DHAKA — It’s the monsoon season in Bangladesh, where the annual rains are both a boon for farmers and a worry for many living in flood-prone areas. For the country’s wildlife, the wet season also signals peril, but in another way: It coincides with an annual boom in the illegal wildlife trade, according to a […]
Tag: wildlife crime
Hen harrier recovery has been helped by shooting estates and gamekeepers
The news that hen harrier breeding numbers in England have broken a new record is cause for celebration (More than 100 hen harriers fledge in England for first time in a century, 26 August). So too are the partnerships that were created to achieve this conservation success story. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation […]
Mozambique busts notorious rhino poacher
MAPUTO — Authorities in Mozambique have arrested two men for allegedly attempting to sell rhino horn in the country’s capital, Maputo. Hilario Lole, a spokesperson for the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), said the men — notorious rhino poacher Simon Ernesto Valoi, widely known by his nickname, “Navara,” and an associate, Paulo Zukula — were […]
Myanmar wildlife trade remains opaque, despite focus on border hubs
Lying at the nexus of South Asia, Southeast Asia and China, Myanmar hosts an extraordinary mix of ecosystems that represent some of the last refuges of an ever-lengthening list of imperiled species: tigers, leopards and pangolins to name a few. But the combination of teeming biodiversity and notoriously lax law enforcement also makes the country […]
Ugandan court hands Congolese parrot trafficker seven-year jail sentence
On May 12, a judge in Uganda’s specialized court for wildlife crimes sentenced Bob Mbaya Kabongo to a seven year jail term for smuggling 122 African grey parrots into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo. His arrest and swift prosecution and sentencing has been welcomed by conservation organizations as well as the Uganda […]
Tanzania’s elephants protected from slaughter by stronger wildlife legislation
Ivory poachers slaughtered more than 60% of Tanzania’s elephant population between 2009 and 2015. The vast biodiversity of the world-famous wildebeest migration’s home was under jeopardy. Since then, Tanzania has been able to stop the worst of the poaching within its borders thanks to years of dedicated conservation work by the government and NGOs. In […]
Criminals are targeting badger setts when the mothers are protecting litters of tiny cubs
Badger setts have been targeted by cruel criminals in Co Down, just as the mothers are safeguarding their litters of small cubs. After uncovering a spate of sett attacks, the Northern Ireland Badger Group has issued a warning to residents in the Dromore region. It claims that badger baiters accompanied by fighting dogs have dug […]
Suspected poacher trampled to death by elephant in South Africa
An elephant has trampled a suspected poacher to death in South Africa’s famed Kruger National Park, a spokesman has said. The mangled body was discovered yesterday during an intelligence operation aimed at preventing poaching, Kruger spokesman Isaac Phaahla said. An elephant stomped one poacher to death while the others fled before any animals were harmed, […]