Elephants & lions, alive to be photographed, seen as keys to a prosperous future LONDON, U.K.; GABORONE, Botswana––Botswana may have more elephants and lions than anywhere else in the world. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, president of Botswana from 2008 to 2018, considers that fact so important to maintaining and improving the prosperity of the nation […]
Elephant trophy auction covers for opening bushmeat trade
Global warming intensifies pressure to profit from wildlife before habitat loss depletes species GABERONE, Botswana; HARARE, Zimbabwe; DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania––Big as they are, the 60 elephants whose lives were auctioned at Bobonong Kgotla, Botswana on February 7, 2020 may be the least of the casualties from attempts by the governments of Botswana and Tanzania […]
Feds probe alleged rapes & murders by WWF-funded anti-poaching militias
U.K., Germany, & Switzerland also concerned about World Wildlife Fund-backed paramilitary operations WASHINGTON D.C.–– The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other federal agencies are investigating allegations repeatedly raised for more than a dozen years by media––chiefly by the online periodical BuzzFeed News, but also including ANIMALS 24-7––that funds granted by the U.S. government […]
Elephants, giraffes, sharks, Asian otters & seahorses fare well in Switzerland
African elephants win protection near where exports for display began GENEVA, Switzerland––Live elephant exports from Africa for exhibition at least nominally ended by plenary vote at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Triennial Conference of the Parties on August 27, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland, about 200 miles north from where the […]
Why vultures are not circling over the drought-parched world
It isn’t that vultures don’t feel the threat from global warming GABORONE, Botswana––Scarce over much of drought-parched India, Central Asia, and Africa, vultures still converge over dead livestock and wildlife in Botswana, stripping the corpses of even elephants and hippos down to the bones within hours––but for how much longer? The Botswana Department of […]
Botswana, please rethink resuming hunting! by Sebastian Mwanza
Ian Khama, former president of Botswana, resigns from ruling party when successor undoes ban on trophy hunting Editor’s note: Outraged and disappointed that his handpicked successor Mokgweetsi Masisi had ended a five-year-old ban on trophy hunting, Ian Khama, president of Botswana from 2008 to 2018, on May 25, 2019 resigned from the Botswana Democratic Party […]
Four people who changed how humans see animals
Charlie Russell, Mary T. Hoffman, Aubrey Manning, & Dorothy Cheney Russell made “Spirit Bears” famous Canadian bear researcher and author Charlie Russell, 76, died on May 7, 2018 in Calgary, Alberta, from complications after surgery. Born in Pincher Creek, Alberta, where his parents Andy and Kay Russell were hunting outfitters and guides, Charlie Russell […]
Could Zambia contracept wild hippos instead of culling?
Or is hippo overpopulation even really the issue? LUSAKA, Zambia––Why has Zambian tourism minister Charles Banda revived a five-year-old plan to cull up to 250 hippopotamuses per year from South Luangwa National Park, only two years after scrapping it? “The South Luangwa National Park has a population of more than 13,000 hippos but the area […]
TNR protects African wildcats from “genetic pollution” & ferals from cruelty
Alley Cat Rescue begins project at Kruger National Park KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa––Alley Cat Rescue, of Mount Ranier, Maryland, is now “working to implement trap-neuter-return programs for stray/feral cats around Kruger National Park,” according to founder Louise Holton, to keep African wildcats from hybridizing with their domestic descendants. Having “advocated for the humane […]