The Art Of Conservation – Détails, épisodes et analyse

We recap the vicuna vs rhino horn trade debate from episode 6.
National Geographic cut all staff writers – and no-one is happy about it.
Rhino stockpiles were raided in South Africa. Can't say we didn't see this coming... And again it's an inside job. 
New York DEC puts confiscated ivory on display, but is it a good idea?
Conservation struggles in UK and Scotland, illustrating again that the challenge is indeed global.
GEF launches new fund that raises hope, but will the funds get to those who need it most?

The trade in the South American vicūna is often used as an example of how lifting trade bans can help people and animals alike, but is it a fair comparison for the rhino horn trade debate? Namibia is planning a mass dehorning. Is the government of that country bolstering rhino horn stockpiles ahead of their next effort to open trade? A recent study answers the question of what impact does dehorning have on rhino behavior.  Rhino poaching gang sentenced to terms ranging from 16-20 years.  Two documentaries to watch out for: Rhinoman follows the story of what it is like to be a ranger on the front lines, and Blood Lions is now broadly available. Watch them! A report on convergence intelligence from Earth League International makes for good reading. Homeland Security in the USA launches dedicated unit to combats the illegal wildlife trade.

Simon joins us from the US through modern technology.

Poachers tranquilize rhino to remove horn in Orang National Park in Assam

Despite the poaching attempt in India, can you believe that the Indian Rhino numbers could actually be up?

This year there was an Indian Rhino census—guess what the total was?

Is it okay to protect animals even at the expense of the surrounding communities?

Would community intelligence officers work in South Africa the way they work in India?

We discuss the need to clone Dr. Jana Pretorius and Petronel Nieuwoudt (Care for Wild).

Who is the Kering Group? Do you wear any of their fashion lines? Should they disclose the suffering inflicted on the animal skins featured in their lines? Are they doing enough? Use your power and send a message straight to the Kering Group here

Could donkeys go extinct in our lifetime? How popular is donkey hide collagen?

What responsibilities do companies have these days? Is it profit before planet, or planet before profit?

Are companies leading by example or letting their customers lead them?

Could slaughter-free collagen be in our future?

Some updates on the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

Show Notes:

S2 E19 – The Weekly News 05-12-2022 with Shannon Elizabeth, Peter Borchert & a special guest interview with Dr. Louise de Waal/Blood Lions

Simon is in the USA, so Shannon and Peter are in charge. 

Peter is updating Rhino Review, while Shannon helped to take care of a 6-day-old baby rhino over the weekend. 

Peter talks about the evolution of rhinos across 55 million years. 

Do you know what the largest land mammal ever to have lived was?

A story in Science Magazine notes that a research team believes they have found pieces of the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs. Do you know how many millions of years ago that was?  

During an archeological dig in Luzon in the Philippines, fossils of an “Ice Age” rhinoceros were found. Can you guess what they discovered about these bones dating back 700,000 years ago?

We welcome Dr. Louise de Waal, the Director and Campaign Manager of Blood Lions, who tells us all about their new campaign #CancelCaptivity, why it is so important, and how you can help.

Blood Lions launches a new campaign to urge the ministers in South Africa to implement protections for captive bred lions. 

Sign the Blood Lions petition.

Peer-Reviewed Paper: Welfare concern associated with captive lions and the implications for commercial lion farms in South Africa.

Wild Choices will help you make ethical choices about captive wildlife tourism facilities in South Africa. 

Bats buzz like hornets! Can you guess why?

Four black rhinos were translocated to a private reserve in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. Was this really the best thing for these rhinos? What group was behind the big move?

Trophy hunter kills Botswana’s largest elephant, and claims he is a hero. With just $50k paid for the hunt, the arguments in defense of this senseless past time of killing for fun are getting thinner and thinner. Simon calls out trophy hunters to engage in discussion in one final bid to understand the psychology in taking pleasure in killing and suffering.

Canada’s seal clubbing season opens. With just 3% of kills being attributed to traditional use by the indigenous Innuits, we debate the claimed value of the fur industry. Canada is not a shining example of environmental leadership! 

Rhino have been relocated back into Mozambique’s Zinave National park, but is it a good thing? We debate the value of relocations as a measure of protecting rhino.

Should we endorse mining industry heavyweights investing in conservation, or is it greenwashing?

Is doomism more damaging than denialism?

 GEF celebrates a commitment of US$600m from the USA – but is it enough?

Shannon launches her documentary about Munu, the blind black rhino adopted by her foundation. With Munu as a shareholder in the documentary, Shannon wants to innovate how content funds conservation.

As we focus on the ongoing poaching stats, it is important to quantify the good work being done. Peter shares some successes in prosecutions across Africa to India for poaching related crimes. We must support the people on the front lines more than ever.

Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary takes in another orphan. If you can support them, please do so. They do extraordinary work.

Indonesia’s challenges with palm oil production continues as suspicion grows as the government is accused of collusion and price fixing. Palm oil usage in bio-diesel is also cause for concern. But we shouldn’t let this discourage the potential of bio-diesel.

What is the best use of conservation dollars? Habitat Protection? consumer education? legislation? A new report suggests the more effective measures to protect wildlife, orang-utans in particular. 

The science of kindness. A recent study suggests that by doing good, we are literally happier. E.O. Wilson’s Biophilia, supports this growing theory.

Four Paws is doing amazing work, rescuing many destitute animals in war torn Ukraine. 

Are zoos really contributors to conservation? A recent report suggests what we believe - with a few exceptions, the answer is not as much as they’d like us to believe… Zoos breed constantly under the banner of conservation and it is largely accepted. But why not sanctuaries? Are we not perpetuating a double standard?

A new scholarship that supports young African women entering the conservation economy, opens its applications for the 2023 academic year this Friday, 1 April. Peter’s editorial focuses on how do we address the issues of education, but also the major shortcomings in the funding of global conservation. Could subsidy reform at a government level play a role? 

7 members of the African Parks Network team murdered by Islamic extremists in Benin sends chilling warning to conservation communities all over the continent. Is this a taste of things to come?

Hippo ivory trade is on the rise with much of the trade heading to the USA. What on earth are these teeth being used for and how does it affect the illegal trade in hippo parts ?

IMF prices its first rhino bond t, in part, protect endangered black rhino in Southern Africa.

HSI-Africa succeeds in obtaining a high court interdict to halt the awarding of the controversial trophy hunting quotas in South Africa. 

Why do we dehorn rhinos? Here’s a great video explaining why and how…

Bizarrely, CITES approves the trade of intensively bred totoaba, an endangered species. What impact could this have on conservation efforts in Mexico?

India conducts a wildlife survey and the results are encouraging.

And finally, a Sumatran rhino calf is born in Way Kambas!

Massive sink holes are appearing on the seabed of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic with  melting permafrost to blame. Is this a sign of accelerated climate change? 

New research from 2 American universities suggests that the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, which was instituted to tax hunters for unregulated hunting, is the reason why conservation claims by trophy hunters are so exaggerated. 

More evidence suggests that South Africa’s recent trophy hunting quotas offers little economic value. But again, are this divisive conversations not distracting us from the urgent work we actually need to be looking at for real and sustainable transformational value on the African continent? 

United for Wildlife, from Prince William’s Royal Foundation, recently hosted a conference in Botswana, exploring the role financial and transport industries can play in curbing the illegal wildlife trade. Simon shares his experience. Thank you to our friends at Zambesia and MackAir for their very kind hospitality! 

And poaching in India evolves as Anthrax poisoning is identified in the killing of two elephant in that country.

South Africa’s minister of the Department of Fisheries, Forest and the Environment recently announced South Africa’s commitment to trophy hunting by publicising the trophy hunting quota for the year ahead. Included in the heady mix of commercialised blood lust are 150 elephant, 10 leopard and shockingly, 10 critically endangered black rhino. 

Given the continued poaching crisis, the incompleteness of the commitment to end captive lion breeding and intense rhino breeding, the ministry seems to be backtracking, and we are suitably confused at the mixed messaging, the inconsistency in application of science, ethic and the inaccurate economic numbers used in the justification of these hunts. 

Peter and Simon take a deep look into the rationale behind these quotas and hope that the minister will too.

The quotas are seemingly in stark contrast to the “One Welfare” policy adopted by Minister Barbara Creecy, and further evidence suggests that this allocation, almost exclusively for foreign white trophy hunters from America, is likely to do very little for conservation, reputation of the country and importantly, to promote authentic transformation in a sector that offers near zero representation of gender or racial transformation. 

No discussion about the state of our planet, most notably our oceans, is complete without the inclusion of Her Deepness, Dr Sylvia Earle. For more than half a century Sylvia has been one of the loudest and most articulate voices of reason and science in the pursuit to not only protect and correct the state of the ocean, but also in inspiring others to do the same.

In this episode, Simon and Sylvia discuss her latest book, a collaboration with the National Geographic Society entitled “Ocean, A Global Odyssey”. The conversation also explores the great “Anthropause”, the state of our oceans, the advancement of women in ocean conservation, the power of conscious consumerism, what we can learn from indigenous communities - and what we can teach them, and why there is cause for great optimism. Sylvia’s Mission Blue organization remains on the up and is truly worth supporting, especially the identifying and protecting of the world’s Hope Spots.