“Leopards are Asia’s most traded big cat, with more than 4,900 leopards having been seized from illegal trade in Asia since 2002, and this figure likely represents a fraction of leopard parts being trafficked. Trade in their bones, primarily to meet demand from Chinese consumers, is a one of the …
Fair Game?
Fair Game? Improving the well-being of South African wildlife – Endangered Wildlife Trust, Centre for Environmental Rights, 2018: “In practice, the current legal regime ultimately provides little protection for wild animals.”
Disrupt: Wildlife Cybercrime
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) study of ‘cyber-crime’ wildlife trafficking: France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom: “The internet is now the world’s biggest marketplace, open all hours for buyers and sellers to exchange goods. With such a huge volume of transactions taking place daily, relatively low trading …
“Cash Before Conservation”
A new report (“Cash Before Conservation“) by the Born Free Foundation “highlights South African government’s role in the bloody, commercial lion body part trade“: “The association between some of those involved in the industry, and illegal trade in other wildlife products, and the increasing association between lion breeding and the …
“Ivory Towers”
“Ivory Towers – An Assessment of Japan’s Ivory Trade and Domestic Market,” TRAFFIC, December 2017 TRAFFIC reports that Japan’s on-going ivory trading is undermining China’s proposed ivory ban, fuelling demand and the poaching of elephants: “Japan remains one of the world’s largest domestic ivory markets, and is home to an active, …
Trophy hunting could cause extinction in stressed populations – new research
Banner image: ‘The mane attraction’ – Shutterstock An interesting article published by Rob Knell (Evolutionary Ecology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London) – “Trophy hunting could cause extinction in stressed populations – new research,” The Conversation, 29 November 2017. The ‘science’ and modelling behind the article …
“A Roaring Trade?”
Banner image courtesy of Mark Boulton, Elsa Trust and Elsamere Back in August 2017, IWB and the Campaign Against Canned Hunting (CACH) questioned if the Republic of South Africa, Department: Environmental Affairs (DEA) could provide conclusive science that showed its “800 skeletons” lion bone trade quota does not pose a …
UK Auction Houses Ignoring ‘Legal’ Ivory Trading Requirements
On the 19 October 2017, the Two Million Tusks (TMT) study, “Ivory: The Grey Areas“ was released – the study encompasses a comprehensive analysis of the United Kingdom (UK) auctioning of ivory lots during the 2016/2017 period. Two Million Tusks (TMT) study – “Ivory: The Grey Areas,” October 2017 Alarmingly, …
The Ivory Trade of Laos
“The Ivory Trade of Laos: Now the fastest growing in the World, ” Save the Elephants, 2017 This report highlights how complacent and ineffective CITES seemingly is as a regulatory body when it comes to stemming internationally banned trade in endangered species products. Despite the on-going efforts to curb ivory …
Organized criminal gangs behind rhino horn processing in South Africa
Banner Image courtesy of Mark Boulton – Lewa Conservancy, Kenya A TRAFFIC report released 18 September 2017, “reveals disturbing new evidence that some criminal networks of Chinese origin operating in South Africa are now processing rhino horn locally into beads, bracelets, bangles and powder to evade detection and provide ready-made …