Clipmarks | Poaching Clips

Zoologists capture first photos of okapi in wild

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:28:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: A survivor that would be welcome on dinner plates in the Congo.

LONDON - Zoologists have captured the first photos of the okapi in the wild, saying Thursday they offered evidence that the animal once mistaken for a unicorn has managed to survive war and poaching in a park in a lawless swath of Congo.

AP Photo: This undated image provided by the Zoological Society of London, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, ...

Slideshow: Rare African 'unicorn' photographed

The doe-eyed animal, which can be found in zoos worldwide, is a relative of the giraffe but has zebra-like stripes on its legs and rear.

The species was unknown to European scientists until a century ago. It is thought to have inspired claims of unicorn sightings by Victorian-era explorers, said Noelle Kumpel, a conservationist with the Zoological Society of London, which released the photos.

The male has two horns on its forehead, but they can look like one horn if glimpsed from the side. "Stories came back of this mythical creature and the fact that it might be a unicorn," Kumpel said.

Tags: nature

work on safari in africa!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:57:47 GMT

clipped by: silvanaraihane
clipper's remarks: I actually did this for 3 years and it was the most wonderful expeirience of my life!

Clip Source: www.enkosiniecoexperience.com

CONSERVATION WORK

ON WILDLIFE PROJECTS &

RESERVES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

A conservation placement is the ultimate life changing and rewarding experience. Placements range from 1-12 weeks, giving volunteers the opportunity to become involved in a wide variety of conservation activities; including anti-poaching patrols, animal care and feeding, monitoring and counting of wildlife, erecting and checking of game fences, bush rehabilitation and everyday reserve maintenance and management. Volunteers can choose to focus exclusively on one project, or alternatively experience a number of different projects. All of our conservation projects have a strong element of continuity. The work of one volunteer is carried on by subsequent volunteers and, collectively, the Enkosini Eco Experience network makes a lasting impact on local communities, wildlife and wildlands in Southern Africa.

E-mail: info@enkosini.com / enkosini@yahoo.com

(*please send all correspondence to both email addresses*)

A panda's birthday

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:40:25 GMT

clipped by: thekay

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

In this photo released by the San Diego Zoo, Zhen Zhen, a giant panda cub receives a three-tiered cake made of ice and filled with fruits, vegetables and bamboo on Sunday Aug. 3 in celebration of her first birthday. It is estimated that there are just 1,600 giant pandas left in the world due to habitat destruction and fragmentation, bamboo depletion and poaching. (AP Photo/San Diego Zoo, Ken Bohn) Photo taken Aug. 3, 2008, by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo

Tags: panda

These people need our continued support

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:49:10 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: A great cause at a time when destruction is all too obvious. Bravo!!

Clip Source: pr-canada.net

The Rainforest Site Partners with Sumatran Orangutan Society to Plant Trees and Save Orangutans

The Rainforest Site announced today a new partnership with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to save vital orangutan habitat. Through The Rainforest Site’s Gifts That Give More™ program, visitors to the site can elect to donate $28 to SOS’s work in replacing coastal mangroves destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, replanting hardwood and fruit trees in degraded forest areas in Aceh province, and reforesting the Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra, the most important remaining habitat for the Sumatran orangutan.

Each $28 “Save Orangutan Habitat” Gift pays to plant 50 trees, all of which are native species in Indonesia. The preservation of this orangutan habitat is crucial for the survival of these apes. With a wild population of fewer than 7,000, the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching.

Conservationists blame 'global Mafia' for decline in Bengal tigers

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:03 GMT

clipped by: lisaann2007

Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

Conservationists blame 'global Mafia' for decline in Bengal tigers

This Bengal tiger was photographed as part of a camera trap survey in the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal. The survey, conducted largely by the World Wildlife Fund, suggests poaching is to blame for the population's recent dramatic decline. (Photo credit: World Wildlife Fund)

A dramatic decline in the population of Bengal tigers in a Nepalese wildlife reserve has the World Wildlife Fund blaming the "powerful global Mafia that controls illegal wildlife trade."

The Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal once boasted among the highest densities of the endangered species in the Eastern Himalayas.

But a camera trap study, conducted in large part by WWF, shows a population of between six and 14 tigers as of April, down from 20 to 50 tigers in 2005. The cameras are attached to infrared sensors and take a picture when they detect movement.

Nature Parks: Loved to Death?

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:35:32 GMT

clipped by: bbking13
clipper's remarks: Seems like a similar thing happens here in the US. Look at the development around national parks like the Great Smoky Mountains.

Clip Source: sciencenow.sciencemag.org

Nature Parks: Loved to Death?

Nature reserves can be bad for animals and good for people. That's the counterintuitive bottom line of a new study showing that conservation dollars spent on infrastructure in and around these parks attract new residents, who in turn engage in illegal poaching and deforestation.

The extent of reserves set aside for wildlife conservation has risen by some 500% over the past 3 decades. In some countries, however, politicians have opposed the creation of new parks and nature reserves, arguing that they hurt rural people who lose access to traditional hunting grounds and other resources. But that logic didn't jibe with Justin Brashares, a conservation biologist at the University of California (UC), Berkeley. He noticed that the population of villages around national parks in Ghana was booming. At the same time, antelope and other wildlife in the parks were suffering from increased hunting.

The week in wildlife (16 pics) to July 04

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:18:18 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Singapore: A pangolin, called Hook, resting on a tree stump in the Singapore zoo. Its survival comes under increasing threat from illegal poaching

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

historic Virginia City

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

More than 100 homeless dogs and cats from earthquake-hit areas are housed

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Altai, Russia: Dappled deer leap in an enclosure at a deer farm in the Altai region's Soloneshensky district. The farm raises some 600 deer and 600 Siberian stags, whose antlers are harvested and used for the production of medicine

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Romania: A pelican colony

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Guwahati , India: A golden langur – one of the world's most endangered species, found only in a few pockets in western Assam and adjoining Bhutan – and a Hanuman monkey in playful mood at the zoological park

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

false killer whales stranded on a beach near the popular Thai resort

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK: A Cornish Chough

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

London, UK: A swarm of bees invades a tree between centre court and court 2 on day seven of the Wimbledon tennis championships

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

India: Dogs sit on a bench in a flooded residential apartment complex

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

India

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Kenya

Tags: photos

The natural World destroyed systematically

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:19:14 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: This sad aspect in conflict is never considered - it is time we saw the overall position

Clip Source: www.newsdaily.com

Foreigners threaten Afghan snow leopards

Afghanistan's snow leopards have barely survived three decades of war. But now the few remaining mountain leopards left in Afghanistan face another threat -- foreigners involved in rebuilding the war-torn country.

Despite a complete hunting ban across Afghanistan since 2002, snow leopard furs regularly end up for sale on international military bases and at tourist bazaars in the capital. Foreigners have ready cash to buy the pelts as souvenirs and impoverished Afghans break poaching laws to supply them.

Tucked between souvenir stores on Chicken Street, Kabul's main tourist trap, several shops sell fur coats and pelts taken from many of Afghanistan's threatened and endangered animals.

what is known is that the snow leopard is endangered.

Despite 2002 Hunting Ban, Snow Leopard Furs Being Sold As Souvenirs In Kabul

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:53:38 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: U.S. soldiers joke with a snow leopard skin sample during an awareness programme at a military base in Kabul May 25, 2008. Afghanistan's snow leopards have barely survived three decades of war. But now the few remaining mountain leopards left in Afghanistan face another threat -- foreigners involved in rebuilding the war-torn country. Despite a complete hunting ban across Afghanistan since 2002, snow leopard furs regularly end up for sale on international military bases and at tourist bazaars in the capital. Foreigners have ready cash to buy the pelts as souvenirs and impoverished Afghans break poaching laws to supply them. Picture taken May 25, 2008. To match feature AFGHAN-SNOWLEOPARDS/ REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN) AFGHAN-SNOWLEOPARDS/
KABUL Afghanistan 6/27/2008

Clip Source: townhall.com

Tags: snow leopard, afghanistan, 2002 poaching ban, souvenirs, tourist bazaars, intl. military bases

Bravo Sea Shepherd

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:47:51 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: These people have done a sterling effort

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Paul Watson: 'There's no rest on planetary duty'

Paul Watson has devoted his life to fighting back against those who despoil the seas - but is he a prophet or a pirate? Tim Ecott meets a controversial crusader

Paul Watson doesn't stay on dry land very much. Last year the tireless eco-warrior was at sea for 50 weeks, and this year he has spent just one week at his home in Washington State. As he puts it: "There's no rest when you're on planetary duty."

Since forming Sea Shepherd in 1981, Watson, a former Canadian coast guard, has commanded more than 200 voyages aimed at stopping Antarctic and Arctic whaling, illegal long-line fishing in the Pacific, the killing of seals in Canada and, more recently, poaching and shark-finning in Galapagos.

Sea Shepherd has, in his words, "boarded and rammed more ships,

engaged in more high seas confrontations and sunk more ships than the Canadian navy"

his mostly volunteer crews brave storms and ice-packs, hostile governments and illegal fishing vessels

Tags: environment, activism

Rare rhino numbers in Nepal fall due to poachers

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:23:12 GMT

clipped by: lisaann2007

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Rare rhino numbers in Nepal fall due to poachers

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Poaching in the Himalayas is taking a heavy toll on the population of the endangered one-horned rhinoceros in Nepal, a wildlife official said on Sunday.

There were 31 rhinoceros in the jungles of Bardiya National Park located in Nepal's southwestern plains last year of which nine have gone missing, park official Phanindra Kharel said.

"This shows that the rhinoceros are under threat from poachers," he said. "This is very serious and if this continues we may not have any rhinoceros left soon."

Endangered Tiger Cubs Born At St. Louis Zoo

Tue, 27 May 2008 09:36:34 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The species used to be called Siberian tigers. They are at risk because of habitat loss, human encroachment and poaching.

Clip Source: www.kmov.com

Clip Source: www.suntimes.com

ST. LOUIS---- Five rare tiger cubs have been born at the Saint Louis Zoo.

The zoo says the critically endangered Amur tigers were born April 28 and are in an off-display indoor den.

The zoo says the first-time mother, Kalista, is busy nursing and caring for her babies.

The normal litter size is two or three cubs. The five weigh 4.5 to 7 pounds each.

Tags: siberian (amur) tiger cubs, one-month old, critically endangered, st. louis zoo, first-time mother

Four new Tiger reserves in the making

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:42:31 GMT

clipped by: lisaann2007

Clip Source: www.newstrackindia.com

Four new Tiger reserves in the making

The committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority formed under the Ministry of Environment and Forests has given its approval in-principle on Wednesday for creating of four new Tiger Reserves in the country and also for treating one park as a separate Reserve.

Owing to illegal poaching, tigers have become quite rare these days in India.

Tiger trade is very profitable using for medicinal and magical purposes. Besides, they are killed for their valuable skins and other body parts. Tiger skin though are not very fashionable, but are used in making fur coats and rugs, which has a huge demand in international market.

Even after imposing ban by the Indian government declaring tiger trade is illegal, poaching of tigers have been continuously increasing.

In its effort to preserve these magnificent predators from extinction, the Government of India (GoI) under conservation programme had launched “Project Tiger” in 1972.

Tags: wildlife, tigers

Endangered parrots born in captivity reproduce in wild

Sun, 11 May 2008 15:59:54 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Endangered scarlet macaws born in captivity are reproducing in the wild for the first time on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast.

The ZooAve Center for the Rescue of Endangered Species has released 100 of the birds into the wild in the past decade. But biologists didn't spot offspring until last year,

Since then, they have recorded 22 chicks born in the wild, and four more scarlet macaw couples have laid eggs

The parrots once occupied all of Costa Rica. But hunting and poaching dramatically cut their population, and they are now found only in two national parks along the coast.

The parrots, which live up to 80 years, can start reproducing at age 7.

Many parrots in the breeding program were confiscated by environmental authorities or turned in by their former owners. Some can't leave the sanctuary because they don't know how to survive in the wild.

"Many don't even know how to feed themselves," Fournier said.

Tags: animals, birds, nature

Elephants slaughtered for chopsticks

Sat, 03 May 2008 05:13:14 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo believe that rising demand for ivory in China is to blame for an unprecedented wave of elephant poaching in one of the country's war-torn national parks.

Fourteen elephants have been slaughtered in as many days as government soldiers and militias use ivory to raise money for guns.

The concerns came as South Africa lifted a 13-year moratorium on elephant culling, aimed at tackling a surge in population numbers, despite the protestations of animal rights activists.

23 tonnes of ivory seized on its way to the Far East between August 2005 and August 2006

$750 estimated price per kilogram of black-market ivory in China and Japan

7 kilograms of ivory are yielded by an average elephant’s tusks

500,000 estimated population of wild African elephants, down from 1.3 million in 1979

A report last year suggested that as many as 23,000 elephants were being

killed across the continent to meet soaring demand

Tags: animals, africa, nature