Who better to teach us about the current extinction crisis than three of the world’s top ecologists? The authors of Before They Vanish: Saving Nature’s Populations—and Ourselves, Drs. Paul Ehrlich, Gerardo Ceballos, and Rodolfo Dirzo, have written some of the most important scientific papers on the subject.
Curiosity—the drive to gather information—is considered a fundamental motivation throughout the animal kingdom. As such, providing opportunities to satisfy that curiosity may be essential for animals to have good welfare in captivity. Fish are held in captivity at some of the highest numbers of any taxa, but their curiosity is rarely studied or accommodated. It is estimated that upwards of 1 million individuals of the Cyprinidae family, which includes carp and true minnows, are used annually in research on human development and physiology. Yet, housing plans for laboratory fishes have been modeled from the aquaculture industry, prioritizing production and functionality over welfare, resulting in barren tanks and minimal cognitive stimulation for the animals residing in them.
A captive group of white-faced capuchins, Cebus capucinus, was presented with four deep litters in simultaneous choice (or preference) tests. A floor covering of ground corn cob, woodchips, wood wool or peat was presented once in each quarter of the group's indoor floor-area for 14 consecutive days, and the layout of the litters was rotated after each such period. The monkeys were observed on 10 days in each period to determine the occurrence of locomotion, foraging, play, and social contact on each of the litters.
Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, by Michelle Nijhuis, is a cross between a Ken Burns–style historical documentary and the 2016 film Hidden Figures, bringing to life the history of key players who helped promote wildlife and wildlands conservation. While Nijhuis highlights the restoration of the American plains bison, bald eagle, and whooping crane, it is the stories about the conservation champions featured in the book that make it a compelling read.
For the past decade and more, a single capture team in the remote east of Russia, on the southern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, has been removing an average of 20 live beluga whales a year from the summer feeding population in Sakhalinsky Bay.
On June 5, a 3-week-old female beluga at Georgia Aquarium died. Just over a month later, another 3-week-old female beluga—born prematurely—died at SeaWorld San Antonio. The Georgia Aquarium birth had been hailed as a milestone, “the first viable calf to be born from parents who were born in human care.”
Little White and Little Grey, two young belugas originally captured from Russia’s Okhotsk Sea and held in a dolphinarium in Shanghai, China, for a decade, are now the first residents in the world’s first cetacean seaside sanctuary, in Vestmannaeyj
John Hargrove was the first of several former orca trainers to appear in Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s documentary Blackfish. A 14-year veteran of SeaWorld, he was a top trainer there until August 2012. Hargrove was working at the company's San Antonio park when Dawn Brancheau was killed in February 2010 in Orlando by Tilikum, Seaworld’s 12,000-pound male orca. He was a first-hand witness to the behind-the-scenes reactions to this tragedy and the corporate response.
The horrible poaching of tens of thousands of elephants in Africa each year has motivated people around the world to demand greater efforts to protect the great pachyderms from criminal exploitation. Ultimately, this can be accomplished only by dismantling the primarily Asian markets that provide the enormous financial incentives for ivory poaching. But for the moment, efforts to close those markets have been largely ineffective, and the principal burden for protecting surviving elephants falls heavily on African shoulders.
Eggs are a staple of the Western diet. In the United States, 94 percent of Americans report consuming them, and annual egg consumption averages around 280 per person. In 2022, around 109.5 billion eggs were produced in the United States.
A new documentary, Long Gone Wild, marketed as the follow-up to the 2013 blockbuster Blackfish, is making the film festival rounds and is available on several streaming services.
Most people intuitively know that animals can think, have social lives, and emotions. Yet, when people are asked to provide evidence for their convictions, they struggle. How do we adequately describe something about another species when we can hardly describe it in our own? In his new book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, Carl Safina has given us this evidence, in an expansive and passionate narrative.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) applauds the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service for proposing Tuesday to repeal two rules that undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The White House Council on Environmental Quality released today its final phase II rule updating regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), our country’s basic charter for the protection of the environment.
The Biden administration has released three Endangered Species Act regulations that reinstate some critical protections for imperiled species and their habitats, yet fail to reverse many of the dangerous rollbacks implemented by the previous administration.
The Biden administration announced in June that it would suspend all leases and leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) until it completes a comprehensive environmental review of the program under the National Environmenta
President Joe Biden signed the Big Cat Public Safety Act today, officially ending the dangerous trade in pet big cats and ensuring that no more cubs are ripped from their mothers at birth to be traumatized for profit.
President Joe Biden has signed into law the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a number of conservation provisions designed to strengthen the United States’ ability to protect marine species and ecosystems.
Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. (SCBT), one of the world’s largest suppliers of antibodies derived from the blood of animals (goats and rabbits), has been cited by USDA veterinary inspectors for apparent egregious violations of the Animal Welfare Act, dating back to at least July 2007.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends Representatives Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) for introducing the “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act” (H.R. 4122) last week. If passed, this legislation would prohibit the private possession of tigers, lions, and other big cats except at facilities such as accredited zoos and sanctuaries.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act is an urgently needed solution to the problem of big cats kept as pets in unsafe and abusive circumstances. Wild animals imprisoned in basements or backyards not only suffer immensely, but also pose a serious risk to the safety of the surrounding community.
While populations of top marine predator fish like tuna, billfish and sharks plummet, Stanford University researchers have found that anchovies, sardines, and other small fish are at an equal or greater risk of suffering a collapse.
This month, a committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is scheduled to determine whether long-tailed macaques (LTMs) should continue to be classified as “endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species, a decision that could either reinforce hard-won protections or ease restrictions for the lucrative primate trade.
