Murky Namibian elephant deal might involve as much as $22 million paid to someone, even if oil rights are not involved WINDHOEK, Namibia––Two weeks after the Namibian government sold 170 elephants to five undisclosed buyers, to be transported to parts unknown, Namibian minister of environment and tourism Pohamba Shifeta has yet to reveal the details […]
Did Chinese zoos buy 170 Namibian elephants sold at secret auction?
Namibian officials say disclosing purchasers might jeopardize the deal WINDHOEK, Namibia––Who bought 170 elephants, auctioned off by the Namibian government against international law, despite months of protest? Suspicion is growing that Namibia will not disclose the elephants’ buyers until the elephants have already been flown to their destinations, probably Chinese zoos, the buyers of […]
The incredible, recent, global rise in the stranding of marine mammals
by Bill McGraw, Ph.D. Boquete, Panama During late September, 2020, Australia experienced the largest mass stranding of whales in the history of that country. Two weeks later, during early October 2020, the stranding of 7,000 cape fur seals on the coast of Namibia was identified as a major marine mammal stranding event. Disturbingly, this was […]
COVID-19 brings no net gains for marine life––except in Iceland
“There is no market,” but fish, shellfish, seals, & whales are all still hunted WESTERLY, Rhode Island; HONOLULU, Hawaii; REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Restaurant closures ordered because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have economically crippled the U.S. commercial fishing industry from Long Island Sound to Hawaii, and have hit the fishing industry worldwide, but––except in Iceland, where a case […]
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 […]
Meet Blake Fischer, baboon family killer & apostle of bowhunting
Frequent model for his father’s bowhunting magazine BOISE, Idaho––The Blake Owen Fischer baboon family killing-and-display saga did not end on October 15, 2018, when Idaho Governor Butch Otter announced that Fischer, 40, had resigned from the Idaho Fish & Game Commission. Indeed, the most influential part of the story has yet to transpire. What […]
Who killed ivory trade investigator Esmond Martin, why?
Survived more than 30 years of work in some of the world’s most dangerous places, only to be stabbed in his bed NAIROBI, Kenya––Nairobi police homicide detectives appear to believe that renowned elephant ivory and rhino horn trafficking investigator Esmond Bradley Martin Jr., 75, was murdered on February 5, 2018 in connection with a […]
Court of Appeals rules airlines have right to ban hunting trophies
Verdict issued against rhino shooter Corey Knowlton, Safari Clubs, & coplaintiffs DALLAS, Texas––The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on March 20, 2017 ruled that Delta Airlines is under no legal obligation to carry hunting trophies. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling against trophy hunter Corey Knowlton, […]
Fatal dog attacks & dogfighting explode in South Africa
Pit Bull Union of South Africa executives convicted on related charges CAPE TOWN, South Africa––Faith Hendricks, 18 months old, was on September 1, 2016 killed in her parents’ yard by the family pit bull in Mount Pleasant, South Africa, a suburb of Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape. Marchen Hoffman, age 6, was killed […]