Elephants
National Geographic: Hong Kong ‘Open-Minded’ to Banning its Ivory Trade
In a major policy shift, the world’s largest legal ivory market pledges new efforts to combat wildlife trafficking and may end ivory sales. By Laurel Neme, for National Geographic PUBLISHED October 28, 2015 Hong Kong—the world’s largest retail market for elephant ivory—says it may now consider banning its ivory trade. Hong Kong is also a major transit hub for…
Read MoreHuffington Post: How Legal Markets Fuel Ivory Smuggling in Hong Kong
Posted: 10/27/2015 Hong Kong’s legal ivory market fuels ivory smuggling and elephant poaching says a new report by WildAid, an international nongovernmental organization that aims to eliminate illegal wildlife trade. Together with undercover video by independent investigators provided to WildAid and WWF-Hong Kong, the report, Illusion of Control, released Oct 23 in Hong Kong, reveals that ivory traders…
Read MoreNational Geographic: How World’s Largest Legal Ivory Market Fuels Demand for Illegal Ivory
New report shows that limited oversight of Hong Kong’s ivory traders allows laundering of illegal ivory through legal markets. By Laurel Neme, for National Geographic PUBLISHED October 22, 2015 A new report by WildAid, an international nongovernmental organization that aims to eliminate illegal wildlife trade, together with undercover video by independent investigators provided to WildAid and WWF-Hong Kong,…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Ripple Effect: Saving Elephants One Kid at a Time
Children’s voices can be extremely powerful—a fact readily apparent on a recent Sunday when more than 325 people—most of them children—participated in Vermont’s first kid-driven Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. The event was initiated by 12-year-old Taegen Yardley, who organized a network of youngsters from across the state. Student “champions” at more than…
Read MoreMoomah Magazine: Doing Unto Animals: Taegen Yardley – Saving Elephants One Kid at a Time
– By Laurel Neme Saving Elephants one Kid at a Time As a writer, I’ve met children from Hong Kong to Vermont who are transforming attitudes about elephant ivory through a series of small actions. In Hong Kong, the “elephant angels”—three young girls, Nellie Shute, Lucy Skrine and Christina Seigrist (then ages 12, 11 and…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Elephant Killings in Chad’s Signature Park Cause Alarm
After three years of zero poaching in Zakouma National Park, killing of two female elephants shows no population is safe. By Laurel Neme, for National Geographic PUBLISHED September 01, 2015 A routine aerial surveillance flight over the western part of Chad’s Zakouma National Park has uncovered the deaths of two female elephants and their calves…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Two Nations Show Good News, Bad News for Africa’s Elephants
Visits to Gabon and Tanzania show the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that commitment from the top makes all the difference. By Laurel Neme, National Geographic PUBLISHED June 28, 2015 Gabon and Tanzania are both high-stakes countries for elephants and other endangered species, but…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Ethiopia Burns Entire 6.1-Ton Ivory Stockpile
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on March 20, 2015 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – At a ceremony today in the capital, Ethiopia burned its entire 6.1-ton ivory stockpile. The event was held at the Gulele Botanical Garden, close to the headquarters of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), where the ivory had been stored.…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Will Mobilization of Military Forces Stop Elephant Poaching in Cameroon
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on February 14, 2015 Ten elephant carcasses discovered in mid-January in and around Cameroon’s Bouba Ndjida National Park are raising fears that poachers may again be targeting the park. But information remains sketchy. According to the Cameroon Tribune, a government newspaper, the military made several patrols following reports of gunfire…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Hong Kong Set to Incinerate 29.6-Ton Ivory Stockpile in Largest Destruction to Date
The government of Hong Kong joins nine nations in eliminating its confiscated ivory. Laurel Neme for National Geographic Published May 14, 2014 Tomorrow, Hong Kong starts destroying virtually all its 29.6-ton stockpile of confiscated ivory in a process that could take a year or more. As the largest such event to date, Hong Kong’s…
Read MoreNational Geographic: In Hong Kong, Kids Take Action to Stop the Illegal Ivory Trade
Schoolchildren are working together to raise awareness of the toll of the illegal ivory trade. Photograph by Katrina Shute Laurel Neme for National Geographic Published April 24, 2014 Part of our weekly “In Focus” series—stepping back, looking closer. Hong Kong schoolchildren are transforming attitudes about elephant ivory through small actions that are having…
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