Nigeria’s Forest Elephants on the Brink: A Vanishing Legacy

Nigerians In the Square Mile (NISM), February 20, 2025

Nigeria’s forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), a subspecies of the African elephant, stand on the precipice of extinction. Once roaming the rainforests of southern Nigeria, these majestic creatures now face an existential crisis due to human encroachment. Without a clear census, population estimates have fluctuated, highlighting an alarming decline.

Read more (1 min)

World’s elephants are in trouble and need your help

Beryl Markham, West with the Night, February 20, 2025

An estimated 100 African elephants are killed each day by poachers seeking ivory, meat and body parts. In 1980, there were over 1,000,000 African elephants; today, there are less than 400,000. An insatiable lust for ivory products in Asian markets has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants since 2011, making it the worst year on record for elephant poaching in Africa.

Read more (5 min)

The Weekly Anthropocene, February 19 2025

Sam Matey, Substack, February 19, 2025

The African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) is intelligent, amiable, and has an excellent sense of smell, which has led to ingenious humans training them to detect land mines and tuberculosis cases. Now, they’re employed to help fight the illegal wildlife trade, sniffing for rhino horn, elephant ivory, and pangolin scales being trafficked through the airport and port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Brilliant work!

Read more (5 min)