South Africa's Kruger National Park is taking bids from private landowners for 500 of its white rhinos. Newspaper ads advise parties to "make a written offer to purchase white rhinos in batches of 20 or more."
A study recently published in Royal Society Open Science, however, indicates that protections afforded humpback whales over the past half century have helped reverse the decline. The study authors predict that this population may be fully recovered by 2030 but caution that ongoing monitoring is necessary to evaluate how these whales respond to modern threats, particularly entanglement in fishing gear, and to climate-driven impacts to their habitat.
A major spill of heavy fuel oil from a wrecked freighter has fouled the waters surrounding one of the world’s most important bird nesting sites on a remote South Atlantic island. On March 16, the Oliva, a Maltese-registered cargo vessel carrying a load of soybeans from Brazil to the Philippines, ran aground and sank off Nightingale Island.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) today praised the South Dakota Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee's rejection of S.B. 170, a bill that would have pumped up to $1 million of state funds into the construction of a horse slaughter facility.
A Hawaii souvenir shop’s owner, employees, and business partners were indicted on 21 counts in June for illegally trafficking in whale bone, elephant and walrus ivory, and black corals.
Cage space requirements for non-human primates in the United States of America are less than those in European countries. Studies in support of the assumption that the US legal minimum cage size provides adequate space have limited value because they only tested cages without structural enhancement. It is not surprising that non-human primates cannot be animated to be more active or to behave in more species-typical manners by only providing them with extra barren space.
The purpose of this study is to consider space use patterns of a single group of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) housed in an indoor exhibit at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Previous studies have focused on the space use of a group following movement from a small enclosure to a large outdoor enclosure (Bettinger et al., 1994; Clarke et al., 1982; Traylor-Holzer and Fritz, 1985; Matevia et at., 1991), use of large outdoor facilities (Menzel. 1969; Horvat and Kraemer, 1976), or space use patterns of mother-infant (Goff et al., 1994).
Eight baboon groups (Papio sp.) were observed for over one hundred scan samples both before and after the provision of structural enrichment. Additions to their home-cage included a galvanized ladder suspended horizontally by chains and a plastic drum hung from the ladder. Observations were conducted for three weeks before and three weeks after the structures were added to determine changes in space use.
Space utilization was assessed in a heterogeneous group of 16 captive rhesus macaques. The area covered by the floor was 3 times larger than that covered by elevated structures; nonetheless the animals were located significantly more often (89.8% of 108 scan samples) on elevated structures than on the floor (8.6% of 108 scan samples). They were found only rarely (1.6% of 108 scan samples) on the mesh wire walls of their enclosure.
A coalition of environmental groups released today a new brief, “Convenience Kills,” detailing the whale meat sales of SPAR Norway—part of the international SPAR convenience store chain. The groups are calling on the company to discontinue supporting Norway’s struggling whaling industry.
In many communities throughout the United States, particularly in the Northeast, if you want to rile up the neighbors ask them about deer. Many people see these big-eyed ungulates as real-life Bambis, survivors in a habitat modified by humans, and are thus tolerant of the deer’s transgressions and willing to modify their own behaviors and expectations to live with these elegant animals.
Old World nonhuman primates commonly found in research institutions are distinguished by the following characteristics: Social disposition: Like human primates, nonhuman primates have an inherent need for companionship. Prolonged social deprivation may lead to depression (Figure 1) and gross behavioral disorders such as self-biting and self-clasping.
As the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ends, the outcome appears disastrous for a multitude of imperiled species.
In February, the House of Representatives passed the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act. A companion bill, the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2014, was then introduced in the Senate. AWI rallied opposition to this bill, as it would have substantial and direct adverse impacts on wildlife, public health, and existing conservation efforts.
On October 7, the House Natural Resources Committee voted to advance HR 2406, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act, which presents a clear assault on wildlife both at home and abroad. The current House version of this recurring bill is even more extreme than its Senate counterpart (S 405, the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act), and is little more than a grab bag of troubling measures that jeopardize already fragile ecosystems and animal welfare.
Congress is currently considering legislation that would, if enacted, launch a broad assault on America's wildlife and public lands. The Sportsmen's Heritage Act of 2012 (H.R.
In 2011, AWI’s Safe Havens Mapping Project developed an integrated, comprehensive state-by-state listing of sheltering services for the animals of those experiencing domestic violence.
