News & Updates

Kenya has reportedly banned the export of several species of snake, including the African rock python, to zoos and pet shops around the world, after research has shown that the ecology of the snakes, especially pythons, has been negatively affected by wildlife trafficking.

Madrid, January 31, 2017.- The Municipal Plenary of the City of Madrid has voted in favour of banning circuses with wild animals from entering the capital of Spain. The decision is a result of the perseverance of the NGO coalition InfoCircos, which was founded by the Born Free Foundation and the Spanish NGOs, ANDA and FAADA.

Concerning reports indicate that a man has been killed by a tiger at the Youngor Wildlife Park in Ningbo, China. It is unclear how the man entered the enclosure on Sunday, with local reports suggesting he was visiting the zoo with his wife and child.

As the citizens of Vancouver look set to consider the future display of whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) at the famous Aquarium, the Park Board has been discussing a motion not to import more cetaceans until a deciding vote.

Born Free warns heinous trade threatens beleaguered wild lions. Born Free Foundation has warned that South Africa’s intention to grant an annual commercial export quota of 800 skeletons sourced from captive-bred lions raised in canned hunting facilities could threaten wild populations and perpetuate suffering.

Many agree that the most immediate critical threat to African elephants, rhinos, apes and other endangered wildlife is large-scale poaching and the organized criminal networks which traffic in these animals. Although national laws and international treaties protect these species throughout their range, generally there is weak application of relevant laws to arrest wildlife criminals and criminal courts to hand down sentences which not only take significant wildlife traffickers out of action but which also act as a deterrent. Widespread corruption feeds this process.

A Sumatran orangutan is reported to have escaped its enclosure at Chester Zoo on Sunday afternoon.The full details of the incident are not yet known, but it is believed a young Sumatran orangutan, Indah, managed to escape into the keeper area near her enclosure. Staff closed the area off from visitors, and Indah was later recaptured.

News has emerged that the long-running, US-based Ringling Bros And Barnum & Bailey Circus has reportedly made the decision to cease operating. The company made the announcement on 14 January 2017 that it will be holding its final performance on the 21 May, due to declining sales.

Virginia McKenna, OBE and founder of the Born Free Foundation, explains why nurturing the next generation is so important:

Tilikum, the largest orca in captivity and whose life was featured in the blockbuster film, Blackfish, has died. Reports emerged last year of Tilikum’s deteriorating health due to a drug-resistant bacterial lung infection, but today SeaWorld has confirmed that he has tragically passed away.