Group items tagged

"The woodlands and pastures of southern Spain once provided fertile hunting ground for the Iberian lynx, but habitat destruction, loss of prey, and trapping diminished the population of the reclusive feline dramatically, to just 100 animals a decade ago, making it the most endangered cat in the world. Now, thanks to a combination of political action, high-tech monitoring, and improved public awareness, the lynx is making a slow, if not always steady, comeback in Andalusia."

Great slideshow of some of the most threatened species in the world.

"There are only about 3,200 tigers left on the planet. Habitat loss and illegal pouching are largely to blame. In the last 100 years, world tiger populations have been decimated by 95% due to the demand for tiger bones, skins & other body parts."

11 rare and endangered Siberian Tigers starved to death while confined to 'cold, cramped metal cages' at the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in China's North-East. This treatment raises questions about China's conservation efforts, suggesting that "zoos and wildlife parts may be deliberately breeding more animals than they can afford, hoping to sell off the carcasses onto a black market where tiger parts fetch a high price for use in traditional medicines and liquor."

A Greenpeace activist tells how she and 9 others blocked the departure of a Japanese container ship with 160 tons of endangered fin whale meat onboard.

"From the recent discovery of a species of wasp that enslave unsuspecting spiders to a new report from the United Nations that estimates a 500% growth over the next 10 years in computer waste in India alone, a lot has happened this week in green."

"Illegal charcoal production in the Congo is threatening mountain gorilla habitat, but an elegant solution in the form of hand-operated biomass briquette presses may help gorilla populations rebound."

1. Tiger 2. Polar Bear 3. Pacific Walrus 4. Magellanic Penguin 5. Leatherback Turtle 6. Bluefin Tuna 7. Mountain Gorilla 8. Monarch Butterfly 9. Javan Rhinoceros 10. Giant Panda

"The Indonesian government has announced plans to sell tigers as pets for £67,000 a pair in what it claims is a move to protect the critically endangered species."

"Delegates at the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected yesterday a proposal that would have regulated the trade of red and pink coral worldwide. The proposal, offered by the United States and Sweden, would have regulated for the first time red and pink coral, which is used for the jewelry, home decor and homeopathic medicine market."

Current conservation list criticised for being biased towards vertebrates and neglecting most plants, fungi and invertebrates.

The State and Federal government announced today that they would "pursue other alternative sources of energy, namely gas, to meet Sabah's power supply needs." Proposed for an undeveloped beach on the north-eastern coast of Borneo, the coal plant, according to critics, would have threatened the Coral Triangle, one of the world's most biodiverse marine ecosystems, and Tabin Wildlife Reserve, home to Critically Endangered Sumatran rhinos and Bornean orangutans. Local fishermen feared that discharges from the plant would have imperiled their livelihood.

"The Middlemist's Red exists in only two known locations: a greenhouse in the UK, and a garden in New Zealand. Imported to Britain two hundred years ago from China, back when flowers where a luxury item, it has since been exterminated in its original homeland. The flower is in bloom for the next couple of weeks, and will be the star attraction at the reopening of the Chiswick House, the BBC reports."

"Warmer global temperatures aren't just wiping out the habitat of polar bears and penguins. They're also affecting many species closer to home -- including some right in your back yard. In this year's State of the Birds report, issued earlier this month, researchers from the National Audubon Society, U.S. Department of Interior, Cornell Lab or Ornithology, and others studied how climate change is affecting the habitats, ranges, and populations of birds across North America. OnEarth takes a look at eight vulnerable bird species from across the continent."