Scientists are planning to flood the black market with realistic fake rhino horns made from horse hair in an attempt to reduce illegal poaching. Rhino horn is in demand for a range of uses, from traditional Chinese medicine to ornamental carvings, and the illegal international trade is thriving. In South Africa alone, 769 rhinos were […]
Tag: traditional chinese medicine
South Africa gets go-ahead to increase black rhino trophy hunting
South Africa has won permission to almost double the number of black rhinos that can be killed as trophies after arguing the money raised will support conservation of the critically endangered species. The decision was made at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) after receiving support from some African nations and opposition […]
Captive lion breeding in South Africa: the case for a total ban
A new report by global NGO, World Animal Protection, provides a damning indictment on the captive predator breeding industry. Big cats are being bred for the use of their bones in traditional Chinese medicine. China is estimated to house about 8 000 tigers in captivity, while South Africa may have as many as 14 000 […]
Chinese nationals arrested in US after smuggling totoaba swim bladders worth $3.7 million from Mexico
According to a report this week by Quartz, two Chinese nationals were arrested last month in the state of California with $3.7-million-worth of totoaba swim bladders that they had smuggled from Mexico. Quartz’s Justin Rohrlich writes that a sheriff’s deputy in Orange County, California initially pulled the two men, Yikang Liang and Haoyu Huang, over […]
Petition: Protect South African Lions From Deplorable Conditions of Bone Trade!
Lions are sadly among the list of many wild animals suffering at the hands of humans. They are killed by poachers and trophy hunters, taken from the wild as babies and trained for circuses or kept in zoos, and they’re sadly held in captivity for the bone trade. Lions are being used as a replacement […]
Suspected totoaba poachers shot by authorities in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez
Three suspected totoaba poachers were reportedly shot yesterday by Mexican marines following a confrontation over illegal gillnets that had been confiscated. According to local news outlet Fronteras, the governor of the Mexican state of Baja California, Francisco Vega, has confirmed that three people were injured in a shootout between suspected poachers and Mexican marines early […]
POLL: Should the commercial trade in captive-bred tigers be banned?
The first thing that hit the inspectors was the smell. It was a sweltering midsummer day in Prague, and they had just opened an unplugged freezer filled with the rotting remains of tigers, lions and cougars. Pavla Rihova, the lead environmental inspector on the scene, said she had never seen anything like it. “I have […]
Indonesia’s Aceh sees harshest penalty yet for a wildlife crime
A court in Indonesia’s Aceh province has sentenced two men to four years behind bars for attempting to sell a tiger skin, in the toughest ever penalty handed down for a wildlife crime there. Sarkawi Bin Warigo, 41, and Sabaruddin Bin M. Yusak, 45, were arrested last July. During the trial, they refused to be […]
