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, …
Unmanageable Animal Exploitation
An insatiable demand side knows no bounds. This is especially true when it originates from an increasingly wealthy Chinese/Vietnamese population of 1.8bn and China’s economic might seems to crush any dissenting voices questioning that demand. Even when China does bow to international pressure, such as seeking to shut down its domestic …
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 …
South Africa’s Rhino Paradox
Banner image courtesy of Sunday Times SA Original article at Project Syndicate, 22 September 2017 By Ross Harvey – Senior researcher with SAIIA and a PhD student at the University of Cape Town’s School of Economics. South Africa’s recent reversal of a ban on trade in rhinoceros horn has invigorated support …
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 …
Lions and Treaties
By Chris Mercer, Campaign Against Canned Hunting Why we need a bold new conservation paradigm if lions are to avoid extinction. I refer to the article on lions published in the Nature Conservation website here: “International law and lions (Panthera leo): understanding and improving the contribution of wildlife treaties to the …
Ivory Markets in Central Africa
“Ivory Markets in Central Africa,” TRAFFIC, September 2017 The introduction this TRAFFIC report highlights some key elements in the historical persecution of elephants for their tusks (and a detailed study of Central African regions with market surveys of trade in ivory). Of particular note, is the negative aspect trade …
Rhino Horn Trade Strategy
On the 23 to 25 August 2017, an online auction was held by John Hume, for 264 lots (approximately 500kg) of rhino horn from his private stockpile of some 6 tonnes. The online auction was not a great success apparently. The next Hume led ‘physical’ rhino horn auction is due …
’Captive’ Lions – DEA Fails to Answer Questions Fully
Campaign Against Canned Hunting Voice4Lions Petition: “Stop the exploitation of captive bred lions and the export of lion bones!“ Let’s start with a working definition of ‘science:’ “Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based …
Save Our Rhino – Open Letter to Minister Molewa
Banner Image Courtesy of Save Our Rhino Save Our Rhino has issued an ‘open letter’ (dated 13 August 2017), seeking clarity from Minister Molewa, Republic of South Africa, Department: Environmental Affairs (DEA). Indeed, we all look forward to the response from Minister Molewa. Questions about controlling domestic rhino horn trade …