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New efforts to protect African forest elephants in Gabon for nature and climate

New efforts to protect African forest elephants in Gabon for nature and climate

By Emily Beament - The Independent Measures from boosting ecotourism to electric fences to protect people’s crops are being used to help the critically endangered species. Critically endangered forest elephants play a key role in conserving rainforests that are crucial wildlife habitats and carbon stores, experts in the animals’ stronghold say. Officials in Gabon, central Africa, are implementing measures to try to protect the elephants, other wildlife such as gorillas and chimps, and the carbon-rich Congo Basin rainforest. These range from protected areas and sustainable...

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As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk

As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk

By Sharon Guynup - MongaBay Many plants rely on animals to reproduce, regenerate and spread. But the current sixth mass extinction is wiping out seed-dispersing wildlife that fill this role, altering entire ecosystems.Thousands of species help keep flora alive, from birds and bats to elephants, apes and rodents.Animals give plants the ability to “move,” with the need for mobility rising alongside warming temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events. Transported elsewhere, plants may be able to “outrun” a warming climate.There are growing efforts to restore these critical ecological...

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Game changer: How Sam Wasser became the ivory detective

Game changer: How Sam Wasser became the ivory detective

By Dean Paton - The Christian Science Monitor When Sam Wasser was a young biologist studying baboons in Tanzania, he never imagined he would one day lead an international force cracking down on the smuggling of illegal goods, from elephant ivory to pangolins and timber. Yet fighting transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs in law enforcement parlance, is exactly what he’s doing today, all because of his passion for animals. And because he discovered how to extract DNA from elephant poop. Today, Dr. Wasser is a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. But in 1989 he was...

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The silent threat to Africa’s wildlife

The silent threat to Africa’s wildlife

By Cyril Zenda - Fair Planet While the world is seized with protecting iconic African wildlife from being poached to extinction, a silent threat is ravaging these animals in record numbers: a worsening water shortage linked to erratic rains and increasingly hotter temperatures. This year, many parts of southern Africa are once again experiencing severe droughts. These arid conditions have become more common in the recent years as the region - which is home to elephants, rhinoceros, lions, cheetahs and other endangered wildlife species - is not spared the effects of climate...

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