Zoonotic Diseases of Mass Destruction

Stephen Wiggins Article 4 Comments

Banner image courtesy of artist Olaf Hajek and The New York Times Sunday Review The ‘true’ cost of wildlife abuse – Coronavirus and the viruses to follow…. “If we fail to understand and take care of the natural world, it can cause a breakdown of these systems and come back …

Botswana government won’t let the truth get in the way of its trophy hunting narrative

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By Ross Harvey, Conservation Action Trust, 5 March 2020 Symptomatic of the Botswana government’s shaky relationship with reality is its letter to the United Kingdom’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). A full week after the deadline (25 February 2020) for public submissions on whether the UK should ban …

“Unfair Game” – An exposé of South Africa’s captive-bred lion industry

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“Unfair Game” – An exposé of South Africa’s captive-bred lion industry UK Link – “Unfair Game“ USA Link – “Unfair Game“ By Lord Ashcroft on Wildlife “In April 2019 Lord Ashcroft published the results of his year-long investigation into South Africa’s captive-bred lion industry. Over 11 pages of a single …

China’s ban on wildlife consumption is an overdue death knell for lion bone industry

Stephen Wiggins Article 5 Comments

by Don Pinnock, Daily Maverick, 24 February 2020 The Chinese government has placed an immediate ban on the illegal trading of wildlife and the consumption of wild animals. This follows a link between pangolin meat and the coronavirus outbreak.  Despite international outrage, South Africa is allowing a quota of at …

Botswana auctions off the last of its big tusker elephants

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By Ross Harvey, Conservation Action Trust, 14 February 2020 “Why not allow any willing bidder (such as the EMS Foundation) to pay for these licences if that raises revenue to conserve magnificent bull elephants instead of eliminating them?“ The Botswana government has again demonstrated to the world that it either does …

Inside The Global Conservation Organization Infiltrated By Trophy Hunters

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In depth investigation by Roberto Jurkschat, “Inside The Global Conservation Organization Infiltrated By Trophy Hunters,” BuzzFeed, 13 February 2020 (see original text for all images and references) GENEVA — Giraffes may well tower over all other animals in the natural world — but in the wild, their numbers are rapidly dwindling, …

Lawsuit prompts shutdown of trophy hunters’ panel in Trump administration

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In 2019, after IWCC members pressed for the lifting of prohibitions on imports of elephant and lion trophies from Tanzania, the USFWS issued an import permit for a lion trophy from that country, the first since the species was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Photo by …

Live Wild Animal Markets, Human and Animal Health, and Biodiversity Protection

Stephen Wiggins Article, Speaking Out 20 Comments

Joint open letter (prepared by Mark Jones, Head of Policy, Born Free Foundation) to: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, World Health Organisation Dr Monique Eloit, Director General, Office International Epizoologies Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme   Live Wild Animal Markets, Human and Animal Health, and Biodiversity …

Government ignored its own science task team by redefining 32 wild species as farm animals

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Banner Image: Courtesy of EPA/IFAW – “Two lionesses rub against a cage fence at a captive breeding centre for large predators at an undisclosed location in South Africa’s Free State Province in an undated picture released 16 November 2005 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)“   Towards the …