South Africa’s Out-Of-Control Big Cat Industry

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“South Africa’s out-of-control big cat industry – and how to tackle it,” Four Paws, December 2024 “South Africa is the world’s largest exporter of live tigers and their parts despite not having any captive-breeding facilities registered in terms of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).  This is according …

South Africa’s Rhino Horn Stockpiles: Integral to Illegal Trade

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“South Africa’s Rhino Horn Stockpiles: Integral to Illegal Trade – What Next for South African Rhino,” EMS Foundation Report 2024 Conclusions and Recommendations “Instead of destroying the rhino horn after removal, South Africa has chosen to continue the risk to the diminishing surviving rhino population by driving the perception that the …

Roadmap to Closing Captive Tiger Facilities of Concern

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“Current estimates indicate that there are at least 8,900 tigers being held in more than 300 facilities in East and Southeast Asia. Over 6,000 of these tigers are located in China, with the remaining animals found almost exclusively in Thailand (approx. 1,635), Lao PDR (451); and Vietnam (395)….The rate at which tigers are bred, …

Putting a stop to cruelty – Lion Bone Trade

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“Putting a stop to cruelty: why South Africa’s commercial captive lion industry should be shut down for good” – World Animal Protection report, August 2023 “The report adds credence to pre-existing concerns about how some of these types of facilities operate. Specifically, that some are using legal activities – like captive breeding and canned hunting – to …

Saving Sally: Trophy Hunters, Secrets & Lies

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SavingSally.org When Eduardo Goncalves (of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting) posed as a trophy hunter, he entered the fanatical, dark and macabre world of the trophy hunters and their fixers – hunting outfitters and canned* animal breeders offering trophy hunters kills for cash.  “Saving Sally: Trophy Hunters Secrets and Lies” outlines …

Rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crime 2012-2021

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“Poaching rates across Africa have decreased by more than 50% since the peak in 2015, but they remain high, at equivalent levels seen at the start of the crisis. Poached horns from South Africa continue to be a key source for the illicit supply chain. Investigations indicate the main consumer market is China where rhino horn is …

To skin a cat: how organised crime capitalises and exploits captive tiger facilities

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“Although the international trade in tigers has been prohibited since 1975 when they were classified as an Appendix I species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), tigers continue to be bred in legal and illegal captive facilities – otherwise known as tiger farms. In …

Bringing Down the Dragon

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The case of the Chen Organised Crime Group (OCG) is significant not only because it is the largest ivory smuggling case that has been convicted in China, but because it effectively dismantled an entire smuggling network from the source point in Africa to distribution in China. “In December 2020, the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s …