Mollusc of the Year
The eye-catching Cuban painted snail is the overwhelming winner in an international competition to find Mollusc of the Year 2022. The vote, organised by the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Frankfurt, will help conservation efforts to save the snail, which is at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and the illegal trade from shell collectors.
Europe dominates the shark fin trade
As global shark populations plummet, a new study has found that European countries are responsible for half the Asian shark-fin trade, a practice that is legal. The report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare reveals that, from 2003 to 2020, Spain was the biggest source of shark fin imports to Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, supplying 51,000 tonnes.