Latest Animal poaching and smuggling News
Man charged with helping Idaho inmate escape during a hospital ambush sentenced to life in prison
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man who prosecutors said ambushed and shot correctional officers at a Boise hospital in a plot to help a fellow white supremacist gang member escape from prison was sentenced to life behind bars on Friday. Nicholas Umphenour, 29, pleaded guilty earlier...
Montana man gets 6 months in prison for cloning giant sheep and breeding it
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — An 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the U.S. to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota. U.S....
The number of rhinos is slightly up but poaching has increased too
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The rhino population across the world has increased slightly but so have the killings, mostly in South Africa, as poaching fed by huge demand for rhino horns remains a top threat, conservationists said in a new report. The number of white rhinos increased...
Wildlife trafficking ring killed at least 118 eagles, prosecutors say
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A man helped kill at least 118 eagles to sell their feathers and body parts on the black market as part of a long-running wildlife trafficking ring in the western U.S. that authorities allege killed thousands of birds, court filings show. Travis John Branson...
Dozens of exotic animals seized at Turkish border
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish customs officials in the northwestern city of Edirne discovered dozens of exotic animals being smuggled into Turkey from Greece. State-run Anadolu Agency reported that the mid-sized sedan with Greek license plates was carrying three kangaroos, three alpacas...
North Korea's former No. 2 diplomat in Cuba describes his dramatic, swift defection
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — When Ri Il Gyu, North Korea’s No. 2 diplomat in Cuba, finally decided to flee to South Korea in frustration over his highly repressive, corrupt homeland in November, he finished all necessary prep work alone. About a week later, he told his family to be ready to leave...
