BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Authorities in Indonesia have charged three men, including a local political leader in Sumatra, with selling body parts from a Sumatran tiger, a critically endangered and protected species. Ahmadi, 41, the former head of Bener Meriah district in Aceh province, was arrested by provincial police along with two alleged accomplices while […]
Tag: wildlife trafficking
Elephant ivory traders can evade new UK ban by disguising their products as walrus or narwhal
Campaigners have warned that ivory peddlers may continue to sell elephant tusks after a new ban if they disguise their products as walrus or narwhal derivatives. The trading in elephant teeth and tusks became prohibited in the UK on Monday, and violators could face fines of up to £250,000 or five years in prison under […]
Smuggling of exotic animals in India reaches high as kangaroos spotted in Bengal
Illegal wildlife trafficking gangs have begun transporting kangaroos – native to Australia – to the eastern Indian state of West Bengal as the smuggling of exotic animals via India rises exponentially. Three of the marsupials were rescued by wildlife officers last month after a botched smuggling attempt when residents called in sightings in West Bengal’s […]
Ivory from at least 150 poached elephants seized in the DRC raid
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have seized 2 metric tons of ivory in the city of Lubumbashi, a hub for ivory trafficking. The May 14 seizure is one of the largest in recent years, according to Adams Cassinga, who heads Conserv Congo, an NGO that fights wildlife trafficking and which took part in […]
Petition: Urge Facebook to Enforce Policies to End Wildlife Trafficking
Despite Facebook’s promises to fight the illegal wildlife trafficking industry, it persists and continues to profit from the imprisonment and neglect of helpless animals. A recent report by Avaaz claims that Facebook remains a popular platform for cruel animal traffickers. The researchers found that Facebook’s algorithms “help criminals grow their business.” It should not be […]
Facebook continues to be a thriving marketplace for the illegal wildlife trade
Facebook is a thriving marketplace for illegal wildlife trade, allowing “frightening” volumes of trafficking of endangered species, an investigation has found. The platform’s algorithms are actively boosting the spread of content by illegal poachers, so that they are seen by more people, researchers say. Posts of animals for sale included pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest […]
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 […]
Uganda fails to enforce laws against wildlife crime by allowing bailed Ivory traffickers to disappear
Authorities in Uganda intercepted a shipment of roughly 4 tons of elephant ivory and pangolin scales from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo on its way to the city, Kampala, in January 2019. What has happened in the three years since then reveals flaws in the country’s enforcement of wildlife-crime legislation. The Uganda Revenue Authority […]