Thousands of whales are being killed by passing ships. Can we save them?
Large numbers of cetaceans are dying from lethal collisions with vessels, even in protected areas. Now science may provide the means to protect them. A collision with a vessel is one of the main threats to whales and if the whale does not die on impact, it is usually only a question of time.
Lolita the orca to return to home waters after 50 years in captivity
Lolita, a southern resident orca also known as Tokitae, will be returned to her home waters in Puget Sound after more than 50 years in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. WTVJ Steve Litz reports.
A happy ending for Tokitae (Lolita)
Tokitae, also called Lolita and named Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut by Washington State’s Lummi Nation, will no longer perform shows at the Miami Seaquarium, where she has been held since she was taken from her home waters in 1970. As a condition of the permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), new operators of the Florida facility […]
Hawaii authorities say 33 swimmers were harassing dolphins
Hawaii authorities say they have referred 33 people to U.S. law enforcement after the group allegedly harassed a pod of wild dolphins in waters off the Big Island. It’s against federal law to swim within 50 yards (45 meters) of spinner dolphins in Hawaii’s nearshore waters. The prohibition went into effect in 2021 amid concerns […]
‘A wake-up call’: total weight of wild mammals less than 10% of humanity’s
The total weight of Earth’s wild land mammals – from elephants to bisons and from deer to tigers—is now less than 10% of the combined tonnage of men, women and children living on the planet. A study by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, published this month, concludes that wild land mammals alive today […]
Millbank Fur Farm pleads guilty following LCA’s animal cruelty complaint
Millbank Fur Farm, a mink fur farm in Ontario, Canada, has pleaded guilty to failing to comply with prescribed standards of care under section 11.1(1) of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and has been ordered to pay a monetary penalty. The investigation revealed severe animal suffering and neglect among […]
New data links Covid-19’s origins to raccoon dogs at Wuhan market
Newly released genetic data gathered from a live food market in Wuhan has linked Covid-19 with raccoon dogs, adding weight to the theory that infected animals sold at the site started the coronavirus pandemic, researchers involved in the work say. Swabs collected from stalls at the Huanan seafood market in the two months after it […]
Nations reach accord to protect marine life on high seas
For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas—representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force in 1994, […]
U.S. to focus bison restoration on expanding tribal herds
U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that calls for the government to tap into Indigenous knowledge in its efforts to conserve the burly animals that are an icon of the American West. Haaland also announced $25 million in […]
Hundreds of lynx to be hunted in Sweden following biggest ever wolf cull
The number of licenses to kill lynx throughout March, issued by Sweden’s country administrations, is more than double the number in recent years. The planned cull is out of all proportion to any danger to livestock or people, say wildlife conservationists and activists, who are asking the E.U. to take action against Sweden for breaching […]
Colombia proposes shipping invasive hippos to India, Mexico
Colombia is proposing transferring at least 70 hippopotamuses that live near Pablo Escobar’s former ranch—descendants of four imported from Africa illegally by the late drug lord in the 1980s—to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control their population.
Four dead seals test positive for bird flu in Scotland
Four dead seals have tested positive for bird flu in Scotland, as the number of cases of highly pathogenic avian flu in mammals continues to grow globally with experts warning of “a step-change” in its spread. The largest ever bird flu outbreak had already spilled over into otters and foxes in the U.K., with about […]
