Personal views. Nature advocate. #TaiwaneseAmerican Head of Campaigns & Policy @pasaprimates Board @tz_elephants Featured in https://xitter.cf/t.co/ETGUC4tm0h
Washington, DC
Joined November 2011
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Very insightful data. Wildlife crime at the local, community level comes down to livelihoods. Lack of livelihood ties to poor governance. It is a systematic and chronic challenge throughout Africa. Small scale, inexpensive solutions can work magic.
Most of the 302 people interviewed in Zambian prisons for wildlife crime were not career criminals. Opportunity drove 40% of cases; immediate need (food, medical costs) another 16%.
Bushmeat was the most common offence.
Prison alone won’t break the cycle. Stigma among male offenders is low and the economic pull remains. Researchers point to practical post-release support instead.
Worth a read if you follow #conservation and #wildlifecrime in southern Africa:
news.mongabay.com/2026/09/ho…
#Nandankanan zoo is getting animals from Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Trust aka #Vantara. Is this in exchange with the repatriation of the 5 baby #orangutans? The Odisha state forest minister remarked earlier that he wanted 🦧to stay.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…
Iris Ho 何燕青 retweeted
🐒 Their wellbeing, Our wellbeing, One shared planet
Their survival is intertwined with ours. This #InternationalPrimateDay, let’s contribute to give primates the space and protection they need to thrive.
#Aaranyak #PrimateConservation #WildlifeConservation – at Tezpur, India
Iris Ho 何燕青 retweeted
A future with primates 🐒🌿
On International Primate Day, let’s celebrate the guardians of our forests. From dispersing seeds to sustaining healthy ecosystems, primates play a vital role in nature and our future.
#InternationalPrimateDay
Thinking of #Nepal💔❤️🩹🖤
The catastrophe of climate change spares no one - and it can unfold in an instant. npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-594…
Very sad to hear about the passing of AP reporter, Christopher Bordeen, « a tenacious chronicler of China’s rise. » We first met in 2014 when I oversaw campaigns to reduce shark fins and ivory consumption in China. RIP. apnews.com/article/obit-chri…
I was today’s old when I first heard of « lemur yoga class ». Wild animals do not belong in #yoga 🧘♀️ classes. Please, people. vice.com/en/article/4-lemurs…
#wildlife #lemur #WildAnimalsBelongInTheWild #zoonoses #zoonoticdisease #pandemic
Republic of the Congo --#Vietnam smuggling route seems unusual but others might know better. Shipment contained #ivory and #tiger bones. There's only one country in Africa - 🇿🇦 - that has a commercial breeding industry of big cats euronews.com/2026/08/13/viet…
Iris Ho 何燕青 retweeted
Vultures are disappearing in Nigeria - but the 'Vulture King' Chukwuemeka Igwe, a volunteer with Nigeria Conservation Foundation is fighting to reverse the trend. bbc.in/4gbhpSD
The island where rare #primates are vanishing - National Geographic #drillmonkey #redcolobusmonkey #equatoriaguinea #bushmeat #wildmeat #zoonoses
apple.news/A9JEhWLs2S9CJtVqu…
Brilliant investigative report on Vantara. Meticulously researched, offers a fresh angle by examining Armenia and Central Asian animal species and provides new insights into the ongoing saga surrounding Asia's richest family & its acquisition of wild animals from around the world
An investigation into the transfer of endangered animals from Armenia to India's controversial Vantara wildlife center reveals troubling questions about Armenia's role in a global network that blurs the line between rescue and commerce.
evnreport.com/environment/ar…
Iris Ho 何燕青 retweeted
In the 1990s, Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard made a groundbreaking discovery that challenged everything we thought we knew about how forests work. While studying managed forests in British Columbia, she noticed something puzzling: when birch trees were removed to promote the growth of valuable Douglas firs, the firs did not flourish as expected, they actually struggled and grew more slowly.
Determined to understand why, Simard traced the movement of nutrients using radioactive carbon isotopes. What she found was astonishing. Trees were actively sharing resources through vast underground fungal networks known as mycorrhizae. These delicate, thread-like fungi connect the roots of different trees across the forest floor, forming a complex web that allows the exchange of carbon, water, nutrients, and even chemical signals, sometimes between entirely different species.
She discovered that older, larger trees often serve as central "hubs" or "mother trees," supporting younger saplings by redistributing vital resources and helping the entire ecosystem remain resilient. When these key trees are removed, the underground network weakens, and the health of the remaining forest declines.
Simard’s research overturned the traditional Darwinian view of forests as battlegrounds of ruthless competition. Instead, she revealed a far more sophisticated reality: forests operate as highly cooperative systems where trees communicate, support one another, and even warn neighboring trees about threats like drought, disease, or insect attacks.
What appears to the human eye as a silent, still forest is, in truth, a vibrant, interconnected living network, built not on isolation and rivalry, but on deep connection and mutual aid.
The most bizzarre wildlife story I read today (tho the news article is a week old). From a kidnapping in France to crypto wallet in Venezuela to the world's largest self-claimed rescue center in India. lemonde.fr/en/france/article…
Iris Ho 何燕青 retweeted
Every collar tells a story.📍
TEF uses GPS collaring to track elephant movements across the Mkomazi-Tsavo transboundary ecosystem, helping identify migration corridors and conflict hotspots to support safer human-elephant coexistence.🐘
#ElephantConservation #ElephantTracking
Over 31 sloths have died at Sloth World which isn't even open yet. Owner was described as someone who "used to own a bonsai farm and had a sloth as a pet." I am sure caring for bonsais is different from caring for sloths. This place should be shut down. orlandoshine.com/over-31-slo…
Zeytin is from Africa & should be returned to Africa where there are accredited primate sanctuaries with decades of experience/expertise ready to receive and rehabilitate him with other rescued Western lowland gorillas (same subspecies as Z) #SendZeytinHome
Bugün ilginç bir telefon aldım. Önce şaşırdım sonra not aldım.
Türkiye’de 2024 yılında ele geçirilen Goril’in kendi doğasına iade edilmesi gerektiğini söylüyor. Sanırım hala Türkiye’de kalıyormuş bu hayvan. Bir Goril’in olursa yuvasına dönmesine vesile olmak gerçekten şaşırtıcı olur…
Konuşmanın detayını aynen aktarıyorum;
📞 Primatolog Aslıhan Niksarlı beni aradı. Şempanzelerin sosyal davranışları ve rehabilitasyonu üzerine çalışan Niksarlı, Aralık 2024'te Türkiye'de ele geçirilen Goril Zeytin hakkında kaygısını iletti.
Niksarlı, Zeytin'in bugüne kadar korunması için gösterilen çabaları takdir ettiğini vurguladı. Ancak en iyi niyetin bile bazı ihtiyaçların karşılanmasında yetersiz kalabileceğini, Zeytin'in ihtiyaçlarının ve hak ettiği hayatın ne yazık ki Türkiye'de karşılanamayacağını ve bir an önce rehabilitasyon merkezine Afrika'ya gönderilmesi gerektiğini vurguladı.
Niksarlı'ya göre goriller sosyal canlılar; grup içi bağları güçlü. Bulaşıcı bir hastalık taşımıyor ya da asosyal davranışlar sergilemiyorsa hiçbir primat yalnız yaşamamalı. Zeytin'in kendi türüyle bir arada bulunması, hem sosyal hem fiziksel gelişimi için kritik önem taşıyor. Türkiye'de gorillerin ihtiyaç duyduğu uzman bakım koşulları mevcut değil; bu durum Zeytin'in gelişimini olumsuz etkileyebilir. Zeytin hala çok genç ve bu dönem onun için kritik. Yalnızlık içinde geçirdiği her gün, fiziksel ve duygusal sağlığı üzerinde uzun vadeli izler bırakma riski taşıyor.
Zeytin'in de türdeşleriyle birlikte doğal yaşam alanında yaşama hakkı yeniden sağlanması, bu adım yalnızca Zeytin için değil, türlerin korunması ve ekosistemlerin onarılması açısından da büyük önem taşıdığını anlattı.
Aslıhan Niksarlı bilimsel ve etik adımlar eşliğinde Zeytin'i koruma merkezine kavuşturacak her adımı desteklemeye kendisinin ve uluslararası kurumların hazır olduklarını iletti.
@BonnConvention #CMSCoP15 opened earlier this week in #CampoGrande #Pantanal #Brazil with serious, high-level political endorsement. Not one but two presidents - Prez Lula and Prez Peña of Paraguay attended. #connectingnature #biodiversity enb.iisd.org/conference-part… via @iisd_news
African great apes represent at #CMSCOP15. Chimpanzees & gorillas are listed in CMS Appendices I & II. @BonnConvention is unique among MEAs on a number issues, e.g. recognizing “animal behavior diversity & culture” as a key aspect to conservation strategies. Music to my ears!
Iris Ho 何燕青 retweeted
At #CMSCOP15’s High-level Segment, the message was clear: in a fragmented world, multilateralism and ecological connectivity matter more than ever.
Presidents, ministers, ambassadors, sister Convention leaders, and civil society representatives called for stronger cross-border cooperation to protect migratory species and the ecosystems they depend on.
Discussions spotlighted wetlands, biodiversity-friendly infrastructure, indigenous peoples’ knowledge, and the need to make conservation work in practice across sectors and borders.
From Campo Grande, a strong call to connect nature to sustain life.
Read the full recap from @IISD_ENB: enb.iisd.org/conference-part…
Trade Secret: Arctic Premiere Sheds Light on Polar Bear Fur Trade polarjournal.net/trade-secre…