Ellie Doppenberg

19 Angulate Tortoises killed in shocking poaching incident at Table Bay Nature Reserve The City of Cape Town is reeling from the shocking poaching of 19 Angulate Tortoises at the Table Bay Nature Reserve, where staff discovered their empty shells.

Only the empty shells were left after poachers killed 19 tortoises at the Table View Nature Reserve on Saturday 😢

Animal welfare volunteers rescue cats from the horrific apartment building fire in Hong Kong. Today, I am grateful for people like this. Photo: Bloomberg.

Early hominin Australopithecus afarensis may not be our human ancestor after all | Natural History Museum New Australopithecus fossils found in Ethiopia are changing the human family tree.

Have you heard of the ancient human called Lucy?

For decades, her species was thought to have played a key role in our evolution - but a recent discovery raises the possibility that a different species was our ancestor.

Find out what new fossils have revealed 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Money rules....

Bird flu confirmed in elephant seal population at Heard Island The federal government says testing confirms the presence of avian influenza in samples collected from southern elephant seals on Heard Island — a sub-Antarctic Australian external territory.

Samples from dead elephant seals were collected in October after scientists visiting Heard Island aboard the icebreaker RSV Nuyina observed unusual levels of mortality in the population.
The deadly H5 strain of bird flu has reached one of Australia's sub-Antarctic islands, officials have confirmed.

Mooi! Fijne tijd met z'n viertjes.

Kazakhstan Saiga Antelope News Kazakhstan wants the moratorium on commercial international trade on saiga antelope, an icon of the Eurasian steppe, to be lifted. However, scientists, conservationist...

No trade in saiga horns!!! 'Legal' trade always ends in #IllegalWildlifeTrade
The extraordinary recovery of the saiga antelope population after being close to extinction has opened a debate about whether it is time to allow the international commercial trade of the species’ horns from Kazakhstan.

Iberian lynx still endangered despite “spectacular growth” The Iberian lynx has made an impressive comeback over the past decade, but experts warn that the famous wild cat is not out of danger yet.

Iberian lynx still endangered despite “spectacular growth”
Lynx numbers rise to 2,401 across Portugal and Spain, but low genetic diversity and human-related threats persist

Beyond Skin and Bones: A 25-year analysis of tiger seizures from 2000 to June 2025 - Wildlife Trade Report from TRAFFIC Fifty years after tigers gained the world’s highest level of international protection*, the illegal trade in these iconic species is not slowing – it's ...

Fifty years after tigers gained the world’s highest level of international protection, the illegal trade in these iconic species is not slowing – it's rampant and evolving.
#IllegalwildlifeTrade

Concern over impact of Avian Influenza outbreak on Critically Endangered African Penguin The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) has urgently reinforced its biosecurity protocols to combat the ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Recently, several cases of HPAI were confirmed in African Penguins #AvianFlu

Already disappearing, Southeast Asia’s striped rabbits now caught in global pet trade In the remote rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Annamite Mountains straddling Vietnam and Laos, two species of nocturnal rabbits live elusive lives. These species, both of which have distincti...

SE Asia’s striped rabbits are threatened by habitat loss and illegal snaring. In recent months, authorities have seized at least 10 live rabbits smuggled from Thailand to India, as the first known instance of these rabbits being trafficked internationally for the pet trade. #IllegalWildlifeTrade

A Troubling Rise in the Grisly Trade of a Spectacular African Bird Researchers are finding a disturbing uptick in the trade of African hornbills and their body parts in West African voodoo markets and globally on the internet. Conservationists want international prot...

Researchers are finding a disturbing uptick in the trade of African hornbills and their body parts in West African voodoo markets and globally on the internet. Conservationists want international protections for these birds, which play a key role in Africa’s forest ecosystems. #IllegalWildlifeTrade

Amur falcons pull off epic 6,000-km leap to Africa, leave scientists and internet amazed Suresh Kumar from the Wildlife Institute of India, who leads the tracking project, said the Amur falcons’ behaviour and endurance are rooted in evolutionary survival strategies

Apapang recorded the longest flight.
Tracking data showed he covered 6,100 kilometres in 6 days and 8 hours without stopping, making a single arc from NE India across peninsular India and out over the Arabian Sea before entering Somalia and pushing onward to Kenya. #AnimalMigration

She is so amazing!! More than 75 years old and looking fantastic.

Narwhal washed up on Donegal beach raises climate change concerns Arctic whale’s discovery on a Donegal beach has triggered a major scientific examination and renewed warnings about climate impacts

A narwhal has washed up on a Co Donegal beach in what experts say may be a stark sign of a changing climate.
The NPWS confirmed on Friday that a female narwhal, a species never before recorded in Ireland, was recovered after being found on Sweet Nellies Beach on the Inishowen Peninsula.

10,000 shark fins worth over $11M seized in major wildlife trafficking bust in Peru The bust, in the port outside of Peru's capital, Lima, led to the arrest of three men tied to a transnational criminal network involved in illegal fishing and wildlife smuggling, according to the U.S....

U.S. authorities have assisted the Peruvian government in seizing an estimated 10,000 individual shark fins destined for China — one of the largest wildlife trafficking operations in Latin American history. #IllegalWildlifeTrade

Bear bile and rhino horn products openly on sale in Laos despite international bans - EIA We investigate and campaign against environmental crime and abuse

Shops in Laos are openly selling illegal wildlife products containing rhino horn and bear bile in defiance of domestic laws and internationally agreed commitments, an undercover investigation by EIA has revealed. #IllegalWildlifeTrade

Drought linked to increased conflict between humans and wildlife in California: Study Researchers in California have pinpointed an unexpected impact of frequent droughts: an increase in human-wildlife conflict.

The increase in human-wildlife conflict likely occurs as animals search for water and food during dry periods Less water on the landscape means fewer plants for herbivores to eat and therefore fewer food sources for the carnivores, so, they may attempt to switch to easier prey, such as livestock.

Climate Plans Focus on Planting Trees Over Protecting Forests, Experts Warn

National climate plans focus too much on “unrealistic” tree-planting schemes and too little on protecting existing forests, experts warn.

#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.

# 212

Research suggests that even relatively short periods (a matter of hours) of exposure to heatwave‐like temperatures can severely impair the cognitive performance of insects including #bumblebees.

#bees
#nature
#science
#environment
#education
🐝🌍

Gibbon trafficking pushes rehabilitation centers to the max in North Sumatra MEDAN, Indonesia — Two infant siamang gibbons cling to each other. Barely 6 months old, their lanky limbs entwine their tiny bodies as they stare out of the triage cage, their wide eyes shining. Each ...

The trade imposes overwhelming suffering on the trafficked animals and immense wastage among the complex social groups gibbons live in, driving already threatened species ever closer to extinction. #IllegalWildlifeTrade

Chile's Humboldt penguins at risk of critically endangered status Chilean scientists warned of further risks to the world’s shrinking population of Humboldt penguins, one of the few species that live on rocky coastlands in mor

Chile’s Pacific coast is home to 80 per cent of the world’s remaining Humboldt penguins, and scientists at the Universidad de Concepcion estimate that their numbers have dwindled to fewer than 20,000 from around 45,000 in the late 1990s.

Mantas on the brink: Global fisheries driving rays toward extinction - Oceanographic Global study reveals 265,000 manta and devil rays are killed each year, exposing urgent conservation gaps and calls for stronger protections.

A new global study led by the Manta Trust has delivered the first comprehensive estimate of manta and devil ray mortality worldwide - revealing an alarming 265,000 mobulids killed every year.

Carbon credits are failing to help with climate change — here’s why The idea that emissions can be offset through projects that claim to avoid releases or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is fatally flawed.

The idea that emissions can be offset through projects that claim to avoid releases or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is fatally flawed.

#auspol #ClimateChange

Carbon credits 'a free pass for polluters' Can we really offset our way out of the climate crisis?

Critics question whether carbon credits provide genuine climate benefits or just give polluters a free pass. It works in theory: Pay a little extra for your flight, offset your business emissions, and somewhere someone else will plant trees for us. But new research blows that idea apart.

Ah; de overwintervlieg! Er is er altijd één....

Researchers fear Chile copper project may threaten rare Andean cat population Researchers are raising concerns about the creation of a large-scale open-pit copper-molybdenum mine in Chile’s Valparaíso region, which they say will destroy the habitat of the recently recorded popu...

Researchers are raising concerns about the creation of a large-scale open-pit copper-molybdenum mine in Chile’s Valparaíso region, which they say will destroy the habitat of the recently recorded population of Andean cat, an endangered species and one of the rarest felines in the Americas.

Seven lions at Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary to be euthanised "There were no real options left. The staff and I are devastated."

#CaptivityKils

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions

En toch denkt de EU dat dit de oplossing is voor het klimaat 'probleem'......

High Court permits limited export of captive-bred rhino horn A landmark judgment allows registered conservation-breeding operations in South Africa to apply for permits to export horn from live, captive-bred white rhinos.

No!!!! This will only stimulate demand and will never end poaching!