Three alleged murders among five recent deaths of note The butterfly guys OCAMPO, Mexico––Monarch butterfly conservationists Homero Gómez González, 50, and Raúl Hernández Romero, 44, were found dead on January 29, 2020 and February 1, 2020, respectively, at the El Rosario butterfly preserve that they helped to found and develop […]
Vaquita, totoaba: Gunfire on the Sea of Cortez
Alleged poacher tried to recover net confiscated by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society SAN FELIPE, Baja California, Mexico––An alleged poacher and two apparently uninvolved passers-by were reportedly hit by gunfire in a March 28, 2019 confrontation with Mexican marines in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The shooting incident was among the most violent yet in […]
Over-counting jaguars, over-estimating poaching
1964-1966 flood rescue data suggests there were never as many jaguars in Suriname as World Animal Protection claims have been poached PARAMARIBO, Suriname––Claims recently amplified on social media about the alleged extent of jaguar poaching in Suriname appear to have inflated at most a handful of rare, scattered incidents occurring over many years into a […]
Vaquita: Trump’s Trojan Horse in war on Endangered Species Act?
Beware of trade judges bearing gifts! WASHINGTON D.C.––Will U.S. President Donald Trump use the highly endangered vaquita porpoise as the Trojan Horse for his efforts to strip “critical habitat” protections from the Endangered Species Act? Protecting the vaquita as directed on July 26, 2018 by U.S. Court of International Trade judge Gary S. Katzmann would […]
Why has Paul Watson asked 58 groups to drop a boycott of Mexican shrimp?
Alleges boycott jeopardizes anti-poaching work to save the vaquita SAN FELIPE, Mexico––Leading an international boycott of Mexican shrimp called on behalf of the endangered vaquita porpoise, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity have yet to publish a promised response to a December 3, 2017 appeal […]
Are vaquita captures for breeding or for show? Mexican report raises question
Mexican environment secretary talks tourism SAN FELIPE, Mexico––The first-ever capture of an extremely endangered vaquita porpoise on October 18, 2017 in the Sea of Cortez, disclosed a day later, upstaged statements by Mexican environment secretary Rafael Pacchiano indicating that the capture might have been undertaken less from the hope of saving an endangered animal […]
Delivering vaquita damsels to the ogre: U.S. Navy dolphins sally forth
Sea of Cortez campaign may be more about saving the Navy Marine Mammal Program than saving vaquitas SAN FELIPE, Mexico; SAN DIEGO, California––Purported knights errant sent to save a damsel in distress, the U.S. Navy dolphins Andrea, Fathom, Katrina and Splash on October 5, 2017 arrived in San Felipe, Mexico, on the east coast of Baja California, to […]
Fishers’ riot may hasten extinction of the vaquita porpoise
Rioters damaged marine law enforcement capacity throughout the Sea of Cortez GOLFO DE SANTA CLARA, Sonora, Mexico––Wall or no wall along the Mexican border, the furious rejection of environmental regulation characterizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s first six weeks in office appears to be shared by some of the violent lawbreakers whom […]
What “CITES CoP 17” means to animals in plain English
Elephants, rhinos, African grey parrots, & pangolins among the species whose fates are on the block JOHANNESBURG, South Africa––The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) seventeenth triennial Conference of Parties (CoP 17) on October 2, 2016 adopted a resolution of elephant-sized importance to elephants worldwide, more than 140,000 of whom have been […]
Four poachers get life for killing Costa Rican sea turtle defender
Convictions for the killing of Jairo Mora Sandoval reverse 2015 acquittal LIMÓN, Costa Rica––Four poachers have received prison sentences ranging from 74 to 90 years for the May 30, 2013 murder of Costa Rican sea turtle defender Jairo Mora Sandoval, 26, and the kidnapping and robbery of four volunteers who were helping Mora to […]