Hunting

A purrfect crime: Cats behind dozens of fires in South Korea

More than 100 fires in the South Korean capital were kitty-caused, according to the city’s fire officials.

Poachers' paradise: Gulf hunts fuel Pakistan falcon trafficking

It estimates that up to 700 falcons were illegally smuggled out of Pakistan last year alone, often by organised criminal networks.

Howling into the void? US wolf recovery endangered by Trump

The US has removed gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act, where they were first listed in the 1970s when their numbers fell to around 1,000. Conservationists now fear for the roughly 6,000 gray wolves when the new rule takes effect in January.

South Africa dehorns rhinos to curb poaching surge

Dehorning is controversial, especially as it makes male rhinos vulnerable in fights. But they are not essential for survival, and, like fingernails, they grow back.

Nature spills on to world's empty city streets

With the hunting season suspended in several European countries, this promises to be a spring and possibly a summer of love for the animal kingdom.

Illegal hunting threatens songbird prized as delicacy: study

About 300,000 of the birds pass through southwestern France, where they fall prey to hunters who for decades have defied bans on harvesting them in the name of gastronomic tradition.

Botswana may put elephants in cross-hairs as it moves to lift hunting ban

Conservationists estimate the land-locked southern African country to have around 130,000 elephants, close to a third of the continent’s population, but the government says the number is closer to 230,000, causing problems for small-scale farmers.

Trump reverses ban on bringing elephant trophies to US from Africa

Animal rights groups have slammed the decision. The White House says it has not yet finalised allowing trophy hunters in Zimbabwe and Zambia to bring the endangered animals home as trophies.