No 493 Wildlife Trade News: 21st August 2015

More doses of bad news about poaching,
in particular in Tanzania where the elephant herds
are being decimated at will, but also from other
environmental and wildlife crime hotspots

in the spotlight today ……………………

Tanzania turns a blind eye to poaching as elephant populations tumble

As illegal poaching escalates in national parks from Selous to Ruaha, officials attempt to silence the crisis and many fear Serengeti herds will be next http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/20/tanzania-illegal-poaching-elephant-population-decline?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

Mr. Steiner. Do you agree the international CITES Convention must be respected and enforced without fear or favour? Most of this wildlife slaughter is happening while you are in charge at UNEP, isn’t it?

No 493 Wildlife Trade News: 21st August 2015

Sh44m ivory ‘was from 160 elephants’

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Ivory-Elephants-Mombasa-Court-Case/-/1056/2839366/-/ky4g60/-/index.html

LAO / VIETNAM Lao loggers backed by corrupt officials pillaged Champassak forests in July http://www.eco-business.com/news/lao-loggers-backed-by-corrupt-officials-pillaged-champassak-forests-in-july/

Sarawak’s enlightened environs leadership lauded

What a difference one person can make to saving Malaysia’s wildlife and environment.

Just a year ago it was inconceivable Sarawak would now be setting the standard when it comes to conservation in Malaysia.

Credit for this remarkable turnaround must go to one man -Chief Minister Adenan Satem. When it comes to environmental matters he has, without doubt, become the most enlightened environmental leader not only in all of Malaysia, probably all of South-East Asia.

The chief minister is walking his talk and enforcing the law. He, by and large, has earnt the respect and appreciation of conservationists.

Admittedly, we have yet to see any major logging companies prosecuted, but we do know a great many are under investigation.

If only other leaders in Sabah and peninsula Malaysia would take a leaf out of Adenan’s book wildlife in general might be saved from going the same way as the rhino – now extinct in the forests of Sabah.

Can you imagine what it must be like to be personally responsible for the extinction of such an amazing mammal? How would you feel? How do you think the Sabah Wildlife Department feel about this?

One can only wonder how the government’s wildlife authorities in Sabah feel about that man-made environmental disaster. Will the Pygmy elephant go the same way? The odds are it will. Why?

Because we don’t yet see the kind of personal commitment in Sabah that we see next door in Sarawak. If conferences and workshops (talking shops) could save wildlife, by now all wildlife in Sabah would be as safe as politicians’ houses; but Sabah’s wildlife is far from being safe, isn’t it?

Talking about saving wildlife is very different from actually preventing unique species like the rhino from being driven into extinction.

As you read this the Malaysian tiger is staring extinction in the face, with Perhilitan looking on like bystanders scratching their heads at a major road traffic accident.

Significant differences between the leadership in Sarawak and elsewhere in Malaysia illustrate why Chief Minister Adenan is currently such a success.

First and foremost, he cares about all the environment. He accepts responsibility for what happens in Sarawak. He makes sure the laws are enforced. He does not make excuses. All of which differentiate him from those elsewhere in Malaysia who do not hold with such personal values.

From Sabah, all we ever hear from the minister responsible and his wildlife department are lame excuses. It’s always someone else’s fault but never, ever, is blame attached to the palm oil industry. For years Sabah’s leadership has sucked up to NGOs, told them what they want to hear, and proceeded then to do nothing.

Back in KL there is no credible leadership in Perhilitan and never has been. Ministers are changed with a dizzying frequency and all leave a legacy of neglect.

It now seems likely Sarawak will begin to attract ever more tourists and their money who previously would have gone to Sabah. Good luck to Sarawak and thank you Chief Minister Adenan.

SEAN WHYTE is CEO of Nature Alert. http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/309401

The world’s forests are in major trouble, scientists report (NA comment: WAKE UP CITES) http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/08/20/the-worlds-forests-are-in-major-trouble-scientists-report/

INDIA: Forest, wildlife offences increasing in State http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/forest-wildlife-offences-increasing-in-state/article7558269.ece

‘Blood Lions’: 7 000 bred for canned hunting. EXTRACT: SOUTH Africa has about 7 000 lions that have been bred in captivity to be shot in captivity – and it is completely legal. http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/blood-lions-7-000-bred-for-canned-hunting-1.1902742#.VdY5rZcXEsd

10 amazing orangutan facts you need to know http://www.discoverwildlife.com/animals/mammals/10-amazing-orangutan-facts-you-need-know

BALI / INDONESIA: Chained and illegal at a tourist spot but NGO reports ignored by local wildlife police department – BKSDA.

photo: Scorpion

Shrinking Indonesian shark fisheries spur a national action plan http://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/shrinking-indonesian-shark-fisheries-spur-a-national-action-plan/

Sumatran rhino extinct in the Malaysian wild http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sumatran-rhino-extinct-in-the-malaysian-wild/article7561748.ece

SARAWAK / MALAYSIA: Foreign researchers welcomed http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/08/21/foreign-researchers-welcomed/

SARAWAK / MALAYSIA We ought to be criticised over our forest policy, admits Sarawak CM (NA COMMENT: A remarkable leader) http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/08/20/we-ought-to-be-criticised-over-our-forest-policy-admits-sarawak-cm/

GABON / LIBERIA : Poverty, Palm Oil and Protecting the Forests. Published by Jonathon Porritt http://www.jonathonporritt.com/blog/poverty-palm-oil-and-protecting-forests

Sumatran Rhino vanishes from Malaysian jungles http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/08/21/Sumatran-Rhino-extinct-msia/

MALAYSIA: EKVE construction will have disastrous results https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/309351

Compassionate Conservation, Cecil the Murdered Lion, and Blaze the Slaughtered Yellowstone Bear. ByMarc Bekoff Professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-bekoff/compassionate-conservatio_2_b_8003676.html

Cruise lines to abandon Faroe Islands following horrific mass whale slaughter

THE horrific mass slaughter of whales in the Faroe Islands has sparked protest from two cruise lines, who announced they will no longer send their ships there.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/599440/Faroe-Islands-whale-hunting-cruise-lines-abandon-islands

Kenya: Chinese Anti-Poaching Crusader Brings Change to Mara Region http://allafrica.com/stories/201508200314.html

Dallas Bars Elephants From Circus

Malaysia announces sweeping new protections for orangutans (NA comment: To be precise it is the sate of Sarawak, part of Malaysia, where ‘saving the orangutans’ is being taken seriously thanks to the Chief Minister.) http://phys.org/news/2015-08-malaysia-orangutans.html

The Sumatran rhino is extinct in the wild in Sabah/Malaysia http://news.ku.dk/all_news/2015/08/the-sumatran-rhino-is-extinct-in-the-wild-in-malaysia/

Sarawak agrees to creation of wildlife conservation trust fund, says CM – See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/sarawak-agrees-to-creation-of-wildlife-conservation-trust-fund-says-cm#sthash.Hx3x1E2H.dpuf

Brazil’s satellite-dodging loggers recast deforestation fight

– See more at: http://www.rtcc.org/2015/08/20/brazils-satellite-dodging-loggers-recast-deforestation-fight/#sthash.0JM06KRM.dpuf

NI-based soldiers to help tackle ivory poachers Soldiers based in Northern Ireland are heading to Gabon in West Africa to help tackle ivory poaching which has brought forest elephants to the brink of extinction. http://www.u.tv/News/2015/08/20/NI-based-soldiers-to-help-tackle-ivory-poachers-43383

Ivory poaching: UK troops sent to Gabon to fight illegal trade http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34001736

Namibia: Wildlife Protection School to Open Soon http://allafrica.com/stories/201508201223.html

Short film launched to warn against illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/139271/short-film-launched-to-warn-against-illegal-wildlife-trade-in-vietnam.html

Tough fight for Philippine authorities as illegal animal trade moves online. The fight against the illegal animal trade in the Philippines is getting harder as sellers choose to move online rather than sell their wares in shops. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/tough-fight-for/2062914.html

More than £500,000 donated to research after Cecil death http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33999051

SINGAPORE: 2nd INTERPOL Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Eventshttp://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental-crime/Events/Meetings/2nd-INTERPOL-Environmental-Compliance-and-Enforcement-Events

Kenya: Drive to Save the Endangered African Elephant Must Not Be Allowed to Falter http://allafrica.com/stories/201508201548.html

This incredible, cat-sized creature is poached more than elephants, tigers and rhinos combined

CITES: If you don’t punish convention-busting countries they WILL continue to break the CITES Convention time and time again, – isn’t that apparent and obvious to you? Or, is this just an inconvenient truth you would prefer not to acknowledge?http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-08-20/incredible-pinecone-sized-creature-poached-more-elephants-tigers-and-rhinos

Jane Goodall Discusses the Horrors of Trophy Hunting http://www.janegoodall.org/blogs/jane-discusses-horrors-trophy-hunting

Poachers steal trap cameras in Satkosia http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Poachers-steal-trap-cameras-in-Satkosia/articleshow/48540448.cms

Cambodian poachers busted after gunfight.
http://bangkokpost.com/news/crime/661636/cambodian-poachers-busted-after-gunfight

Costa Rica Is Shutting Down All Zoos And Freeing Every Animal In Captivity http://higherperspectives.com/costa-rica-shut-down-zoos/

Logistics giant UPS bans shark fin shipments amid pressure from conservationists

Bans on shark fin shipments are aimed at limiting supplies to Hong Kong shops. Photo: Reuters http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1850755/logistics-giant-ups-bows-pressure-and-bans-shark

Will REDD+ help save Indonesia’s forest, or create ‘carbon cowboys’ instead? http://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/will-redd-help-save-indonesias-forest-or-create-carbon-cowboys-instead/

NEW ZEALAND: Poachers fined $8K for massive haul of over 10,500 pipi https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/poachers-fined-8k-massive-haul-over-10500-pipi

UWA to restock wildlife reserves with black rhinoceros http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/672490-uwa-to-restock-wildlife-reserves-with-black-rhinoceros.html

Matusadona Anti Poaching Project – MAPP

An operation carried out yesterday by the ZRP Criminal Investigations Department Gokwe and in collaboration with MAPP resulted in the recovery of 1 x 303 rifle and 1 x 12 gauge shotgun in the Zumba area of Gokwe, arrests were also made and the case is being followed closely. Huge respect and thank you to the police and parks personnel that we work with that have helped to achieve such amazing results in the Matusadona, Nyaminyami, Kariba, Gokwe and Hurungwe areas. This photo shows some of the recoveries of weapons and ivory on recent operations in Nyaminyami. We continue to monitor the poacher networks, syndicates, and activities and will smash them at every opportunity!