After years of investigations and appeals, Bach “Boonchai” Mai, the alleged leader of a major international wildlife trafficking ring, has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Thai Supreme Court. Mai was convicted of attempting to smuggle 14 rhino horns into Thailand, but his network, Hydra, has been involved in trafficking ivory, rhino […]
Tag: rhino horns
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 […]
Trafficked: Kidnapped chimps, jailed rhino horn traffickers, and seized donkey parts
LUBUMBASHI Democratic Republic of Congo Three chimpanzees have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom after intruders broke into a primate sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Franck Chantereau, founder of the J.A.C.K. Primate Rehabilitation Centre, says the kidnappers got into the 7-hectare (17-acre) facility in the southern city of Lubumbashi at around 3 […]
A string of poaching massacres has broken out across South Africa, with poachers slaughtering 24 rhinos in one month alone
International trade is the second-largest threat to wildlife after habitat loss. On average, poachers in South Africa have killed more than one rhino each day in 2020, for a total of at least 394 butchered rhinos to feed the demand for ivory and rhino horn. But that doesn’t compare to this wave of killings from […]
Mercilessly slaughtered for their horns… even though one was just a prosthetic: Four rhinos – including a pregnant female – are killed and one fights for life after they were mutilated by poachers
Poachers mercilessly slaughtered four rhinos including a pregnant female at a private game reserve and wounded a fifth with a shot to the head – just to saw off their horns for cash. The gang used high powered rifles fitted with silencers to butcher the herd and even sawed off a prosthetic fibreglass horn which […]
Armed suspected rhino poacher shot dead at Kruger National Park
CAPE TOWN – An armed suspected poacher was shot dead while his accomplice managed to escape when Kruger National Park (KNP) rangers followed up after hearing gunshots and stumbled upon them. A backpack with two rhino horns was recovered next to the body of the suspect, as well as a large-calibre rifle and poaching equipment. […]
Malawi court sentences Chinese wildlife trafficking kingpin to 14 years in jail
Malawi’s illegal wildlife trade crackdown has earned a Chinese national 14 years in jail. Yunhua Lin, considered the lynchpin of a notorious wildlife trafficking cartel operating across in Southern Africa, was convicted in June of the illegal trade in wildlife parts, illegal possession of firearms, and possession of illegal drugs. At Lin’s sentencing at the […]
Eight men convicted in French court for trafficking rhino horn and ivory
A French court has convicted eight men including members of an Irish crime gang for trafficking rhino horn and ivory between Europe and east Asia. Four men – three Irish and one English – said to be members of the Rathkeale Rovers gang were given prison terms, though two were spared jail as the sentences […]