Another daily dose of bad news … that never ending story of poaching,
wildlife and environmental crimes …

in the spotlight today ……………………

Cute or cruel? Activists fear for the welfare of animals at this Chinese wildlife park which is home to the biggest population of koalas outside Australia (NA comment: check out the photos)

• Chimelong Wildlife Park has the largest group of koalas outside Australia, with a 50-strong community
• The park has recently bolstered its koala population, which includes rare twins born in 2007
• Animal rights groups have condemned the park, which offers animal performance circuses
• Animals Asia visited the park and found the koalas live in substandard conditions

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2861424/Is-cute-cruel-Activists-fear-treatment-animals-Chinese-wildlife-park-home-biggest-population-koalas-outside-Australia.html#ixzz3L2dqv6ZS (NA comment: Any country or person who wants to send animals to Chinese zoos, deserves to be named and shamed. So, let’s begin with ZIMBABWE.)

No 286 Wildlife Trade News 6th December 2014

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: China’s Expanding Middle Class Fuels Poaching, Decadence in Myanmar http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/special-features/2014/12/141205-myanmar-burma-poachers-endangered-animals/

Poaching for Chinese Markets Pushes Tigers to the Brink http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/a-handful-of-countries-co_n_6274064.html

China: stop the slaughter – stamp out ivory trafficking now. Chinese ivory traffickers are responsible for the deaths of thousands of African elephants. The situation is especially alarming in Tanzania, where ruthless criminal organizations are behind the poaching.

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Poachers are killing African elephants in unprecedented numbers (photo: Nuria Ortega, African Parks Network) https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/mailalert/975/china-stop-the-slaughter-stamp-out-ivory-trafficking-now#cn=taf&ct=petition-975&md=social&sr=facebook

Li Bingbing Endorses Ivory Trade Ban. China

Chinese actress Li Bingbing, second from right, and business leaders endorse ivory trade ban at the launch of a public service advertisement, December 5, 2014. [chinadaily.com.cn]

San Gabriel man sentenced to prison for smuggling 46 turtles extract: Kwong Wa Cheung, 36, was sentenced Tuesday to serve two months in federal prison for trying to smuggle 46 turtles and tortoises last year from Southern California to Hong Kong, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

(Photo U.S. Department of Justice)

Extreme fishing: Hunting for deadly sea snakes. Every year 80 tonnes of venomous sea snakes are harvested in the Gulf of Thailand, but it’s a dangerous business and the snakes might be threatened. It is consumed as food, drink or medicine elsewhere in Asia, often exported to China and Vietnam.

When it comes to CITES and its leadership the biggest mistake you can make is to judge either by its intentions, not its results.

These three men are very influential over which countries are punished, or not, by CITES.

No one, least of all us, is asking these men to do more than enforce the CITES Convention – which is what they are paid very well to do.

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Achim Steiner UNEP John Scanlon CITES Oystein Steiner CITES

Executive Director Secretary General Chairman: Standing Committee

IF CITES WAS WORKING AND EFFECTIVE, WHY ARE YOU READING EVERY DAY ABOUT CITES MEMBER COUNTRIES BREAKING THE CONVENTION? THEY HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR – DO THEY?

Uganda: Is Kenya’s Ivory Stock Safe? Fears After Theft in Uganda http://allafrica.com/stories/201412051226.html (NA COMMENT: Confiscated ivory in Malaysia is strongly rumoured to have gone missing from a government facility. The government has done nothing to deny the rumours. Doubtless, though, the Malaysian government will file its CITES Ivory Action Plan as if there is no problem with the ivory trade there – which should be enough lies to persuade the CITES Standing Committee to avoid doing its job and sanction Malaysia.)

Borneo Orangutan with 40 shotgun pellets in body dies

The vet team conducting surgery on the orangutan, which died after…

http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/borneo-orangutan-40-shotgun-pellets-body-dies

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2014/12/thailand-blood-timber-201412314382992578.html

Namibia struggles poaching surgehttp://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/namibia-struggles-with-poaching-surge-1.1791578#.VIHYncm6j4c

South Sudan War Threatens Existence of Elephants, Giraffes, and Other Wildlife 30 percent of WCS satellite-collared elephants likely poached in the past year

Many against seal hunt are afraid to speak out: IFAW http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-12-05/article-3962953/Many-against-seal-hunt-are-afraid-to-speak-out%3A-IFAW/1

Man gets three-year jail for possessing leopard skin. INDIA http://zeenews.india.com/news/delhi/man-gets-three-year-jail-for-possessing-leopard-skin_1510016.html

Massacre of the giraffes: Numbers fall by 40 per cent without protection from poaches http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/543940/Giraffes-danger-extinction-from-poaches-across-Africa

Is illegal ivory funding global terrorism? Kathryn Bigelow thinks so An elephant is killed for ivory every 15 minutes. At the present rate, they could be extinct in 11 years. Deriving income from the sale of illegal ivory are terrorist groups like al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, claims a short film by Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow. Last Days urges you to act to end the illegal ivory trade. https://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/blogs/traveler/how-illegal-ivory-funds-terrorism-052627666.html

Kenya: KWS Acquires One Million Acres for Wildlife Conservation http://allafrica.com/stories/201412050681.html

No sign of Gir transfer, MP seeks to shift zoo lions to Kuno. INDIA http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/no-sign-of-gir-transfer-mp-seeks-to-shift-zoo-lions-to-kuno/articleshow1/45379624.cms

One man’s fight against Africa’s ivory poachers Conservationist Richard Bonham’s 40-year campaign to protect Africa’s wildlife has led him from Kenya’s savannah to trinket shops in Hong Kong. To stop the slaughter, he says, action must be taken at both ends of the supply chain.

Sink or Swim: Indonesia Takes Down Three Illegal Fishing Vessels http://blogs.wsj.com/indonesiarealtime/2014/12/05/sink-or-swim-indonesia-takes-down-three-illegal-fishing-vessels/

Face-to-face with what may be the last of the world’s smallest rhino, the Bornean rhinoceros http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1201-hance_tam.html#sthash.0IBqVlv5.dpbs

23 tonnes of red sanders seized off Mumbai, 20 persons nabbed http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/23-tonnes-of-red-sanders-seized-off-mumbai-20-persons-nabbed-114120501105_1.html

INTERPOL holds wildlife crime training in Botswana http://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-231

Fisheries crime investigations supported by INTERPOL training http://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-233

Ministry issues moratorium on sale of seized chainsaw lumber. GHANA http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=338018

Duke of Cambridge to meet President Obama during US visit. EXTRACT: Both men will meet at the White House in Washington on Monday ahead of a speech Prince William is expected to deliver about the illegal wildlife trade.

The Illegal Wildlife – It’s Closer to Home Than You May Think http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/philip-mansbridge/illegal-wildlife-trade_b_6268000.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Indonesia’s ambitious plan to reforest 2M ha annually (NA comment: Believe this only if and when you ever see it materialise.) http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1205-meijaard-rps-indonesia-reforestation.html#sthash.oaSFxk39.dpbs

Police raid nets 1,515 logs and vehicle. SARAWAK/MALAYSIA (NA comment: Rather worryingly the illegal loggers managed to evade capture – a disturbing trend in Sarawak and Sabah.), http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/12/06/police-raid-nets-1515-logs-and-vehicle/

Malaysian government retains draconian Sedition Act http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/06/mala-d06.html

Smallholders not so small, says Sabah Forestry Director Read more: http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/12/06/smallholders-small-says-sabah-forestry-director/#ixzz3L674ANeE

Indonesia’s New President Promises to Put Peat Before Palm Oil http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/12/indonesias-new-president-puts-rainforests-before-palm-oil-plantations/

Indonesia sets reference level for cutting deforestation http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1205-indonesia-redd-reference-levels.html#sthash.sFUeoqsD.bQY5phNh.dpbs

Lion population falls 68 percent in 50 years http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1204-hance-lions-population.html#sthash.WsQHhmR6.dpbs

A landmark year for forests (commentary) http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1205-hurowitz-rps-palm-oil-revolution.html#sthash.yc0aur99.dpbs

Please note: This daily newsletter has evolved from an intended single species niche target audience news report, into what is now a more general wildlife news report to a very large and widespread audience consisting of CITES, EU, UNEP, and other government officials with an interest in these issues, as well as media worldwide, NGO’s scientists and concerned members of the public. Our aim is to keep as close as possible to collating and distributing reports related to deforestation and the illegal wildlife trade.

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