Posts Tagged ‘Trafficking’
Captive tiger permits used to launder tigers in Thailand?
Are permits for captive tigers being used to launder tigers from Thailand to Viet Nam? That’s the question being asked following a raid by Thai authorities on an apartment outside Bangkok that led to the confiscation of four adult tigers and two cubs. The large cats had been kept in poor conditions: small rooftop…
Read MoreSlender lorises smuggled in India
Three men were apprehended at India’s New Delhi airport for smuggling slender lorises, a small nocturnal primate. The men were en route from Bangkok to Dubai when a routine pat down revealed a loris stuffed in one man’s underwear. A second loris was found in a nearby trash can. Both primates are now under…
Read MoreIndia’s Prime Minister proposes strengthening wildlife crime fighting
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 5, 2012 said the government would strengthen the country’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and noted a proposal for expanding the number of regional offices, field units and forensic labs of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau as well as creation of a national database on wildlife crime and…
Read MoreUpdate on the Chad elephant poaching situation
Update on the Chad elephant situation: On August 15, Chad’s High Administrative Authority informed Stephanie Vergniault, president of the wildlife organization SOS Elephants, that the Chadian army seized 30 tusks from the recent Chari –Baguirmi poaching. With the army in pursuit, the poachers tried to cross the river with them but ultimately abandoned the…
Read MoreDespite more wildlife law enforcement, Asian wildlife traffickers continue their illegal trade
A 10-fold increase in wildlife law enforcement actions has been reported in the past six years in Southeast Asia, yet many wildlife trafficking “kingpins” continue to capitalize on the persistent corruption in the area and avoid arrest. This AP article posted in several spots, including Bloomberg BusinessWeek News, looks at the “Untouchables: Asia’s biggest wildlife…
Read MoreNew wildlife forensics lab to be commissioned in Kenya to fight wildlife poaching and crime.
Great news! On Monday (13 August, 2012) the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) will commission the construction of $700,000 wildlife forensic and genetics laboratory at its headquarters in Nairobi. This new lab will be able to provide legal evidence necessary in courts to convict suspects for wildlife crimes. It will help not only to link…
Read MorePositive News on Mexico’s Parrot Trade
Mexico’s illegal parrot trade has declined due to a number of innovative studies and policies. My article on this positive turn of events was just published in The Wildlife Professional.
Read MoreThe WildLife: Primate Smuggling and Tarantula Trade, David Kirkby
David Kirkby, veteran U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Special Agent, talks about wildlife law enforcement. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme about two of his most prominent cases: smuggling of primates for research institutions; and Operation Arachnid, an undercover investigation into the illegal trade in tarantulas. David Kirkby was a US FWS…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Commercial Porcupine Farming in Vietnam, Emma Brooks
IUCN program officer Emma Brooks discusses illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam and her research on how commercial farming of a traded species, like porcupines, affects both the species and the trade. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how most animals in Vietnam’s wildlife trade end up on the plates of wealthy restaurant patrons. In Vietnam…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Geoducks and Shell Games, Craig Welch
Craig Welch, Seattle Times environmental reporter and author of Shell Games: Rogues, Smugglers, and the Hunt for Nature’s Bounty, talks about wildlife trafficking in Puget Sound and the massive illegal trade in geoducks (pronounced “gooey-duck”) clams. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how geoducks are more than fashionable seafood by providing an entrée into the dark underworld…
Read MoreArrest of “Kingpin” Tiger Trafficker Highlights Thailand’s Resolve
Thailand is a hub for some of the world’s largest wildlife trafficking operations. That’s why news of a series of recent busts — from elephant ivory to live tigers and bears — is especially welcome. These wildlife law enforcement operations signal that Thailand is becoming an increasingly hostile place to do this black market business.…
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