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Commentary

Stop the Flow of Illegal Wildlife Products into the U.S.

Stop the Flow of Illegal Wildlife Products into the U.S.

By Jessica Seltzer - International Policy Digest Poachers have murdered elephants for decades for their valuable ivory tusks. Now evolution has taken hold. In Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, scientists are increasingly observing elephants without tusks. While there have always been a few tuskless elephants, a recent study showed that there was so much poaching during the 16-year Mozambique civil war that half the modern female elephants in the Gorongosa National Park have no tusks. Poaching and wildlife trafficking have had such a profound impact that they are changing genetic...

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Statistical ecology can unlock the power of biodiversity data in Africa

Statistical ecology can unlock the power of biodiversity data in Africa

By Henintsoa Onivola Minoarivelo, Francisco Cervantes Peralta & Timothy Kuiper - The Conversation Africa boasts an immensely rich diversity of plant and animal species. These are the building blocks of healthy ecosystems. Yet, the projected loss of wild habitats and species on the continent threatens biodiversity. Recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panels on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and Climate Change also highlight how biodiversity loss and climate change threaten human well-being. Good information is crucial to understand and reverse...

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Concerns over trophy hunting mount as pro-killing lobbyists go on charm offensive

Concerns over trophy hunting mount as pro-killing lobbyists go on charm offensive

By Tracy Keeling - The Canary A number of concerns related to trophy hunting have come to the fore recently. South Africa has faced criticism for releasing killing quotas that lack scientific evidence to back them up. At the same time, the US authorities have come under fire for failing to take action against the trade, and the UK is dragging its feet over proposed legislation to limit the trade. Pro-killing lobbyists, meanwhile, are on the charm offensive. Opaque Killing QuotasAs the Daily Maverick‘s Don Pinnock recently reported, environmentalists have criticised officials in South Africa...

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Climate change: how elephants help pump planet-warming carbon underground

Climate change: how elephants help pump planet-warming carbon underground

By Jeppe Aagaard Kristensen - The Conversation Imagine you’re in a hot air balloon flying over an African savanna in the late growing season. Below, herds of elephants, zebras, wildebeests and rhinos roam a mosaic landscape dotted with lonesome trees and daubs of woodland on a canvas of yellow-brown grass. The hungry and rowdy herbivores are eating and trampling the vegetation that stores carbon and keeps it from heating the atmosphere. You’d be forgiven for thinking that their voracious appetites and blundering steps might be disturbing and releasing the carbon stored in this ecosystem in...

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