Harare — Alarmed by declining numbers, conservationists are raising awareness of the critical environmental role these efficient scavengers play. Early this year, Sekuru Shumba, a traditional healer, had an altercation with a client that led to a fistfight. Shumba, who has been practicing his trade for over five years, says the client owed him about […]
Tag: Wildlife
Nairobi — A significant stride in conservation has been achieved with the successful translocation of 21 eastern black rhinos to Loisaba Conservancy, aimed at safeguarding the species from extinction. On January 24, Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and its partners initiated one of the largest translocation exercises of black rhinos from Nairobi National Park, Ol Pejeta, […]
The South African government has officially confirmed that captive lion farms will be shut down. A new ministerial task team report just released has cemented the government’s intention, first made public in 2021, to put an end to African lions being legally sold and traded live, both internationally and domestically. It also heralds the end […]
In the North Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) today successfully reviewed and set aside the decision to include / list a number of wild animal species as breeds in the Animal Improvement Act 62 of 1998 (“AIA”). The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD, the erstwhile Department of […]
Everybody who visits Kasanka National Park in Zambia during “bat season” agrees that the evening emergence of African straw-coloured fruit bats from their roost site is one of the wildlife wonders of the world. The bats (Eidolon helvum) arrive at Kasanka every year around October. The numbers swell rapidly until they peak in November. By […]
101 Curious Tales of East African Birds is a new book that uses academic research to tell fascinating stories about the tropical birds of east Africa, from well-known species to rare ones. It also explores changing bird behaviour in the region. Its author, Colin Beale, studies shifts in the distribution of birds and other animals. […]
Aliness Harry, 35, from Group Village Head (GVH) Kalebe in Traditional Authority (TA) Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota District, is happy, for she found a stable livelihood in chilli farming, which “assures her of a better future”. Introduced by African Parks, in partnership with Tropha and Nandos, chilli farming is improving Aliness’s life and likely to catapult […]
Southern white rhinos are widely known as a conservation success story. Their population grew from fewer than 100 individuals in the 1920s to 20,000 in 2012, mostly in South Africa. This success was partially due to the inclusion of the private sector, which started in the 1960s when white rhinos were moved from their last […]
A hunter in Oku village, in Cameroon’s North-West region, has been awarded a “red feather” for killing a leopard in the Kilum-Ijim Forest, West Africa’s largest remaining patch of mountain rainforest. But the accolade has spurred mixed reactions from conservationists and local authorities. The Kilum-Ijim Forest has a rich biodiversity, and is a source of […]
Goma — Despite a 2022 law that protects indigenous land rights, evictions from Virunga National Park leave little access to traditional ways of life. Until June 2022, Biranda spent most of his days surrounded by the whispers of trees. He was born and raised inside Virunga National Park and, for most of his life, has […]
Scientists from the Institute for Breeding Rare and Endangered African Mammals have been working in southern Africa for over 15 years to protect endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). They’ve now decided to freeze sperm from as many genetically diverse male African wild dogs as possible and use this to artificially inseminate female African wild […]
Trophy hunting is contentious. It typically involves paying for and pursuing a specific wild animal, often a large or iconic species, with the goal of killing it to obtain a trophy, such as the animal’s head, horns, or hide. Popular public opinion is largely in favour of ending the killing of wild animals for sport. […]
While efforts to prevent rhino poaching have resulted in positive outcomes in national parks across the country, South Africa has seen a shift in rhino poaching with the majority of cases in the past year being recorded in KwaZulu-Natal. “The pressure again has been felt in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province with Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park facing the […]
Media reports about the biodiversity crisis and what researchers have argued qualifies as a mass extinction event tend to focus on the big ecological effects. Melting ice sheets, severe weather events, droughts, habitat loss and wildfires dominate headlines. So too do the plights of large iconic animals – orangutans, gorillas, polar bears, rhinos, elephants, pangolins. […]
About 25 million kilometres of new roads are expected to be built around the world by 2050. Along with power lines and railways, roads cut through the landscape everywhere, disrupting ecosystems. This linear infrastructure prevents animals from moving safely around their habitat. It also reduces access to the resources they need, like food, sufficient space […]
Sargassum is a genus of brown seaweed. Over 300 species are distributed across the world in both temperate and tropical climates. The species fluitans and natans are unique because they spend their life cycle floating on the ocean, never attaching to the sea floor. Other seaweed species reproduce and begin life on the ocean floor […]
In the first six months of this year, 231 rhinos were killed in South Africa, representing an 11% decrease when compared to the same period last year. This represents a decline of 28 animals killed for their horn. Addressing a media briefing on Tuesday, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, said during […]
A discussion document published by the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa (iCWild) lists six policy proposals to manage the semi-feral cats on the main campus abutting the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP). A recent survey of wildlife on UCT’s upper campus revealed that Cape genet, Cape grysbok, Cape […]