Your daily dose of bad news about poaching, wildlife and environmental crimes
in the spotlight today ……………………
Zimbabwe Planning to Boost Its Sales of Baby Elephants, Sources Say – NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Forcibly separating baby elephants from their mothers is cruel and heartbreaking, according to experts. EXTRACT: The sources report hearing of plans to send 27 elephants to Thailand as soon as this weekend, and 60 to China next week. It is also possible, the sources say, that these exports will be delayed.
Is Zimbabwe really going to send elephants to Thai zoos to be abused and exploited like this one recently photographed at Bangkok’s Safari World?
Elephant expert Joyce Poole, the co-founder of ElephantVoices, a research and advocacy organization based in Kenya, believes Zimbabwe’s plan is unethical.
“Elephants are highly intelligent, self-aware, and socially complex animals,” she said. “They feel joy and grief and are capable of empathy. Like us, their emotional well-being depends on being cared for and raised in the context of close family relationships.”
The notion of forcing babies away from their kin is horrifying to Poole. “Abducting baby elephants from their families is traumatic for the entire family and causes great and long-term suffering to the captured calf. Confinement of these large and highly social animals in captivity causes a myriad of physical and psychological ailments and early death. ”
No 326 Wildlife Trade News 7th February 2015
Zim Authorities Ban Elephant Export Protest http://www.radiovop.com/index.php/national-news/11679-zim-authorities-ban-elephant-export-protest.html
China’s Appetite for Luxury Rosewood Fuels Illegal Timber Trade in Cambodia (NA COMMENT: have you seen news of any crackdown on this trade in China? It doesn’t happen, does it? What’s the point of CITES if no one is prepared to walk their endless talk?)
http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/230059117
Prince William coming to China http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-02/06/content_19505321.htm
Donate lands for conservation: Masidi. SABAH / MALAYSIA http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=97024
Illegal hunting NGOs are stumped that cops not willing to meet. SABAH / MALAYSIA (NA comment: This is more like the reality of Sabah – a Malaysian state still dependent on overseas donors to protect IT’S orangutans. If you want to save Sabah’s wildlife – stay away from Sabah – tourism revenue is already dropping and it needs to go further to drive home the message to complacent government officials.) extract: "If nothing is done urgently, the forests in Sabah may become void of large mammals, which would be a terrible blow not only to the development of tourism in the State, but also to our own future," he said. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=97022
Witnessing Heroic Effort By Rapid Response Team to Save Bull Elephant from Gruesome Death at the Hands of Poachers http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/06/witnessing-heroic-effort-by-rapid-response-team-to-save-bull-elephant-from-gruesome-death-at-the-hands-of-poachers/
BBC: Frontline teams ‘unaware’ of wildlife smuggler tactics (NA comment: Despite tens of millions of dollars spent and countless conferences/workshops. It seems the bureaucrats only talk amongst themselves – no change there then.)
CITES ISN’T WORKING IS IT?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31162726
Wildlife conservation must support, not destroy, Indigenous Peoples
‘They beat us at the WWF base. I nearly died.’ Baka ‘Pygmy’, Cameroon. Photo: Survival International. http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2741220/wildlife_conservation_must_support_not_destroy_indigenous_peoples.html
Five men arrested for illegal hunting of wild boars .SABAH/MALAYSIA
Read more: http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/02/06/five-men-arrested-illegal-hunting-wild-boars/#ixzz3Qy1hbSBO
250 poachers arrested in Mozambican national park http://en.starafrica.com/news/250-poachers-arrested-in-mozambican-national-park.html
Don’t fool yourself: ‘Good news’ of tiger census camouflages the truth http://www.firstpost.com/living/dont-fool-yourself-good-news-of-tiger-census-camouflages-the-truth-2078237.html
Conservationists demand swift action to stop tiger poaching http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/conservationists-demand-swift-action-to-stop-tiger-poaching-115020600939_1.html
EU set to ban lion hunting trophy imports https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/news/eu-set-ban-lion-hunting-trophy-imports
Poaching gang busted – more arrests, more leopards skins recovered
http://hillpost.in/2015/02/poaching-gang-busted-more-arrests-more-leopards-skins-recovered/102398/
Abalone seized at Marrawah is the biggest in 10 years. AUSTRALIA http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/2860029/12k-abalone-haul-biggest-in-10-years/
Five red sanders smugglers held. INDIA http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-02-03/Five-red-sanders-smugglers-held-129328
Interview: China’s support leads to slump in poaching: Kenyan official. (NA Comment: Kenya sucking up to China? When other countries providing much more help to Kenya receive no such recognition. Why the difference? Why has China been picked out? Hmmnn) http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/150206/interview-chinas-support-leads-slump-poaching-kenyan-officia
Madagascar establishes a sanctuary for sharks http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0206-antongil-madagascar-shark-park.html
Wildlife Air Service spreads its wings http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/2709967/wildlife_air_service_spreads_its_wings.html
164 elephants killed last year. KENYA http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=3&ved=0CCEQqQIoADAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.the-star.co.ke%2Fnews%2F164-elephants-killed-last-year&ei=zLDVVL6_CJLW7AbM2YD4Bw&usg=AFQjCNG0oCrjl_XsRNd0EDx9SBQIFcUdbQ&sig2=uVUlv8Kh-3-Qk-uJVg0LDw&bvm=bv.85464276,d.ZGU
Papua rogue cop says he is innocent http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/07/papua-rogue-cop-says-he-innocent.html
Enforce LACEY Against Illegal Wood, Maroon 5’s Mickey Madden Says. USA
Deforestation blues: Imran vows to crack down on timber mafia. PAKISTAN EXTRACT: “At this rate, the country is at risk of turning into a desert over the next four decades,” the PTI chief said. “Lumberjacks need to be stopped from playing havoc with natural resources and afforestation must be carried out on a large scale to tackle this threat.” Imran also accused forest department officials of being hand in glove with the culprits. http://tribune.com.pk/story/834369/deforestation-blues-imran-vows-to-crack-down-on-timber-mafia/
