Wildlife protections tightened as southern Africa protests Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A global wildlife summit has decided to regulate trade in giraffes and tighten protections for endangered animals including elephants, triggering a threat from disgruntled southern African nations to leave an international treaty. Parties to the Convention on International …
Read More »Wildlife summit to discuss how to save Africa’s rhinos, elephants
Wildlife summit mulls trade rules to counter ‘unprecedented’ species declines Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Conservationists warned of “unprecedented” species declines Saturday as countries met in Geneva to tighten rules on trade in elephant ivory and products from other endangered animal and plants. Thousands of conservationists and policymakers from more …
Read More »Zimbabwe demands right to sell $300 mn of ivory to fund game reserves
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe has demanded the right to sell its stockpile of ivory to raise money for conservation, wildlife authorities said Tuesday, joining other southern African nations in calling for the global ban on the trade in tusks to be relaxed. Wildlife authorities in the cash-strapped nation estimate …
Read More »Poaching slows but Africa’s elephants still face extinction
Paris, France | AFP | The illegal slaughter of African elephants to feed Asia’s demand for ivory has decreased by more than half in eight years, but the majestic mammals are still threatened with extinction, researchers warned Tuesday. In 2011, poachers killed some 40,000 tuskers — about ten percent of the …
Read More »All global trade banned in endangered pangolins
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The shy, scale-covered pangolin is to receive the highest level of protection against illegal trade to try to save it from extinction, after a vote Wednesday by delegates at a global conference. The reclusive, gentle mammal is prized as an edible delicacy and ingredient …
Read More »African elephants ‘suffer worst decline in 25 years’
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The number of African elephants has dropped by around 111,000 in the past decade, a new report released Sunday at the Johannesburg conference on the wildlife trade said, blaming the plummeting figures on poaching. The revelation, the worst drop in 25 years, came amid …
Read More »Elephants divide meeting aimed at saving species
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The world’s biggest conference on the international wildlife trade got underway Saturday in Johannesburg, but African countries lashed out at Western charities for “dictating” how they should protect their elephants. Over the next 12 days thousands of conservationists and top government officials will thrash …
Read More »Fate of Africa’s rhino, elephants to dominate wildlife meet
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Global conservationists and policymakers meet in South Africa from Saturday to chart a way forward in the fight against escalating wildlife trafficking that could drive some species to extinction. The plight of Africa’s rhino and elephants, targeted for their horns and tusks, is expected …
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