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 […]
Tag: traditional medicine
Siberian tigers are being hunted at night for their body parts
The tiger was already dead when they spotted it, the hunters said—a furry, ochre mound against the snowy backdrop of Primorye, a sprawling region eight time zones from Moscow, in Russia’s Far East. The seven men took a picture with the massive Amur tiger, their arms casually slung around each other’s shoulders, the straps from […]
‘Huge blow’ for tiger conservation as two of the big cats killed in Thailand
Tiger conservationists in Thailand are reeling following the recent killing of two tigers in Thong Pha Phum National Park. Authorities confiscated the two carcasses and are investigating the incident and possible links to the illegal wildlife trade. The two Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti) were killed on Jan. 8 by local farmers in the park […]
Endangered chimps ‘on the brink’ as Nigerian reserve is razed for agriculture, timber
ORE, Nigeria — More than two decades ago, fate took Tajudeen Babalola to his lifelong ambition. The 52-year-old longed for a more serene life that offered hope for survival away from the fake fancies of Lagos, Africa’s second-largest city and Nigeria’s commercial nerve center. One evening, after an exhausting shift of commercial driving, he received […]
Tiger farms doing little to end wild poaching, Vietnam consumer study shows
Acting on a tipoff, Vietnamese police pried open a basement door in Nghe An province and flicked on the light switch. Videos from the August 2021 raid show officers filing down an aisle past cage after cage of adult tigers. Starved of daylight, malnourished and raised as livestock in concrete cells, each tiger was destined […]
Shocking new footage reveals horrific conditions lions and tigers are subjected to at big cat farms in SA
Johannesburg – Global animal welfare organisation Four Paws have urged government to consider legislative changes to stop the commercial trade of all big cats in South Africa. With South Africa remaining the biggest exporter of live big cats globally, and with widespread big cat farming taking place across the country, the global organisation is pressing […]
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 […]
Anti-poaching bodies call for stricter sentences for rhino poachers
Some anti-poaching organizations are calling upon the justice system to strengthen punishment against those found guilty of rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking. This comes after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment recently released statistics indicating that rhino poaching incidents committed in the country within the first six months of the year have […]