All News
Will Travers' Closing Remarks at CITES 2013
Will Travers, Born Free USA's chief executive officer and president of the Species Survival Network, a coalition of 100 wildlife organizations, gives his closing address to participants of the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Watch Travers' reaction to earlier CITES 2013 developments and find other up-to-the minute tweets, photos, blogs and videos on our "Latest from CITES" webpage; and check out our CITES photo gallery.
Illinois Lawmaker Battles to Ban Lion Meat
Dying to try lion? If you live in Illinois, you'd better get your fix quickly before proposed legislation would make the "mane" course a Class A misdemeanor. Illinois State Representative Luis Arroyo proposed HB 2991 to the state's General Assembly last month. If the Lion Meat Act passes, Illinois will become the first U.S. state to forbid lion slaughter, or for any person to possess, breed, import, export, buy or sell lions for the purpose of slaughter.
Link: Eatocracy.CNN.com
Outrage that Lion Who Killed Woman Is Shot Dead
Sharai Mawere, 43, a market stall owner, was making love to her boyfriend at a secluded spot in the bush near the northern town of Kariba when the lioness struck on Tuesday. Later, the lion and her two cubs were shot dead by wardens from the Department of Parks and Wildlife Authority and a professional hunter.
Link: Telegraph.co.uk
From CITES, Promising Shark News
Sharks are being slaughtered at a breathtaking clip — and with shocking disregard for their suffering or for the waste of the rest of their bodies — to satisfy a demand for shark fin soup. They're being wiped out so that people can have appetizers. Well, maybe something finally is being done about that on an international level. Today, protective measures for five shark species advanced at the CITES conference in Bangkok, with final action on those measures to be fully resolved by week's end. Watch our Will Travers' reaction to the shark developments and find other up-to-the minute tweets, photos, blogs and videos on our "Latest from CITES" webpage; and check out our CITES photo gallery.
Rise In Poaching Prompts Demands for Ivory Ban
The global trade in ivory and rhino horn is at the top of the agenda at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES conference, taking place in Bangkok. The conference is debating imposing bans on all wildlife trade in 19 countries unless they crack down on the poaching, smuggling or sale of illegal ivory.
Link: VOANews.com
Lion Mauling Death: How Dangerous Are Private Zoos?
The mauling death of a 24-year-old intern at a private zoo in central California Wednesday has renewed calls for better regulation of exotic animals in the United States. A five-year-old male African lion named CousCous — who had once appeared as a cub on the TV show “Ellen” — attacked and killed the volunteer, Dianna Hanson, who was alone in the cage with the big cat.
Link: CSMonitor.com
Death in the Forests (Editorial)
Day after day, the slaughter of the elephants continues at a record pace — 25,000 killed in 2011, conservationists say, and more than 30,000 last year. A study from the Wildlife Conservation Society shows that 60 percent of all African forest elephants (a slightly smaller subspecies of the African savanna elephant) have been killed in the last decade for their ivory, leaving about 80,000 in their primary habitats in Western and Central Africa.
Link: NYTimes.com
Coroner: Lion Killed Woman after Escaping Cage
The investigation into a lion attack that killed a 24-year-old woman who loved big cats is focusing on a cage door that the 550-pound animal managed to escape through to reach the volunteer intern, officials say.
Link: MiamiHerald.com
