Poaching and illegal trade remain threats. Males’ horns are used in traditional medicine in China and Southeast Asia.(3/5)
.@WCSMongolia Director Enkhtuvshin Shiilegdamba says the population in her country is down to under 3,000.
This would be a big loss, she says. (4/5)
If saiga are to persist in healthy herds, says WCS’s @sslieberman, governments should heed the bold call of Mongolia and provide the highest level of protection.
RT this thread to spread the word. (5/5)
@sslieberman UPDATE: The saiga vote was due to take place today at #CITESCoP18 in Geneva, Switzerland.
But it has been delayed until tomorrow. More soon ...
COMMENTARY: If we are to minimize species loss and collapse in ecosystem function, we must do all we can to support Indigenous Peoples’ rights & their efforts to protect their lands & waters, write WCS’s David Wilkie, @sslieberman, & @cyclonewatson. 1/10
Why? Decisions Indigenous Peoples have made over generations have done more to protect species and ecological systems than all the protected areas established and managed by individual countries combined. bit.ly/2SbAIAq
Even 135 yrs after Louis Pasteur successfully vaccinated against rabies, this preventable but deadly viral disease remains one of most neglected in developing world.
Its greatest burden falls on poor rural communities and especially on children in Africa & Asia. #WorldRabiesDay
Since rabid domestic dogs are the cause of 99% of global deaths from rabies in humans, dog vaccination, coupled with education and control of feral dog populations, is the key to fighting this devastating disease. 2/
Since rabies also severely affects endangered wildlife species such as the Ethiopian wolf and African wild dogs, vaccination of domestic dogs at the landscape level by veterinarians also contributes to the conservation of these unique animal species. 3/
Majority of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic—they jump from wildlife to people. Key to addressing this: our interactions, exploitation, and destruction of nature.
NOW: Christian Walzer of @WcsHealth will be speaking at #NatureForLife Hub. Watch live on our Facebook.
At WCS, our policy recommends stopping all commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption (particularly of birds and mammals) and closing all such markets.
Also: we have to acknowledge that outbreaks are inevitable as the interfaces between wildlife and humans increase, primarily due to deforestation and agricultural expansion, as WCS's Christian Walzer wrote in @FrontiersIn yesterday. doi.org/10.3389/fvets.…#NatureForLife
Nature-based solutions can provide up to 30% percent of the action needed by 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 2°C. #NatureForLife#ClimateChange
Intact forests are estimated to absorb 1/4 of total global carbon pollution annually, but we're losing them far too rapidly. #NatureForLife