THE TEMPERATURE

US species extinct

Twenty-three species in the US are extinct. The species include the eastern American puma, the ivorybilled woodpecker and eight freshwater mussels. Extinction has three categories — steep declines, mostly extinct or functionally extinct. According to news wire ENS, the United States Endangered Species Act, which offers wide ranging protection for species at risk, came too late to save the delisted species. Scientists say climate change will threaten biodiversity even more while a United Nations-backed study says people are driving one million species to extinction.

Wildlife trafficking battle

A former war refugee, journalist and mining consultant is cracking the whip on wildlife crimes through his organisation Conserv Congo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mongabay news site reported. As a voluntary former ranger, Adams Cassinga soon found himself handling and investigating cases daily because wildlife crimes were not a priority for local police. When he was 16 he fled to South Africa from the DRC 199697 war. He was homeless until he gained refugee status and began working as a journalist at a local newspaper in Mbombela near Kruger National Park. Cassinga’s recent raid alongside authorities saw 60 African gray parrots being rescued.