The life and career of Dr. Thomas Lovejoy—who coined the term “biological diversity”—was dedicated to the protection of the planet. After Lovejoy obtained a bachelor’s degree and PhD from Yale, an interest in birds led him to the Amazon, a fateful decision. For over 40 years, he would study the adverse impact of deforestation and habitat fragmentation on rainforest ecology and biodiversity.
Date created: April 19, 2022
Last updated: April 17, 2024
Carol Brown and her husband Don own a small Thoroughbred farm in Kentucky. Her horses may never earn a garland of roses at Churchill Downs, but she’d hoped, at least, to give them a rosy future and a green pasture retirement when she sent several of them this past January to a nearby riding camp for kids.
Date created: September 7, 2010
Last updated: April 24, 2024
State wildlife officials in California declined to call off a coyote-hunting contest in Modoc County this weekend but, in response to public outcry, agreed to take steps to clarify the scope of the hunt and protect OR-7, the first wild wolf in California in nearly nine decades. The precautionary steps were recommended by a coalition of conservation groups representing more than a million Californians, including the Animal Welfare Institute, Project Coyote and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Date created: February 7, 2013
Last updated: February 2, 2022
More than 8,800 people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on the city council of Calabasas, California, to adopt a coyote management plan that favors coexistence instead of killing.
Date created: October 13, 2011
Last updated: February 2, 2022
Approval is being rescinded for three of four arsenic-based drugs that had been used in animal feed. Of the 101 drug products derived from these four drugs, 98 will have their approval withdrawn by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Date created: February 25, 2014
Last updated: January 10, 2020
Scientists recently shared a small bit of positive news that the remaining number of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (NARW) may be slightly higher than previously believed.
Date created: December 15, 2023
Last updated: April 17, 2024
While it has been necessary to fend off numerous attacks on animal welfare in state legislatures this year (See Spring 2011 AWI Quarterly), there have also been positive developments benefitting animals.
Date created: October 3, 2011
Last updated: April 24, 2024
Sylvie Cloutier, Ph.D., and Ruth C. Newberry, Ph.D., present playful handling as social enrichment for laboratory rats
When animals are used in research,there is seldom, if ever, a focus on affectionate or playful handling. However, based on what has already been proven about rats and their response to positive caregiver contact, we at the Washington State University Center for the Study for Animal Well-Being set out to explore management and husbandry factors in the laboratory that improve the welfare of the rats being studied and the outcome of the research.
Date created: June 8, 2009
Last updated: January 16, 2020
Leaders from the 13 tiger range countries convened in St. Petersburg, Russia at the International Tiger Forum in November to discuss strategies to save the world’s remaining tigers.
Date created: February 7, 2011
Last updated: January 10, 2020
The major players perpetuating the big cat trade in the United States are a small network of eccentric individuals who have been profiting off animal suffering for decades.
Date created: December 17, 2020
Last updated: December 30, 2020
Jeff and Lauren Lowe, of Tiger King fame, are closer than ever to being brought to justice.
Date created: August 19, 2021
Last updated: August 30, 2021
The Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness brought unprecedented public attention to the activities of roadside zoos such as Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (GW Zoo) in Oklahoma. This zoo, formerly owned by “Joe Exotic” and later by Jeff Lowe, has long been a site of deplorable animal cruelty and exploitation.
Date created: September 3, 2020
Last updated: May 14, 2021
A tiger removed from a tiny apartment in New York City by first responders after he bit his owner. Lions running down the highway after 38 big cats were released in a residential area of Zanesville, Ohio. A teenager killed in Kansas as she posed with a tiger for senior portraits. There is no shortage of drama and tragedy resulting from the exploitation of big cats in the United States.
Date created: June 17, 2020
Last updated: May 14, 2021
Writing a letter to the editor or an opinion column for your local daily or weekly newspaper, magazine, or community website can help introduce important animal welfare issues to a wider audience, including policymakers.
Date created: July 14, 2020
Last updated: March 9, 2022
Date created: April 19, 2022
Last updated: April 25, 2022
According to a study published in Nature Climate Change (Schmitz et al., 2023), policies to protect and rebuild densities of global wildlife populations would also combat climate change.
Date created: June 20, 2023
Last updated: June 26, 2023
As recently as five years ago, big corporations doing business with dolphinariums (such as soft drink companies, tourism agencies, or airlines) would never have agreed to openly address the controversy surrounding captive cetacean welfare.
Date created: August 22, 2014
Last updated: January 8, 2020
In an effort to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, the government of Mexico this weekend proposed a two-year ban on the use of gillnets in the northern Gulf of California. The vaquita is found nowhere else in the world and has been driven to near extinction as a result of drowning in fishing nets. Scientists predict the vaquita, which numbers fewer than 100 individuals, could be extinct by 2018 if drastic and immediate action is not taken.
Date created: March 2, 2015
Last updated: February 2, 2022
Stereotypic behaviour is an abnormal behaviour frequently seen in laboratory primates. It is considered an indication of poor psychological well-being in these animals. As it is seen in captive animals but not in wild animals, attention has been focused on the situations in which this behaviour develops. However, the emphasis of research has been on reducing or eliminating established stereotypic behaviour in laboratory primates.
Date created: May 13, 2016
Last updated: October 30, 2020
Trade in marine species—to satisfy our demand for pets, potions, food, ornaments and entertainment—can be a lucrative business. It can also be a very damaging one. Humans are removing marine wildlife from the oceans at an unsustainable rate, drastically altering marine ecosystems in the process. At the 2010 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a record number of highly exploited and commercially valuable marine species were proposed for CITES listing in order to provide much needed restrictions on trade. (None of these proposals were approved, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to justify protection.)
Date created: September 23, 2011
Last updated: April 4, 2024
On October 11, the Trader Joe’s grocery chain announced that it would stop sourcing shrimp from Mexico in response to a request from the Boycott Mexican Shrimp campaign, led by AWI, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biologi
Date created: January 4, 2018
Last updated: January 4, 2018
Many primatological scientists, investigators, veterinarians and colony managers are over-afraid of nonhuman primates, and therefore condone that the animals be forcefully restrained during procedures requiring any form of physical human-animal interaction.
Date created: January 21, 2009
Last updated: November 11, 2020
In the summer of 2008, due to a family medical emergency, Tom Siesto and Liz Raab left their beloved Rottweiler, Nitro, at the Youngstown, Ohio, kennel of well-regarded trainer, Steve Croley, who was offering a “dog summer camp.”
Date created: December 10, 2013
Last updated: April 24, 2024
This study demonstrates that only a minimal time investment was needed to train a large troop of laboratory non-human primates to co-operate in the catching procedure. A group of 45 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) was trained to enter a chute system voluntarily and be caught one by one.
Date created: May 5, 2016
Last updated: November 11, 2020
A training technique is described for ensuring the active cooperation of adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during in-homecage venipuncture. Five single-housed and 10 pair-housed males (average age 8 years) were the subjects of the study. On average, 13 training sessions (range 2-26) were necessary to get a male to voluntarily present a leg in a specially designed opening of the door and to display no resistance during venipuncture.
Date created: May 25, 2016
Last updated: July 24, 2020
