China, Japan teamwork reviving crested ibis population

The crested ibis (scientific name Nipponia nippon), also known as the Asian or Japanese crested ibis, or toki, is a species cherished by the peoples of northeast Asia, who consider it the “bird of good fortune”. That belief did not, however, help the large bird with the distinctive red head and white plumes on the nape of the neck, and by the late 1970s, the crested ibis was practically extinct in its former range of...

‘Legally Pirate’ Paul Watson and his strategy of aggressive non-violence

Captain Paul Watson has been a hero for marine life for many decades now. He was back in the news this month when he announced a mission to thwart Japan’s plan to resume whaling near the continent of Antarctica, and Operation Ice Storm, his plan to prevent the hunting of fin whales by an Icelandic multi-millionaire. One of the founding members and directors of Greenpeace, Watson left the organization in 1977 after a disagreement and...