Mainstream News

To Save the King of the Jungle, a Call to Pen Him In

"After 35 years of field research in the Serengeti plains, Craig Packer, director of the Lion Research Center at the University of Minnesota, has lost all patience with the romance of African wilderness. Fences, he says, are the only way to stop the precipitous and continuing decline in the number of African lions. 'Reality has to intrude,' he said. 'Do you want to know the two most hated species in Africa, by a mile? Elephants and lions.' They destroy crops and livestock, he said, and sometimes, in the case of lions, actually eat people. Dr. Packer’s goal is to save lions. Fencing them in, away from people and livestock, is the best way to do that, he believes, both for conservation and economics." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTo Save the King of the Jungle, a Call to Pen Him In

Scientists: Legalize horn sales to save endangered rhinoceroses

"Attempts to discourage the use of rhino horn have failed, the scientists said, and, without a legal avenue to obtain the ingredient, the black market has stepped in. 'Rhino horn is now worth more than gold,' the scientists noted, saying that a kilogram that cost $4,700 in 1993 would fetch around $65,000 in 2012. Poachers, enticed by the high price tag, have swarmed, and 'poaching in South Africa has, on average, more than doubled each year over the past 5 years.' They liken their proposal to the legal trade in farmed crocodile skins, which has saved the endangered reptiles from over-hunting. A similar proposal for the rhinoceros was rejected 20 years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingScientists: Legalize horn sales to save endangered rhinoceroses

The war on African poaching: is militarization doomed to fail?

"Governments have given game rangers better weapons, engaged intelligence analysts, and put spotter planes, helicopters, and unmanned drones into the air. Some have deployed their national defense forces into national parks. Private wildlife custodians have spent millions on their own armed anti-poaching guards, sniffer dogs, mini-drones, and informants. The continental-scale slaughter of rhinos and elephants continues to intensify, despite rising arrests and killings of poachers and increasing interdiction of illegal shipments of rhino horn and ivory. Some drug policy experts liken the uphill battle against African poaching to the war on drugs, an extraordinarily expensive, bloody failure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe war on African poaching: is militarization doomed to fail?

Invasive starfish species threatens Philippines coral reef

"A coral-killing starfish has begun infesting a channel of water in the Philippines famed for having some of the most diverse marine life in the world. The appearance of the crown-of-thorns starfish in the Verde Island Passage could cause great damage to the area’s biodiversity, Jacob Meimban, head of the wildlife bureau’s coastal marine management office, told AFP. 'The crown-of-thorns starfish really kills the corals. It eats the polyps of the corals, leaving the bleached, white bodies. Then it moves elsewhere… until it leaves the reef dead,' Meimban said. Environmentalists have warned for years that the passage, a popular dive location, is under grave threat from pollution and overfishing." Continue reading →

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Millions spent to begin razing of 7,000 abandoned properties in Dayton

"Kevin Powell, the city’s acting manager of housing inspection, says officials plan to use $5.2 million to raze 475 abandoned properties by the end of September. The city knocked down 1,172 abandoned structures - single-family homes, strip malls, multi-unit buildings, commercial properties etc. — between 2009 and 2012, using money that included $8 million in federal funds. The average cost for a demolition, which includes asbestos removal, is $11,000. Abandon properties have a negative impact on the city’s tax collection, which are used to remove abandon properties and pay for other city services. 'It’s a complete circle that keeps eating upon itself,' Powell said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMillions spent to begin razing of 7,000 abandoned properties in Dayton

Wildlife trafficker kills 5 crocodiles, 90 rare birds as police descend on his compound

"Five dead crocodiles, 14 critically endangered turtles and a cache of other rare species have been found in the home of a suspected wildlife trader in one of the Philippines’ biggest slums, the government said Friday. The juvenile saltwater crocodiles, as well as 90 birds, were killed by the trader or his aides shortly before police and environment officials raided the place Wednesday, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said. He denounced the unnamed suspects’ 'cruelty'. 'What’s particularly alarming about this poaching incident is that there were reports that most of these endangered animals were intentionally killed to avoid detection by authorities,' Paje said in a statement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWildlife trafficker kills 5 crocodiles, 90 rare birds as police descend on his compound

Yosemite fire prompts state of emergency in San Francisco

"It’s 150 miles from San Francisco to Yosemite, but the 200-square-mile wildfire that’s edged into the national park has prompted California Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for the city hours away. That’s because more than 2.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area receive water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite. The fire threatens some 5,500 residences. More than 2,700 state, federal and local firefighters from around the nation had joined the fight against the Rim Fire by Friday evening, and large air tankers battled the blaze from above, but dry weather, rugged terrain, and gusty winds limited efforts to carve out containment lines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYosemite fire prompts state of emergency in San Francisco

Smog crisis creates ‘apocalyptic’ conditions in Singapore

"Fast-food deliveries have been cancelled, the army has suspended field training and even Singapore’s top marathon runner has retreated as residents try to protect themselves from the smog that has descended on the city-state. In Singapore’s worst environmental crisis in more than a decade, the skyscrapers lining the Marina Bay financial district were shrouded by thick smoke Thursday as raging forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia’s Sumatra island pushed air pollution levels to an all-time high. The acrid smell of burning wood lingered everywhere, including inside air-conditioned metro trains, and cars were covered with a thin film of grey ash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSmog crisis creates ‘apocalyptic’ conditions in Singapore

Life in a Toxic Country

"I recently found myself hauling a bag filled with 12 boxes of milk powder and a cardboard container with two sets of air filters through San Francisco International Airport. I was heading to my home in Beijing at the end of a work trip, bringing back what have become two of the most sought-after items among parents here, and which were desperately needed in my own household. China is the world’s second largest economy, but the enormous costs of its growth are becoming apparent. Residents of its boom cities and a growing number of rural regions question the safety of the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat." Continue reading →

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Bhutan banks on ‘white gold’ hydropower

"Home to meditating monks and Himalayan nomads, the sleepy kingdom of Bhutan has set its sights on becoming an unlikely energy powerhouse thanks to its abundant winding rivers. Hydropower plants have already harnessed the country’s water flows to light up nearly every Bhutanese home, generating electricity that is sent to remote villages by cables strung through rugged mountain terrain. It is a rapid transformation for the long isolated nation, where less than a quarter of households had electricity in 1999 — the same year Bhutan became the last country to introduce television." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBhutan banks on ‘white gold’ hydropower