Wildernesses are Shrinking Worldwide

Wildernesses are Shrinking Worldwide

Pretty much wherever you look around the planet, wildernesses are shrinking. Well, not everywhere, to be sure, but in places like Borneo forests have shrunk drastically over the past decades. And that is, needless to say, a problem not only for Malaysia but for the entire planet as well. “These…

Let’s Run for Sharks and Orangutans in Sarawak

Come December 17, you can do something for the wild in Sarawak . . . in a hurry. The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Run for the Wild event this year will kick off on Sunday at the Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, in Kuching. First launched in 2015, Run for…

‘Stop Selling’ and Buying Shark Fins

‘Stop Selling’ and Buying Shark Fins

There they stood shoulder to shoulder, several dozens of them, dressed in rubber shark costumes with the dorsal fins cut off. The activists who gathered outside a high-end restaurant in Hong Kong Harbor bore placards and shouted “stop selling!” They meant shark fin soup, which remains a popular dish in…

WCS: Penalize People for having Snares

WCS: Penalize People for having Snares

Lying in wait within forests in Malaysia and much of the rest of Southeast Asia are pernicious killers. There they are underfoot and in the undergrowth, waiting for new victims to ensnare. Literally ensnare because we mean snares. They tend to be homemade contraptions fashioned from wire or cable and set…

Cheetahs, like Tigers, are going Extinct

Cheetahs, like Tigers, are going Extinct

Among the big cats of the world, it isn’t just tigers that are in serious trouble. Cheetahs, those iconic speedy predators, are “sprinting towards the edge of extinction,” according to a team of experts from the Zoological Society of London, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the conservationist group Panthera. The team’s study shows that only…

Nations vow to Save Helmeted Hornbills

Nations vow to Save Helmeted Hornbills

Unless we act, helmeted hornbills will go extinct in the wild. This isn’t a bit of alarmism; it’s a fact. The beautiful birds have been poached mercilessly across their range for their casques (helmet-like structures atop their beaks), which are highly prized as decorative items in China and Vietnam. In…