Program Term Archive

Terrestrial Wildlife

Gray Wolves Lose Endangered Species Protections

Terrestrial Wildlife

In October, the US Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule removing Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for all gray wolves in the lower 48 states except for a small...

Sound Science: Tracking Gray Wolves by Their Howls

Terrestrial Wildlife

Wolf–human conflicts are an ongoing concern that can lead to both legal and illegal killing of wild wolves, poor support for wild carnivore welfare among local human populations, and legislative...

Tiger King Cohorts Collared

Terrestrial Wildlife

The major players perpetuating the big cat trade in the United States are a small network of eccentric individuals who have been profiting off animal suffering for decades. The hit...

Birds Poised to Finally Get Animal Welfare Act Protections

Terrestrial Wildlife

For over 50 years, birds have been denied protection under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Twenty years ago, the animal welfare community won a lawsuit against the US Department of...

Preventing Future Pandemics Act

Terrestrial Wildlife

One of the stark realities COVID-19 has forced us to confront is the huge risk posed by zoonotic diseases—pathogens passed from nonhuman animals to humans. COVID is merely the latest...

Tales from the Ant World

Terrestrial Wildlife

Tales from the Ant World, by famed naturalist E. O. Wilson, is full of interesting, absorbable facts about ants (at the time of writing 15,438 species had been recognized, with...

House Passes Big Cat Public Safety Act to Limit Possession of Dangerous Big Cats

Press ReleaseDecember 3, 2020Terrestrial Wildlife

In the wake of the Netflix docuseries “Tiger King” and heightened public attention to the exploitation of captive big cats, the US House of Representatives passed the Big Cat Public...

AWI Endorses Legislation to Ban Archaic Body-Gripping Traps

Press ReleaseDecember 3, 2020Companion Animals, Terrestrial Wildlife

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes the reintroduction of the Public Safety and Wildlife Protection Act yesterday by Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC) and Nita Lowey (D-NY). This bill would prohibit...

Conservation Groups Sue USFWS to Save Wild Red Wolves

Press ReleaseNovember 16, 2020Terrestrial Wildlife

On behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Animal Welfare Institute, the Southern Environmental Law Center today sued the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the US District...

Trump Administration Strips Protections from Gray Wolves

Press ReleaseOctober 29, 2020Terrestrial Wildlife

Today, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) finalized a rule removing protections for all gray wolves in the lower 48 states except for a small population of Mexican wolves in Arizona...