National Geographic: Rescued Circus Lions Airlifted to Safety in Africa

First posted on 2016-06-27     Wildlife Watch Rescued Circus Lions Airlifted to Safety in Africa Lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia are set to arrive back home in Africa. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED April 28, 2016   This lion and 23 others removed from circuses in Peru are being airlifted to South Africa, where a…

Read More

Huffington Post: Orangutan Rescue in Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem

      By Laurel Neme Author and freelance journalist   Medical check of orangutan. Photo courtesty of Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP) The adolescent orangutan was on his way to becoming the illegal pet of a police lieutenant in Jakarta in 2004 when a team from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP) and the Ministry of Forestry’s Conservation…

Read More

National Geographic: Abused Circus Tiger Gets Fairy-Tale Ending

His name is Hoover, and this big cat is about to enjoy a new life in Florida.   By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED April 21, 2016 Photograph by Animal Defenders International     Alongside crates of asparagus, Hoover the tiger will be airlifted Friday from Peru to Florida, where he’ll settle into a new home in Tampa after…

Read More

Mongabay.com: Leuser’s Legacy: how rescued orangutans help assure species survival

30th March 2016 / Laurel A. Neme Mongabay.com Meet two blind orangutans: Leuser and Gober, their offspring, and the people of the SOCP rescue group. Together they’re creating a future for Indonesian orangutans. Agribusiness is rapidly razing the prime forest habitat of Sumatra’s 14,600 remaining orangutans; replacing it with vast stretches of oil palm plantation. The species’…

Read More

National Geographic: Happy Ending for Smuggled Pangolins (2)

    Wildlife Watch Happy Ending for Smuggled Pangolins 16 rare scaly anteaters are back in the wild after being rescued from Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED March 15, 2016 This story was updated to reflect that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today issued a preliminary finding to a scientific petition submitted by…

Read More

Huffington Post: For Pangolins, A Long Hard Road to Freedom (2)

For Pangolins, A Long Hard Road to Freedom 03/18/2016 12:51 pm ET by Laurel Neme Freelance Journalist and Author                   This pangolin was recently rehabilitated and released in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife. Pangolins are scaly anteaters about the size of a house cat. They’re presumed to…

Read More

Huffington Post: For Pangolins, A Long Hard Road to Freedom

 03/18/2016   by Laurel Neme Freelance Journalist and Author   This pangolin was recently rehabilitated and released in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife. Pangolins are scaly anteaters about the size of a house cat. They’re presumed to be the world’s most trafficked mammal, with an estimated 100,000 plucked from the wild every year in Africa and…

Read More