The New Yorker broke a story yesterday about the head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, attempting to kill an endangered elephant in Botswana. The newly released footage exemplifies the blithe depravity of trophy hunting. The video shows LaPierre’s botched attempt to kill an African...

You’ve seen those cute videos and heartwarming news stories: kangaroos hopping through the streets of Adelaide, Australia; penguins exploring Cape Town, South Africa; deer grazing on the lawn of an apartment complex in London; bears stretching their legs in Yosemite National Park; and coyotes...

The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris heralds a new beginning. Most Americans are looking forward to putting the challenges of last year behind them. But many are still facing the difficulties of illness, unemployment and economic uncertainty because of the global...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson There’s a reason why the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund invest substantial time and effort in seeking to shape funding decisions within the U.S. Congress; it pays off big for animal protection. Today the U.S. House of...

When you’re a passionate animal welfare advocate, you might sometimes feel like a bit of an outsider. Friends, family members and co-workers who don’t share your passion might not grasp why you spend your weekends trapping community cats to get spayed or neutered. Or why you foster animals from the...

With their barrel shape, huge teeth and jaws that can open to almost 180 degrees, hippos are characteristically unique and one of the world’s most recognizable animals. Hippos are also a keystone species: As “ecosystem engineers,” their behavior helps shape and maintain landscapes and habitats and...

Every day, I share on this blog news about the progress we are making for animals. I am grateful to the thousands of readers who like, share, comment on the posts, support us with your donations and take action to make the world a better place for animals. Today, I want to share with you the blogs...

The killing of Cecil the lion five years this week ago by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe triggered worldwide outrage. Father of a pride, lured with an elephant carcass, wounded by an arrow, he suffered for hours before being killed by gunshot. As it turned out, this was a shot heard around...

Doc Antle, a notorious roadside zoo owner who has been on our radar for years, has been indicted on animal cruelty and wildlife trafficking charges in Virginia. Attorney General Mark Herring announced the indictment today after a months-long investigation of the trafficking of lions between Wilson’s...

As 2018 draws to a close, so too does the 115th Congress. Each year, the federal team at our affiliate Humane Society Legislative Fund pushes hard to advance legislation that protects animals, and this year, we saw strong progress. Notably, in the Farm Bill signed last week by President Trump, we...

A key panel appointed by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in South Africa recommends banning captive lion breeding and the commercial trade of lion parts such as lion skeletons. Humane Society International/Africa has been a key player in the campaign to phase out these...

Provisions for funding programs to protect wild horses and burros, gray wolves, animals used in research and testing, as well as elephants and lions, who are commonly the target of American trophy hunters, were among several animal welfare measures approved this week by House appropriations...

Our agenda for the protection of wildlife is an ambitious one, focusing on the most serious threats to threatened and endangered animals in the United States and around the world. We’ve invested a lot of energy and resources in the fights to stop the trophy hunting industry in its tracks, to...

Update 3/25/22: Earlier this week, the Court denied Safari Club International’s motion to dismiss our case. Now that trophy hunters' attempt to derail our lawsuit has been shut down, the judge will allow us to proceed to the merits. The number of leopards in sub-Saharan Africa has plummeted by 30%...

Every year, our Humane Awards recognize elected officials who help animals through public policy efforts in the U.S. Congress. As sponsors of positive legislation, and as champions of strong regulatory reforms, these legislators are in the vanguard of the fight for creating more protections for...

At the Humane Society of the United States, we take on the toughest fights for all animals, and we do our best to live up to an early mission statement of our founders: Every field of humane work – everywhere. From working with state and federal lawmakers to ensure maximum protections for animals...

A new United Nations report out today foretells a dire future for Planet Earth: as many as one million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction, mainly due to human actions, including development, the cutting of down forests and exhaustion of natural resources, and poaching. More than a...

Update: The full Trophy Hunting by the Numbers report has been released, providing a global look at the scope and impact of trophy hunting. A new poll shows that more than 75% of Americans oppose trophy hunting, and 82% oppose the trophy hunting and import of African lions and elephants, both listed...

We learned last week about the outrageous killing of two iconic and rare “big tusker” male savanna elephants in an unpopulated corner of northern Botswana. “ Big tusker” refers to an elephant with at least one tusk weighing 100 pounds but it effectively signifies an elephant who has survived for...

It’s been more than three years since we filed a petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to protect giraffes under the Endangered Species Act from trophy hunting and other imminent threats to their survival. During this time, the agency has responded once last year—following a...