Poaching

The trouble is, almost all animal populations today are facing increasing stress from changing environments.

Lady Liuwa, the lonely lioness who spent more than a decade as the last of her kind in Zimbabwe’s Liuwa Plain National Park, has died of natural causes on the eve of World Lion Day. A survivor of poaching and illegal trophy hunting, Lady Liuwa wandered the park by herself from the late 1990s until 2010, when the first of several companions were successfully transported to Liuwa. Alas, the story since then remained full of near-constant tragedies, but also some hope. Lady Liuwa never bred, but her impact continues with efforts to restore the once-ravaged park. African Parks has the history and a tribute to this resilient big cat. 

World Ranger Day gives us an opportunity to recognize the people on the front lines.

A record number of environmental activists and defenders were killed in 2016 — at least 200 people in 24 countries, according to records compiled by the organization Global Witness. The list includes activists who were protesting dams, mines, logging or agriculture, as well as wildlife rangers, forest guards and indigenous peoples. Global Witness says the actual number of slain activists may be much higher, as many deaths go unreported. Will this number continue to rise? Global Witness has tracked at least 98 more murders in the first five months of 2017. 

Fewer than 30 of these rare porpoises remain. Can their extinction be prevented?

Has Mexico finally taken the step that will save the vaquita from extinction? Or will it not be enough?

America’s newest national monument was also the first ever proposed by American Indian tribes.

The founder of SOS Elephants works to save elephants from poachers and other threats.