By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The killing of Cecil the lion five years ago this week by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe triggered worldwide outrage. Father of a pride, lured with an elephant carcass, wounded by an arrow, he suffered for hours before being killed by gunshot. As it turned out, this was a shot heard around the world, giving momentum to global demand for an end to trophy killing of animals.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The coronavirus pandemic is not the only problem plaguing the horse racing industry as it prepares for the first of the Triple Crown races at Belmont Stakes this Saturday with altered schedules, shorter race times and a TV-only audience.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The Trump administration has given trophy hunters the green light to commit some of the worst sort of carnage on 20 million acres of Alaska’s pristinely beautiful national preserves.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In yet another twist in the continuing saga of Joe Exotic, a court has awarded his roadside zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, to the leader of a big cat sanctuary whom he once hired a hitman to kill.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Imagine our world and its wildlife without the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Had it not been for this bedrock federal law, the beloved American bald eagle would most likely have gone the way of the dodo or the passenger pigeon. Gray wolves and grizzly bears would be no more than relics hanging on the walls of trophy hunters. And the humpback whale would only be found in history books.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
A Netflix series on Joe Exotic, who made a living exploiting tigers he held in captivity at his roadside zoo, is helping to mobilize public support in favor of federal legislation that would end such exploitation.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The World Health Organization is calling on nations to end wildlife markets because of the high risk they pose for the spread of pathogens like the coronavirus that can jump from animals to humans.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
A decade ago, a Humane Society of the United States's undercover investigation delved into the bizarre world of Joseph Maldonado-Passage (aka Joe Exotic) and his roadside zoo, GW Exotics. For years, Joe and his band of untrained workers kept hundreds of big cats and other wild animals in captivity in barren conditions, bred them to provide infant animals for public photo shoots and “play time” sessions, and even shot animals dead when they were of no use to him anymore.
