After a key legal defeat, the Department of the Interior told a federal district court in New York late Friday that no future meetings of the International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC) will take place, bringing an end to the controversial council. Environmental and animal advocacy groups...
WASHINGTON — An undercover investigation last week by the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International exposed exhibitors peddling wild animal products at the Safari Club International convention in Reno, Nevada. Items found for sale include belts and boots made of elephants...
As my beloved seedlings languished untouched on the display table, I improved my sales pitch: “Would you like a late-flowering thoroughwort to help migrating butterflies refuel? What about an aster that’s the only pollen source for some bee species?” But unlike the animals who would devour these...
The white Bengal tiger paces back and forth, back and forth in a squat cage on the edge of the show ring. The cage is little longer than the tiger's body. The clock ticks down to the start of three scheduled performances at this fair in Pennsylvania. Potted palms and wooden masks decorate the ring...
WASHINGTON—Today, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International released a shocking analysis of the 2021 Dallas Safari Club annual convention, taking place virtually Feb. 10 to 14. Trophy hunters, hunting outfitters and other businesses from around the world will gather...
As my neighbors and I stood 10 feet apart and swapped tips for scavenging kitchen staples this spring, the wilder residents of our community shared no such concerns. Squirrels twirled maple seed clusters like bouquets to reach every tidbit. Bumblebees made a mockery of social distancing in their...
Seven years ago, Minnesota attorney Jack Fay went to Kenya to meet the orphaned baby elephant he had been “fostering” through online donations. The HSUS state council member waited at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, on the edge of Nairobi, as Naipoki’s keepers brought her back from a day in the forest...
Somewhere between childhood and middle age, people’s natural affinity for wildlife often melts away, overtaken by exaggerated fears of of marauding armies of deer, insects and raccoons intent on invading our gardens and homes. Scorn for rabbits, the sensitive stars of many a bedtime story, is...
On summer evenings, my husband and I head to the darkest spot of our property to look for the light—in the form of fireflies rising from meadow grasses and twinkling their way into the trees. As the tulip poplars behind this spectacular display settle in for slumber, white yucca flowers open their...
In a few short months, the sweet scent of thawing soil will have me searching under trees, by streams and in gardens for new life peeking into the frosty air. During winter’s dark days, it’s hard to imagine anyone more excited about spring’s brave first blooms. But just below ground, creatures on a...
Four conservation and animal protection groups sued the Trump administration today over its secretive new policy of approving elephant and lion trophy imports behind closed doors. The lawsuit targets a U.S. Fish and Wildlife decision, outlined in a March 1 memo, to shut the public and scientists out...
Sitting on her porch in the desert one afternoon while recovering from surgery, Christine Hass closed her eyes. The operation to fix her detached retina had been difficult, and she sought respite from the lingering pain. “Suddenly I could hear all the birds singing. It was March—the migrants were...