African kino tree (Pterocarpus erinaceus). Photo by Philippe Birnbaum.
Happy World Wildlife Day! This year’s World Wildlife Day theme is “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet” to highlight the central role of forests, forest species, and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally.
In West Africa, wildlife crime, including illegal logging and timber trade, is causing irreversible damage to ecosystems. Animal and plant species are being decimated at an unprecedented rate in large part due to these illegal activities.
Flora parts for sale in Burkina Faso. Photo by Born Free USA.
Born Free USA works to stop illegal trafficking – including that of plant species. From 2016 to 2020, we held 25 training courses for more than 500 law enforcement officials from across West and Central Africa. These courses focused on a range of topics, including species identification; investigational techniques and best practices;
A Victory against Wildlife Trafficking: Large Seizures of Shark Fins at Abidjan Airport
Shark fin seizure at Abidjan Airport, Ivory Coast. Photo: Born Free USA.
Born Free USA’s law enforcement trainings yield big results in the fight against wildlife crime!
Two weeks following our training course for customs officers in Ivory Coast last October, the Customs Services at Abidjan Airport in Ivory Coast made its first ever seizure of shark fins: the confiscation of 257 pounds (116.4 kg) of fins, which was shipped from the airport of Pointe Noire, Congo.
Portion of seized shark fins. Photo: Born Free USA.Three days later, the Forest Inspection Service at Abidjan Airport intercepted a shipment of shark fins weighing 772 pounds (350 kg) belonging to the same suspect and destined for Asia.
Top 5 Misleading Claims Zoos Make - One Green Planet onegreenplanet.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from onegreenplanet.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Wildlife Trade, COVID-19, and More on the Our Hen House Podcast
Born Free USA CEO, Angela Grimes, spoke with the Our Hen House podcast about wildlife trade, COVID-19, Born Free USA’s programs in Africa, our new Global Nature Recovery Investment Initiative, and more! Listen to the conversation at the link below.
(Scroll down on the page to find the audio player. The interview begins just before the 17 minute mark.)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service itself estimates that there is a 96-100-percent probability that the population of western monarch butterflies will collapse within 50 years.
–This week, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), Rep. Jimmy Panetta, (D-Carmel Valley), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) wrote to the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressing concern with the recent decision to forego listing the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act and urging substantial investments in monarch conservation efforts so this crucial pollinator does not go extinct before protections are in place.
This monarch butterfly faces growing threats from the loss of milkweed and habitat, global climate change, and disease, according to Carbajal’s office. The most recent population count for monarch butterflies shows a 99.9-percent decline in population for monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains, which overwinter in California. Just two decades ago, rou