Traditional Chinese medicine is flourishing at the expense of animals. Many traditional medicines require endangered animals and often runs rampant on rumors of effective treatment. Rhino populations quickly diminished as a rumor about a politician being cured of cancer by a rhino horn. Three species are now extinct thanks to demand for rhino horn. Demand […]
Tag: illegal wildlife trade
Vietnam wildlife trade ban appears to flounder amid coronavirus success
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – Conservation organizations in Vietnam sent a letter to the Prime Minister last week asking for an update on planned measures to curtail the trade and consumption of wildlife. In March, responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development […]
Petition: Facebook Allows the Sale of Pangolins, the Endangered Species Thought to be the Animals Who Transmitted Coronavirus to Humans
Pangolins are highly trafficked animals and therefore are in danger of extinction. All eight species are endangered with their status ranging from vulnerable to critically endangered. Ten thousand pangolins are illegally trafficked each year. The illegal wildlife trade has certainly come back to bite humans where it hurts — pangolins are actually believed by scientists […]
Coronavirus outrage: How traders peddle ‘tiger bone, bear bile and rhino horn’ as cure
The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 2.4 million people worldwide since the first cases were announced in early December. Medical experts across the globe are working tirelessly to develop a vaccine that can halt COVID-19 in its tracks. But in China and other southeast Asian countries there have been reports of countless crooks trying to capitalise on the deadly […]
Photos of wild tiger cubs in Thailand rekindles hope for species
Camera traps in eastern Thailand’s Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) forest complex have yielded photos of tiger cubs, providing long-awaited evidence that the big cat is breeding in this part of Southeast Asia. Conservationists conducted the camera-trap survey in the Thap Lan-Pang Sida Tiger Conservation Landscape (TCL) of DPKY, where recent reports suggest a small, but […]
Petition: Model Arrested for Illegally Living with “Pet” Lion Cub and Python
Recently, the docu-series Tiger King aired and was watched by millions around the world. Unfortunately, it didn’t expose tiger captivity as it should have and not only are people supporting the animal abuser, but it didn’t do anything to show people just how terrible big cat captivity is. Animal abusers and people who think they […]
WWF-Austria Warns: Criminals Taking Advantage of COVID-19 Crisis for Attacks on Protected Birds of Prey in Central and Eastern Europe
9 April, 2020 (Vienna) – Criminals are using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover for a significant increase in wildlife crime in Central and Eastern Europe. In March alone, in total at least 27 protected birds of prey were illegally killed in Austria and another three in neighboring Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Several other suspected cases […]
Coronavirus is a crisis for South Africa’s captive lions, campaigners warn
Wildlife conservation and animal welfare groups say the COVID-19 pandemic ought to spell the end for one of South Africa’s most controversial businesses: the captive breeding of lions. It is widely accepted that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that has precipitated the global crisis, came from wildlife (bats or pangolins are the most likely sources), and campaign […]