The Wildlife Blog
Operation Flying Turtle: Two Indicted for Turtle Smuggling into the US
Two men from Osaka, Japan who were arrested earlier this month at LAX airport for smuggling live turtles into the United States, were just indicted by a grand jury in Los Angeles. The arrests were tied to an undercover investigation–code named Operation Flying Turtle–that began about a year ago. As part of that, in…
Read MoreBid for the Barn – bid on signed copy of Animal Investigators
This is why I love living in Vermont. We all enjoy eating local produce and were devastated after hearing of the tragedy that struck one of our favorite producers — Pete’s Greens. On Wednesday morning, Pete’s barn burned down to the ground. It was a complete loss. Localvores throughout the state wanted to do something…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Elephant Trauma & Psychology, Gay Bradshaw
Gay Bradshaw, author of Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity, discusses the psychological health of abused and traumatized elephants and what can be done to help them. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme that elephants are traumatized by a number of events – including mass slaughter due to culling (which she compares to…
Read MoreFirst Rehabilitated Orangutan Releases Coming in May
To follow on to some of my recent stories on orangutans and the Nyaru Menteng rehabilitation center — good news! After a decade of teaching orphaned orangutans how to be wild, the center just received official permission so that they can now proceed with their release back into the wild. A big victory for…
Read MoreWildlife Inspectors on the Front Lines
FWS Wildlife Inspectors are the unsung heroes in the fight against wildlife trafficking. You can check out more about their work in my book Animal Investigators, or a piece I helped put together for Nightline, or a recent Washington Post article.
Read MoreNational Wildlife Health Center Investigates Mass Bird Deaths
Exams at the National Wildlife Health Center showed the mass die-offs in Arkansas were a result of impact trauma. No blunt force object but rather collisions. They found no evidence of poisonings or pesticides. Scientists are thinking the culprit was commercial-grade fireworks that went off. The Louisiana bird die-offs are still being investigated, but initial information…
Read MoreNew Year’s Resolutions to Make a Difference for Wildlife
What are your New Year’s resolutions for actions to help wild animals? I’m consistently struck by how powerful we, as consumers, can be — and consequently how important it is to educate ourselves about where the products we buy come from. For example, most of us don’t realize that 50% of the products on our…
Read MoreIntergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) established
The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which was established yesterday, is a new international body that will help catalyze a global response to the loss of biodiversity and recognize the the economic importance of forests, coral reefs and other ecosystems. Its creation sets up an IPCC-like platform to bridge the gulf between…
Read MoreMy radio station to be featured on tonight’s news
Tonight a news piece about my radio station-The Radiator-will be on ABC22 at 7pm & Fox44 at 10pm (& again tomorrow AM). Focus is on passage of the Local Community Radio Act. Station manager Jim Lockridge & others talk about how awesome it is to bring local programming to a radio station like ours…
Read MoreWealth Drives Illegal Wildlife Trade
Contrary to popular belief, it is no longer poverty that drives poaching of rare and endangered species and the illegal wildlife trade but rather wealth. If it’s rare, people want it–and use that product to show off their wealth. As a result, demand for luxury goods — from ivory to tiger bone wine to…
Read MoreAnimal Wise Radio
This Sunday (12/19/10) I’m going to be on Animal Wise Radio! I’m looking forward to a great wildlife discussion with hosts Mike Fry & Beth Nelson. Even better, Animal Wise Radio will be broadcasting episodes of The WildLife. I’m thrilled to be collaborating with them. Animal Wise Radio can be heard live in Minneapolis/St. Paul…
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