MURCHISON, Texas—Five years ago, Humane Society International rescued over 200 wild exotic animals from decrepit, barren and disturbing conditions at St. Edouard Zoo, an unaccredited facility in Canada. The animals were taken to sanctuaries and qualified facilities throughout North America...

Black Beauty Ranch offers a fresh start to the domestic and exotic animals who roam its 1,400 acres. Whether they were rescued from roadside zoos, research laboratories or the exotic pet trade, some struggle to acclimate to life as wild animals. While providing the necessities that support their...

Longtime Trust friend Fred Ziegler became the first founding member of the Humane Stewardship Alliance, pledging to follow humane stewardship principles in managing his nearly 2900 acres in Tennessee. With three streams and 1.5 miles of frontage along one of North America’s most biologically rich...

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s law prohibiting direct public contact with big cats and bears goes into effect on July 1. Implementation of this law brings much needed protection for some of the animals who have been subjected to public handling and forced to live in abysmal facilities in the state...

My husband and I were contemplating whether to hike the 3-mile trail in Utah’s Zion National Park that September day. I’d read that this trail was our best chance to spot bighorn sheep, but after a week of exploring the five national parks in the state, our bodies were tired—and it was already late...

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...

Today, the New York state legislature passed a bill that ends inhumane wildlife killing contests, in which participants compete to kill the most, the heaviest and the smallest animals for cash and prizes. In 2018 and 2020, the Humane Society of the United States released undercover investigations...

WARNING: This page contains graphic content. In the spring of 2020, an HSUS investigator noticed something unusual: Just as some annual in-person killing contests for coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other animals were being canceled because of COVID-19, groups devoted to online killing contests were...

WARNING: This page contains graphic content. When rescuers slowly creaked the rusty door open, the dilapidated building appeared to be empty. Windowless and dark, the sheet-metal structure held no noise, only air thick with spiderwebs, dust and the burning smell of ammonia. Then a head with small...

It was the shot heard around the world. An American trophy hunter shot and severely injured Cecil with an arrow after he was lured outside Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe with elephant carcass bait. About 10 hours later, the hunting party tracked him down. A second arrow ended Cecil’s life. The...

Colorado’s mountain lions, bobcats and lynx are under threat from trophy hunting and need protection now.

A shocking undercover investigation recently conducted in Iowa by the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International found what can only be described as a massive garbage bin of the trophy hunting industry. A four-day event where thousands of animals – including at least 557...

Waconia, MINNESOTA—On Aug. 10, the Humane Society of the United States attended the Carver County Fair Tiger Encounter exhibit to witness firsthand how the animals were being treated in a show that claims to raise awareness about the plight of tigers in the wild and their rapid rate to extinction...

WASHINGTON - The Humane Society of the United States released today the results of a disturbing undercover investigation into two wildlife killing contests in Frederick County and in Waldorf, Maryland. Investigators documented the judging portions of the events, with participants lining up rows of...

Wherever you are in the U.S., a coyote may be taking up residence less than a mile away. If you live in the city, you’re more likely than your rural cousins to encounter raccoons. And regardless of geography, you probably share your home with dozens of species of insects and spiders. These facts...

Once robust, populations of cougars (also known as mountain lions or pumas) have declined drastically across most of their range in the Americas. The population decline is due to the impact of extensive hunting and predator control, in addition to continued habitat loss and fragmentation. Cougars...