Classified as critically endangered and believed to have a rapidly declining population and habitat area, pygmy three-toed sloths (Bradypus pygmaeus) are entirely native to the island of Escudo de Veragua, off the Caribbean coast of Panama.
Date created: October 20, 2016
Last updated: October 29, 2021
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed listing the pygmy three-toed sloth under the Endangered Species Act in response to a 2013 emergency petition filed by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).
Date created: March 27, 2024
Last updated: May 6, 2024
We all want to do well by our furry companions. We want to have as much time as possible with them, but also want to make sure that they do not suffer when they are older and ailing.
Date created: July 1, 2019
Last updated: May 2, 2022
Quantitative information regarding environmental enrichment for singly-caged nonhuman primates was summarized. Of 52 data-supported publications reviewed, 37 made clear reference to the period of time subjects were exposed to the enrichment at data collection. The majority (78 %) of studies examined inanimate, the minority (22 %) animate enrichment strategies.
Date created: May 13, 2016
Last updated: July 13, 2020
Candy, a chimpanzee who spent most of her 50 plus years as an amusement park curiosity at Fun Fair Park and later at Dixie Landin’ in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has died.
Date created: June 21, 2017
Last updated: April 24, 2024
A recent discussion on the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum (LAREF) focused on new enrichment ideas for rabbits. Brianna Parkinson initiated the conversation to share her experience and to ask what others have tried.
Date created: April 8, 2019
Last updated: October 8, 2020
European rabbits from which most of our laboratory strains have originated, are social animals often living in warrens of several hundred animals. In most laboratory situations, rabbits are kept isolated in cages which do not permit the full range of behaviour to be exhibited.
Date created: May 6, 2016
Last updated: August 21, 2020
In an exciting new development, the North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association (NCNHGA) and Fudge Family Farms have begun requiring all of their member farms to be accredited by the Animal Welfare Approved program, whose standards for pigs necessitate pasture access and prohibit crates and tail-docking.
Date created: August 11, 2009
Last updated: January 17, 2020
Fact: Petting an animal helps to reduce stress. We don’t really need science to tell us this, but there are studies documenting very real physiological and psychological benefits to being around animals.
Date created: December 10, 2013
Last updated: January 15, 2020
Zimbabwe faces expulsion from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) unless it quickly gains control of rhino poaching within its borders.
Date created: February 25, 2010
Last updated: January 9, 2020
Colorado rancher and livestock hauler Tom Davis spent close to $18,000 to purchase approximately 1,800 horses from the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program from 2008 to 2012, telling the BLM that the horses would be sold to families as pets. Instead, he sent nearly all of them to Mexico to be slaughtered, making a hefty profit of over $150,000.
Date created: December 31, 2015
Last updated: April 24, 2024
Although no action was taken on the Pet Safety and Protection Act in the last Congress, the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill and the FARM bill were adopted; both include language regarding random source Class B dealers who sell dogs and cats for experimentation.
Date created: February 20, 2009
Last updated: January 16, 2020
In a response to a 2016 petition by AWI and allies, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) agreed on May 8 to list the Taiwanese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis), also known as the Taiwanese humpback dolphin, as “endanger
Date created: June 29, 2018
Last updated: June 29, 2018
Red wolf captive breeding facilities today announced the release of four adult red wolves into eastern North Carolina after conservation groups won a federal court ruling in January that required the US Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a plan to release captive red wolves into the wild to avoid irreversible harm to the highly endangered population during ongoing litigation.
Date created: May 12, 2021
Last updated: January 18, 2024
Conservation organizations are warning that the Internet is driving unprecedented levels of illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts—$7.8 to $10 billion annually, according to the research group, Global Financial Integrity.
Date created: November 29, 2012
Last updated: January 16, 2020
A new study published in the journal Science (Reinhold et al., 2019) reported that laboratory rats learned to play hide-and-seek with researchers at Humboldt University of Berlin, in a novel approach to studying the neural underpinnings of decision-making and motivation.
Date created: October 11, 2019
Last updated: January 23, 2020
A technique that is increasingly used worldwide to improve the welfare of rats in research is rat “tickling”—whereby humans make light, brisk, and vigorous movements with their fingertips on a rat’s neck and abdomen to imitate juvenile rat rough-a
Date created: August 19, 2021
Last updated: August 30, 2021
The US is the only country in the world that does not include within its animal welfare laws and regulations the rats, mice and birds who are subjected to research and testing. The federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was amended in 1970 to include all warm-blooded animals who are commonly experimented upon. However, the term "animals," for purposes of the protections delineated in the statute, is defined so as to expressly exclude rats, mice and birds - the very animals who constitute roughly 95% of animals in research!
Date created: September 26, 2011
Last updated: August 7, 2024
Anticoagulant rat poisons - the number one method of rodent control used worldwide - may take a week or more to kill rodents. During this interim, the rodents continue to move around, leaving predatory wildlife species at risk of consuming poisoned prey.
Date created: February 7, 2011
Last updated: March 20, 2023
Alarm bells are ringing for the fate of all manta and mobula ray species because of increased demand for their fins and gill rakers—the apparatus by which they filter their food.
Date created: May 7, 2012
Last updated: January 16, 2020
Tropical rays occupy important roles in benthic ecosystems, as their foraging behaviors contribute to soft sediment turnover, which makes food available and creates microhabitats for other species. The Mesoamerican Reef (MAR), from the northern tip of the Isla Contoy in Mexico to the Bay Islands of Honduras, hosts at least 11 coastal-pelagic species of rays—including the Caribbean manta, Caribbean whiptail, cownose, giant manta (shown below), lesser electric, longnose, sicklefin devil, southern, spotted eagle, West Atlantic pygmy devil, and yellow ray. These species are economically important, in terms of fisheries in Mexico and Guatemala, and ecotourism in Belize and Mexico.
Date created: June 20, 2023
Last updated: June 26, 2023
Efforts to promote the psychological well-being of captive non-human primates through the application of environmental enrichment techniques are becoming more common. However, from this perspective relatively little empirical work has been done on the effects of manipulation of the social environment. The data currently available indicate that primates kept in solitary confinement are likely to develop a variety of behavioural and physiological disturbances reflecting reduced well- being, whereas most compatibly socially housed primates appear better adapted.
Date created: May 9, 2016
Last updated: November 11, 2020
On June 22, 2016, Georgia Aquarium announced that it will no longer acquire any cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) for its exhibits from the wild. Along with this announcement, Georgia Aquarium released a media kit, entitled Beluga Import Project.
Date created: July 20, 2016
Last updated: January 31, 2024
AWI would like to congratulate the 2014 Christine Stevens Wildlife Award recipients:
Date created: March 6, 2015
Last updated: January 9, 2020
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey - the “Greatest Show on Earth” according to its slogan - has a new distinction that probably won’t appear in its promotional materials: The circus company has been slapped with the largest fine ever under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) against an exhibitor.
Date created: February 24, 2012
Last updated: April 24, 2024
