The Conservation Action Trust works for the protection of threatened species by promoting the objective investigation and reporting of important conservation and environmental issues affecting these species. Click to see author's profile.
Instead of honoring what should be a core commitment to conservation, South Africa’s DEA is planning to attempt to legalize trade in rhino horn. This is suspiciously timed with the announcement that China will allow trade in farmed rhino horn, and is a blatant prioritization of profit over the interests of rhinos.
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, China, Thailand and the Philippines, some of the world’s worst countries for elephant poaching and illegal trade in ivory, have been allowed to exit a key international initiative set up to curb the mass slaughter of elephants.
Conservation Action Trust reports on the recent increase in elephant poaching in Botswana. Various media reports have pinned the increase on a reported disarming of Botswana’s Anti-Poaching Unit, but is this the real cause, and how can the poaching be stopped?
The decision to allow leopard hunting is the result of a determination by the Scientific Authority that leopard hunting in certain areas is now sustainable. This has alarmed conservationists, who contend that the DEA has insufficient scientific evidence to make that call.
Are we not essentially confusing education with entertainment? Should we not be more honest in describing the role of such animals and admit they are pure photo props for monetary gain, even if the money is earmarked for the conservation of the species?
A recent South African Parliamentary wildlife colloquium ignored the benefits of non-consumptive wildlife utilisation as ecological sustainability was obscured by the increasing commodification of wildlife resources.
Xanda was shot just outside Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, near the spot his father Cecil was killed by American bow hunting dentist Walter Palmer. His death is mired in confusion, and means that his seven offspring face an unlikely future.
What will South Africa’s national parks and game reserves look like ten or 50 years hence? What is their purpose, and where will the money come from to protect and sustain them?
Botswana’s world acclaimed anti-poaching success story is being threatened by budget cuts, which have forced the elite Rhino Squad to curtail patrols and created a backlog in payments to farmers compensating for human-animal conflict.
Earlier this month, South Africa’s 2009 moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn was lifted. This ruling went in favour of private rhino owners, and makes it legal to buy and sell rhino horn within South Africa.
If cats do have nine lives, leopards are on their last. Especially the big, strong males of the species, as South Africa’s DEA seems set on reintroducing leopard trophy hunting quotas.
Animal welfare organisations are reeling from an unexpected announcement that they will no longer receive funding from the National Lotteries Commission – a decision which could also have devastating impacts on humans.