Tag - animal-welfare

 
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July 12, 2026
 

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ANIMAL WELFARE

A dead pangolin stripped of its scales is advertised on Facebook by a Thai account selling "seasonal wild delicacies," part of what conservationists call rampant illegal wildlife trafficking across social media platforms.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2026
For sale on Facebook: monkeys, rhino horn and dead pangolins
A recent report by conservationist organizations accuses Meta of hosting and effectively encouraging the world’s “largest single known illegal wildlife trade market.”
Punch, a Japanese macaque known for clinging to a stuffed orangutan, at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture in March
JAPAN / Society
Jun 25, 2026
‘Unacceptable’: Laser pointer aimed at Punch, the viral baby monkey
Pointing a laser at a monkey will cause it a great amount of stress, a zoo official said, adding that aiming one at its eyes could cause blindness.
Penguins are seen on an iceberg as scientists investigate the impact of climate change on Antarctica's penguin colonies, on the northern side of the Antarctic peninsula in 2022.
JAPAN
May 12, 2026
Emperor penguins in focus as Antarctic talks start in Japan
Officials from the nearly 60 countries signatory to the Antarctic Treaty are meeting in Hiroshima for annual discussions on protecting and managing the fragile region.
A staff member checks a Komodo dragon at Surabaya Zoo in Surabaya on Wednesday. Indonesia will lend a pair of endangered breeding Komodo dragons to Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2026
Indonesia lends Komodo dragon pair to Japan zoo
Indonesia’s Surabaya Zoo will receive a pair of red pandas, a pair of giraffes, four Aldabra giant tortoises and two female Japanese macaques from iZoo in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Toru Akama pets a cat at his animal shelter in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on March 5.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2026
Former Fukushima worker devotes life to abandoned pets
Toru Akama tends to dozens of pets abandoned after the catastrophe 15 years ago, work he sees as part of his quest for redemption.
French actress Brigitte Bardot addresses a news conference in 1965 in Hollywood for the film "Viva Maria," directed by Louis Malle (background). A female icon of the 1960s and a fervent animal rights activist, it was announced Sunday that she died at age 91.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 28, 2025
Brigitte Bardot, sex symbol turned animal activist, dies age 91
Bardot quit making movies at age 39, and she courted controversy with comments about marginalized members of society.
Naoyuki Kayamoto (left) and Makoto Murakami of venture firm Hundred aim to launch a subsidiary in the United States.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Nov 24, 2025
The Fukushima startup bringing a welfare perspective to animal testing
Naoyuki Kayamoto’s venture firm Hundred develops laboratory instruments that cause less stress to animals during experiments.
Yo Okutani holds a bear repellent spray he developed at Biosiense in Anan, Tokushima Prefecture, last month.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2025
Tokushima company develops bear repellent spray amid record attack numbers
The spray is a rare domestic product in a market dominated by imported options.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki attends a meeting to tackle bird flu held in Sapporo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 22, 2025
Bird flu season begins in Japan with infection confirmed at Hokkaido farm
The Hokkaido government has started to cull some 459,000 laying hens at the farm and imposed a ban on the transportation of hens within a 10-kilometer radius.
Jane Goodall communicates with a chimp named Nana in June 2004 at a zoo in Magdeburg, Germany. She was the world's foremost authority on chimpanzees.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2025
Without Jane Goodall, chimps need new champions — us
Goodall revolutionized the way we see both great apes and ourselves. We can’t let her legacy fade away.
An owl cafe in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2025
Investigation finds poor infection controls at some animal cafes in Japan
Through microbial examinations, investigators found a type of pathogenic E. coli in four of the stores and a type of salmonella bacteria in two.
Japan allows municipalities to authorize the shooting of wild bears in residential areas under an amended law aimed at preventing further attacks.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2025
Shooting bears in residential areas made easier in Japan
Many bear cases have already been reported in various parts of the country so far this fiscal year.
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Aug 31, 2025
How Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
From limiting their time outdoors to serving frozen food, the staff at Ueno Zoo take a number of measures to help the animals cope with the heat.
John Hume, the South African who bred the world’s biggest rhino herd, has for years campaigned unsuccessfully for the legalization of international trade in the animals’ horns.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 20, 2025
Man who bred world’s biggest rhino herd charged with horn smuggling
John Hume, 83, has for years campaigned unsuccessfully for the legalization of international trade in the animals’ horns.
People watch a cockfight in Bulacan province, north of Manila. Cockfighting has long been a national obsession in the Philippines, tracing its lineage to well before the first Spanish arrived in the 1500s.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 15, 2025
Online cockfighting thrives in Philippines despite ban and murders
Authorities estimate cockfight bettors are fueling an industry that generates millions of dollars in revenue each week.
A dog looks through the bars of a cage at the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control as the shelter struggles with overcrowding caused by pets abandoned during recent immigration raids, in Downey, California, on July 29.
WORLD / Society
Aug 6, 2025
Trump’s immigration raids in LA affecting pets too
Dogs and cats are finding themselves in Los Angeles County’s care centers after their owners get detained or deported.
A month-old lion cub (center) is seen in front of two 8-day-olds at a breeding facility in Chachoengsao province, Thailand, on July 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 29, 2025
‘Absolute madness’: Thailand’s pet lion problem
Thailand’s captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes.
A rescued baby orangutan rests in a basket in Bangkok on May 14.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025
Snakes on a plane highlight Thailand-India wildlife trafficking, NGO reports
Many of the animals seized are alive, showing demand for exotic pets is driving the smuggling trade, the nongovernmental organization said.
The Kumamoto Municipal Government building in the city of Kumamoto
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025
Around 100 dead cats found at woman’s home in Japan
City officials and animal rights volunteers inspected the house twice, before launching a full search and rescue mission.
A student in hazmat suit moves around a taxidermied giraffe at the "crime scene" set up in the warehouse of the Wildlife Forensic Academy in the Buffelsfontein Game and Nature Reserve near Cape Town, South Africa, on April 16.
WORLD / Society
Apr 22, 2025
Inside South Africa’s wildlife CSI school helping to catch poachers
South Africa faces an acute poaching crisis, with more than 10,000 rhinos killed since 2007 according to the International Rhino Foundation.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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