The world’s rarest primate is down to 30 animals. This simple rope bridge could help.
The human-made bridge helped Hainan gibbons traverse their fragmented habitat—but it's only a short-term solution, conservationists warn
The world’s most critically endangered primate, the Hainan gibbon, is barely surviving. Only 30 remain on the planet, all restricted to a single patch of forest on China’s Hainan Island. Because the species is so precarious, each gibbon’s survival is vital, says Bosco Pui Lok Chan, who manages the Hainan Gibbon Conservation Project, run by the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, in Hong Kong. © NGP, Content may not reflect National Geographic's current map policy. At home in the canopy, these acrobats use their long arms to swing from tree to tree, enabling them to easily gather forest fruits. They’re fearful of moving on the ground, which is why decades of forest fragmentation from logging and agricultural activities has isolated groups from one another, causing them to slowly die out. (Read more about threats to Hainan gibbons.) So after Typhoon Rammasun caused a massive landslide in Hainan in May 2015, destroying more of the gibbons’ habitat and opening gaps that exacerbated previous tree losses, Chan and colleagues took emergency action.
They employed professional tree climbers to install one artificial rope bridge over the damaged section of forest—the first time such an intervention has been attempted with the species. The bridge consisted of two mountaineering-grade ropes strung over a 50-foot-wide gully between trees. They also installed motion-activated camera traps near the bridge. A new study, published today in Scientific Reports brings welcome news: Gibbons are using the bridge, suggesting that this strategy can be used elsewhere in the forest to help the animals move around, mingle, and find mates, co-author Chan says. At first, the gibbons ignored the bridge, so after waiting 176 days, Chan says, “it was a pleasant relief when the gibbons finally used it.”
'Tiger King' star Doc Antle charged with wildlife trafficking
The latest 'Tiger King' star to be charged, the Myrtle Beach Safari owner has been indicted on 15 charges including animal cruelty.
The owner of a popular private zoo in South Carolina who was featured in the television series Tiger King has been indicted in Virginia on 15 charges that include wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty related to his activity with lions. Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who owns Myrtle Beach Safari, was the prominent face of an attraction that touted cub-petting of tigers long before Joseph Maldonado-Passage, or “Joe Exotic,” gained notoriety earlier this year for his starring role in the Netflix docu-tainment series Tiger King. Antle’s 37-year-old facility, which he runs with three girlfriends and his children, has long been popular with celebrities seeking to cuddle tiger cubs. He and his children have millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram. On October 8, the Virginia Attorney General’s office charged Antle with one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to traffic wildlife, four misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act, and nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
The charges stem from a months-long investigation into illegal selling and transport of lions between Antle and Keith Wilson, owner of Wilson’s Wild Animal Park in Winchester, Virginia. Wilson has been indicted on identical charges to Antle, plus four additional counts of conspiracy. (Wilson already was facing 46 counts of animal cruelty in relation to a November 2019 raid that resulted in authorities confiscating 119 of his animals.) It’s illegal to sell lions—protected species under the Endangered Species Act—across state lines. Two of Antle’s daughters also have been indicted on misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and violating the Endangered Species Act. Antle, Myrtle Beach Safari, and Wilson did not respond to requests for comment. Tiger King star “Joe Exotic,” meanwhile, is serving 22 years in prison for conspiracy to murder and killing tigers. Other private zoo owners who appeared in Tiger King have faced charges as well: Jeff Lowe lost his license to exhibit animals to the public, and Tim Stark was convicted of animal cruelty and violating the Endangered Species Act (and arrested yesterday for allegedly trying to conceal animals from federal authorities after weeks on the run). Tiger King became a pop culture sensation when it was released during the early days of the pandemic lockdown in March, but critics point out that it glosses over the realities of “roadside” zoos—many of which speed-breed tigers so tourists have cubs to cuddle, and frequently fail to provide adequate food, enclosures, and veterinary care. “It does bring full circle everything we saw in Tiger King,” says Dan Ashe, CEO of the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits more than 200 zoos in the United States—but not cub-petting attractions like Antle’s. “What pretty clearly looked like awful operations [on the show] in fact is true. One by one, we’ve seen Tiger King stars—Tim Stark, Jeff Lowe, and now Doc Antle—be exposed for mistreatment of animals.” (Ashe is also the former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which enforces wildlife trafficking laws.) Antle’s social media videos show him and his family swimming with tigers and playing with chimpanzees. They stand in stark contrast to cruelty charges in the indictment, three of which allege that he willfully perpetuated cruelty toward lion cubs in July and August 2019 that produced “torture or unnecessary suffering.”
Welcome to the Land of a Thousand Stray Dogs
At a rescue facility in Costa Rica, these stray dogs have found solace roaming free across the tropical mountain land.
The owner of a popular private zoo in South Carolina who was featured in the television series Tiger King has been indicted in Virginia on 15 charges that include wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty related to his activity with lions. Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who owns Myrtle Beach Safari, was the prominent face of an attraction that touted cub-petting of tigers long before Joseph Maldonado-Passage, or “Joe Exotic,” gained notoriety earlier this year for his starring role in the Netflix docu-tainment series Tiger King. Antle’s 37-year-old facility, which he runs with three girlfriends and his children, has long been popular with celebrities seeking to cuddle tiger cubs. He and his children have millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram. On October 8, the Virginia Attorney General’s office charged Antle with one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to traffic wildlife, four misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act, and nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. At the Territorio de Zaguates no-kill dog shelter in Costa Rica, every animal coming to live at the rescue facility gets a name. And at the moment, there are approximately 970 dogs living here.British photographer Dan Giannopoulos recently spent time with the dogs and the people who take care of them at this notable rescue facility, which translates to “Land of the Strays.”
Located about an hour from downtown San José, the shelter is famed for its approximately 378 acres of tropical mountain land where scores of canines stroll, frolic, and race alongside human visitors, shelter employees, and volunteers. The vast majority of the animals are up for adoption and visitors can bring their own dogs to play with the rescues. “To look out and see hundreds of dogs running across the field was completely breathtaking to me. I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Giannopoulos, a self-proclaimed dog lover currently based in Nicaragua. Giannopoulos, who has spent the last few years shooting alternative cultures in the UK, thought it might be difficult to photograph a story about dogs instead of people, but says they were all friendly, curious, and well-behaved. A labrador with a paralyzed leg stuck by Giannopoulos for an entire day, waiting for him if he dropped behind the group to take pictures. When it was time for him to leave, she followed him all the way to the gate and watched him get into a taxi. “There are a lot of dogs there that you can fall in love with,” Giannopoulos says.