No 269 Wildlife Trade News 18th November 2014

Your daily dose of bad news from around
the world about poaching, wildlife and
environmental crimes …

in the spotlight today ……………………

Zoo Negara and Perhilitan unfit for purpose? – MFOTA / MALAYSIA – See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/zoo-negara-and-perhilitan-unfit-for-purpose-mfota#sthash.1b6ZB9tK.dpuf

No 269 Wildlife Trade News 18th November 2014

Ex-cop charged with keeping 43 pangolins MALAYSIA (NA comment: Look at his previous sentence mentioned in the last paragraph)

(CHINESE) Oilmen threaten catastrophe in Kenya wildlife haven

Jerome Starkey Arabuko Sokoke http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/wildlife/article4270571.ece

Interpol launches first appeal for environmental fugitives International agency targets dangerous fugitives, suspected of environmental crimes worth hundreds of millions of dollars (NA comment: Will you please help Interpol find these people by taking a few moments and placing the link to this article on your Twitter account and/or Facebook page? This small act could help nail these is people.)

Interpol wanted Operation Infra-Terra (top row from left to right): Adriano Giacobone, Adelin Lis, Bhekumusa Mawillis Shiba and Ben Simasiku; (bottom raw from left to right): Nicolaas Antonius Cornelis Maria Duindam, Ariel Bustamante Sanchez, Sergey Darminov and Feisal Mohamed Ali. Photograph: Interpol http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/17/interpol-launches-first-appeal-for-environmental-fugitives

INTERPOL seeks public assistance to locate environmental crime fugitives in global operation (Official)

LYON, France – An INTERPOL operation targeting fugitives wanted for environmental crimes is calling on the public worldwide to help locate them and bring them to justice.

Operation Infra (International Fugitive Round Up and Arrest) Terra was launched by the world police body on 6 October, focusing on 139 fugitives wanted by 36 member countries for crimes including illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, illegal trade and disposal of waste, illegal logging and trading in illicit ivory. It is the first INTERPOL fugitive operation targeting individuals specifically wanted for crimes concerning the environment.

INTERPOL is now asking for the public’s assistance in providing additional information that could help track down nine Infra Terra suspects whose cases were selected during the initial phase of the operation. Such cases include Feisal Mohamed Ali, alleged to be the ringleader of an ivory smuggling ring in Kenya.

Ioannis Kokkinis, Criminal Intelligence Officer with INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support unit which is coordinating Infra Terra, encouraged the public to share any information with their local or national police or INTERPOL to help track down the fugitives. As highlighted by INTERPOL’s Turn Back Crime global awareness campaign, the most effective way to prevent crime and make the world safer is for police and the public to join forces.

“Even the smallest detail, which you might think is insignificant, has the potential to break a case wide open when combined with other evidence the police already have,” said Mr Kokkinis.

“Sometimes all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to bring new momentum to an investigation and provide the missing clue which will help locate these wanted individuals, some of whom have been evading justice for years,” he added.

Infra Terra builds on the success of previous similar operations including Infra-Americas, Infra-SEA (Southeast Asia) and the global Infra-Red operations in 2010 and 2012, which have so far led to some 600 arrests and positive locations worldwide.

The initial phase of operation Infra Terra saw investigators from 21 of the participating countries gather at the INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France to directly share information on suspects. Details of the wanted persons, their possible locations and any other crucial information were analysed and sent to the countries concerned for further investigation.

“We are pleased that our member countries are coming together through Infra Terra to fight environmental crimes, as well as to raise global awareness of the very real dangers posed by these types of crimes and the individuals who perpetrate them,” said Andreas Andreou, Criminal Intelligence Officer with INTERPOL’s Environmental Security unit.

Support for the operation was offered by partners in the environmental field including the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), the Wildcat Foundation, USAID, the European Commission and the Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation. 17 November 2014

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The nine fugitives are: Adriano Giacobone; Ahmed Kamran; Ariel Bustamante Sanchez; Ben Simasiku; Bhekumusa Mawillis Shiba; Feisal Mohamed Ali; Nicolaas Antonius Cornelis Maria Duindam; Sergey Darminov; Sudiman Sunoto.

“We believe that the capture of these criminals on the run will contribute to the dismantlement of transnational organized crime groups who have turned environmental exploitation into a professional business with lucrative revenues,” said Stefano Carvelli, Head of INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support unit.

Information on the possible location of the targets of Operation Infra Terra, or any internationally wanted persons, can be sent to INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support unit. Information can also be given anonymously to any national Crime Stoppers programme. Through INTERPOL’s Turn Back Crime campaign, the private sector and the public are encouraged to take an active role in supporting police activities such as Infra Terra to form a global alliance against organized crime.

(NA comment: How difficult can it be for the Qatar CITES MA to track down the importer of all these animals? “One fugitive, Ahmed Kamran, 29, is charged with smuggling over 100 live animals – including giraffes and impalas – from Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro airport to Qatar on a military airplane.” Have the Qatar CITES MA authorities got their heads in the sand? Will the Tanzania authorities now demand the repatriation of these animals under Article V111 of the Convention?)

SHAME ON QATAR / TANZANIA / CITES

Are you wondering how an illegal shipment of this magnitude could have happened without the cooperation of CITES MA’s in Tanzania and Qatar? So are we.

Does it strike you as even mildly suspicious both countries have not even been sanctioned?

“The animal cargo, worth $113,715, reportedly included: two lappet-faced vultures, two serval cats, two impalas, two black verreaux’s eagles, three elands, four giraffes, four ground hornbill, five spring hares, six oryx, seven kori bustard, 10 dik-dik, 20 Grant’s gazelle, 68 Thomson’s gazelle, and a secretary bird. This happened in 2010.”

CITES ISN’T WORKING FOR WILDLIFE, IS IT? QUITE THE OPPOSITE – FOR SOME MA’s IT’S A LICENCE TO MAKE MONEY AND BREAK THE LAW WITH ZERO FEAR OF PUNISHMENT.

The above makes a mockery of statements like this: Rwanda: Natural Resource Protection Given Priority http://allafrica.com/stories/201411172320.html

and this: Tanzania orders 40,000 Maasai tribesmen to leave their homeland after going back on their promise not to turn their land into a hunting ground for Dubai royal family
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2837533/Tanzania-orders-40-000-Maasai-tribesmen-leave-homeland-going-promise-not-turn-land-hunting-ground-Dubai-royal-family.html#ixzz3JLF0gSMN (NA comment: Are countries giving Tanzania ‘aid’ while this kind of thing is going on – as well as the scandal with the ivory to China?)

Ton of ivory stolen from Uganda government vaults http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/141117/ton-ivory-stolen-uganda-government-vaults (NA comment: We expect a similar comment one day from the Malaysian authorities)

Wildlife’s Unlikely Ally http://africaunauthorised.com/?p=473 (NA comment: A thought proving article however much you may dislike the topic.)

Submit proposal to stop rhino poaching: Harsh Vardhan to Assam – See more at: http://freepressjournal.in/submit-proposal-to-stop-rhino-poaching-harsh-vardhan-to-assam/#sthash.aFf6Euni.dpuf

South Africa: SA Participates in Intl Dialogue On Illegal Wildlife Trade http://allafrica.com/stories/201411171961.html

113,000 People Want to Save Pygmy Elephants From Palm Oil Companies. Do You? SABAH /MALAYSIA
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/113000-people-want-to-save-pygmy-elephants-from-palm-oil-companies-do-you.html#ixzz3JLARchFL

Pacific bluefin tuna threatened, IUCN says http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001725441

Botswana: Minister Attends Conservation Meet (NA comment: Australia to help save animals in Botswana!)

Spanish navy vessels filmed ‘breaking female Greenpeace activist’s leg’ as they rammed campaigners’ boats during protest by the Canary Islands Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2836012/Activist-hurt-protest-Canary-Islands.html#ixzz3JLBgqGEX

Awareness camp to protect Amur Falcon held

South Africa still fighting a war against rhino poachers

Three alleged poachers in court (South Africa) http://citizen.co.za/276432/three-alleged-poachers-court/

Namibia dehorns rhinos to fight poaching http://citizen.co.za/276403/namibia-dehorns-rhinos-fight-poaching/

Zimbabwe: Kasukuwere Warns Poachers http://allafrica.com/stories/201411171249.html

‘Honeymoon’ over, REDD+ struggles with politics and power http://blog.cifor.org/25197/redd-policy-politics-power-brockhaus#.VGocosm6j4c

WHY LEAVE OUT TAIB? You’re corrupt, Adenan Satem tells Sarawak’s timber tycoons
Full article: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=401152:why-leave-out-taib?-youre-corrupt-adenan-satem-tells-sarawaks-timber-tycoons&Itemid=2#ixzz3JLIXisKR

S’wak ministers to sign integrity pledge soon (SABAH/PENINSULA MALAYSIA – PLEASE NOTE AND COPY THIS EXAMPLE) http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/11/17/swak-ministers-to-sign-integrity-pledge-soon/

DAP rep faces disciplinary action for asking Sarawak minister to resign – See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dap-rep-faces-disciplinary-action-for-asking-sarawak-minister-to-resign#sthash.9ymzJQ73.dpuf

Outcry as oil explorers now enter coast’s biggest forest CHINA/KENYA – See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/outcry-oil-explorers-now-enter-coasts-biggest-forest#sthash.LpbUMKbI.dpuf

Gorillas Are More Fragile Than You Think: A Dispatch From Congo http://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2014/11/17/gorillas-are-more-fragile-than-you-think-a-dispatch-from-congo/?_r=0

AfriLeaks – Africa’s answer to Wikileaks? http://www.dw.de/afrileaks-africas-answer-to-wikileaks/a-18068916

Battling To Save The Endangered Gorillas Of ‘Virunga’ http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/11/18/virunga-national-park-netflix-documentary

Submit proposal to stop rhino poaching, Harsh Vardhan tells Assam http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=14..181114.nov14

‘Set up wildlife crime control units in each state’. INDIA http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Set-up-wildlife-crime-control-units-in-each-state/articleshow/45182710.cms

Prince William pleas for end to illegal poaching of animals http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2014111721930/prince-william-message-illegal-poaching-angry-birds/

Nature lovers demand probe into death of lions INDIA http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Nature-lovers-demand-probe-into-death-of-lions/articleshow/45180850.cms

Ton of ivory missing from Ugandan government vault President orders government watchdog to start formal investigation after wildlife agency staff questioned by police http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/17/ivory-missing-ugandan-government-vault

South Africa: United States Supports South African Anti-Wildlife Trafficking Efforts http://allafrica.com/stories/201411171620.html

Animal Planet to Air ‘Saving Africa’s Giants With Yao Ming’

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2014/11/17/animal-planet-to-air-saving-africas-giants-with-yao-ming/

Elephant herds devastated in South Sudan civil war: report https://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/elephant-herds-devastated-south-sudan-civil-war-report

‘Saving Africa’s Giants,’ TV Review Animal Planet’s documentary is a sobering look at a poaching crisis that’s decimating elephant and rhino populations in the wild. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/saving-africa-giants-tv-review-article-1.2013881

Adenan: I didn’t accuse the big six of graft SARAWAK / MALAYSIA http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/11/18/Adenan-big-six-timber-company/

Swiss green group lauds Adenan’s timber warning SARAWAK / MALAYSIA http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/swiss-green-group-lauds-adenans-timber-warning

CITES

Have you seen a statement from

Mr Scanlon or Mr Storkersen

concerning the ivory shipment from Tanzania to China on board the President of China’s jet?

NO?

NEITHER HAVE WE.

Does this make you wonder whose side CITES is on –

CHINA’S, or the world’s wildlife?

Migratory birds arrive, poaching rampant http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=2..181114.nov14

Forest dept opposes bail to tiger skin trader Bagdi http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Forest-dept-opposes-bail-to-tiger-skin-trader-Bagdi/articleshow/45182657.cms