Last week, scouts reported a severely wounded black rhino wandering around Save Conservancy. Rangers were despatched to locate the rhino and were met with a horrifying and gruesome sight. The rhino had been shot several times by poachers and the horns had been hacked out. They left the rhino for dead but the poor animal regained consciousness and was found wandering around, obviously in agony.
Vets were called in and as the animal had managed to survive the savage attack and was still eating properly, they decided to try and save it. They darted it and administered masses of antibiotics in the hope that the horrific wound will heal.
Twenty years ago elephants were being wiped out by poachers. International outcry halted the trade in ivory and elephant herds started to recover. Now, elephants are in crisis once again. The ivory trade continues to flourish and seizures of illegal ivory are skyrocketing. Recently, stockpile sales to Japan and China sent a signal to poachers that it is open season on elephants. The lesson is crystal clear: any legal ivory trade leads to illegal killing.
Join the fight to help free elephants from the threat of ivory poaching. Please sign the petition to urge the European Union to protect the world’s remaining elephants by opposing any further international trade in ivory.
Save the Elephants has been working for two decades to protect elephants from human and environmental threats, including drought. Drought in Mali is increasing due to climate change. Learn more at http://www.google.com/cop15
For over 20 years, Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants, has used Google Earth to track, study, and protect elephants from poaching with geofences and satellite collars on elephants.
Picking a Ten Most Endangered Animals list was a tough job. For every critically endangered creature you select, you must leave out hundreds of other animals that are in just as much jeopardy.
That’s why, we chose not to include the giant panda on our roster of the world’s ten most endangered animals. The panda, as appealing and important as it is, has gotten plenty of attention from conservationists and the public alike. Time to make room for another critically endangered animal or two that hasn’t had as much time in the spotlight of looming extinction.
Sure, it can get a little discouraging, hearing about all the ways in which humans are harming wildlife. And, sometimes we can feel like part of the problem, rather than the solution. However, each of us can play a role in helping wildlife. Below are our Top 10 ideas—almost everyone can do one or more of them—to help make the world a friendlier place for wild creatures. (more…)
The appalling escalation in the poaching of rhino around the world is undermining conservation efforts to save these species, destroying people’s livelihoods, and is threatening to drive these species to extinction. More than 90 per cent of all rhino species have already been wiped out. We must act now before it’s too late.
