By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

A U.S. District Court has ordered Jeff Lowe, a notorious big cat exhibitor who took over the running of Joe Exotic’s zoo, GW Exotics, to surrender all big cat cubs and their mothers in his possession over allegations of mistreatment.

The preliminary injunction in the Department of Justice case for recurring inhumane treatment and improper handling of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act was based on shocking findings by the U.S Department of Agriculture at Lowe’s facility in Oklahoma.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The National Marine Fisheries Service today released a proposed rule intended to reduce the risk of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales getting entangled in heavy ropes used in fishing gear such as that used for catching lobsters and crabs. Unfortunately, this long-anticipated rule falls far short of the protections that are really needed to ensure these marine mammals do not disappear forever.