Seen from the air, they ripple across the landscape — a river of antelope racing across the vast grasslands of South Sudan in what conservationists say is the world’s largest land mammal migration. The country’s first comprehensive aerial wildlife survey, released last week, found about 6 million antelope. The survey over a two-week period last year in two national parks and nearby areas relied on spotters in airplanes, nearly 60,000 photos and tracking more than a hundred collared animals over about 46,000 square miles (120,000 square kilometers). The estimate from the nonprofit African Parks, which conducted the work along with the government, far surpasses other large migratory herds such as the estimated 1.36 million wildebeests surveyed last year in the Serengeti straddling...
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Over four decades after they became extinct locally, rhinos are roaming again the wilds of Mozambique, which is bringing the endangered species from South Africa in efforts to breathe new life into its parks and boost local tourism. A group of rangers captured, sedated and moved black and white rhinos over 1,000 miles (1,610 km) to Mozambique's Zinave National Park, which has over 400,000 hectares and more than 2,300 other reintroduced animals. Workers guide a tranquillised rhino to a container during the relocation of the first 19 white rhinos from South Africa to Zinave National Park in Mozambique, in Lephalale in the Limpopo province, South Africa, May 30, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko "Rhinos are important to the ecosystem, which is one of the reasons why we're moving them all...
Read MoreA young chimpanzee wrapped his arms around the neck of his rescuer in a brief hug as he was released from a wooden cage to scamper off to play in his spacious new enclosure. The chimp was captured from an illegal owner by staff from Democratic Republic of Congo's nature conservation agency who brought him more than 600 km (373 miles) by road, boat and plane to the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center. The new arrival joined 111 other chimpanzees staying at the centre, a sanctuary for orphaned primates which opened 20 years ago in a village about 40 km north of the provincial capital Bukavu in eastern Congo. Caregiver Bayongwa Mirindi Ephreme feeds small chimpanzees at the Lwiru Primates Rehabilitation Centre, in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 7, 2022. REUTERS/Dja...
Read MoreAs many as 49 elephants were killed across the country by hunters in 2021, with law-enforcement agencies arresting 77 accused, a Central government agency said in response to an RTI query. The maximum killings were recorded in Assam (9) followed by West Bengal, Odisha and Tamil Nadu (8 each), Karnataka and Uttarakhand (3 each), the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) said. Both Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh logged two cases of elephant killings while Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra had one case each, it added. Noida-based social and animal rights activist Ranjan Tomar had sought the information from the WCCB, which functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFF) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. ...
Read MoreAuthorities on the Indonesian tropical island Bali released 33 endangered green sea turtles into the ocean on Saturday in an effort to boost a population threatened by poachers and illegal traders. The turtles, from the Chelonia mydas species that is protected in Indonesia, were released on Kuta beach after they being rescued during a Navy operation against poachers in December. Tourists gathered to watch and film the release on their mobile phones, cheering the turtles on as they trudged across on the beach. "It's a great idea for the conservation effort," said Australian tourist Briant Firth. "They were getting some of the poachers and they were saving the turtles." Indonesia has become a hub of international trafficking of marine turtles, feeding demand from countries l...
Read MoreAs many as 126 tigers died in India in 2021, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) said on Thursday, asserting that it is looking into the cause of the recent death of a big cat in Madhya Pradesh. A tiger was found dead in Chhindwara of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, taking this year's toll in the state to 44. According to reports, two days ago, a tigress died in the state's Dindori area allegedly due to poisoning. An official from the NTCA said the number of tiger deaths has increased in 2021, and investigations are ongoing. The official, who did not wish to be named, said several measures are being taken to protect tigers which include patrolling and arresting people for poaching. He said there can be many causes for the death as the population of tigers is huge...
Read MoreResearchers in South Africa are working on a potentially new method to deter rhino poachers and smugglers by using radioactive markers to make smuggled horns detectable at global ports of entry and less desirable to buyers. South Africa is home to the world’s largest rhino population but has battled poaching for decades. The rhino horn is one of the most expensive commodities in the world by weight, fetching tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram. Demand is mainly from Asia where rhino horns are believed to have potent medicinal properties and are also a symbol of wealth. A black rhino is seen at a game reserve near Cape Town, South Africa, file. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo The study, a collaboration between the University of Witwatersrand and a global team of scienti...
Read MoreRhino poaching is on the rise again in South Africa since the government loosened coronavirus restrictions, following a year-long lull due to the pandemic, wildlife parks say. The strict limits on travel, including international travel, imposed in March last year had the happy side effect of keeping poachers at bay. In 2020, 394 rhinos were poached, 30% fewer than the year before and the lowest yearly tally since 2011. But then South Africa began easing international travel restrictions in November. Veterinarians attend to a tranquillised rhino before it is dehorned, amid mounting fears of a rebound in rhino poaching, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) travel restrictions ease, at the Balule Nature Reserve in Hoedspruit, Limpopo province, South Africa April 26, 2021. REUTERS/S...
Read MoreIncidents of rhino poaching in Namibia have been dropping steadily as timely intelligence work has helped nab hunters before they shoot in known hotspots, the government said on Tuesday. Joint police and government task forces have proven “extremely successful”, the spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said, with intelligence enabling a proactive, rather than reactive, response. “Instead of the discovery of a dead rhino initiating an investigation, would-be poachers are now regularly arrested while they are still conspiring to kill a rhino,” Romeo Muyunda said in a statement celebrating World Rhino Day. It said just 22 rhinos have been poached in Namibia so far this year, down from 46 in 2019, 78 in 2018, 55 in 2017 and 61 in 2016. Of 88 arrests ...
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