Buck’s first day on the beach was a nightmare. Every hour was filled with shock or surprise. He had been suddenly removed from civilization and thrown into the heart of a primitive world. Here there was neither peace nor rest, nor a moment’s safety. It was essential to be constantly alert, for these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They were savages, all of them, who knew no law but the law of Club and Tooth.

Buck had never seen dogs fight like these, and his first experience taught him an unforgettable lesson. He was fortunate that it was Curly who was the victim, not himself. Curly, in her friendly way, tried to make friends with a husky dog. The dog was the size of a full-grown wolf, but not half as large as Curly was. There was no warning: only a fast jump, a metallic cut of teeth, and a jump back. Curly’s face was ripped open from eye to mouth.

It was wolf fighting, to strike and jump away, but there was more to it than this. Thirty or forty huskies ran to watch. They surrounded the fighters in a silent, watching circle, all licking their lips. Curly rushed at the husky, who struck again and jumped away. He met her next rush with his chest in a strange way that knocked her over. She never got up again. This was what the watching huskies had waited for. They closed in on her, snarling and yelping. Curly was buried, screaming in pain, under the dogs’ bodies.

David Daballen has been passionate about wildlife since he was a young boy. Now director of field operations at Save the Elephants, he’s been named as a finalist in the Tusk Conservation (环境保护) Awards, which celebrate Africa-based conservation leaders and wildlife rangers (护林员).

“When I first heard the news, I couldn’t believe it!” David says. “I hope it will inspire the next generation of Kenyan conservationists to follow in my path, Professionally, it will help my efforts in elephant conservation and allow me to scale up my mission to create more wildlife passages and develop even tighter relationships with leaders.”

“Over the past 20 years working with elephants, I have learnt to recognize 500 individuals through their ear patterns and tusk (长牙) shapes,” he says. “Many of them are like friends, and I know who they are by the way they hold themselves.” Recognizing individual elephants is the key to understanding how elephant society works, which in turn helps conservationists design solutions for coexistence that work for them and humans.

“Our field team collects data on a daily basis from a study elephant population,” David explains. They examine elephant families carefully: all births, disappearances, and soon. “A digital database enables analysis of population dynamics, social structure, individual and population dietary preferences, seasonal dispersal (扩散), paternity from DNA, and deaths from different causes, including illegal hunting. “As a Samburu elder, I am able to converse with all levels of leadership, and inspire behavioural change in local communities,” says David. He and his colleagues were able to persuade community leaders to act to stop elephant hunting in northern Kenya between 2009 and 2013.

“Thanks to the efforts of organisations like Save the Elephants, Kenya Wildlife Service and other partners, hunting has reduced considerably in Kenya,” says David. But these creatures are now facing a new trouble: human-elephant conflict (冲突) resulting from overgrazing and climate change. “Solving this is going to be a huge challenge,” David adds.

A new study suggests that 98 percent of Emperor penguin groups may be pushed close to extinction by the year 2100. And about 70 percent of their groups will be in danger by 2050. The research was published in the journal Global Change Biology.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)recently announced a plan to list the Emperor penguins as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Stephanie Jenouvrier , who is a penguin ecologist said that Emperor penguins need secure sea ice to reproduce, to feed and to molt. Molting is the replacement of their old feathers with new ones.

The new study looked at overall warming developments and the increasing likelihood of extreme weather changes because of global warming. The study noted that extremely low levels of sea ice in 2016 led to a large reproduction failure of an Emperor penguin group in Antarctica's Halley Bay. That year, seasonal sea ice broke up before young penguins had time to develop waterproof adult feathers. About 10,000 baby birds drowned, Jenouvrier said. The group did not recover afterwards.

Emperor penguins reproduce only in Antarctica during winter. Temperatures can reach minus 40 degrees Celsius, and wind speeds can reach 144 kilometers per hour. The penguins survive by gathering in groups of several thousand birds. But they cannot survive without enough sea ice.

The U.S. government has listed other species outside the country as threatened, including the polar bear. Polar bears live in Arctic areas and are also threatened by climate change and sea ice loss.

Placing Emperor penguins on the threatened list provides protections, such as a ban against importing them for business purposes. Possible effects on the penguins must also be studied by U.S. sea fisheries currently operating in Antarctica. Martha Williams, principal deputy director of the U.S. FWS said “climate change affects many animal species around the world.” She added, "The decisions made by policymakers today and during the next few decades will determine the fate of the Emperor penguin."