MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — Some of the country’s most ambitious and successful wildlife traffickers are now in jail, officials announced. Mexico’s navy confirmed in a press conference that members of cartels dedicated to the trafficking of totoaba have been arrested and put in prison, effectively dismantling some of the main organized crime groups contributing to […]
Tag: trafficking

Major wins for sharks and other wild animals in key legislative package
There have been some massive wins for animals recently in the U.S., as the Congress acts to pass some protections we’ve been championing for years. Right on the heels of the Big Cat Public Safety Act’s resounding passage, two additional animal protection measures were wrapped into the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes funding levels […]

Mexican sanctuary prepares to re-wild endangered jaguar cubs
OXTOTIPAC, Mexico, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Lying on a shady patch of grass under the hot Mexico sun, Zazil, a female spotted jaguar stretches her limbs. Born in captivity, she is a top candidate to help boost wild populations of this magnificent, endangered species. Reino Animal, a sprawling animal conservation park some 56 kilometres (35 […]

In Nepal, a turtle that rose from the dead makes another grand entrance
KATHMANDU — In 2002, the black softshell turtle was declared extinct in the wild — not a difficult assessment to make, given that, back then, the only known population of the species was in a pond at a Sufi shrine in Bangladesh. It beat that rap when, that same year, researchers found the animals in […]

Mexican Wildlife Trade is Out of Control and Wild Animals are Openly Sold on Social Media
A report from an environmental group said that wild animals are increasingly sold on social media platforms as wildlife trafficking in Mexico increasingly threatens several species. The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity said that the illegal wildlife trade is openly and increasingly selling animals such as toucans, monkeys, bears, and jaguars on social media platforms, […]

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 […]

Tortoises In The Galápagos Face Greatest Threats In Decades, Despite Laws Against Killing Them
As many as 2,000 unique species make their home in the Galápagos Islands. These animals cannot be found anywhere else, and are growing increasingly rare. Among those animals are several species of giant tortoises, as Natural Habitat Adventures reports, herbivorous reptiles that can weigh around 600 pounds and live up to 120 years. Tortoises are […]

Three Baby Chimpanzees Stolen From Sanctuary and Held for Ransom
Three baby chimpanzees were stolen from a sanctuary in Congo and are being abused and held for ransom. The three chimps were rescued from animal trafficking and have now been kidnapped from a rescue center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Experts are worried about more widespread animal kidnapping in the area. The founders […]