleeding-heart (Gallicolumba keayi) is a medium-sized, ground-dwelling species of pigeon endemic to the Philippine islands of Negros and Panay. There are perhaps as few as 70 and no more than 400 individuals of the species left on the two islands it calls home, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Online pet trade in Southeast Asia poses a major new threat to otters
- Poaching of otters, especially juveniles, for the online pet trade is so widespread in Southeast Asia that it has emerged as a major new threat to the survival of Asia’s otter species.
- A report from the wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC and the IUCN Otter Specialist Group released today details the results of a two-year investigation that uncovered hundreds of otters for sale on Facebook and other online platforms. Sales of juvenile otters were especially prominent: over 70 percent of the animals found for sale online were under one year old, according to the report.
- The report identified a lack of strong national legislation to protect these species in many of their range countries as a major reason the illegal exploitation of otters has been able to flourish online.
Scientists find ‘ground zero’ of deadly frog pandemic
- First observed by scientists in the 1970s, the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) had spread around the world by the early 2000s. The fungus kills frogs by colonizing their skin and impairing their ability to absorb water and electrolytes.
- By 2007, Bd infection had led to the decline or extinction of around 200 species of frogs, and today is considered one of the biggest single threats to amphibians worldwide.
- For a new study, researchers genetically analyzed hundreds of Bd samples; their results suggest that the fungus is from the Korean peninsula and began spreading between 50-120 years ago with the expansion of international trade.
- The researchers say the pet trade needs much stronger regulations if the spread of Bd – as well as the emerging salamander-killing fungus B. salamandrivorans – is to be stopped before it causes more devastation.
‘Monumental’ bust in Madagascar triggers effort to save thousands of endangered tortoises
- Authorities discovered 9,888 starving and dehydrated radiated tortoises in a vacant house in southwestern Madagascar on April 10.
- Since then, a team of organizations led by the Turtle Survival Alliance has been working to provide care for the critically endangered tortoises, 574 of which died during the first week.
- The tortoises, endemic to Madagascar, have lost around 40 percent of their habitat to deforestation, and poachers commonly capture them for the pet trade in Asia and the United States.
Indonesian conservation bill is weak on wildlife crime, critics say
- Lawmakers in Indonesia have submitted for review to President Joko Widodo’s administration a bill that would overhaul the country’s 28-year-old conservation law.
- While environmental advocates have long pushed for updates to the law, the new draft has alarmed many with its various provisions that critics say represent a regression from the existing legislation.
- Problem articles include a “self-defense” clause that would waive criminal charges for killing protected wildlife; a more nebulous definition of wildlife crime that some fear could make it harder to crack down on traffickers; and the opening up of conservation areas to geothermal exploration and other “strategic development” projects.
- The ball is now in the court of the government, which is required to review the bill before sending it back to parliament for final passage. However, a minister says the government will “hold off” on its review, and suggests the existing conservation law is sufficient.
In Jakarta, wildlife monitors find a hotspot for the illegal tortoise trade
- Indonesia’s capital has seen an increase in the sale of non-native species of tortoises and freshwater turtles that are prohibited for international commercial trade, according to a report by the wildlife-monitoring group TRAFFIC.
- Growing demand for these species, coupled with Indonesia’s lax enforcement of customs regulation at international ports of entry and an outdated conservation act, have allowed the illicit international animal trade to grow, TRAFFIC said.
- The group has called on the Indonesian government to improve the country’s conservation laws and regulations, and urged more stringent monitoring of the markets, pet stores and expos in Jakarta and across the country to document and assess the extent of any illegal trade.
‘Extreme concern’: Report gives glimpse into scale of Kalimantan bird trade
- More than 25,000 birds from nearly 150 species, including those on the brink of extinction, were found for sale at hundreds of shops across Indonesian Borneo, according to a recent report.
- The report is said to be the first to provide data on the trade in Kalimantan, which is increasingly being targeted by trappers and traders who have decimated bird populations in Java and Sumatra.
- The researchers are calling for more surveys on bird populations in the wild and stronger law enforcement to protect endangered species.
In search of the fireface: The precarious, scandalous lives of the slow lorises of Java
- Cute and fuzzy but also vicious and venomous, Javan slow lorises have been driven to the brink of extinction by habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade.
- The Little Fireface Project in West Java is the first long-term research project focusing on the critically endangered primate.
- In addition to making strides toward understanding how to care for and reintroduce lorises to the wild, the project has revealed new details about the species’ complex, and often reality-show-worthy social behavior.
Indonesia races against time to save new orangutan species
- With an estimated population of less than 800, the newly described Tapanuli orangutan is already at risk of extinction due to habitat destruction and fragmentation.
- The Indonesian government will come up with a strategy to protect the orangutan, including the establishment of protected forest areas and wildlife sanctuaries.
- The government will also review a plan to build a hydroelectric plant in an area with the highest known density of Tapanuli orangutans.
The Eighth Great Ape: New orangutan species discovered in Sumatra
- A study indicates what was once assumed to be an isolated population of the Sumatran orangutan is in fact a distinct species.
- The Batang Toru orangutan differs from the Sumatran orangutan in morphology, behavior and genetics. Genomic analysis suggests it diverged from other orangutan species 3.4 million years ago.
- There are fewer than 800 Batang Toru orangutans in existence, making it the rarest of all the great apes.
- It is highly threatened by habitat loss. The study says a hydropower plant planned for the area could affect 8 percent of the species’ remaining forest habitat.
Trade in wild birds going ‘unchecked’ in Vietnam: new report
- The number of species and volume of birds being sold in Vietnam’s cities has increased since 2008, a new report by TRAFFIC has found.
- Nearly all the birds that the team recorded were native to Vietnam, and have no regulations governing their trade under Vietnamese legislation.
- This lack of protection is worrying, researchers say, because it could mean that large numbers of birds are being extracted from the wild with no knowledge about how severely it will impact wild populations.
Western Chimpanzee numbers declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century
- Research published in the American Journal of Primatology earlier this month finds that the overall Western Chimpanzee population declined by six percent annually between 1990 and 2014, a total decline of 80.2 percent.
- The main threats to the Western Chimpanzee are almost all man-made. Habitat loss and fragmentation driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, industrial agriculture (including deforestation for oil palm plantations as well as eucalyptus, rubber, and sugar cane developments), and extractive industries like logging, mining, and oil top the list.
- In response to the finding that the Western Chimpanzee population has dropped so precipitously in less than three decades, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) elevated the subspecies’ status to Critically Endangered on its Red List of Threatened Species.
Inflated quotas for captive-bred wildlife in Indonesia may aid traffickers: report
- Indonesia’s captive breeding plan is meant to enable the legal wildlife trade while protecting the country’s natural riches, including its incredible biodiversity.
- But “unrealistically high” quotas for the maximum production of certain species in the plan are likely being taken advantage of by wildlife traffickers, according to a new study.
- The Indonesian environment ministry official in charge of setting the quotas says his department has audited the country’s breeding centers to ensure their professionalism and quality.
African great ape bushmeat crisis intensifies; few solutions in sight
- Gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos are all Critically Endangered or Endangered, and continue to decline toward extinction due to habitat loss and degradation, disease, and illegal hunting.
- Great ape poaching, which supplies growing urban and rural bushmeat markets, is now at crisis levels across Central Africa, and despite conservationists’ efforts, is showing no sign of slowing down.
- Vast networks of logging roads, modern weapons, cell phones, cheap motorized transportation, and high demand for wild meat in urban centers is driving the booming bushmeat market.
- Africa’s great ape sanctuaries rescue some survivors, and active outreach to local communities offer a partial solution. Educational programs for children and adults, teaching the value of great apes, are seen as essential.
Indonesia is running out of places to put rescued animals
- The head of the state conservation agency in North Sumatra says both of her rescue centers are over capacity. She is having to send animals to zoos.
- The glut is due to an increase of people handing over protected species to the government, in line with efforts by authorities and NGOs to raise awareness of the law.
- Dedicated facilities exist to receive some species, but for others, authorities have had to improvise.
Harry Potter may have sparked illegal owl trade in Indonesia
- Owls were rarely recorded in the country’s bird markets in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, but this trend appears to have changed in the late 2000s.
- Surveys of 20 bird markets in Java and Bali conducted between 2012 and 2016 revealed that owls are now widely traded, with at least 12,000 Scops owls being sold in Indonesia’s bird markets each year.
- Most of these owls are caught from the wild, making the trade largely illegal.
Small but not forgotten: Gibbons need more attention (commentary)
- Gibbons are frequently misidentified as monkeys, and few people are familiar with the taxonomic diversity represented by this primate family.
- With the inclusion of the recently discovered Skywalker hoolock, there are now 17 recognized species of gibbon, and all but one of them are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN Redlist.
- By failing to recognize the broad diversity within the gibbon family, policy makers and local stakeholders may underestimate the threat to individual species.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
More than 300 smuggled tortoises seized in Malaysia
- Customs officials at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport raided the cargo area of the airport on May 14 following a tip-off, and found the tortoises packed into five boxes labeled as stones.
- The boxes reportedly arrived on an Etihad Airways flight from Antananarivo airport in Madagascar, and were registered with a fake business address in Malaysia.
- No arrests have been made yet, but the case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967, officials say.
Howler monkeys booming in Belize sanctuary 25 years after translocation
- Disease, hurricanes and hunting wiped out the native howler monkeys living in the Cockscomb Basin by the 1970s.
- Between 1992 and 1994, 62 black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) were relocated from a nearby reserve.
- After surveying the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in March and April, scientists figure there are at least 170 howler monkeys – and perhaps many more – living all over the 51,800-hectare (128,000-acre) preserve.
Scientists mull risks of freeing rare albino orangutan in Borneo
- Caregivers are nursing the animal back to health at a rescue center in Central Kalimantan.
- Biologists worry that releasing it into the wild will introduce its genetic defect into the population at large.
- No data exists on the prevalence of albinoism among orangutans.
Conservation lessons from the bonobos
- Lola ya Bonobo, the world’s first bonobo sanctuary, was founded in 1994 by Claudine Andre, who came to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at a young age, and who, after a chance meeting with a bonobo at the Kinshasa zoo, dedicated her life to the species. Today, Lola has been recognized worldwide as a model for primate rehabilitation.
- The sanctuary primarily credits “inclusive conservation” for its success, a process by which Lola not only cares for rescued DRC bonobos, but also for nearby human communities — supporting farms, schools and medical facilities. The communities in turn support Lola.
- The bonobos at the sanctuary — often traumatized after being rescued from the great ape trade — spend years in rehabilitation, being served by human foster mothers and other caring Lola staff. When deemed ready, bonobo troupes are returned to the wild Congo.
Women could be a key to great ape conservation in the Congo
- The Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE), Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), and Coopera are all organizations working with women in and around the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help advance great ape conservation through education, empowerment, healthcare and food security access.
- Some examples: BCI helps fund pilot micro-credit projects for women who want to launch business enterprises, including soap and garment making. GRACE employs women as surrogate mothers for newly orphaned gorillas during an initial 30-day quarantine period.
- GRACE also provides women and their families with bushmeat alternatives by teaching them to care for and breed alternative protein sources. Coopera helps provide alternative food sources through ECOLO-FEMMES, an organization that trains women in livestock breeding and agriculture to reduce great ape hunting in Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
- Coopera, working with Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots, engages young rape victims in tree planting to provide food sources to wild chimpanzees. JGI’s women’s programs in Uganda and Tanzania keep girls in school through peer support, scholarship programs and sanitary supply access. Educated women have smaller families, reducing stress on the environment.
No safe forest left: 250 captive orphan chimps stuck in sanctuaries
- Cameroon currently has more than 250 rescued chimpanzees living in three chimp wildlife sanctuaries. Attempts to find forests into which to release them — safe from the bushmeat and pet trade, and not already occupied by other chimpanzee populations — have failed so far.
- The intensification of logging, mining and agribusiness, plus new roads into remote areas, along with a growing rural human population, are putting intense pressure on un-conserved forests as well as protected lands.
- Unless habitat loss, poaching and trafficking are controlled in Cameroon, reintroduction of captive chimpanzees may not be achievable. Some conservationists argue, however, that reintroduction of captive animals is needed to enhance genetic resilience in wild populations.
- If current rates of decline are not curbed, primatologists estimate that chimpanzees could be gone from Cameroon’s forests within 15 to 20 years.
Great apes in Asian circus-style shows on rise — so is trafficking
- Asian zoos, circuses and safari parks are mounting large-scale productions with costumed, dancing, roller-skating great apes. Investigations show that nearly all of these trained primates were not bred in captivity, but illegally traded out of Africa and Indonesia, with destinations in China, Thailand and other Asian countries.
- The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that the illegal trade may have removed as many as 22,218 great apes from the wild between 2005-2011. An estimated 64 percent were chimpanzees, whereas 56 percent of great apes seized by authorities were thought to be orangutans.
- Wild young apes are traumatized by their capture, and many die along the supply chain, or with their final “owners” by whom they are frequently poorly treated. Young great apes trained in captivity become increasingly unmanageable as they age, and many are “retired” to tiny, solitary cages, or simply disappear.
- Trafficking arrests are rare. UNEP recorded just 27 arrests in Africa and Asia between 2005-2011, over which time more than 1,800 cases of illegally trafficked great apes were documented, with many more undetected. Solutions are in the works, but time is running out for the world’s great apes if they are to be conserved.
The military family that kept a pet orangutan in Indonesia
- Wildlife traffickers are chipping away at the dwindling populations of Sumatran and Bornean orangutans. Deforestation lends poachers an assist, rendering the primates homeless and easier to catch.
- Keeping an orangutan pet is illegal in Indonesia, but not once has a citizen been prosecuted for it. The owners tend to be influential figures — police officers, soldiers, politicians.
- Krismon was separated from his mother as an infant in the late 1990s. Only last year was he finally recovered from the military family he was living with.
- The ape will spend the rest of his life behind metal bars — unless a plan to construct an orangutan haven comes to fruition in North Sumatra.
Proposed Trump policy threatens Critically Endangered Grauer’s gorilla
- The largest great ape, Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) has nearly disappeared in the past two decades. Numbers have plummeted by 77 percent; perhaps 3,800 remain. This animal, dubbed “the forgotten gorilla” because it was so little studied and was absent from most zoos, is in serious danger of extinction.
- Their slaughter was precipitated by the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s bloody civil war and by mining for coltan and tin ore, “conflict minerals” used in cell phones, laptops and other electronics. Gorillas are heavily poached by armed militias, miners, and less often, by refugees: the animals are being eaten nearly to extinction.
- The gorillas could suffer greater harm from warlords and miners if President Trump signs a proposed presidential memorandum leaked to Reuters. It would allow US companies to buy conflict minerals freely without public disclosure, likely increasing mining in the Congo basin — and poaching.
- Trump’s plan would nullify the current US Conflict Mineral Rule, passed with bipartisan support in 2010 and enacted as part of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Dodd Frank Act. Meanwhile, conservationists are hopeful that the Grauer’s gorilla can be saved — but only with a DRC and planet-wide response.
Singapore’s wild bird trade threatens exotic species
- About 48 of the 108 species observed in Singapore’s bird markets were listed in either CITES Appendix I or II, which means that their international trade is restricted.
- Unfortunately, most birds being sold in the markets are not listed in CITES, meaning that these birds are not subject to international regulations.
- Information about the harvesting, breeding, and trading of animals in Singapore is very hard to obtain, making it difficult to ascertain the impact of the trade on the birds’ wild populations.
NGO takes action to save great apes in Cameroon’s Lebialem Highlands
- The Lebialem Highlands, in Cameroon’s southwest, is a rugged mountainous and plateaued region still inhabited by the Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla, the Endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee and the Vulnerable African forest elephant.
- While the Cameroon government has taken action by protecting swathes of forest in the region, they admit to being unable to fully protect this habitat from incursions by surrounding communities, who go to the protected lands to farm, harvest bushmeat, hunt, log and mine.
- The Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), an NGO, has stepped in to help protect Highlands conserved areas — including the Tofala Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the still to be created Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Supported by the Rainforest Trust-USA, ERuDeF is also working to improve local village economies and livelihoods in order to take pressure off of wildlife.
27 critically endangered Javan slow lorises rescued from online traders in Indonesia
- The Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and is considered one of the most endangered primate species in the world due mainly to habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.
- Mortality rates of confiscated lorises is typically quite high, according to Christine Rattel, a program advisor at International Animal Rescue Indonesia, because traders load them into small, cramped crates, which can cause wounds, stress, and more serious medical problems that can result in death.
- Perpetrators of wildlife crime can be prosecuted under Indonesia’s Natural Protection Law and face up to five years in prison as well as fines of 100 million Indonesian Rupiah (about $7,400).
Trade in skulls, body parts severely threatens Cameroon’s great apes
- Primatologists in Cameroon have been heartened in recent years by the discoveries of new great ape populations scattered around the country. Unfortunately for these gorillas and chimpanzees, their numbers are being rapidly diminished by deforestation and human exploitation.
- Cameroon’s gorillas and chimps have long fallen victim to the bushmeat trade, but they are now being hunted vigorously to feed a national and international illegal trade in skulls and other body parts which are being exported to Nigeria, other West African coastal states, and especially to the US and China, either as trophies or for use in traditional medicine.
- Great ape trafficking operations in Cameroon are starting to resemble the ivory trade: International trafficking networks are financing hunters, providing them with motorbikes and sophisticated weapons. A spreading network of logging and agribusiness roads and a porous border between Cameroon and Nigeria are further facilitating the trade.
- The seriousness of this poaching hits home when one considers that during a four-month period in 2015, anti-poaching and anti-trafficking squads in Cameroon arrested 22 dealers and seized 16 great ape limbs, 24 gorilla heads and 34 chimpanzee skulls in separate operations around the country. Law enforcement is likely only detecting 10 percent of the trade.
Great apes and greater challenges: Trafficking in Cameroon
- Cameroon is home to four great ape species and sub-species: the Western Lowland gorilla, Cross River gorilla, Central chimpanzee and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee. Scientists still don’t fully understand these species and the secrets they may hold, especially for medical science, but those secrets will be lost if the animals are not conserved.
- A thriving trade in ape skulls, bushmeat, and live animal trafficking is threatening to wipe out ape populations already stressed by habitat loss and fragmentation. The Last Great Ape Organization (LAGA) is an NGO that is tackling the traffickers behind the African trade, but they are up against widespread government corruption that is hindering their efforts.
- While confiscations of trafficked great apes is important, estimates put the total of traded animals being detected by law enforcement along trafficking routes at a mere 10 percent. That’s why many conservationists argue that trafficking needs to be stopped not at national borders and airports, but nipped in the bud at the source, in the wild.
Exotic populations hold hope for internationally traded endangered species
- Researchers identified 49 globally threatened species that have established wild populations outside their native distributions on all continents except Antarctica.
- Sometimes, the exotic populations do better than their native counterparts.
- Such introduced populations can offer a unique opportunity to save endangered species, researchers say.
Top 10 HAPPY environmental stories of 2016
- Some animal species showed signs of recovery after years of decline.
- In 2016, the world became serious about protecting our oceans by establishing some of the largest marine protected areas ever.
- Countries moved towards ending domestic ivory trade, and researchers discovered the world’s tallest tree.
Hunted to the brink: Mammals in crisis
- A study pulling together information on threatened land mammals found that hunting for meat and medicine is driving 301 toward extinction.
- The authors raise concerns about food security for humans and ecosystem collapse if we don’t prevent this crisis for mammals.
- Proposed solutions include shoring up international markets for bushmeat and animal body parts, investments in laws and enforcement to protect wildlife, and increased education about the scale of the problem.
Man surrenders pet crocodile he raised for 13 years
- The crocodile was 4 meters long.
- It consumed up to three chickens or ducks a day — very expensive for its owner.
- Officials took the crocodile to a breeding park in Sumatra’s largest city, Medan.
International trade in African grey parrots banned
- All cross-border commercial trade in wild-caught African grey parrots is now banned.
- Captive-bred birds can be traded, but only from breeding facilities that are registered with CITES.
- Currently, most African grey parrot exports originate in the Congo basin, according to WWF.
Madagascar’s largest tortoise could become extinct in 2 years
- Currently listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List, the ploughshare tortoise occurs only in the Baly Bay National Park in northwestern Madagascar.
- The animal’s striking gold and black domed shell has made it a prized pet in the international market, fueling organized poaching and trafficking that is driving the species towards extinction.
- Since early 2016, ploughshare tortoises appear to have disappeared completely from several areas of the Baly Bay National Park.
Tens of thousands of birds being sold illegally in Javan bird markets
- Around 98 percent of the birds being sold in Javan bird markets are native to Indonesia, study found.
- Some 28 species being sold at the markets are protected under Indonesia’s national law, while 10 species are listed as Threatened by the IUCN Red List.
- Traders succeed in selling wild-caught birds mainly because law enforcement is lax, conservationists say.
Study uncovers illegal bird trade in Thailand’s weekend market
- Birds being sold included nine species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List, as well as eight species that are Near Threatened, study found.
- The red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), a popular entry in singing competitions, was one of the most commonly-sold birds.
- Several owls were also on sale, according to the study, their high demand likely fueled by the “Harry Potter” films.
Indonesia’s birds being wiped out by pet trade
- Trade has decimated populations of the Javan hawk-eagle, Javan green magpie, helmeted hornbill, silvery woodpigeon, yellow-crested cockatoo, scarlet-breasted lorikeet, black-winged myna, Bali myna, straw-headed bulbul, Javan white-eye, rufous-fronted laughingthrush, Sumatran laughingthrush and the Javan sparrow in the wild, new study has found.
- The disappearance of a bird species due to trade can have a knock-on effect on other species, the researchers say, in which trappers and traders look for the next-best and more readily available species to replace the one in decline.
- Unfortunately, governments and even conservation organizations often don’t view this issue as a high priority, TRAFFIC’s Director for Southeast Asia said, which hampers efforts to prevent further losses.
Thousands of Southeast Asian newts being collected from the wild for pet trade
- Large numbers of Southeast Asian newts are being collected from the wild and sold in the United States and the European Union to meet the demands of the international pet trade, a new study has found.
- Most of these newts are being caught from the wild, the team note.
- The trade in Southeast Asian newts is largely unregulated and unrecorded, researchers say, and these newts are being harvested in far greater numbers than what trade statistics suggest.
Half of Sumatra’s forests within reach of the average bird trapper
- Conservationists generally believe Indonesia’s booming pet trade is driving the decline of wild bird populations, but few studies have explored its impact.
- The results of a new study bolster the case that the pet trade is driving down wild bird populations.
- The researchers looked at North Sumatra and South Sumatra.
‘Status symbols’: Japan emerging as major hub for illegal trade in slow lorises due to their popularity as pets
- A new study has found that slow lorises were being openly traded in pet shops, fairs and on the Internet in Japan, illegally and at exuberant prices.
- The team’s investigation into Japan’s slow loris pet trade seems to have prompted the Japanese government into taking some action.
- A second study found that all slow lorises that feature in YouTube or other online videos are either unhealthy or abused.
The dangers of China’s ‘thumb monkey’ trend
- Pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest monkey species, are being sold in pets in China to celebrate the “year of the monkey.”
- Researchers say this market for exotic pets is driving wildlife trafficking around the world.
- Scientists estimate hundreds of thousands of primates are trafficked in Peru alone. Most of them die before being sold as pets and those that make it out of the pet store likely don’t last much longer.
Meet the new spider named after Johnny Cash
- According to the results of a decade-long study by biologists at Auburn University and Millsaps College, there are not, in fact, fifty or so different species of tarantulas in the US, as scientists previously believed.
- After studying nearly 3,000 specimens, the researchers found there are just 29 species in the US — 14 of which are entirely new to science.
- Aphonopelma johnnycashi males are generally solid black in coloration, which made them an even more fitting homage to Cash, who was known as “the Man in Black.”
Peru issues its first sentence against species traffickers, setting a precedent
- The men were sentenced with three years’ prison for illegal wildlife trafficking, and had to pay a $1,154 fine each.
- The ocelot is a protected species under Appendix I of CITES, and Peru’s Forests and Wildlife Law.
- Ocelots are still threatened in rural areas, where traffickers catch them in order to sell them as exotic pets.
Popular pet fish listed as “threatened” under Endangered Species Act
- The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a final rule Wednesday listing the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
- The species is extremely popular among aquarium hobbyists, and scientists have raised concerns that overharvesting in its tiny native range in Indonesia’s Banggai Islands threatens its survival.
- Because the Banggai cardinalfish will be listed as “threatened” and not “endangered,” NMFS will place no immediate restrictions on its trade or possession, but may do so at some point in the future.
Quantifying the aquarium trade to help it become more sustainable
- Between 18 and 30 million marine aquarium fishes are traded globally each year, but a paucity of data makes it difficult to know the actual volume.
- While some observers argue that the trade can be a force for reef conservation and socio-economic development, some of the same voices also caution that the trade as it is currently practiced may be tough on reef ecosystems and fisher communities in certain places.
- A pair of researchers have developed new technology to quantify the trade in hopes of putting it on a path to sustainability. After successfully using it to analyze US imports, they are now attempting to assess the world’s most important source country for marine aquarium fishes — the Philippines.
Facebook posts lead to arrest of two suspected tortoise thieves
- Thailand officials were first tipped off about some Facebook posts offering critically endangered Burmese star tortoises for sale in October 2015.
- On December 22, the officials raided the home of the suspect in Khon Khaen Province, in northeast Thailand, and found seven Burmese star tortoises.
- The authorities managed to arrest a second suspected tortoise thief too.
Bolivia’s domestic parrot trade supplied by birds seen as “crop pests”
- A Bolivian study has found that supplying wild parrots to a particular domestic pet market was seasonally dependent, occurring mostly in the summer, with captive birds gathered in only a few small locales, findings that could help focus limited policing resources in future.
- The researchers could find little connection between Bolivia’s domestic pet trade and organized crime, though they admit their study was localized and researchers might reach different conclusions in other Latin American markets and countries.
- The study methodology — utilizing pet market insiders to perform market surveys with vendors — if applied elsewhere, could yield market-specific data that might lead to better enforcement and educational solutions to Latin America’s domestic pet trade crisis.
Bellavista no more: Peru’s infamous wildlife market reduced to rubble
- Bellavista market operated for 20 years; wildlife rescue groups and health officials have made repeated pleas to officials since 2007 for it to be shut down.
- Wildlife vendors illegally dealt in dozens of species including the yellow-headed caracara, Amazonian pygmy owl, ocelot, Goeldi’s monkey, green anaconda, and mata mata turtle.
- Wild and domestic species were routinely housed together, increasing disease transmission risks between animals and humans.
The week in environmental news – Dec 12, 2015
- Greenpeace undercover sting revealed two prominent climate skeptics that were available for hire to write reports that would cast doubt on the dangers of global warming.
- Researchers captured more than 20,000 photographs of a wide variety of wildlife, including the first-known record of forest elephants.
- A search on the photo-sharing site, Instagram, reveals a booming population of baby chimpanzees and orangutans in wealthy Arab Gulf nations.
‘Catastrophic’ decline: nearly 99% of African grey parrots wiped out in Ghana
- Study assessed impact of widespread trade in African grey parrots on wild parrot populations in Ghana.
- Since 1992, Ghana lost between 90 to 99 percent of its grey parrots, researchers found.
- Pet-trade is mostly to blame for the birds’ decline, but habitat loss has had a considerable impact on their populations as well.
Farmed and legally exported Colombian poison frogs take on the illegal pet trade
- Considered the “holy grail” by frog enthusiasts worldwide, Lehmann’s poison frog used to be so common that it littered the ground in its native habitat.
- A 2013 documentary that aimed to find a red morph of Lehmann’s poison frog could only find a single one in a remote part of its range.
- The dire situation faced by this and other endangered poison frogs in Colombia prompted an animal scientist to start Tesoros de Colombia, an organization with the objective of ending illegal frog smuggling.
Photos: ‘Shocking’ scale of illegal trade in Indian star tortoise uncovered
- The Indian star tortoise is popular as a pet and spiritual symbol.
- Study found evidence of a large-scale network of illegal tortoise trade in southern India.
- After being transported to eastern India, these tortoises are shipped off to other Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and China, researchers found.
Clouded leopards traded more than tigers in some illegal markets
- Clouded leopards are being increasingly traded for commercial purposes, and their skins and other body parts are flooding illegal wildlife markets, according to a recent study.
- In some illegal wildlife markets in southeast Asia, clouded leopards are more commonly traded than tigers, researchers have found.
- Japan and U.S.A are the most active importers of live clouded leopards, while China and Thailand are the most active exporters, the study found.
Bird market photo yields an unknown monkey species in Indonesia
- Two photos taken in Jakarta’s notorious bird market suggest that Indonesia’s forests may be hiding a previously undocumented species of monkey.
- The photos spurred researcher Francesco Nardelli to embark on a five-year survey of zoos, museums, and the Internet to determine whether the primate was in fact new to science.
- Nardelli named new species Presbytis johnaspinalli in honor of John Aspinall, a conservationist who founded the Howletts and Port Lympne Wildlife Parks in the U.K. and the Aspinall Foundation.
- One primatologist reached by Mongabay cautioned that the primates used for the description could have been bleached by traders to increase their market value.
Happy July 4th weekend: new red, white, and blue species discovered
A male Cherax pulcher. Photo by: Christian Lukhaup. An independent researcher has described a spectacular red, white, and blue crayfish just in time for the fourth of July. The new species, named Cherax pulcher, was first discovered in Japanese pet shops by Christian Lukhaup before he finally tracked down the animal to creeks in remote […]
Chinese turtle heist sends rare Philippine species to brink of extinction, international rescue underway
A traumatized turtle on its way to rehab. Photo credit: Dr. Sabine Schoppe, Katala Foundation. On Friday, June 19, Philippine authorities raided a warehouse on the island of Palawan and confiscated more than 4,000 live, illegally harvested rare turtles, only days before they were to be shipped to foreign food and pet markets. “It appears […]
New campaign says ‘tickling is torture’ for slow lorises
Pulling slow loris teeth out. Photo courtesy of: International Animal Rescue. Have you seen a video where a slow loris—a small, cute, big-eyed primate from Asian rainforests—gets tickled? Here’s the real story of how that slow loris got there. It was stolen from the wild by poachers, who probably took it from its mother—after killing […]
Price trends a reliable, cheap indicator of wildlife declines, finds study
A bird in North Sumatra’s Mount Leuser National Park. Photo: Rhett Butler Market prices can provide an equally reliable indicator of wildlife declines as field data for a thirtieth of the price, according to a new study analyzing Sumatra’s pet bird trade. The researchers, from Princeton in the United States and Bogor and Medan in […]
30 illegal orangutan pets seized in West Kalimantan
A baby orangutan in Indonesia. Photo: Rhett A. Butler Thirty orangutans being kept as household pets in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province have been seized and placed in a rehabilitation center, local conservation authorities report. Sustyo Iriyono, head of the province’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), said he was relieved that the push to save the […]
New species of monitor lizards found on the black market
Monitor lizards, like this water monitor in Malaysia, are popular both in the pet trade and for consumption. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Searching the globe for undiscovered species takes biologists to far and remote locations, trekking through exotic locales that may yield a new discovery. However, exploring the black market can also produce results. […]
Meet the world’s most wanted environmental criminals
Most wanted environmental fugitives. Top row left to right: Adriano Giacobone, Sudiman Sunoto, Bhekumusa Mawillis Shiba and Ben Simasiku. Bottom row left to right: Nicolaas Antonius Cornelis Maria Duindam, Ariel Bustamante Sanchez, Sergey Darminov and Feisal Mohamed Ali Photo by: Interpol. In keeping with recent efforts to ramp up action against environmental crime, INTERPOL has […]
Pet trade likely responsible for killer salamander fungus
New chytrid fungus may threaten hundreds of salamander species As if amphibians weren’t facing enough—a killer fungal disease, habitat destruction, pollution, and global warming—now scientists say that a second fungal disease could spell disaster for dozens, perhaps hundreds, of species. A new paper published today in Science finds that this new disease has the potential […]
When cute turns deadly – the story of a wildlife biologist who was bit by a venomous slow loris, and lived to tell the tale
Deadly nature of slow loris bite–even without teeth–should turn people off from keeping these primates as pets Slow lorises are YouTube stars. A quick search on the website will greet you with several videos of these endearing little primates–from a slow loris nibbling on rice cakes and bananas, to a loris holding a tiny umbrella. […]
Infamous pet and zoo supplier lost 3,500 animals a week (photos)
Company supplied Petsmart, Petco, as well as some zoos Nearly five years ago, a seven month long investigation, led by PETA, into an exotic animal wholesaler finally came to a dreary end. Authorities raided U.S. Global Exotics (USGE) in Arlington, Texas, confiscating over 26,400 animals from 171 species and types, held in inhumane and unsanitary […]
Did the world’s only venomous primate evolve to mimic the cobra?
The slow loris may have evolved its venom as a mimic to deadly spectacled cobras A slow loris in a venom pose. Photo by: Andrew Walmsley. The bite of a slow loris can be painful, and sometimes even lethal. After all, this cute-looking YouTube sensation is the only known “venomous” primate in the world—a trait […]
Bizarre lizard newest victim of reptile pet trade
The earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis). Barely seen since its description in 1878, the species has suddenly become a victim of wildlife trafficking for the pet trade. Photo by: Indraneil Das. If you’ve never heard of the earless monitor lizard, you’re not alone: this little-known, cryptic lizard has long-escaped the attention of the larger public. […]
Conservationists use social media to take on Peru’s booming illegal wildlife trade
The illegal wildlife trade has long been ignored in Peru, but changes are afoot Young bear’s feet confiscated from the witchcraft market. Photo credit by Noga Shanee/NPC Illegal wildlife trafficking is thriving in Peru. But a Peruvian organization is now using a public campaign, via social media and press releases, to track and rescue illegally […]
Islamic clerics issue ‘fatwa’ against poaching, declare the illegal wildlife trade ‘haram’
Baby orangutans, like this Sumatran orangutan on its mother’s back, are often kept illegally in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Indonesia’s Islamic clerics drew praise from conservation groups last week after the top clerical body in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country issued a fatwa, or religious decree, against poaching and wildlife trafficking. The Indonesian […]
Lady Gaga gets bitten by venomous primate, sparking outrage over loris trafficking
Slow loris expert: Lady Gaga may have put herself in danger by handling venomous, endangered primate Lady Gaga photo from @ladygaga. Loris photo courtesy of Little Fireface Last week, the musical artist, Lady Gaga, was “nipped” by the world’s only venomous primate, a slow loris, in a misguided attempt to use the animal in a […]
Madagascar’s most famous lemur facing big threats
The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), perhaps the most well-known of Madagascar’s endemic animals, is facing a “very high” risk of extinction in the wild. The Madagascar Section of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group reassessed the Red List status of ring-tailed lemurs and upgraded the species from Near-Threatened (2008) to Endangered (2012). Ring-tailed lemurs are facing […]
New project works to raise the profile of the world’s littlest bear
The world’s least-known bear also happens to be the smallest: sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), so called for the yellowish horseshoe mark on its chest, are found across Southeast Asia. But despite their telltale markings, super-long tongues, and endearing cuteness, sun bears remain little-studied and little-known compared to many of the region’s other large mammals. Now, […]
98% of marine fish headed for the aquarium trade die within a year in the Philippines
Almost all wild caught marine fish for the aquarium trade will die within a year of capture, according to WWF. Following months of interviews with Filipino marine exporters and hobbyists, WWF-Philippines have found that roughly 80% of all marine fish die before they are sold, and those that survive long enough to be bought by […]
Rihanna poses with endangered primate stolen from the wild
On Friday R&B singer, Rihanna, posed in Thailand with a slow loris, an endangered primate that is often illegally touted on the streets of Southeast Asia by pet dealers. The picture, which the celebrity shared on instagram, went viral, and over the weekend Thai police arrested two men—one 20 and one 16—who allegedly provided the […]
Smuggler who illegally traded 500 chimps gets one year in prison
Wildlife smuggler, Ousame Diallo, who has admitted to illegally trafficking 500 endangered chimpanzees out of the Republic of Guinea, was sentenced to a year in prison in the West African country reports WWF. The arrest and charge was supported by INTERPOL and to anti-wildlife trafficking local group, GALF. “This time the result is excellent, we […]
Illegally captured parrots finally free to fly
In 2010, Bulgarian airport authorities confiscated 108 African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) from a smuggler. Last month, the 28 parrots who survived the stress of being stuffed into dog kennels, constantly handled by humans, and the absence of their native habitat, completed their three-year journey to freedom. The journey began late one afternoon in 2010, […]
How YouTube has put the world’s only poisonous primates at risk
It all started with a video: in 2009 a Russian man uploaded a video of himself tickling his exotic pet (a pygmy slow loris) from Vietnam onto the hugely popular site YouTube. Since then the video has been viewed over half a million times. But a new study in the open source journal in PLoS […]
Rare and threatened freshwater fish plundered for aquarium trade in India
Thirty percent of the fish exported from India in the past seven years were from dozens of threatened species including the endangered red-lined torpedo barb (Puntius denisonii) and the miss kerala look alike (Puntius chalakkudiensis) amongst others, according to a recently published paper in Biological Conservation. By documenting the extent and impact of the trade […]
Zoos call on governments to take urgent action against illegal wildlife trade (photos)
Warning: some photos may be disturbing or graphic. In a single night in March, a band of heavily-armed, horse-riding poachers slaughtered 89 elephants in southern Chad, thirty of which were pregnant females. The carnage was the worst poaching incident of the year, but even this slaughter paled in comparison to the 650 elephants killed in […]
Featured video: saving animals from the illegal pet trade in Guatemala
Found in Central America’s largest forest, the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the Guatemalan organization Arcas has rescued and rehabilitated thousands of animals since its inception in 1989. Unlike many wildlife rescue centers worldwide, Arcas focuses on rehabilitating every animal for eventually release back into the wild. This means intensive training for each species, including food gathering […]
Illegal wildlife trade flourishes in Sumatra
In Indonesia, price for endangered orangutan is $200, leopard cat $25 Caged orangutan at Limbat’s ‘zoo’ in Kadang, Aceh on the island of Sumatra. Photo by Paul Hilton. In a chilly rain on Sunday, in a town just a few kilometers beyond the edge of a protected Sumatran rainforest, a young orangutan sat perched on […]
Loris champion: conserving the world’s most surprising primate family
The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Close-up of Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus), listed as […]
Monitor lizards vanishing to international trade in pets and skins
Illegally traded lizards (left to right): black tree monitor (Varanus beccarii), Reisinger’s tree monitor (Varanus reisingeri), emerald monitor (Varanus prasinus), and the blue-spotted tree monitor (Varanus macraei). Photo courtesy of Jessica Lyons. The world’s monitor lizards remind us that the world was once ruled by reptiles: this genus (Varanus) includes the world’s biggest lizards, such […]
Five percent of ploughshare tortoise population perishes after botched smuggling attempt
In March, two people were caught attempting to smuggle 54 ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) into Thailand. Listed as Critically Endangered, the tortoises’ wild population is down to approximately 400-500 animals in its native Madagascar, meaning the smugglers were attempting to move over 10 percent of the total population. Now, the Scientific American blog Extinction Countdown […]
Bizarre, little-known carnivore sold as illegal pet in Indonesian markets (photo)
Few people have ever heard of the Javan ferret-badger, but that hasn’t stopped this animal—little-known even to scientists—from being sold in open markets in Jakarta according to a new paper in Small Carnivore Conservation. The Javan ferret-badger (Melogale orientalis) is one of five species in the ferret-badger family, which are smaller than proper badgers with […]
The river of plenty: uncovering the secrets of the amazing Mekong
Home to giant catfish and stingrays, feeding over 60 million people, and with the largest abundance of freshwater fish in the world, the Mekong River, and its numerous tributaries, brings food, culture, and life to much of Southeast Asia. Despite this, little is known about the biodiversity and ecosystems of the Mekong, which is second […]
Market figures out that geckos don’t cure AIDS, but killing continues
Millions of tokay geckos continue to be traded for traditional medicine, despite waning belief that the colorful lizards are a cure for AIDS, reports a new study from TRAFFIC. The study found that a spike in tokay gecko demand due to rumors that it could cure HIV/AIDS was relatively short-lived, lasting from 2009 and early […]
Over ten percent of a species’ total population found in smuggler’s bag
Ploughshare and radiated tortoises confiscated in Bangkok. Photo by: P.Tansom/TRAFFIC. On Friday, March 15th Thai authorities arrested a 38-year-old man attempting to collect a bag containing 54 ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) and 21 radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) in Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Found only in Madagascar both species are listed as Critically Endangered and protected under […]
The beautiful amphibian from Hell: scientists discover new crocodile newt in Vietnam (photos)
New species: Ziegler’s crocodile newt (Tylototriton ziegleri). Photo courtesy of Tao Thien Nguyen. Researchers have discovered a new species of Vietnamese salamander that looks like it was birthed from an abyssal volcano. Found tucked away in Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science, the scientists described the species in the new edition of Current Herpetology. […]
Photographers threatening the already-abused slender loris
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Slender loris. Photo by: Arun Kanagavel. Caught in a beam of torchlight, the eyes of the slender loris reflect back a striking glow. In an effort to better understand these shy, nocturnal primates, a team of researchers set out to the Western Ghats of India. The resulting paper: Moolah, Misfortune or Spinsterhood? The Plight of […]
Conservationists: ban the wild cheetah pet trade
A group of prominent wildlife conservation groups have joined an alliance of African states in calling on CITES to ban the trade in wild cheetah for the pet trade. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and Endangered Wildlife Trust have joined delegates from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda in demanding action. CITES […]
Captive frogs may be spreading diseases to wild cousins across Southeast Asia
Lethal chytrid fungus discovered in Singapore. The bullfrog is believed to be spreading chytrid fungus to wild frogs in Southeast Asia. Photo courtesy of WCS. Scientists have documented a series of links between exotic frogs for trade and diseases in wild frogs in Southeast Asia, including the first documented case of the chytrid fungus—a virulent […]
New species of cute, but venomous, primate discovered in Borneo
Researchers have described a new species of slow loris, a type of primate that is imperiled by the pet trade. The Kayan loris (Nycticebus kayan) is described in the December issue of the American Journal of Primatology. It is named after the Kayan, a river that flows through its habitat in Indonesian Borneo. The study […]
Forests, farming, and sprawl: the struggle over land in an Amazonian metropolis
An interview with Karimeh Moukaddem, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series. Typical farmhouse outside of Parauapebas. Photo by: Karimeh Moukaddem. The city of Parauapebas, Brazil is booming: built over the remains of the Amazon rainforest, the metropolis has grown 75-fold in less than 25 years, from 2,000 people upwards of 150,000. […]
Happy Halloween: nine new species of tree-climbing tarantula discovered
Male specimen of new species: Iridopelma oliveirai. Photo courtesy of R. Bertani. If you suffer from acute arachnophobia, this is the perfect Halloween discovery for you: a spider expert has discovered nine new species of arboreal (tree-dwelling) tarantulas in the Brazil. Although tarantula diversity is highest in the Amazon rainforest, the new species are all […]
Indonesia remains epicenter for illegal wildlife trade in reptiles and amphibians
Illegally traded lizards (left to right): black tree monitor (Varanus beccarii), Reisinger’s tree monitor (Varanus reisingeri), emerald monitor (Varanus prasinus), and the blue-spotted tree monitor (Varanus macraei). Photo courtesy of Jessica Lyons. Demand for exotic pets is driving the illegal harvest and trade of herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians) in Indonesian New Guinea, according to a […]
Parrots of the Caribbean: extinction looms in the Bahamas
Cuban Amazon in the Grand Cayman islands, a different subspecies than the Bahamas’ Cuban Amazon. Photo by: Lhb1239. I think about extinction a lot. It’s only natural for someone in my line of work. On my way to work I drive past the Colorado National Monument. Even from a distance it’s impressive: piles of dark […]
Over 80 species targeted by hunters in Brazil’s northeast
A new survey of hunting in Brazil’s northeastern state of Paraíba, finds that hunters target, often illegally over 80 species for food, the pet trade, medicine, leather, fur, and ornaments. Over half of the species, mainly birds and mammals, are targeted for food, according to the research published in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation […]
Cute animal pictures of the day: gorilla toddler saved from illegal pet trade
Named Afangui this gorilla toddler now resides in a gorilla sanctuary in Cameroon. Photo courtesy of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). A two-year-old western lowland gorilla female was recently confiscated from a beach restaurant, popular with expats, in Equatorial Guinea. “The oil boom in Equatorial Guinea has resulted in an influx of expatriate workers […]
Massive snake found in Florida (photos)
On Aug. 10, 2012, researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus examine the internal anatomy of the largest Burmese python found in Florida to date. The 17-foot-7-inch snake weighed 164 pounds and carried 87 eggs in its oviducts, a state record. Following scientific investigation, the snake will be […]
Solomon Islands’ export of ‘captive-bred’ birds deemed to be a farce
Over 68,000 birds listed on CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) were exported from the Solomon Islands during 2000-2010 according to a recent report by wildlife-monitoring NGO, TRAFFIC. Although the majority of birds were listed as ‘captive-bred,’ the report raises the question of whether these species were not […]
Malaysia to restrict trade in big-eyed sugar gliders
Sugar Glider courtesy of Bigstockphoto.com. Malaysia will tighten controls on the trade in sugar gliders, a big-eyed gliding possum increasingly popular in the pet trade in Southeast Asia and the United States, according to the country’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan). As reported by TRAFFIC, Perhilitan’s Deputy Director Zaaba Zainol Abidin said his […]
Hail Mary effort aims to save the world’s most endangered turtles
Roti snake island turtle, which is number 12 of the world’s most endangered turtles, are being captive bred at the WCS’s Bronx Zoo. Photo by: Julie Larsen Maher/WCS. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has pledged to work with all of its institutions to save at least half of the world’s most 25 endangered turtles as […]
Slow lorises sold openly, illegally in Indonesia
Slow loris photographed in Jakarta market last month. Photo: © TRAFFIC. Defying Indonesian law, slow lorises are being sold openly in Jakarta markets for the underground pet trade, according to wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC. In the last two weeks, TRAFFIC has recorded fifty different individual slow lorises on sale in the Indonesian capital. “The […]
‘Where’s my mama?’: campaign targets cruel slow loris pet trade [warning: graphic photo]
Slow lorises like this Sunda Slow Loris juvenile (Nycticebus coucang) have their teeth forcibly removed by animal traffickers in the open-air bird markets of Indonesia. The practice is done to either convince buyers that the animal is suitable as a child’s pet or to make people think the animal is an infant. This photo was […]
Malaysia drops the ball on wildlife trafficking, says group
Malaysia failed to effectively assemble a case against convicted wildlife smuggler Anson Wong, leading to his early release from prison, says an anti-wildlife trafficking group. Wong was released yesterday after serving under a third of his his five-year prison term for wildlife trafficking. Wong was arrested in 2010 after a luggage malfunction led Malaysia Airlines […]
‘Snakes on a Plane’ trafficker freed early from jail
Notorious wildlife trafficker Anson Wong has been freed from prison after a court reduced his five-year term, reports Malaysian state media. Wong had served 17-and-a-half-months for illegally exporting nearly 100 reptiles from Malaysia. Wong was arrested in 2010 after a luggage malfunction led Malaysia Airlines security staff revealed he was illegally carrying 95 boa constrictors, […]
Vampire and bird frogs: discovering new amphibians in Southeast Asia’s threatened forests
An interview with Jodi Rowley, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series.
California city bans bullfrogs to safeguard native species
Invasive American bullfrog in British Colombia. Photo by: Alan D. Wils. Santa Cruz, California has become the first city in the U.S. to ban the importation, sale, release, and possession of the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). Found throughout Eastern and Central U.S., the frogs have become an invasive threat to wildlife in the western U.S. […]
The dark side of new species discovery
This interview is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. “The WildLife” airs every Monday from 1-2 pm EST on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont. You can livestream it at theradiator.org or download the podcast […]
New large horned viper discovered, but biologists keep location quiet
Matilda’s horned viper. Photo by: Tim Davenport. In a remote forest fragment in Tanzania, scientists have made a remarkable discovery: a uniquely-colored horned viper extending over two feet long (643 millimeters) that evolved from its closest relative over two million years ago. Unfortunately, however, the new species—named Matilda’s horned viper (Atheris matildae)—survives in a small […]
Photos: two new paper clip-sized frogs discovered in Vietnamese mountains
New species of frog: the cloaked moss frog (Theloderma palliatum). Photo by: Jodi J. L. Rowley/Australian Museum. Researchers have discovered two new frog species living in the montane tropical forests of Vietnam. Known as moss frogs, these small amphibians employ camouflage as one way to keep predators at bay, in some cases resembling the moss […]
Snake laundering rampant in the Indonesian reptile export market
Often lauded as a model for conserving wild populations, breeding centers in Indonesia are shown to be actually worsening depletion of wildlife. Green tree python Breeding farms in Indonesia are being used to launder illegally caught wildlife, finds a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation. The research is based on surveys of traders […]
Photos: 40% of Madagascar’s reptiles at risk of extinction
The critically endangered radiated tortoise. All photos by Rhett Butler 40 percent of Madagascar’s terrestrial reptiles are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and over-collection for the pet trade, reports the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its latest update of the Red List of Threatened Species. Experts from around the world […]
How to fight organized wildlife crime in East Asia
Slow lorises, like these caged individuals, are imperiled in Southeast Asia for the illegal pet trade. In the wild, traders kill loris parents to take their babies. Pet lorises have their teeth pulled out to make them appear ‘cuter’. Photo courtesy of the Wildlife Conservaiton Society (WCS). Organized criminal syndicates are wiping out some of […]
Viable population of snow leopards still roam Afghanistan (pictures)
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Snow leopard in the Wakhan Corridor caught on camera trap. Photo by: Wildlife Conservation Society. Decades of war and poverty has not exterminated snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in Afghanistan according to a new paper in the International Journal of Environmental Studies, written by researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Instead the researchers report a […]
Endangered Madagascar wildlife on sale in Thailand
This male Panther Chameleon, originating from Nosy Mangabe, Madagascar, was observed at a dealer’s house in Saraburi city, Thailand, January 2010. © M Todd/TRAFFIC. Conservation group TRAFFIC uncovered nearly 600 Madagascar reptiles and amphibians on sale in Thai markets, including endangered species and those banned for sale by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered […]
Traditional Chinese medicine trade takes toll on Indonesia’s geckos
This commentary original appeared at the Jakarta Globe as Where Have All the Geckos Gone? and has been posted here with the permission of the authors. The call of the tokek, or gecko, is one of the most familiar sounds in Indonesia. Next to the smell of clove cigarettes, the calls to prayer, the friendly […]
Salmon-Crested Cockatoo to be protected under ESA
The salmon-crested cockatoo is now listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Native to islands in eastern Indonesia, the parrot is at risk due to logging in its lowland rainforest habitat, the conversion of forest to agricultural lands, and the domestic and international pet trade. Originally endemic to the Indonesian islands […]
March in review: Tsunami, slow loris trafficking, palm oil
Asia was the focus for readers of mongabay.com’s environmental news section during the month of March: 7 out of the 10 most popular articles were about Asia. Unfortunately most of the Asia-related news was bad: logging in Malaysia and Indonesia, Japan’s tsunami, trafficking of the slow loris for the pet trade, and a huge land […]
Pet trade, palm oil, and poaching: the challenges of saving the ‘forgotten bear’
This interview is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. “The WildLife” airs every Monday from 1-2 pm EST on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont. You can livestream it at theradiator.org or download the podcast […]
‘Cute’ umbrella video of slow loris threatens primate
Article based on a 2009 interview. Slow lorises like this Sunda Slow Loris juvenile (Nycticebus coucang) have their teeth forcibly removed by animal traffickers in the open-air “bird markets” of Indonesia. The practice is done to either convince buyers that the animal is suitable as a child’s pet or to make people think the animal […]
Top 25 most endangered turtles: Asian species in crisis
Surviving hundreds of millions of years on Earth have not saved turtles from facing extinction at human hands. A new report by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Turtle Conservation Coalition, identifies the world’s 25 most imperiled turtles, including one that is practically assured extinction: ‘Lonesome George’ the last Abdington Island tortoise in the […]
Wildlife crime goes largely unpunished in Indonesia
Erik Meijaard is forest director for People and Nature Consulting International in Bali. This editorial originally appeared December 26, 2010 in the Jakarta Globe. It has been posted here with the permission of the author and the Jakarta Globe. Orangutan in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Indonesia is famed for its wildlife diversity. […]
Malaysian customs seizes 1,800 trafficked reptiles
Malaysia contains an amazing array of plants and animals, including this water monitor. Photo taken in Sabah by Rhett A. Butler Malaysia ended 2010 with the confiscation of 4.3 metric tons of reptiles near the Thai border on December 20th, reports the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, TRAFFIC. The confiscation was the largest of the year […]
Red pandas may be threatened by small-scale trade
Two studies investigated the scale and potential threat of continued trade in red pandas and found that while reports are low, the occurrence of isolated incidents may be enough to threaten species survival. The red panda, Ailurus fulgens, is a cat-sized, arboreal mammal which lives in temperate forests in the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. […]
Wildlife trafficker gets 5 years in Malaysian prison
A Malaysian court sentenced notorious wildlife trafficker Anson Wong to five years in jail, reports The Star. Justice Mohtarudin Baki ruled for the longer sentence after an appeal by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Wong is expected to appeal. The judge also ordered the 190,000 Malaysian ringgit ($61,000) fine imposed on Wong to be returned to him. […]
Undercover for animals: on the frontline of wildlife crime in the US
US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Sheila O’Connor revealed the inside story of working in wildlife law enforcement to Laurel Neme on her “The WildLife” radio show and podcast. In the first of a two-part interview, Special Agent O’Connor talks about her adventures stopping wildlife crime—scoping out pet shops in the Chicago area for […]
Wildlife permits revoked for ‘Snakes on a Plane’ animal trafficker in Malaysia
Wildlife smuggler Anson Wong and his wife Cheah Bing Shee had their business licenses and wildlife permits revoked after the notorious trafficker was convicted of attempting to illegally take nearly 100 snakes out of Malaysia, reports The Star. The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said the National Wildlife and Parks Department (Perhilitan) intends to confiscate […]
1000 rare tortoises poached each week in Madagascar
One thousand endangered tortoises are being illegally collected each week in southern Madagascar, reports WWF. The trade, driven by international demand for the endemic radiated tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) and the spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoids) as well as local consumption, is driving the slow-to-reproduce species toward extinction in the wild. Additionally, tortoise trafficking poses a risk […]
Into the Congo: saving bonobos means aiding left-behind communities, an interview with Gay Reinartz
Gay Reinartz will be speaking at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo in San Francisco on October 3rd, 2010. Unlike every other of the world’s great apes—the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan—saving the bonobo means focusing conservation efforts on a single nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While such a fact would seem to simplify conservation, […]
New ape species uncovered in Asia
Discovering a species unknown to science is a highlight of any biologist’s career, but imagine discovering a new ape? Researchers with the German Primate Center (DPZ) announced today the discovery of a new species of ape in the gibbon family, dubbed the northern buffed-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus annamensis), according to the AFP. The new species was […]
Scientists warn little known gibbons face immediate extinction
It’s not easy to be a gibbon: although one of the most acrobatic, fast, and marvelously loud of the world’s primates, the gibbon remains largely unknown to the global public and far less studied than the world’s more ‘popular’ apes. This lack of public awareness, scientific knowledge, and, thereby, conservation funding combined with threats from […]
Photos: the world’s most endangered turtles
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10 of the world’s most threatened freshwater turtle species. More than 40 percent of the world’s freshwater turtle species are threatened with extinction, according to a new assessment by Conservation International. Turtles are threatened primarily by hunting, habitat destruction, and the pet trade, making them among the most endangered groups of animals. “Their decline is […]
Frogs and friends at risk from booming global wildlife trade
Alejandra Goyenechea, International Counsel at Defenders of Wildlife and Chair of the Species Survival Network’s (SSN) Amphibian Working Group, spoke with Laurel Neme on her “The WildLife” radio show and podcast about the global amphibian trade. This interview originally aired February 8, 2010. Assistance for this article was provided by Ben Kennedy. Alejandra Goyenechea, International […]
‘Snakes on a plane’ trafficker gets 6 months in jail
Why biodiversity matters for carbon storage Notorious wildlife trafficker Anson Wong has been fined 190,000 Malaysian ringgit ($61,000) and sentenced to 6 months in jail for attempting to smuggle 95 boa constrictors, reports the Malaysian Star. Anson Wong, made famous in The Lizard King, a book by Bryan Christy that exposed his trafficking activities, was […]
Foto: Anak Harimau Hidup Ditemukan di Bagasi Check-In di Antara Mainan Boneka Harimau
Anak harimau berusia dua bulan ditemukan dibius dan disamarkan di antara mainan boneka harimau di dalam barang bawaan wanita di Bandara Internasional Suvarnabhumi Bangkok hari Minggu, menurut laporan TRAFFIC, jaringan pemantau perdagangan hewan liar. Wanita Thailand usia 31 tahun ini dijadwalkan masuk pesawat Mahan Air, dengan tujuan Iran ketika ia mengalami kesulitan dalam pemeriksaan atas […]
Snakes on a plane! Malaysian reptile trafficker busted at airport
A notorious reptile smuggler has been busted at Malaysia Kuala Lumpur International Airport after his luggage was found to contain 98 snakes and a turtle, reports the Malaysian Star. Anson Wong, made famous in The Lizard King, a book by Bryan Christy that exposed his trafficking activities, was taken into custody by police after being […]
Photo: Live tiger cub found in check-in baggage among stuffed tiger toys
A two-month old tiger cub was found drugged and concealed among stuffed-tiger toys in a woman’s luggage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Sunday, reports TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. The 31-year old Thai woman was scheduled to board a Mahan Air flight destined for Iran when she had difficulty checking in her oversized […]
Guilty verdict over euthanizing tigers in Germany touches off debate about role of zoos
In June a German court handed down a guilty verdict to the Magdeburg Zoo director, Kai Perret, and three employees for euthanizing three tiger cubs in 2008. The zoo decided to kill the cubs when it was discovered that the cubs’ father was not a 100 percent Siberian tiger (i.e. he was a mix of […]
Wildlife trafficking hubs identified in Indonesia
The bulk of illegally traded wildlife moves through two “triangles” that span the Indonesian archipelago, an ecologist told scientists attending a meeting convened in Sanur, Bali by the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. Ani Mardiastuti, a researcher at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said Indonesia has two major smuggling circuits—the Manado-Ambon-Sorong Triangle in […]
Dangerous and exploitative: a look at pet wild cats
Lisa Tekancic, president of the WildCat Conservation Legal Aid Society spoke with Laurel Neme on her “The WildLife” radio show and podcast about captive wildcats and the wildcat pet trade. During her interview, Lisa describes the history of wildcats in captivity—from the Roman spectator games and royal menageries—to their current status as private pets; for […]
New plan to save the chimpanzee from extinction
Humankind’s closest relative, the chimpanzee, is classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Threatened by habitat and forest loss, hunting for bushmeat, trafficking for the illegal pet trade, mining, and disease, the species remains in a precarious position. Yet a new 10-year-plan with East and Central African hopes to ensure the chimpanzee’s (Pan troglodytes) […]
Mexico has big role in the illegal parrot trade
Juan Carlos Cantu, Director of Defenders of Wildlife’s Mexico office, spoke with Laurel Neme on her “The WildLife” radio show and podcast about the illegal parrot trade in Mexico and how his innovative research into the trade was used by the Mexican Congress to reform that country’s Wildlife Law to ban all trade in parrots. […]
How hornbills keep Asian rainforests healthy and diverse, an interview with Shumpei Kitamura
The third in an interview series with participants in the 5th Frugivore and Seed Dispersal International Symposium. Hornbills are one of Asia’s most attractive birds. Large, colorful, and easier to spot than most other birds, hornbills have become iconic animals in the tropical forests of Asia. Yet, most people probably don’t realize just how important […]
Photos: Madagascar’s wonderful and wild frogs, an interview with Sahonagasy
New website works to save Madagascar’s incredible diversity of frogs. To save Madagascar’s embattled and beautiful amphibians, scientists are turning to the web. A new site built by herpetologists, Sahonagasy, is dedicated to gathering and providing information about Madagascar’s unique amphibians in a bid to save them from the growing threat of extinction. “The past […]
Humans push half of the world’s primates toward extinction, lemurs in particular trouble
Experts release list of the world’s top 25 most endangered primates. Of the known 634 primate species in the world 48 percent are currently threatened with extinction, making mankind’s closes relatives one of the most endangered animal groups in the world. In order to bring awareness to the desperate state of primates, a new report […]
Forgotten Species: the fiery Luristan Newt
Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and rare species have received little attention from the media, conservation groups, and the public. This series is an attempt to give these ‘forgotten species‘ some […]
Pet dealer won’t regain custody of 26,000 animals seized during raid
U.S. Global Exotics, an exotic pet dealer accused of animal cruelty and linked with a notorious wildlife smuggler based in Malaysia, will not be getting back of the 26,000 animals seized from their facility during a raid on December 15th, reports the Star-Telegram. On Saturday, Tarrant County Court Judge Jennifer Rymell affirmed Arlington Municipal Judge […]
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