It was a five-hour drive from South Africa’s Kruger National Park, home of the world’s largest wild rhinoceros population, to Polokwane, home of the world’s most wanted man when it comes to rhino horn trafficking: a millionaire safari operator and ex-policeman named Dawie Groenewald. To meet Groenewald, photographer Brent Stirton and I sped in two […]
Tag: illegal trade
POLL: Should all countries worldwide ban the trade in elephant ivory?
A bid to give the highest level of international legal protection to all African elephants was defeated on Monday at a global wildlife summit. The EU played a pivotal role in blocking the proposal, which was fought over by rival groups of African nations. But the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), […]
POLL: Should the illegal trade in hornbill ivory be stopped?
A virtually unknown ivory poaching crisis is rapidly driving one of the world’s most spectacular birds to extinction, a global wildlife summit has heard. The helmeted hornbill, found mainly in Indonesia, Borneo and Thailand, has a solid red beak which sells as a “red ivory” on the black market, for several times the price of […]
Revealed: the criminals making millions from illegal wildlife trafficking
A major investigation into global wildlife crime today names for the first time key traffickers and links their illegal trade to corrupt officials at the highest levels of one Asian country. The investigation, published by the Guardian, exposes the central role of international organised crime groups in mutilating and killing tens of thousands of animals […]
In a world of 7 billion people how can we protect wildlife?
Consumers and collectors want sturgeon caviar, snakeskin bags, shark meat and fins, wild snowdrop bulbs, precious rosewood furniture, and quality agarwood oil, as well as rare birds, reptiles, cacti and orchids. But they rarely stop to think about their origins. There are now over seven billion people consuming biodiversity every day in the form of […]
POLL: Should the illegal trafficking of Asia’s Sun Bear be stopped?
The Malayan Sun bear may not be the most famous animal in Southeast Asia, but it is undoubtedly one of the most endearing — though its charm hasn’t served to protect it. These gentle, inquisitive residents of the Asian mainland, Sumatra and Borneo, are threatened by poaching for traditional medicine. They’re also fast losing their […]
POLL: Should Thailand’s illegal bird trade be stopped?
Thousands of birds are being sold — often illegally — in Thailand’s markets, a new study has found. On a single weekend in March 2015, researchers from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trademonitoring network, found a total of 117 species of birds on sale at the Chatuchak weekend market in Bangkok, Thailand. These included nine species listed […]
POLL: Should the illegal otter trade in India be stopped?
A new TRAFFIC report sheds light on the intensifying illegal trade in Asian otters for their skin as well as the rise in illegal otter pet trade. India is a hotspot of otter poaching, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. Of the 167 otter seizures in South and Southeast Asia […]