Latest news with #WorldWildlifeFund
Miami Herald
a day ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Striped predators make rare appearances — and bring hope for the species
The summaries below were drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All linked stories were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists. In the forests of Asia between the trees, one of the world's largest cats uses its vertical stripes to blend in. Tigers are effective hunters and apex predators, but their populations have been pushed to the brink across their native lands. 'Tiger range has declined by a staggering 92%, with wild tigers living in only a fraction of the space they used to occupy,' the World Wildlife Fund told McClatchy News in an email. Global Tiger Day is celebrated on July 29, according to the WWF, and marks an opportunity to recognize tiger population successes and learning moments from around the world. Take a look at some recent rare sightings and news from captive breeding programs. In Kui Buri National Park, Thailand, a trail camera captured a rare sighting of an adult tiger, marking the park's first such sighting in over a decade. This exciting discovery, attributed to ongoing conservation efforts, has raised hopes for the return of tigers to the area. The park is in southern Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. | Published Jan. 6 | Read More | In Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand, a Bengal tiger mother and her three cubs were unexpectedly spotted on trail cameras. This is the first time a tiger has been recorded raising three cubs in the park, which is home to a small breeding population of Bengal tigers. The park is the largest national park in Thailand, located between the Gulf of Thailand and the eastern border of Myanmar. | Published Feb. 4 | Read More | In the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand, a female tiger known as F22, who had been elusive for years, was spotted on trail cameras with her two cubs. This sighting, which occurred in February, indicates the success of conservation efforts in the area, as the mother and cubs appeared strong and healthy. The sanctuary, near the border with Myanmar, is home to a diverse array of wildlife, suggesting a thriving ecosystem. | Published April 1 | Read More | In the Hala-Bala forest of Thailand's Bang Lang National Park, a camera trap captured images of the critically endangered Malayan tiger, along with other elusive species. This sighting highlights the forest's rich biodiversity and its ability to support various species. The Malayan tiger is found only on the Malaysian peninsula and Thailand's southern forests. | Published May 9 | Read More | At Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in India, two abandoned tiger cubs were discovered, but only one remained when the team arrived. Trail camera footage later confirmed that the mother returned to retrieve the cub, showcasing a successful case of wildlife conservation. The park is in eastern India near the disputed region of Arunachal Pradesh. | Published May 20 | Read More | McClatchy News continues to follow rare animals, new behaviors and even new species. Check back for the latest stories.
The Star
a day ago
- Politics
- The Star
Experts condemn India park after elephants airlifted to Japan
BENGALURU, (India): Conservationists and animal experts have raised the alarm after a wildlife park in southern India airlifted four endangered Asian elephants to Japan, saying the long-haul journey and relocation could impact the animals' health. The elephants -- three female, Gauri (9), Shruti (7), and Tulsi (5), and one male, Suresh (8) -- were put into specially designed crates and loaded onto a cargo plane last week bound for Osaka, a nearly 12-hour journey. They were transported from the Bannerughatta Biological Park (BBP) in Bengaluru to Himeji Central Park, where they will spend the rest of their lives. The Bengaluru park would receive four cheetahs, four jaguars, four pumas, three chimpanzees and eight black-capped capuchins in exchange, the New Indian Express daily said. Wildlife biologist and conservationist Ravi Chellam condemned the move, saying wildlife parks should only keep animals that are native to the region. "Elephants are not native to Japan nor are jaguars and cheetahs, which will reportedly be brought to Bengaluru, native to Karnataka," Chellam told AFP. "So, it is important to find out what the purpose of this international animal exchange is." There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the majority in India. In 2022, eight cheetahs were transported 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from Namibia to India, followed by another 12 from South Africa, as part of a project backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The project was aimed at reintroducing the big cat species to India's grasslands seven decades after they were hunted into oblivion. - 'Frightening and stressful' - However, several cheetahs died soon after, raising questions about the high-profile project. Chellam said animals are not meant merely to be "shown off" at wildlife parks. "Modern zoos should have very clear objectives and these are education, conservation, research and recreation," he said. "Zoos should plan their animal collections in a manner that will enable them to meet these objectives." The Bengaluru elephants were trained over six months for the extraordinary trip, local media reported. "Every day, they were made to enter, stay, and relax inside crates for three to four hours, making them acclimatised to the conditions," the Times of India newspaper quoted top BBP official AV Surya Sen as saying. But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said the elephants would have nevertheless found "flying in the cargo hold of planes frightening and stressful". "Instead of funds used to fly animals to different countries just to be put on display, the focus can be redirected to helping protect jungles and keeping animals in their natural homes," Sachin Bangera of PETA India told AFP. International animal exchange programmes involving Indian zoos are not common, but do happen occasionally, Bangera added. - AFP
Indian Express
2 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Global Tiger Day 2025: Know the date, theme, history, and significance
International Tiger Day 2025 Date and Theme: According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), approximately 100,000 tigers roamed the wild a century ago, while current estimates suggest there are only about 4,000 remaining today, and this number is decreasing. Global Tiger Day is a global observance that seeks to preserve tigers' natural habitats and raise public awareness and support for conservation efforts worldwide. The day is celebrated on July 29 annually, and this year, it's being observed on July 29, 2025, falling on a Tuesday. It was first established in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit, highlights the alarming decline in tiger populations and the urgent need for conservation efforts. Thirteen tiger-range countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, India, and Russia, attended the summit. Under the 'Tx2' program, the primary goal was to double the tiger population by 2022 through international collaboration and conservation effort; since then, the day has come to represent a global campaign to safeguard tigers. While the theme is yet to be announced, the previous year slogans for the day have included 'Roar for Tigers' and 'Save Tigers, Save Forests, Save Life.' The significance of the day lies in raising awareness about tiger conservation and the urgent threats they face, such as habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict, and inspiring collective action. International Tiger Day is marked globally, and awareness is raised through educational programs, media campaigns, and conservation activities. #InternationalTigerDay 2024: A Global Commitment to Tiger Conservation🐅 ⇒ Every year on July 29, International Tiger Day is celebrated to highlight the importance of tiger conservation across the globe ⇒ The declaration to celebrate this day was made on July 29, 2010, in St.… — PIB India (@PIB_India) July 28, 2024
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
As hero and villain, Hulk Hogan helped make popular culture what it is today
When Terry Bollea, more commonly known as Hulk Hogan, showed up in an evening slot at the 2024 Republican National Convention, reactions were mixed. Then-candidate President Trump and his supporters, both in and outside the hall, were clearly delighted, especially when Hogan, in a signature move, ripped off his T-shirt to display a Trump/Vance tank. Others reacted with disgust, decrying the 'cheap' theatrics of a stunt in which Trump courted fans of professional wrestling and Hogan tried to regain national relevance. In either case, it was mutual benediction. Trump won by leveraging a popular culture that Hogan, who died Thursday at 71, played a significant role in shaping. From the popularity of scripted reality television to the celebration of 'real Americans,' Hogan's career catalyzed and mirrored the shifting zeitgeist. Forty years ago, he began leveraging an in-your-face patriotism (complete with 'Real American' as his theme song) and a naked demand for dominance to become a self-spun celebrity who helped turn pro wrestling from a niche form of entertainment into an international billion-dollar industry. He created the template for reality-star brand management when Kim Kardashian was still in diapers; he amassed millions of devoted followers by speaking to them directly, and in all caps long before social media was invented. He was canceled (for racist language), only to be uncanceled after a successful apology tour. He not only survived the release of a sex tape, he sued (with the help of billionaire Peter Thiel) the media site Gawker for publishing it and won, putting Gawker out of business and striking fear into the heart of the free press. He thwarted unions, starred in movies, had a restaurant chain and co-owned his own brand of beer. Tap any portion of modern celebrity culture — good, bad and ugly — and there's Hulk Hogan, all handle-bar mustache and 'Let me tell you something, brother.' The take-no-prisoners combative style that made him stand out in the 1980s has become just as mainstream as professional wrestling. Even those who would rather eat glass than watch pro wrestling know who he was; he was a pioneer of personality as profession. Six foot eight and built like a tank, Terry Bollea became a professional wrestler in 1977 and cultivated the kind of self-aggrandizing personality that had made Gorgeous George (George Raymond Wagner) a star decades earlier. But Hulk Hogan cast himself as a hero, unleashed to lay the bad guys flat. He spoke directly to his audience, including children, and soon gained national, and then international, fame, for himself and the World Wrestling Federation. So much so that, in 1993, the World Wildlife Fund sued the organization over its initials, forcing it to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment — WWE. The name change made perfect sense — pro wrestling has always been more about entertainment than sport. Yes, the participants are super-fit and strong and their bodies endure all manner of injury, but their brawls are not true competitions. The matches are carefully choreographed, with winners chosen beforehand (though the outcomes are kept from the audience). With its reliance on over-the-top personas categorized as 'faces' (good guys) and 'heels' (villains), pro wrestling, like many modern reality programs, was all about audience preference. In many ways, Hulk Hogan was the first reality TV star, a champion not because he was a better wrestler (or at least not in the nonprofessional sense) but because he was a better performer, pushing back against the rise of the new, gentler, feminist man of the 1980s with his physicality and bravado. Not that he was above modifying his persona for increased popularity — in his early years, he was a 'face' before becoming a 'heel,' a growling villain renamed Hollywood Hogan. 'I did it to upset the fans,' he told The Times in 2019. 'But it didn't really work. They still loved me.' By the late 1980s, 'Hulkamania' was everywhere, feeding off Hogan's signature colors (yellow and red), moves (the leg-drop) and catchphrases ('Whatcha gonna do when the Hulkamania runs wild on you, brother?'). Not even an admission that he used steroids, after years of claiming otherwise, derailed his popularity. Everyone wanted a piece of him, and Hogan began showing up in film and television. In 1982, he played Thunderlips, a version of himself, in 'Rocky III,' taking on Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa in an exhibition match. Hogan would also show up on the small screen in 'The Love Boat,' 'The A-Team,' 'The All New Mickey Mouse Club' and, more recently, 'The Goldbergs'; he made some terrible movies, including 'Suburban Commando' and 'Mr. Nanny,' did voice-work for video games and appeared, of course, in countless WWE productions. He set the stage for other pro wrestlers to become actors, including the Rock, John Cena and Dave Bautista. In 2005, he went full-bore reality, starring in 'Hogan Knows Best' which focused on his family life with wife Linda, son Nick and daughter Brooke. (Hogan agreed in part to support Brooke's burgeoning singing career.) As with many celebrity family-based series, it ended after four seasons, when actual reality, including the couple's divorce and Nick's involvement in a car crash for which he was charged with reckless driving (and later sentenced to prison), made it impossible to continue. Despite his many wrestling titles and iconic matches, Hogan's most famous battle occurred in a courtroom. In 2012, Gawker published portions of a sex tape in which he appeared. Hogan sued. Or rather Terry Bollea sued (with the financial support of Thiel, who had his own ax to grind with Gawker for outing him years earlier). He claimed that while Hulk Hogan was a public figure who often spoke of his sexual prowess, Bollea was not, and therefore publishing the tape, which had been made without his consent, violated his privacy. In 2016, the jury found for Bollea and awarded him $115 million; Gawker folded a few months later and Hogan found himself in the middle of a debate about the 1st Amendment and the decreasing popularity, and profitability, of the press. More damaging, however, were leaked portions of that tape in which Hogan used racist slurs, including the N-word, when discussing his daughter's boyfriend. In 2015, the WWE terminated Hogan's contract and removed all mention of him from his website. Hogan's subsequent apology tour led to him being reinstated in 2018. These were not the only scandals in which Hogan was involved — in the late 1980s, he was instrumental in preventing an attempt by other wrestlers to unionize; his divorce from Linda was messy, and he and his daughter were estranged for years. His appearance at the RNC convention last year divided his fans. In January, he was booed by members of the crowd gathered for the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix's 'WWE Raw,' which many, including Hogan, saw as a condemnation of his support for Trump. Not that he seemed too concerned. In a culture where hate-watching is courted and toxic conversation applauded, the only real enemy is silence. As Hulk Hogan taught us, for better and worse, a face is as good as a heel and a boo is as good as a cheer, just as long as the crowd continues to make some noise.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘She doesn't want to upset people - I probably do': Bella Freud on sister Esther
Fashion designer Bella Freud, 64, and her novelist sister Esther Freud, 62, are daughters of artist Lucian Freud and great-granddaughters to Sigmund. They were raised by their mother in the UK and Morocco. Esther: Even as a child, Bella had a lot of power. She was bright and capable and often angry, but she had such charisma. She would create situations that felt very daring and exciting. When she was nine, she became a passionate, paid-up member of the World Wildlife Fund. She found an old pram and we went from door to door for donations. I was about seven, and a neighbour reported she'd seen me straining to push this enormous, junk-filled vehicle up the road, with Bella sitting on top. When my mother asked about it, I thought, 'No, no: they don't understand. She allowed me to push her.' That's how powerful she was. Loading Interestingly, I don't think I was ever the subject of her anger. And she also had this enormous capacity for lighting up life; she was incredibly beguiling. Even now, I can say things to her that I can't say to anyone else. I can exaggerate my feelings with her, try things out on her. It's almost like a twin relationship, in that way: this alliance right at the centre of our lives. Sometimes, I think, 'Oh, I'll try not to talk to Bella about this', but I always crack. There just isn't anyone else who can unwrap life for me like her. I have mined my childhood for 35 years [as a fiction writer; her latest novel, My Sister and Other Lovers, is out now.] Some of it is very close to Bella and me, but she's like our father. I once wrote a character clearly based on him, and he said, 'For a horrible moment, I thought he was me, then I remembered, 'Oh no, I don't wear a watch.' ' Bella just says, 'It's fiction', and gives me her blessing. This last book, she said: 'Be sharper, harsher, clearer. Don't worry about hurting my feelings.' It was fabulous. 'I can exaggerate my feelings with Bella, try things out on her. It's almost like a twin relationship, in that way.' Esther Freud Just very recently, she's started her own writing: these beautiful little Sunday stories on Instagram. It's been so illuminating for me. As a child, I was caught between her and my mother – both very strong, fiery, outspoken – always just hoping things would settle down. Now I realise she was unhappy. She had a difficult relationship with our mother; she found the itinerant life we were leading, which actually rather suited me, extremely painful and difficult. It was like clear water, clear air, to finally understand that. And she seems so at peace and happy now; more compassionate for the past, for herself, for our family. I've always been so proud of her. When she first started to design clothes back in the '90s, she'd have these incredible catwalk shows with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Susie Bick [now Cave]. I've never been brilliant at clothes: I once tried on this lovely, soft, brushed-cotton brown shirt with her and she just said, 'Never, ever buy something unless it really suits you.' I said, 'But it's so comfortable!' and she just looked at me with this look – she lowers her eyes, then raises them – and said, 'Stop it.' Now she gives me things, utterly beautiful things. Some of them I've honestly worn for 25 years.
