It’s International Orangutan Day today (Saturday) and events have been organised around the world to raise awareness about the plight of the now critically endangered primate, whose DNA is 97 percent the […]
World Orangutan Day: conservationists call for an end to habitat destruction
MH370: Experts say satellite images and drift studies indicate likely crash zone
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has just released two reports that are being taken as an indication that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may have gone down in an area […]
Habeas corpus victory for bear in Colombia encourages animal rights lawyers
Update at the end of this article. A bear named Chucho has been granted a writ of habeas corpus in Colombia in a landmark case that is encouraging lawyers who are fighting […]
Palm oil threats must be removed if Bornean orangutans are to survive, report says
A new report published by the International Institute for Environmental Development (IIED) says the development of large-scale oil palm plantations is responsible for significant loss and degradation of orangutan habitat on the island […]
Egg industry cruelty: report says Australia needs to implement new laws
The animal protection think-tank Voiceless¹ has just released a report that highlights the cruelty that is prevalent in egg farming across all production systems in Australia. The organisation has called for a […]
Six orangutans rescued from plantations in Sumatra
Over the past week, a team from the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) in Sumatra has rescued six orangutans from oil palm and rubber plantations. The first of the rescues was on July […]
Global Witness report: 2016 ‘deadliest year yet for environmental activists’
At least two hundred environmental activists were killed in 2016, according to a new report by the non-governmental organisation Global Witness. And nearly 40 percent of those murdered were from indigenous communities. […]
Koala conference round-up: French translation now available
The Changing Times article Koalas ‘being driven towards extinction’ , which is a round-up of the recent conference about the koala, held in Port Macquarie, has been translated into French and is […]
Sumatran rainforest remains on List of World Heritage In Danger
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has voted unanimously to keep the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) on the List of World Heritage In Danger. At its 41st session, taking place this week […]
Chimpanzees’ lawyers say court’s denial of habeas corpus is ‘legally wrong’
Lawyers for captive chimpanzees Tommy and Kiko have taken the unusual step of publishing a fully annotated document that lays out their criticisms of a New York appeal court’s ruling that denied […]
Koalas ‘being driven towards extinction’
Habitat clearance, disease, dog attacks, car hits, and climate change are threatening the survival of Australia’s most iconic animal. The effects of climate change on koalas and the ravages of diseases […]
‘Koalas have been reduced to grazing like sheep,’ conference told
Delegates to the national koala conference in Port Macquarie in the eastern Australian state of New South Wales heard today (Saturday) about the plight of koalas who are displaced when blue gum plantations […]
‘Climate change likely to have severe impact on koalas,’ conference told
Climate change was one of the main threats to the survival of the koala that were highlighted on the first day of a national koala conference that started in Port Macquarie in […]
Australian land court rules against Acland coal mine expansion
The Queensland Land Court in Australia has recognised the environmental impact that an expansion of the Acland open-cut coal mine would have on the local community and environment and has recommended that […]
Corrupt officials in Vietnam and Cambodia ‘in the pay of timber smugglers’
Corrupt government officials and security force personnel in Vietnam and Cambodia are pocketing massive bribes from timber smugglers, according to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)¹. According to the EIA, […]
Australian Greens to present ‘Stop Adani’ Bill in parliament
The Australian Greens will introduce a Bill into parliament next month in a bid to prevent nearly one billion dollars of public money going to the Indian multinational conglomerate Adani for construction […]
Two Sumatran elephants found dead – one on oil palm plantation and one on farmland
On two consecutive days this week, two Sumatran elephants were found dead – one on an oil palm plantation in North Sumatra and one on farmland in the Gayo Lues Regency in Aceh. The […]
2020 Olympics: environmentalists call for probe into tropical wood procurement
A group of seven non-governmental organisations has called for an independent investigation to establish the origins of the tropical plywood being used in the construction of the new national Olympic stadium in […]
Global call for unity on World Parkinson’s Day
Today is World Parkinson’s Day, which this year marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of James Parkinson’s “Essay on the Shaking Palsy”, which was the first official recognition of Parkinson’s as […]
Human rights in Malaysia: annual report pinpoints deaths in custody, and violations of indigenous rights
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) released its 2016 annual report today (Tuesday) and pinpointed the continued violation of indigenous people’s human rights. It also called for an urgent review of […]
