A key United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) body recommended a formal investigation today into Mexico’s failure to comply with its fishing and wildlife trade laws, which is causing the near-extinction of the vaquita porpoise.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has elected to take on the task of establishing an international technical specification for the raising of animals for food.
Some countries/jurisdictions have enacted full or partial bans on the practice of shark finning—slicing off the fins of the shark at sea (often while the shark is still alive) and discarding the carcass. Still other country/jurisdictions have taken the additional step of enacting complete or partial bans on shark fishing (such that, by inclusion, shark finning is also banned). Some airlines, hotels, and other companies have also refused to transport, serve or sell shark fin products.
Serbia, at the heart of former Yugoslavia and the Balkans, is one of the few places left in Europe where brown bears continue to be cruelly abused for profit and human amusement.
After hours of rancorous debate, the International Whaling Commission accepted a proposal from the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to kill four humpback whales a year for the next six years. The proposal was strongly opposed by a block of Latin American countries led by the Dominican Republic whose whale watching industry generates millions of dollars annually from the same humpbacks targeted by SVG. However, the proposal was eventually accepted by 48 votes to ten with two abstentions.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) report that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has firmly rejected a proposal by Greenland that would have put more whale meat on restaurant menus in tourist hotels. Thirty-four countries, including all the attending members of the European Union with the exception of Denmark, and all Latin American countries rightly opposed the draft proposal, which sought an increase in Greenland’s aboriginal subsistence whaling (ASW) quota.
Two journal articles authored by experts from the Animal Welfare Institute(AWI) were recently featured in the newly released issue of the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy (Volume 20, Issue 1, 2017).
A workshop held today at this week’s International Congress of the Society for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2017) revealed that the ecological services that cetaceans (whales and dolphins) provide to the planet may be the key to saving it.
This summer I was fortunate enough to fulfill one of my life’s dreams - a vacation in Africa! My family and I spent a week in Kenya. Though this was not a "working" vacation, I was privileged to witness firsthand some of the animals and habitats AWI has had a hand in protecting.
Of the various methods of population control inflicted on wildlife by animal damage control agents, wildlife managers, and trappers, strangling neck snares are among the most horrific tools in the toolbox. The primer Intolerable Cruelty: The truth behind killing neck snares and strychnine is a reminder—if one is needed—of how wretchedly inhumane these techniques can be.
For the second year in a row, researchers from the United States and Norway failed to measure a whale’s brain waves to determine how they might react to naval sonar and noise from oil and gas exploration.
Recent undercover investigations conducted by animal welfare organizations at Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Texas dairies have revealed horrendous conditions for cows on these farms.
As consumers hit supermarkets this month to prepare for holiday gatherings, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) today issued results from its investigation of approximately 90 brand-name poultry products. The results, presented in a report entitled USDA Gives Producers Free Reign over “Free Range” Product Labels, reveal that the approval process by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for “free range” labels on poultry products is flawed—deceiving shoppers.
Elon Musk and his biotech company Neuralink made headlines recently as multiple news organizations reported on requests for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Musk’s claim that monkeys who perished in brain implant trials were a
When Isaac, a rhesus macaque, first arrived we were so worried about him. He cowered in the corner as he fear grimaced, and refused to eat or drink for several days. If anyone approached his cage, or if any other monkey even looked in his direction, he would engage in fear-based redirected behaviors, and would nervously attack the front of his cage, then quickly return to cower in the corner.
Based on genetic research and the latest status assessment of African elephants, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has formally split the species into forest and savanna elephants and designated them as critically endangered and endangered, respectively.
On May 20, the Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced 46 new candidate Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) for the North West Atlantic Ocean and Wider Caribbean region.
In May, the Illinois legislature passed HB 4843, a bill introduced by Rep. Martin Moylan (D) to restrict the sale of ivory and rhino horn within the state. On August 14, Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed it into law.
As world leaders gather in London on February 13 to attend a summit—hosted by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and attended by Prince Charles and Prince William—to confront the escalating poaching crisis decimating the world’s iconic wildlife, 23 environmental, conservation, and animal welfare groups from 14 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America demand a permanent ban on both domestic and international trade in ivory and the destruction of all government-held stocks.
As the International Whaling Commission meeting wrapped up this week, members voted on several key measures that will impact whales for years to come. Although the proposal for the creation of a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary was defeated, there were a number of positive outcomes that strengthen the protection of whales.
