Brigitte Bardot: provocative on film, but even more provocative for animals, for more than twice as long PARIS, France––Brigitte Bardot, 91, a fashion model for four years, a film actress for 20 years, and a full-time animal advocate for the last 52 years of her life, died on December 28, 2025 of undisclosed causes at […]
Can giant pandas save the San Francisco Zoo? High donor pulls funding.
Multi-millionaire donor suggests fixing & finishing the facilities the San Francisco Zoo already has, instead of spending megabucks to import giant pandas while the animals who are there now suffer. SAN FRANCISCO, California––Back when newspapers were the major medium of mass communication, a staple of low comedy was the riddle, “What’s black-and-white and red (read) […]
Can one baby gorilla rescued in Istanbul stop the deadly great ape traffic?
The Istanbul baby gorilla is one among thousands bootlegged out of war-torn central Africa ISTANBUL, Turkey––An approximately eight-month-old baby western lowland gorilla, rescued from a coffin-like wooden crate on December 22, 2024 at the Istanbul Airport in Turkey, may be the “missing link” between two of the other horrific stories in the news that day. […]
Asian Animal Protection Network founder John Wedderburn, 83
Medical doctor John Wedderman quietly linked 759 Asian animal advocates into the beginnings of an international movement HONG KONG––Asian Animal Protection Network founder John Wedderburn, 83, among the most influential yet least well-known builders of the global animal rights and humane movements, died on November 25, 2024 at his retirement home in West Java, Indonesia. […]
Did Namibia sell 170 elephants to China to make way for oil drilling?
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 […]
Trixie the whale shark dies young at the Georgia Aquarium
Three whale sharks left of six brought from Taiwan in 2006-2007 ATLANTA, Georgia––Trixie the whale shark, who could have lived up to 130 years in the wild, died on November 27, 2020 after just 14 years at the Georgia Aquarium. Trixie, believed to have been about 32 feet long, still about eight feet short […]
Pandas follow the Calgary Stampede out of town––and back to China
COVID-19 red ink left the Calgary Zoo with a black-and-white choice CALGARY, Alberta, Canada––Giving up hope that a rare giant panda exhibit will continue to pay for itself––and of managing to keep the pandas fed through the COVID-19 pandemic––the Calgary Zoological Society on May 12, 2020 disclosed to media that it has asked the Canadian […]
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 […]
Russians bust alleged “whale jailers”
The suspects are already in Siberia ––where else can they go? MOSCOW, VLADIVOSTOK–– Responding to orders from Russian president Vladimir Putin, the Russian agency for border security has reportedly brought criminal charges against four related companies for allegedly illegally capturing and holding more than 90 beluga whales and as many as 13 orcas in […]