Turkmenistan will become a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in January 2025. This move makes Turkmenistan the 185th country to join CITES, completing Central Asia’s representation in the treaty aimed at regulating wildlife trade and combating trafficking. Turkmenistan is home to a variety of […]
Tag: wildlife trade
Vulture poisonings in the Serengeti alarm conservationists
In July this year, conservationists from North Carolina Zoo in the U.S. and the Grumeti Fund in Tanzania went searching for a white-backed vulture in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park that had been tagged a few weeks earlier. Tracking data suggested the bird had died. The team traveled off-road to the southwestern edge of the park, […]
Florida Man Known as “The Monkey Whisperer” Faces New Charges
A Florida man nicknamed “The Monkey Whisperer” is once again facing legal troubles, this time for allegedly trafficking marmosets. Jimmy Wayne Hammonds, 61, from Parrish, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and wildlife trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His brother, Johnny D-Lane Hammonds, […]
Thousands of birds seized in massive Indonesian bird-trafficking bust
Authorities in Indonesia have rescued more than 6,500 wild birds being trafficked from the island of Sumatra and destined for Java, in what’s been hailed as the single largest seizure of its kind in the country’s modern history. Quarantine authorities at the port of Bakauheni in Lampung province, the main crossing point from Sumatra to […]
China’s plans to trace wildlife trade risks inflaming trafficking, critics warn
Chinese authorities are considering changes to wildlife trade regulations that govern the live trade in 18 parrot and reptile species, several of which are gravely threatened by poaching and illegal trade. The proposals involve the implementation of a “special marking system” of ID tags on bird leg rings or microchips inserted in reptiles to enable […]
CITES suspends Bangladesh as illegal wild bird trade continues
Bangladesh, a signatory nation of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), has failed to control illegal bird trade and has recently been suspended from the convention. Data shows that Bangladesh has been importing several species of endangered birds from the international market to sell locally as pets. […]
Freya the rescued lion cub is safe in South Africa, but many other lions there are bred to be shot
PAARL, South Africa — Freya, a 6-month-old lion cub rescued from the wildlife trade in Lebanon, poked a curious nose out of her transport crate and sniffed the air. Satisfied, she took her first cautious steps in her new forever home in a sanctuary in South Africa. Freya’s relocation to the Drakenstein Lion Park is […]
Madagascar lemurs, tortoises seized in Thai bust reveal reach of wildlife trafficking
In May, authorities in southern Thailand arrested six people for illegally transporting 48 lemurs and more than 1,200 critically endangered tortoises, all of which had reportedly been obtained from the wild in Madagascar. The seizure is the latest in a string of illegal wildlife trade busts in Thailand. Red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), monitor lizards, snakes […]