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By Rachael Bale, ANIMALS Executive Editor
Tracking the threats to wildlife sometimes feels like a continual uphill slog. But not always. Today, I want to take a moment to highlight a few things from 2021 that animal lovers can celebrate. Consider these: 1. Animals now have their own COVID-19 vaccine: Lions, tigers, hyenas, gorillas, and other animals at zoos across the United States have been infected, but thanks to a vaccine from a veterinary pharmaceutical company called Zoetis, which initially tested its vaccine in cats and dogs, zoos have some 10,000 doses to vaccinate more than a hundred species, Natasha Daly reported.
2. South Africa announced it’s ending its captive lion farming industry: It’s pretty much what it sounds like. On private farms throughout the country, as many as 12,000 captive lions are held, often in overcrowded and inhumane conditions, to supply cubs for tourism, lions for trophy hunts, and bones for traditional medicine in Asia. In May, the country’s environmental minister announced it would no longer issue permits for such activities, Rachel Fobar reported.
3. Several popular tuna species are no longer moving toward extinction: This news surprise came in September. Modern commercial fishing has driven many tuna species toward the brink of collapse, but the unexpectedly fast recovery of two bluefin, a yellowfin, and an albacore tuna species thanks to a decade of efforts to end overfishing is something to celebrate, writer and Nat Geo Explorer Jason Bittel reported. (Also: How you can pick the most environmentally friendly cans of tuna.)
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