1: Airport wildlife tracking tool launched to combat illegal wildlife trade
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced the launch of an Airport Wildlife Trafficking Assessment Tool which aims to help defeat smugglers of endangered species. Developed in partnership with the World Customs Organization (WCO) with support from the USAID ROUTES Partnership, the assessment tool was being piloted at Mozambique’s Maputo International Airport in November 2016. A global rollout is planned for 2017. The tool helps airports assess their supply-chain security, intelligence and risk management, staff awareness, and reporting processes, alongside air cargo and passenger screening policy and procedures.
You can find more information at the Wildlife section of the IATA website.
2: The Captive Lion Industry: A Sustainability Scam?
The notion of ‘sustainability’ has become the most overused and consequently meaningless phrase within conservation and wildlife circles. Used in equal measure by those that manage responsibly and the abusers of wildlife, it’s hardly surprising then that the predator breeding and canned or captive lion hunting industry is also invoking the term as a way of trying to sanitize what they do.
But how sustainable will it all be when the ‘wildness’ and the thrill has gone?
Read the full article here.
3: Leading safari companies release joint statement rejecting captive breeding
Several of Africa’s leading safari companies have released a statement rejecting the practice of captive breeding. The statement, which was released at the recent We Are Africa Conservation Lab, a meeting of companies and organisations committed to African travel and conservation, is printed in full below. Any other operator who supports its message is encouraged to contact the Blood Lions organisation.
Read the full article here.
4: The ugly side of wildlife photography
Wildlife and their habitat are facing a new threat—from unethical practices deployed by a new breed of nature photographers. An exponential surge in the popularity of nature photography is unknowingly altering species behaviour and creating habitat disturbances.
Now, in an effort to sensitize wildlife enthusiasts and photographers on species and wild habitats, India’s well-known names in wildlife conservation, including nature photographers, authors, cartoonists and conservation practitioners, have come together with collective inputs in a guidebook titled Stop! Don’t Shoot Like That: A Simple Guide to Ethical Wildlife Photography.
Read the full article here.
5: Research estimates lost tourism revenue from poaching African elephants at $25 million per year
Protecting our largest land mammal from slaughter by poachers isn’t something that should need to be economically justified. Nevertheless, as surveys show that tens of thousands of elephants are being poached annually across Africa, new research suggests that spending on stronger anti-poaching measures could pay for itself by protecting tourism revenues. The study published in the journal Nature Communications estimates the cost to tourism of lower wild elephant populations, and models the costs and benefits of increased protection.
Read the full article here.
6: Buenos Aires Zoo to close and relocate animals to nature reserves
The historic and scandal-prone Buenos Aires zoo is set to close and all animals transitioned to nature preserves because, as the city’s Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta put simply on Friday, “Captivity is degrading.”
The 140-year-old zoo in Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighborhood will be turned into an “ecopark” when it reopens later this year after its 2,500 animals are removed, although some of the older and infirm animals will remain on site, the Guardian reports. That includes the orangutan Sandra, who made headlines in 2014 when an unsuccessful bid to have her freed from captivity nonetheless resulted in her being termed a “non-human person” deserving of rights by a Buenos Aires court.
Read the full article here.
7: How a hotel saved hundreds of sea turtles: Interview with Jumeirah
The Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) is a project run by Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts in collaboration with Dubai’s Wildlife Protection Office. It has been running in its current form since 2004 and has so far seen the release of over 560 rescued sea turtles back into Dubai’s waters. In 2011 alone, over 350 sick or injured sea turtles have been treated by the DTRP after being washed up on the region’s beaches. The DTRP is currently the only project of its kind in the Middle East and Red Sea region.
Read the full interview here.
8: Seaworld sees profits fall again
Barely two months after announcing it was suspending its dividend payout, SeaWorld has revealed a huge drop in profits in its third quarter results with income falling to 66m dollars. Chief executive, Joe Manby, also announced a further $65m cost cutting excercise as the company attempts to turn around its financial fortunes.
The company continues to struggle to deal with the public backlash against keeping orcas in tanks for entertainment, despite plans to end its orca breeding programme and revamp its shows. The orcas that SeaWorld holds captive remain in small tanks and in addition, SeaWorld holds many other dolphins and beluga whales that seem to have been forgotten.
Read the full article here.
