PANGOLIN

China's forays into Africa's forests & illegal trade could lead to environmental disaster

Earthsight, a London-based environmental NGO, earlier estimated that the annual value of worldwide rosewood smuggling exceeded a billion dollars. Following the depletion of rosewood forests in Southeast Asia in 2010s, trafficking networks moved to West Africa which is home to Kosso – a rosewood species native to the region’s semi-arid forests.

Rising environmental costs of Chinese Investments in Africa

Instead of addressing the issues, China resorted to a big brotherly approach and described the NGOs’ whistle blowing efforts as xenophobic. But the NGOs feel that China has little concern about the life and livelihood of the people as well as flora and fauna of the country and that their protests are meant to save life, ET has learnt.

China’s wildlife is a pandemic ‘waiting to happen,’ study finds

Although the authors in China, the U.S., Belgium and Australia didn’t find anything resembling SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the pandemic, they showed that strains carried by bats are transmitted across the species barrier to infect other animals in spillover events that risk seeding dangerous outbreaks.

TN: Four Covid infected lions at Arignar Anna Zoological Park are delta variants

How virus detectives trace the origins of an outbreak - and why it's so tricky

In order to predict and prevent future pandemics like COVID-19, researchers need to find the origin of the viruses that cause them. This is not a trivial task.

China, SE Asia 'hotspot' for new coronaviruses: Study

The study, published in the journal Nature Food, showed that this is because of the global land-use changes including forest fragmentation, agricultural expansion and concentrated livestock production.

China silent on independent probe on charges of COVID-19 leak from Wuhan bio lab

Calls for an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which devastated the world after emerging from Wuhan have become louder especially in the US following new reports that some of the researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) fell sick well before China officially announced the COVID-19 outbreak on December 30, 2019.

WHO's coronavirus origins report: All you need to know about the four theories in play

The final report, a joint WHO-China study, which AFP obtained Monday ahead of its official release, spelled out how the joint team of Chinese scientists and international experts thrashed out the hierarchy of probability.

Amitabh Bachchan reveals he is a pledged organ donor, flaunts the green ribbon

The Big B took to social media to inform his fans.

Tiger, pangolin farming in Myanmar risks 'boosting demand'

How coronavirus jumped from animals to humans decoded

This jump from species-to-species was the result of the ability of the virus to bind to host cells, a study shows.

Poaching could increase under virus lockdowns

Poaching of endangered species could rebound as authorities divert their attention to enforcing coronavirus lockdown measures, an international wildlife watchdog said Wednesday, reporting stockpiling of ivory and other animal products as borders remain shut.

Scientists track link between wildlife and COVID-19 outbreak

Bats are also believed to be the original source of Ebola virus outbreaks that infected people in Africa from 2014 to 2016, and in 1976. Scientists have found very strong genetic clues that COVID-19 originated with bats

View: It's time for humans to stop living voraciously

China’s crackdown in 2003 on wildlife markets ended after Sars exited. History is repeating itself, this time while the Covid-19 pandemic is raging. Clearly, Chinese authorities have so long blessed the breed-and-kill industry as some sort of get-rich-quick cultural entitlement that it won’t evaporate by fiat.

Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand emerging as hotspots for pangolin trafficking in India, researchers warn

A recent study, published in the journal Cell, had placed pangolins as a natural reservoir of coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, the one behind the COVID-19 pandemic. Another recent study had identified the presence of SARS-CoV-2 like viruses in Malayan pangolins smuggled into China to be sold in wet markets.

Why India is also susceptible to coronavirus-like diseases

Human and wildlife interactions are increasing as Indian settlements press up against remaining wild spaces.

Animal protection bodies call for strict measures to stop pangolin poaching

They said the footage, captured by World Animal Protection (WAP) and Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford (WildCRU), shows that not only is this a major conservation issue but also a devastating animal welfare concern.

17 February is celebrated as World Pangolin Day

Pangolins are the only mammals that are covered in scales, which are made of keratin—just like our hair and finger nails. They are toothless, nocturnal, live in burrows and feed mainly on ants and termites.

Amid expanding concrete jungle, Delhi's wildlife shows sign of revival

Due to the degradation of the Yamuna river, Delhi has lost the nub-nosed or marsh crocodile (last seen in 1976) and the long-snouted crocodile (last seen in 1978).

Lesser-known species like Otter, Pangolin form a large part of wildlife trade

As govt focuses on protection of high-profile wild animals, there is little emphasis on a range of smaller species sought for their medicinal properties.

Pangolins face extinction in India, wildlife body warns

On the eve of World Pangolin Day, a wildlife body on Friday highlighted the extreme impact caused by poaching and illegal trade of the species and stressed the need for coordinated action to save the pangolins from extinction. TRAFFIC India said the survival of the species in India is in question.

Marine engineer among 13 held for smuggling Indian pangolins to China

In a major breakthrough Madhya Pradesh forest department on Monday arrested 13 people including a Kolkata-based marine engineer and a corporator involved in smuggling Indian pangolins to China and Vietnam.