Just weeks after the Trump administration announced a new policy allowing the importation of dead African elephant and lion parts by U.S. trophy hunters, a group of environmental and wildlife conservation NGOs has filed a lawsuit alleging the move goes against recent court rulings. Around the same time, Born Free USA filed a second lawsuit […]
Tag: wildlife trafficking
Slow Loris Traffickers Get Historic Sentences in Indonesia
Animal advocates are celebrating a landmark ruling against wildlife traffickers who were arrested last fall in Indonesia after they were caught in connection with a criminal network trading endangered slow lorises. The operation, which was part of an effort to dismantle an illegal wildlife trafficking network that was using Facebook to sell wildlife, was carried […]
Why Whistleblowers Are the Answer to Global Wildlife Trafficking
Whistleblowers are the number one source of fraud detection across the world. In fact, whistleblowers are such an incredibly valuable tool in fraud detection, that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) give out millions of dollars in monetary rewards every year through their dedicated whistleblower programs to whistleblowers who […]
POLL: Should there be an EU-wide domestic ivory ban?
The EU has traditionally been a global leader in tackling the problem of wildlife trafficking and in encouraging other countries to take action. Last year it published a far-reaching Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking, which set out a comprehensive list of actions to address the problem. So why is it dragging its heels when it […]
These Baby Orangutans Show the Heartbreaking Price of Wildlife Trafficking
We talk a lot about wildlife trafficking and the threat it poses as a broad issue, but we don’t always get to see the direct impact it has on individual animals. This week, the seizure of two baby orangutans who were destined to be pets has offered a heartbreaking glimpse into the real price being […]
Wildlife trafficking is threatening nearly half of all World Heritage sites
There are hundreds of UNESCO World Heritage sites around the world that have been protected because they are culturally, ecologically and economically valuable. These sites are among the last strongholds for some of the earth’s most iconic and endangered species, including orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. Unfortunately, even though these sites are recognized for their […]
POLL: Should Trump stop the illegal wildlife trade from Mexico?
Traffickers from Latin America are desperate to get their product into the United States—so desperate they’ll risk the dangers of swimming across the Rio Grande with their contraband. But it’s not meth and it’s not cocaine. In one case, according to a special agent, it was about 25 parrots destined to be sold as pets. […]
High price of rhino horn leaves bloody trail across the globe
On the black market it is reputedly worth more than its weight in gold or cocaine, and this week the lure of rhino horn brought the bloody business of poaching to a zoo near Paris. There, in the dead of night, criminals broke in, shot a white rhino called Vince three times in the head […]