Posts by Laurel Neme
The Revelator: Living on the Edge with Lions – Shivani Bhalla
Ewaso Lions founder Shivani Bhalla aims to help people learn to live with local predators. Wildlife September 5, 2017 – by Laurel Neme As a young girl, Shivani Bhalla — a fourth-generation Kenyan— admired the large lion prides she saw on family safaris. But when she moved to Samburu in the north in 2002, those big…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Poachers Target Rescued Circus Lions in Worrying New Trend
At least 20 captive lions in a single province of South Africa have been killed or attacked by poachers so far this year. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED October 19, 2017 It was a fairy tale ending when 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia were airlifted to a sanctuary in South Africa in May 2016. Setting foot…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Sudden Death of Juvenile Zoo Elephant Raises Anew Issues of Life in Captivity
by Laurel A. Neme on 4 October 2017 Warren, a young male elephant, died recently during a dental procedure at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. Warren was one of 18 wild elephants captured from Swaziland 18 months ago and brought to three U.S. zoos in a controversial move. Shortly after Warren’s arrival in March 2016, he lost a…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Despite Ban, Rhino Horn Flooding Black Markets Across China
The country is pledged to end the trade in elephant ivory this year, but will it take steps to help save rhinos? By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED July 18, 2017 How do you disrupt the illicit rhino horn supply chain from Africa to Asia? That’s the question spurring a new investigation into rhino horn trafficking in China and Vietnam undertaken…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Triumphant Rhino Transfer Ends in Tragic Conservator Death
Rare black rhinos were recently reintroduced into Rwanda’s iconic national park. Tragically, one has killed a man who was helping protect them. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED June 8, 2017 On Wednesday, one of the protectors of Rwanda’s newly reintroduced black rhinos was killed by one of them on June 7 while monitoring the animals. “It is with…
Read MoreThe Revelator: Elephant Ambassador in Chad: A Conversation with Stephanie Vergniault
Courtesy SOS Elephants The founder of SOS Elephants works to save elephants from poachers and other threats. June 12, 2017 – by Laurel Neme On her first visit to the Republic of Chad in 1995, Stephanie Vergniault fell in love with the country’s elephants. Plentiful and easy to see at the time, they gave her…
Read MoreNational Geographic: A Mysterious Rhino Horn Heist in Vermont
Photo credit: Mark Biercevicz Photo credit: Mark Biercevicz Mystery surrounds the theft of a rhinoceros horn from a natural history collection in the University of Vermont, in Burlington. Nobody knows its origins, or exactly when or why it was stolen. Its absence was first noted on April 27. It could have been taken as a…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Exclusive Look Into How Rare Elephants’ Forests Are Disappearing
Wildlife Watch In violation of a moratorium, oil palm grower clears vital habitat in Indonesian biodiversity hot spot. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED March 8, 2017 A high-stakes game playing out in a remote biodiversity hot spot pits the palm oil industry against the ecological integrity of the last place on Earth where critically endangered Sumatran elephants, tigers,…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Innovative technology creates safe haven for rhinos
28 November 2016 / Laurel Neme Unveiled last week, the new system integrates a set of technologies — Wi-Fi, thermal cameras, biometrics, closed-circuit televisions, and sensors — to create a security network across an entire game reserve. The new technology system — called Connected Conservation — is a joint initiative between two international technology companies: Dimension Data…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Justice for Rhinos–When Will it Come?
Nothing prepared me for the venom in his eyes. While not directed at me, nobody in the courtroom could escape the anger seeping from his pores. Through a twist of fate, I was in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a province on the eastern coast of South Africa, on September 19, the day the trial of a suspected…
Read MoreNational Geographic: What to Expect at CITES: A Sneak Peak at Upcoming Endangered Species Meeting
2016-10-19 Even for experienced eyes, sifting through the roughly 200 documents to be considered at the upcoming Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) is a challenge. CITES protects about 5,600 animal species and 30,000 plant species through restrictions on commercial trade, and much discussion at…
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