The Jaguar Rescue Center is a Noah’s ark of traumatized animals being groomed for reintroduction to the wild in a virgin jungle on Costa Rica’s south Caribbean coast. On the day we visited, four sloths were being released.
Earth Day is about celebrating the planet that gives us life. But it's also about taking stock of where we are in terms of making sure life on this planet continues. So with that in mind, here are some of the highlights of Costa Rica's recent environmental history.
MIAMI – Tens of thousands of endangered sea turtles die every year in the United States when they are inadvertently snared in shrimp nets, an environmental group alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the government.
If you’re accustomed to the same boring “deer crossing” signs, you’ll likely crack a smile at the silhouette of a rain forest creature by the side of the carretera.
The airline made the announcement via its Twitter account in response to several queries posed by users of the social media site. The Tico Times confirmed the announcement with the airline’s media office.
Adrian Arguijo Valdez is an artisanal fisherman. His weathered hands are a testament to countless years of direct exposure to sun and wind on the Golfo de Nicoya, off Costa Rica's north-central Pacific coast. Threads dance off the edges of his loose clothing, but there is still great strength in his presence. “I used to be a fisherman but times have changed,” he says.
The Ecological Blue Flag program this year awarded three Pacific beaches with flags portraying the maximum five stars. Four beaches will display the blue flag for the first time this year, including two at Cocos Island.
Although panda numbers are on the rise, they are facing a new threat: economic development. Twenty-four of the 33 separate panda populations in China are so small they are deemed "high risk for survival."
Environmentalists and administration officials are at loggerheads over what to do with more than 1,200 kilograms of shark fins — the equivalent of about 2,000 hammerhead sharks — caught as bycatch. The disagreement extends to regulations published in February that environmentalists contend threaten endangered shark populations.
