Shell announced today that they will move the pipeline 20 kilometers to the south, away from the main feeding area of the critically endangered Western Gray Whale. A coalition of environmental organizations from around the world has been demanding that Shell move the pipeline for several years.

This February, a group of internationally renowned IUCN experts published a scientific report confirming that the Sakhalin-2 project threatened the extinction of the Western Gray Whale.

These disturbing events come after seven months of record poaching incidents and seizures. IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare - www.ifaw.org) commends the authorities for arrests that have been made but warns that much more needs to be done to reduce the threat to elephants.

“IFAW is delighted with this achievement,” said Kate Nattrass Atema, IFAW’s Companion Animal Program Director. “IFAW was closely involved with the drafting of this Written Declaration and lobbied for its support because we believe it will lead to drastically improved welfare for the many of the estimated 120 million dogs and cats in the EU.”

“Tiger Day provides an opportunity for the Russian people to celebrate tigers and better understand their plight,” said Masha Vorontsova, Director of IFAW Russia. “This is also a good time to remind the Russian government that they must stay focused on their commitment to tiger conservation, or only words, not tigers, will remain.”   

The world’s wild tiger population has plummeted by 97% over the past century; as few as 3,000 survive in small pockets of scattered habitat in 13 Asian countries.

“The annual herding and clubbing to death of still-nursing seal pups in Namibia has been criticized by veterinarians and scientists around the world” said Sheryl Fink, Director of IFAW’s Seal Program.