Your daily dose of bad news about poaching, wildlife and environmental crimes …
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in the spotlight today ……………………
Elephant family to arrive in the UAE : SHAME ON THE UAE AND THOSE INVOLVED IN THIS TRADE.
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/elephant-family-to-arrive-in-the-uae extract: It said the elephants were not captured in the wild and had been living in captivity for many years. – see below for the alleged truth. (NA comment: here are the UAE CITES MA contact details if you want to write. http://www.cites.org/eng/cms/index.php/component/cp/country/AE
“The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said visitors witnessed the capture of young elephants by government helicopters and ground teams, who roped them together after separating them from their mothers by firing shots above the heads of the herd.”
There is no greater bond however, than that of a mother and her calves. A mother suckles her youngest calf right through until the birth of the next baby, which in Hwange – based on my own personal observations over more than a decade – is on average 3.8 years later. But even with the birth of the next calf, the bonds remain extreme, with the two youngest calves rarely away from their mother’s side for long. I have witnessed first-hand not just the profound grief of a mother who has lost her calf (killed by a wire snare for example), but also the intense grief of an elder sibling to this same death (or disappearance). Death and despair tears elephant families apart. Sometimes, the family splits forever, unable to cope with this grief. And just like in humans, grief can turn to anger. And grieving, angry, and frightened elephants is a distressing and awfully sad sight, as I also know first-hand. Sharon Pincott, who worked with wild elephants in Zimbabwe, on a full-time voluntary and primarily self-funded basis, for the past 13 years from March 2001 to April 2014
https://www.facebook.com/PresidentialElephantsZim 
Actor seeks to stop Zim elephant export. extract: Brosnan, a long-standing campaigner for animal rights, said he was "deeply saddened" to read the "gruesome story" that 36 baby elephants had been taken from their mothers and were awaiting shipment "to the UAE and possibly China.”http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-19477-Actor+seeks+to+stop+Zim+elephant+export/news.aspx
We are holding over another news report until tomorrow.
WHO ARE THE PEOPLE BEHIND THIS EVIL TRADE?
Can you help identify them and their company?
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO PROFIT
FROM EXPORTING/IMPORTING BABY ELEPHANTS?
One that involves baby elephants being stolen from their terrified (by helicopters chasing them) mothers.
WE NEED TO KNOW WHO – DON’T WE?
No 297 Wildlife Trade News 17th December 2014
Time to ban ape photography in Malaysia http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/letters/2014/12/17/time-to-ban-ape-photography-in-malaysia/
20 more protected areas in the works, says Adenan. SARAWAK (NA COMMENT: At last, someone in authority who is walking the talk. The world should observe and respect this man. We can’t think of another like him in the world, can you?)
CEO, Unilever: Now Is the Time for Action to Preserve Our Precious Ecosystems. (NA comment: How amazing. You wait for years to see some strong leadership and then two such people pop up at the same time. It has to be said, Unilever, for a long time, have been a driving force behind lessening the impact of palm oil plantations. It’s sad, if not surprising, so few ‘leaders’ in government, industry etc have the moral integrity to speak out and walk their talk. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-polman/now-is-the-time-for-actio_b_6333058.html
Taiwan cracks down on poaching by Chinese fishing boats
China to write animal welfare into law for the first time http://www.scmp.com/frontpage/international
First Law to Recognize Animal Welfare. CHINA http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/features/rights/1412/2048-1.htm
CITES Secretary-General visits Thailand to discuss national ivory action plan: NA comment: The usual stuff. Lots of talk, fine words and the (mandatory?) photo of the secretary general to try and reassure us things are happening, when you only have to read the news to see the reality. If we judge CITES by its results, what is there to show for all the expenditure? Only a massive increase in the illegal wildlife trade, which is often facilitated by corrupt CITES MA’s the world over? How can this be anything other than an abject failure – the inability by CITES to produce real results?) http://cites.org/eng/thailand_niaps and to illustrate the point http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140709-poaching-elephants-cites-ivory-trade-animals-science/
CITES: 11-15 January: 66th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, CICG, Geneva, Switzerland (NA comment: Might CITES use this meeting as an opportunity to confront and take action against those countries we often see breaking the CITES Convention? Or, will this become yet another talking shop with sound-bites and photos for media consumption? What do you think? ) http://www.cites.org/
End of the road for Laos elephants? http://www.dw.de/end-of-the-road-for-laos-elephants/a-18133929
Giving enforcement more bite. SARAWAK http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/12/17/giving-enforcement-more-bite/
Permitting Crime: How palm oil expansion drives illegal logging in Indonesia. (Report available to view)
EIA
Will PH meet EU deadline for tougher law vs illegal fishing? http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/environment/78230-philippines-yellow-card-deadline-illegal-fishing
KPK raids ministry’s office in land-conversion case. INDONESIA http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/17/kpk-raids-ministry-s-office-land-conversion-case.html
In Namibia, the sudden death of a Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) employee is raising questions. http://annamiticus.com/2014/12/16/namibia-bizarre-death-rhino-protector/
Hunter expects to get permit to shoot rhino in Africa, despite threats http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27646400/hunter-expects-to-get-permit-to-shoot-black-rhino-in-africa
Tanzania: Dar to Buy Five Choppers in Anti-Poaching Drive http://allafrica.com/stories/201412170137.html
Centre asks TN to probe tiger deaths http://m.timesofindia.com/City/Chennai/Centre-asks-TN-to-probe-tiger-deaths/articleshow/45541774.cms
Private investments boost conservancies http://www.newera.com.na/2014/12/17/private-investments-boost-conservancies/
Poachers sell migratory birds in Bahraich. INDIA http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Poachers-sell-migratory-birds-in-Bahraich/articleshow/45540046.cms
Anti-poaching unit ready to start helicopter patrols. NAMIBIA – See more at: http://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?id=21498&page_type=story_detail&category_id=1#sthash.1F0ilu2D.dpuf
Endangered giraffe rescued in Uganda http://www.treehugger.com/conservation/endangered-giraffe-rescued-uganda.html
Spend as little as Rs. 30 to keep elephants at bay . INDIA
Hunting is a greater threat than logging for most wildlife in (Malaysian) Borneo http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1215-sullender-gibbs-hunting.html
Uphill battle to tackle Indonesian shark fishing. extract: While the fins are sold on to China and other countries http://www.nst.com.my/node/63427
‘Killing Contests’ That Target Pregnant Females Threaten to Wipe Out This Graceful Ocean Animal. USA http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/12/16/east-coast-killing-contests-threaten-wipe-out-cownose-stingray
