According to Tanzania’s National Development Corporation (NDC) six foreign firms have submitted bids to establish a $500 million soda ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron.  The NDC declined to identify the companies but is currently reviewing the bids.  As we’ve reported previously, the planned development of the plant faces harsh opposition from environmental [...]

At a press conference last Friday, Tanzania shadow minister Rev Peter Msigwa cited some alarming statistics about poaching in his country and called for a special independent probe into the problem.  He stated that at least 23,000 elephants per year are being killed by poachers in Tanzania’s parks, the equivalent of 67 per day, and [...]

On the heels of Kenya’s worst case of ivory poaching in years, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has announced plans to utilize a new technological weapon in the struggle to protect its wildlife from poachers.  According to an article in The Guardian, an alarm system will be installed along fences that will emit a loud noise [...]

According to The Guardian, two police offers were arrested last week in Serengeti National Park, accused of transporting illegally-acquired elephant tusks.   The two officers led their arresting officers to the would-be buyers of the tusks, in a hotel room in Mugumu.  The two men awaiting the stash were also taken into custody.  A search of [...]

To the surprise and relief of many in the conservation community, news came last week that Tanzania withdrew its application to CITES to sell 100 tons of ivory.  As we reported several months ago, the application drew immediate controversy when the government submitted it in October.  Opponents pointed to evidence that such legal sales of [...]

Scientists are asking for help from the public in a new research project dubbed “Snapshot Serengeti.”  A recent BBC Nature article describes this latest ‘citizen science study’ by the Zooniverse project, led by the University of Oxford and Adler Planetarium.   Hundreds of camera traps have been set up across the Serengeti, and each takes a [...]