Category: Environment

KUALA LUMPUR, September 3, 2011 (AFP) – Malaysia has seized more than 1,000 African elephant tusks in two separate shipments in the past two months, reports said Saturday. The wildlife watchdog says that the illegal ivory trade has been rising globally since 2004 largely due to increasing demand in China, where ivory is often ground […]

Sep 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s authorities say nearly 6,000 elephants had been found in an island wide census, which was slammed by conservationists as a cover for rulers to identify tusked elephants for capture and domestication. “Out of the total wild elephant population 1107 are calves and juveniles,” minister of agrarian services and […]

PARIS, August 16, 2011 (AFP) – A new species of eel found in the gloom of an undersea cave is a “living fossil” astonishingly similar to the first eels that swam some 200 million years ago, biologists reported on Wednesday. The discovery was made in March last year by a team led by Masaki Miya […]

MINNERIYA, August 12, 2011 (AFP) – Thousands of workers, soldiers and volunteers fanned out across Sri Lanka on Friday to begin the country’s first national elephant survey despite a boycott by some wildlife groups. Hundreds of conservationists decided not to take part because of fears prompted by comments from a minister that the survey will […]

Aug 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan conservation groups are boycotting an elephant census, and called on the private sector not to support the effort, after a government minister revealed plans to capture up to 300 calves with tusks for domestication. Agrarian and wildlife minister S M Chandrasena was reported as saying that the survey […]

WASHINGTON, August 5, 2011 (AFP) – Scientists have found evidence of flowing salt water on steep Martian slopes, which if confirmed would be the first discovery of active liquid water on the red planet, NASA said Thursday. The data gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has given new focus to the hunt for life forms […]

June 29, 2011 (LBO) – A plan by authorities to flood an ancient reservoir in Sri Lanka during the dry season may disrupt a centuries old migration of wild elephants who congregate in what is possibly the largest such gathering in the world, a leisure group has warned. Around August each year elephants running into […]

June 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has begun deepening canals in marshes bordering the capital Colombo and digging lakes to prevent flooding during the rainy season and for tourism and recreation, officials said. A 24-acre land is being dug in the Rampalawatte area in Pelawatte along with another lake at Thalawatugoda. The project is […]

June 18, 2011 (AFP) – Three baby elephants were killed when they were hit by a passenger train in Sri Lanka on Saturday, an official said. The trio were crossing the tracks in a forested area near Ambanpola, 93 miles (150 kilometres) north of Colombo, when they were struck by a passenger train bound for […]

May 26, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Thursday it planned to set up sanctuaries for stray dogs in a bid to remove them from the streets and tackle a growing rabies problem. Between 2,000 and 2,500 people are bitten each day by stray dogs, the official said, and there is one dog for every […]

May 26, 2011 (LBO) – The World Bank is to provide 150 million US dollars to Sri Lanka to improve flood protection and infrastructure in and around the capital city of Colombo, a government statement said. The overall aim of the ‘Metro Colombo Urban Development Project’ under taken with World Bank funding is to improve […]

NEW DELHI, May 24, 2011 (AFP) – Eight countries with the largest number of elephants met for the first on Tuesday in New Delhi to plot new strategies to protect the animal. “Delegates here represent two-thirds of the world’s wild elephant population,” Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told the inaugural gathering of the Elephant-8 group. […]