A wildlife crime charity has smashed a “mafia-type” smuggling ring taking more than £95,000-worth of ivory out of Africa. A six-day operation by Conservation Justice, part of the EAGLE Network, and local agency partners in Gabon was described as a “significant turning point in the relentless fight against the illegal ivory trade”. Operatives for the […]
Tag: ivory
Petition: Pressure the UK Parliament to Ban the Trading of Hippo Teeth
The UK Ivory Act and other measures have been incredibly important as elephant ivory is now almost banned around the world. Elephants are an endangered species so this was a very crucial victory for them and the people who care about them. However, poachers are now killing hippos to collect their teeth in response. Hippos […]
Ivory trader in Uganda jailed for life in country’s harshest sentence for the crime
A Ugandan ivory trader has been sentenced to life in prison – the country’s longest ever sentence for the crime. Pascal Ochiba was arrested in January this year in a suburb of the capital Kampala with two pieces of ivory, weighing around 10kg. He was convicted for unlawful possession of protected species, the state-run Uganda […]
Jumbo task as Malawi moves 263 elephants to restock a degraded national park
LIWONDE NATIONAL PARK, Malawi — Early one July morning, a helicopter with wildlife officials on board flies above the forests of Malawi’s Liwonde National Park in search of elephants. Within half an hour, a small herd has been spotted and the crew radios a support team on the ground. As the ground team gets in […]
Elephant ivory traders can evade new UK ban by disguising their products as walrus or narwhal
Campaigners have warned that ivory peddlers may continue to sell elephant tusks after a new ban if they disguise their products as walrus or narwhal derivatives. The trading in elephant teeth and tusks became prohibited in the UK on Monday, and violators could face fines of up to £250,000 or five years in prison under […]
Cash-strapped Zimbabwe pushes to be allowed to sell its ivory stockpile
HWANGE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s government recently concluded a conference to attempt to rally international support for the sale of its ivory stockpile. It argues that selling some of the 136 metric tons of elephant ivory and rhino horn that it’s holding — mostly from animals that died of natural causes — could fund its conservation […]
Zimbabwe seeks backing to sell stockpile of seized elephant ivory
Zimbabwe is seeking international support to be allowed to sell its stockpile of seized ivory, saying the 600 million US dollars it expects to earn is urgently needed for the conservation of its rapidly growing elephant population which it describes as “dangerous”. Officials from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority showed ambassadors from […]
Ivory poaching has led to evolution of tuskless elephants, study finds
Ivory poaching over decades has led to the evolution of tuskless elephants, researchers have found, proving that humans are “literally changing the anatomy” of wild animals. A previously rare genetic mutation causing tusklessness has become very common in some groups of African elephants after a period in which many were killed for their tusks, according […]