In March, two people were caught attempting to smuggle 54 ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) into Thailand. Listed as Critically Endangered, the tortoises' wild population is down to approximately 400-500 animals in its native Madagascar, mea...
Tag Archives: saving species from extinction
May 14, 2013 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Five percent of ploughshare tortoise population perishes after botched smuggling attempt
May 01, 2013 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
World’s rarest duck on the rebound in Madagascar
After a final sighting in 1991, the Madagascar pochard was thought to have vanished for good. But this diving duck was rediscovered in 2006 when a flock of 22 individuals was found on Lake Matsaborimena in northern Madagascar by conservationists
March 25, 2013 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Over ten percent of a species’ total population found in smuggler’s bag
On Friday, March 15th Thai authorities arrested a 38-year-old man attempting to collect a bag containing 54 ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) and 21 radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) in Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Found only i...
March 12, 2013 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Dozens of tropical trees awarded new protections at CITES
Numerous species of rosewood and ebony from Madagascar, Latin America, and Southeast Asia were granted protection today at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Bangkok, Thailand. The ruling comes one day after CITES gr...
January 17, 2013 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Bloodsucking flies help scientists identify rare, hard-to-find mammals
Last year scientists released a study that is likely to revolutionize how conservationists track elusive species. Researchers extracted the recently sucked blood of terrestrial leeches in Vietnam's remote Annamite Mountains and looked at the DNA of wha...
November 13, 2011 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Critically Endangered lemurs disperse seeds, store carbon
Many tropical plants depend on other species to carry their progeny far-and-wide. Scientists are just beginning to unravel this phenomenon, known as seed dispersal, which is instrumental in supporting the diversity and richness of tropical forests. Res...
October 10, 2011 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Tea Party rallies in favor of Gibson Guitar, ignores reasons instrument-maker is under investigation
This weekend around 500 people showed up for a rally and concert in Nashville, Tennessee. The rally was in support of Gibson Guitars, a US-company currently under investigation for allegedly importing illegally logged wood into the country, an action t...
September 30, 2011 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Madagascar asks CITES to regulate rosewood and ebony
Following a logging crisis in 2009 where a number of Madagascar's remaining forests were illegally cut, the African nation has turned to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to help regulate 91
February 17, 2011 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Saving Madagascar’s largest carnivorous mammal: the fossa
Madagascar is a land of wonders: dancing lemurs, thumbnail-sized chameleons, the long-fingered aye-aye, great baobab trees, and the mighty fossa. Wait—what? What's a fossa? It's true that when people think of Madagascar rarely do they think of its to...
August 01, 2010 by Jeremy Hance | No comments
Logging crisis pushes Madagascar’s forests on to UNESCO’s Danger List
UNESCO's World Heritage committee has added Madagascar's unique tropical forests to its Danger List of threatened ecosystems. The move comes following a drawn-out illegal logging crisis that has seen loggers and traders infiltrating the island-nation's...
