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116 Elephant Tusks Seized in Congo

Monday, August 30th, 2010

News from the ivory trade front: last week 116 elephant tusks were seized in Congo.

KINSHASA, Congo ‚Äî Police in northeastern Congo have seized 116 elephant tusks and arrested two men following a truck crash.

Col. Sylvain Tshikez said Wednesday that the ivory was found inside jerry cans that tumbled off a truck involved in a crash.

The discovery took place near the town of Kisangani in the northeastern Orientale province following the accident. The owner of the vehicle was seriously injured but was also expected to face charges.

Illegal hunting of elephants in central and eastern Africa has intensified in recent years, with much of the ivory exported to Asia.

Poachers also have taken advantage of the fact Congo suffered through back-to-back civil wars, and the country’s volatile east remains mired in armed conflict.

Image: New Scientist

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Sign the petition: STOP BLOODY IVORY

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Dear friends,

In the third week of March 2009, the worldwide UN ban on ivory trading could be lifted — a decision that could wipe out Africa’s vulnerable elephants. But a number of a African nations are pushing to uphold the ban. Let’s send them a stampede of support to save the elephants. Sign the petition below, and ask your friends to as well:

Sign the petition! https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory_fb/?vl

Illegal ivory being burned.

Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban, but this would send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it’s open-season on elephants. Another group of African states have countered by calling to extend the trade ban for 20 years.

While researching the availability of ivory in gift shops and other retailers in Bangkok, I was shocked to see how popular and common illegal ivory is. If the ban is lifted for Tanzania and Zambia, it will provide political cover for retailers of ivory in the destination countries. It will also create an industrial complex based on the ivory trade. Once the ivory from this one-off sale is sold, there will be a vacuum for supply of legal ivory, but no dip in demand. The illegal killing of elephants will rise to meet this demand. Please join me in signing this important petition.

Our best chance to save the continent’s remaining elephants is to support African conservationists. We only have 5 days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every 3 years. Click below to sign this urgent petition to protect elephants,¬† — the petition will be delivered to the UN meeting in Doha:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory_fb/?vl

Over 20 years ago, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) passed a worldwide ban on ivory trading. Poaching fell, and ivory prices slumped. But poor enforcement coupled with’experimental one-off sales’, like the one Tanzania and Zambia are seeking, drove poaching up and turned illegal trade into a lucrative business — poachers can launder their illegal ivory with the legal stockpiles.

Now, despite the worldwide ban, each year over 30,000 elephants are gunned down and their tusks hacked off by poachers with axes and chainsaws. If Tanzania and Zambia are successful in exploiting the loophole, this awful trade could get much worse.

We have a one off chance this week to extend the worldwide ban and repress poaching and trade prices before we lose even more elephant populations.

Across the world’s cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination — Babar, Dumbo, Ganesh, Airavata, Erawan. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being annihilated. As long as there is demand for ivory, poaching and smuggling will happen, but this week we have a chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals’ profits.

As long as there is demand for ivory, elephants are at risk from poaching and smuggling — but this week we have a chance to help stop it.

Sincerely,

Trip Jennings

Thanks to the organizers of this petition. Please check out their sites below.

More information:

http://www.bloodyivory.org/
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: http://www.cites.org

Tags: Cites, illegal ivory trade, ivory trade
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Dogs Help Hound Ivory Smugglers in Thailand

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Two yellow labrador brothers, Si Thong and Si Phoon, are helping authorities at Suvarnabhumi airport in Thailand crack down on illegal wildlife being smuggle into the country, especially ivory.

These dogs from the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were specifically trained for the job and can sniff out contraband that authorities would often miss.

From the Bangkok Post:

The illegal ivory trade has become a major concern for Thailand. The country is ranked third in the illegal tusk trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), after Congo and Nigeria.

Over the past two years, four tonnes of ivory worth about 170 million baht have been confiscated, according to the department.

Environment and Natural Resource Minister Suwit Khunkitti said the ministry had planned a heavy campaign against the illegal ivory trade and hoped to see Thailand delisted from being a hub for the activity at the Cites meeting in Doha starting on March 13.

“We have a strong campaign [which allows for] severe punishment with four years in prison [for convicted smugglers]. We believe that those aggressive measures would be able to change the country’s image to the world community,” Mr Suwit said.

The department yesterday launched the “Buy Ivory, Buy Trouble!” campaign at the airport, together with other international airports in the country to raise awareness among tourists of the danger to elephants from purchasing souvenirs made of ivory. Sulma Warne of Traffic Southeast Asia, voiced his concern over a rapidly declining wild elephant population and urged the global community to protect wild elephants for future generations.

Tags: bangkok, Cites, conservation, elephants, illegal ivory trade, thailand
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African Countries at Odds On Attempts To Change ESA Status of Elephants + Selling Ivory Stockpiles

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

The African nations of Tanzania and Zambia have proposed change the Endangered Species status of African elephants to allow trade of ivory. But Kenya and Mali are leading an effort to stop them, saying lifting the ban would lead to increases in poaching on elephant herds.

And they have reason to be worried. From 2008 to 2009, illegal ivory seizures doubled, poaching death rate of elephants grew to nearly 10% and the price of ivory has ballooned to record levels.

From the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development:

Kenya and Mali are leading an effort to block a proposal by Tanzania and Zambia to change the endangered species status of elephants and sell off stockpiles of ivory…

Tanzania and Zambia followed official procedures when they issued their proposal for consideration at the Fifteenth Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Conference of the Parties in March. But Kenya and Rwanda say that because Tanzania proposed the one-off ivory sale without consulting neighbouring countries that share elephant populations, they have betrayed the ‚Äòspirit‚Äô of conservation in the region.

The proposal, which was filed on 17 November 2009, seeks to ‚Äútransfer the population of the African elephant, Loxodonta africana, from Appendix I to Appendix II‚Äù of CITES. Because Appendix I species are considered to be ‚Äúthreatened with extinction,‚Äù trade is only permitted in exceptional circumstances. However, if the African elephant is moved to Appendix II ‚Äì species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but could be if trade is not controlled ‚Äì avenues for trade will likely be opened up.

China and Japan would likely be the sole bidding countries if the ivory goes to auction, as the two countries have convinced CITES that their domestic regulations are capable of ensuring the ivory is not re-exported…

The African Elephant Coalition, a group of 21 member states opposed to the ivory trade, is arguing that the CITES panel charged with assessing the risk posed to elephants is downplaying the fact that auctions such as these can lead to increases in poaching.

Tags: africa, asia, endangered species, extinction, ivory trade
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Don’t underestimate the huge scale of this bloody trade

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Western nations have the power to stamp out the trade and save this iconic species

Robbie Marsland, The Independent
25 January 2010

It is devastatingly sad to say, but elephants remain in crisis: they are still in danger of being wiped out by poachers. This may shock many who believed that the ivory trade ban 20 years ago had saved them, and it’s true that the herds initially started to recover, but now the ban has been chipped away and we face the prospect of elephants being poached to extinction in some African countries such as Sierra Leone.

The enormous scale of the trade should not be underestimated ‚Äì the value of ivory and other illegalwildlife sales comes second only to the illegal drugs and weapon trade, making ivory a 21st century “blood diamond”. Organised criminal gangs of poachers, lured by easy money, are slaughtering elephants on a huge scale.
Western nations have it within their power to stamp out this bloody trade and save this iconic species. But their track record to date is lamentable. In 2007, the UK Government was among those which allowed several nations to sell over 100 tonnes of stockpiled ivory to China and Japan, where tusks are made into trinkets and signature seals. IFAW believes any legal ivory sales lead directly to a boom in poaching as they provide a smokescreen for more killing. After the 2007 sales there was a corresponding rise in illegal poaching in several countries.

The UK Government and other EU members have a new chance to make a difference to the fate of elephants in the coming weeks. Zambia and Tanzania have petitioned the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) conference in March to allow them to sell 112 tonnes of ivory. Despite increased poaching, the UK Government is still on the fence about whether or not to oppose these sales. To anybody who cares about animal welfare and conservation, the solution is clear: the ivory ban must be tightened and there should not be any further stockpile sales. We have a moral obligation to protect these magnificentanimals for future generations and a solution is within our grasp. The UK Government and other EU member countries, which vote as a bloc in March, must oppose stockpile sales.

It is also vital that we assist countries asking for help to stop poaching ‚Äì this brutal trade not only claims the lives of elephants but more than 100 rangers are killed each year protecting their precious but threatened wildlife heritage. The EU bloc is the only entity with the effective voting power to save or doom this entire species. That is a weighty responsibility and one that we sincerely hope member countries use wisely. If they fail, many areas of Africa face the prospect of losing elephants forever.

Robbie Marsland is UK director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Article at the following link:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/robbie-marsland-dont-underestimate-the-huge-scale-of-this-bloody-trade-1877853.html

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