Kesha and Humane Society: List African Lions as an Endangered Species

Ecorazzi (Ali Berman)

Kesha and Humane Society International (HSI) are asking the public to sign a petition that would declare African lions as an endangered species.

Even though the African lion population has been just about cut in half over the last three decades, according to HSI, “lion trophy imports to the United States are on the rise.”

Secretary of State Clinton Calls for End to Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

National Geographic (David Braun)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called today for a global strategy to protect wildlife in their environments and begin to dry up the demand for trafficked wildlife goods. “I’m calling for the creation of a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks to take advantage of those networks that already are operating and the lessons we have learned from them. The sooner we get this off the ground, the better, and to that end, the State Department is pledging $100,000 to help get this new global system up and running,” she said at a Partnership Meeting on Wildlife Trafficking, attended by conservation groups and representatives of several countries at the Department of State in Washington, D.C.

Royal Couple Attend African Cats Film Premiere

BBC

WildAid PSA: Tiger Farms

WildAid’s public service announcement about the relatively unknown tiger farming practice in Asia. If the sale of farmed tiger products is legalized, the global demand for tiger parts will rise and increase poaching.

Putin Talks Tigers with Naomi Campbell

In November 2010, the world’s first tiger summit in St Petersburg ended with £330m pledged to make the great cat worth more alive than dead. The summit was attended by Vladimir Putin, Wen Jiabao, Leonardo DiCaprio, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick, and supermodel Naomi Campbell. During the summit, Naomi spoke with the Russian prime minister for GQ magazine.

GQ (Naomi Campbell)

Naomi Campbell: Now, Vladimir, you’re regarded as a tough leader, so why has the Russian prime minister decided to take part in the Global Tiger Initiative?

Vladimir Putin: It’s simple. I once saw a TV programme about Russian and US activists in the Far East with people engaged with tiger preservation. I was impressed by what I saw, so I decided to take a closer look, and started reading about the show and talking to experts. I decided support needed to be given to these activists, so I pulled together a programme, sponsored by extra funds. The total allocation was $5m and then we started expanding the programme, which now includes black bears, white bears and other species.

WCS Video Advises Department of Defense on Threats of Illegal Wildlife Trade

Wildlife Conservation Society

“The Wildlife Conservation Society has announced the release of “Caught in the Crosshairs: Combating the Illegal Wildlife Trade in Iraq and Afghanistan”—a new video aimed at informing U.S. military personnel about the consequences of buying illegal wildlife products when deployed or stationed overseas.

The video is the latest outreach tool in an ongoing initiative supported by the Department of Defense (DoD) Legacy Program that began in 2007 when WCS staff first noticed illegal items for sale on military bases near Kabul, Afghanistan. A subsequent survey of 395 soldiers at Fort Drum in June 2008 revealed that more than 40 percent of those surveyed had purchased or seen someone else in the military purchase products made from wildlife while stationed overseas.