Waldrop “preserved” birds stuffed & mounted BROOKLYN, New York–– Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Rachel Kovner on April 9, 2025 fined orthopedic surgeon John Waldrop, 76, of Cataula, Georgia, $900,000 for conspiracy to smuggle wildlife and Endangered Species Act violations. Kovner also ordered Waldrop, who pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2024, to serve three […]
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. […]
Africa Network for Animal Welfare founder Josphat Ngonyo steps down
But Josphat Ngonyo remains active in multiple other organizations NAIROBI, Kenya––Josphat Ngonyo, 52, long a leading figure in the transition of African animal advocacy from direction by expatriates and non-African funders to stand-alone independence, on November 1, 2024 retired after 18 years heading the Africa Network for Animal Welfare [ANAW]. “The time has come for […]
Behind the Alpha Genesis monkey “great escape” & recaptures
Forty-three rhesus macaques made a jailbreak, but then didn’t know where to go, or how YEMASSEE, North Carolina–– Eighteen of forty-three young female rhesus macaques who escaped on November 6, 2024 from an Alpha Genesis research colony in Yemassee, South Carolina remained at large through the Veterans Day weekend, but 25 had been recaptured. The […]
Biggest ever eagle poaching case: Travis Branson gets 46 months
Alleged partner in crime Simon Paul remains at large MISSOULA, Montana––Travis John Branson, 49, of Cusick, Washington, believed to have poached more than 3,600 bald eagles, golden eagles, and hawks of multiple species, was on October 31, 2024 sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen to serve 46 months in a U.S. federal penitentiary and […]
A world away, Animals Lebanon copes with an even bigger disaster
Hurricane Helene was bad, but falling bombs are even deadlier than falling trees & power lines BEIRUT, Lebanon––“Last night was the worst we have had, and bombing continues,” Animals Lebanon cofounder and vice president Maggie Shaarawi emailed to ANIMALS 24-7 on the morning of September 28, 2024. Hurricane Helene had just ripped across five southern […]
Wade Lemon goes to prison; helped Donald Trump Jr. kill bear & puma
Trials twice delayed because Donald Trump Sr. was running for president DENVER, SALT LAKE CITY––Followers of Wade Lemon Hunting and Shaun Buffee Safaris on social media saw on September 19, 2024 that one of their clients, Mike Ingram, 80, had killed a 225-pound leopard in Zimbabwe, believed to be the heaviest on record. That same […]
Bad eggs including pigeon shooter busted for raiding rare birds’ nests
Crows raid nests & sometimes kill pigeons too, but for food, & only one at a time HOBART, Tasmania––Oology, or “egging,” the largely forgotten and now often illegal Victorian practice of collecting wild birds’ eggs, appears to have resurfaced in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, a little less than a year after a similar case brought criminal […]
Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua, 48, saved Kenya wildlife with a water truck
Fought global warming, drought, & poachers; raised peas, bees, & sunflowers VOI, Kenya––Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua, 48, died on June 18, 2024, after a 10-year battle with acute kidney failure that had him on dialysis since 2014, and a 20-year battle against frequent severe drought conditions in Tsavo West National Park, southeastern Kenya. Family spokesperson Jones […]
Wild horses: reintroduced in Kazakhstan, shot Down Under, gathered here
A horse is a horse is a horse of course, except in public policy PRAGUE, SYDNEY, WASHINGTON D.C.––Conservationists on June 7, 2024 paradoxically cheered the simultaneous reintroduction of wild horses to Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and the ongoing massacre of 8,000 wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales, Australia, with another 5,000 slated to […]