Wildlife officials are trying to determine if the hundreds of pangolin carcasses seized from the Chinese fishing vessel that ran aground on Tubbataha Reefs on April 8 are local species.
Four more nations have signed an international pact to protect the dugong, a mysterious marine mammal that used to be a constant presence on coastlines around the world, including the Philippines, but whose numbers are now in decline.
Philippine authorities said Friday they had launched a nationwide investigation into Catholic devotees collecting religious figures made of “blood” ivory smuggled from Africa.
Customs authorities in the Philippines seized a shipment of six rhinoceros horns Friday, authorities said, adding to growing concerns over the country’s ports being used for illegal wildlife trafficking.
An alleged wildlife trafficker from China who was caught twice bringing in rare Philippine turtles and lizards to Hong Kong has been banned from reentering the country, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has charged an Indonesian national and his four Filipino cohorts with violation of wildlife protection laws before the General Santos City prosecutor’s office for allegedly smuggling into the country 17 marsupials of a specie categorized as “vulnerable.”
Wildlife activists on Wednesday called for the orange-spotted Tokay Gecko to be protected under international laws following a spike in smuggling of the lizard, mainly for medicine in China.
Move over, Cassius. The Philippines’ saltwater crocodile, Lolong, is the world’s biggest reptile in captivity.
Guinness World Records and the National Geographic Society have delayed planned visits to Agusan del Sur to document and validate claims that Lolong, a 1.075-ton saltwater crocodile captured in the province on September 3, is indeed the largest reptile in captivity, the mayor of the town where the crocodile is being kept said Saturday.
Representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records are expected to arrive here before the end of the month to verify if Lolong is indeed the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, Mayor Edwin Elorde said.
For now, the geckos—or “tuko”—may be a little safer in the trees or houses where they live.
