With the aid of Interpol, authorities have arrested the leader of a rhino poaching gang responsible for killing 20 Indian rhinoceros in Nepal. Last month, authorities nabbed Raj Kumar Praja in Malaysia where he had been evading capture for two years. Kumar was already evicted of 15 poaching incidents in absentia and sentenced to 15 […]
Tag: wildlife trafficking
Japan’s whaling has produced more sushi than science
In 1994, member governments of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the whaling regulatory body, agreed to create a vast sanctuary in the Southern Ocean. There, commercial whaling would be barred so whales hunted nearly to extinction could replenish their numbers in the cold, nutrient-rich waters and thrive again. The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was designed […]
Good News for Animals in Nepal: A Full Year Without Poaching
On World Wildlife Day, March 3, Nepal celebrated 365 days with zero poaching. No rhinos, tigers, or elephants were killed. It’s the second year of such success in Nepal. In 2011 the country also had none, and in 2012 it lost just one rhino to poaching. This achievement is particularly notable in the face of […]
China crushes six tons of ivory
China has destroyed several tons of confiscated ivory tusks and carvings, just months after the US crushed six tons of seized ivory. Officials in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, pulverised 6.1 tons of confiscated tusks and carvings in an event on Monday attended by representatives from 10 countries including the UK, and elephant states including Kenya, Gabon, […]
Ivory stockpile to be publicly destroyed as Obama seeks to end illegal trade
The ivory stockpile in the secure government warehouse – six tonnes of scarred tusks, glossy Confucius statuettes with $10,000 (more than £6,000) price stickers, coffee table items, and too many chunky cuff bracelets to count – represents millions of dollars and the slaughter of thousands of African elephants. On 14 November, at Barack Obama’s instruction, […]
POLL: Should contraband ivory stockpiles be destroyed?
The Obama administration said on Monday it would destroy all 6m tons of its stocks of seized ivory – potentially millions in contraband – stepping up efforts to crush an illegal trade that has brought wild elephants to the brink of extinction. The ivory destruction, announced at a White House event addressed by Hillary and […]
Smuggler who illegally traded 500 chimps gets one year in prison
Wildlife smuggler, Ousame Diallo, who has admitted to illegally trafficking 500 endangered chimpanzees out of the Republic of Guinea, was sentenced to a year in prison in the West African country reports WWF. The arrest and charge was supported by INTERPOL and to anti-wildlife trafficking local group, GALF. “This time the result is excellent, we […]
60 big cats killed in Brazilian parks in last two years
At least 60 big cats have been killed within national protected areas in Brazil during the past two years according to a recent survey published in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Science (TCS). The report, which focuses on jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) populations, within Brazilian protected areas shows that reserve management […]