In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
Over the past 18 years, poachers have stripped South African coastal waters of at least 96 million abalone. Efforts to curb the illegal trade have roundly failed. Once abundant, the population of South African abalone Haliotis midae is declining at unprecedented levels. On average two thousand tonnes of abalone are …
Yahoo Japan is the single biggest online platform for elephant ivory sales in Japan, according to a new TRAFFIC investigation, which recorded a staggering 4,414 ivory items plus 35 whole tusks for sale over a four-week period in June and July 2018. The latest findings were revealed in System Error, …
More than 1,500 listings of live animals for sale have been found on Facebook in Thailand by a wildlife trafficking watchdog. Traffic, which monitors such activity, said many of the species, despite having international protection, were not native to the country, and so trading them was unregulated. The listings were …
This is a report of an expert process involving experts nominated by governments, inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. The outcomes of the process are intended to contribute to the efforts aimed at developing a deeper knowledge and understanding of crimes that have serious impacts on the environment, as well as …
In a major wildlife trafficking bust, Cameroon authorities have arrested six men for smuggling more than 700 kilograms of endangered pangolins and pangolin scales from the Central African Republic to Vietnam. Central Africa is a hotspot for illegally sourcing the scaly anteater for Asia, where its meat and scales fetch …
The Chadian government said Thursday it would assert control over part of the country's far north which has been troubled by a gold rush and a rebel incursion from neighbouring Libya. "The defence forces have been ordered to destroy all large machines and water containers and burn all the gold …
In 1889, an intrepid, 20-year-old American called William Stamps Cherry made a solo voyage up the Congo's tributaries. His destination was Oubangui-Chari, a remote corner of the French Empire, in what would later become the Central African Republic (CAR). From the capital, Cherry struck out into uncharted wilderness. He was …
An indigenous leader has been found murdered in Brazil, exposing the growing threat to tribes fighting illegal logging in the Amazon, campaigners and authorities said. Jorginho Guajajara was found dead in the northern state of Maranhao with his neck broken, rights group Survival International said. Police in Maranhao confirmed on …
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said on Sunday that it has taken several measures to protect and conserve elephants across the East African nation. Acting KWS Directing General Charles Musyoki said the agency has improved engagement of communities living with elephants as active partners to elephant conservation …
Scientists called on Monday for greater transparency over the use of tax havens by companies involved in activities that have harmed the world’s oceans and the Amazon rainforest. In a study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, they said many firms involved in illegal fishing worldwide used tax …
A suspect linked to the recent killing of a rhino at the Lake Nakuru National Park has been arrested in Naivasha. Naivasha Sub-County Assistant Commissioner John Opondo Wednesday confirmed the arrest, saying the suspect was found with six pieces of carved ivory and a 3006 rifle. "The suspect is being …
Despite the hefty fines of up to N$5 million or 25 years jail term for elephants and rhino poaching, Namibian officials have recorded 25 cases of rhino and 16 of elephant hunted illegally countrywide this year alone. Late last year, a total number of 27 rhinos were poached compared to …
Nobody knows just how much rosewood Madagascar’s timber barons have hidden away in caches throughout the country. Buried in the sand, sunken in rivers, or tucked away in remote, walled compounds, these illicit stockpiles are thought to be worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in all, the …
Abubakar Bwari, the Minister of State, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, says more than two million people in Nigeria depend on illegal mining for their livelihood. Mr Bwari made this known at a two-day “First National Stakeholders’ Discourse on Opportunities and Challenges of Artisanal Mining in Nigeria’’ on Monday …
BHOPAL: After six months, central bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday resumed functioning through video conferencing. NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel warned state government that wildlife in Son Ghraiyal Sanctuary is facing serious threat and directed to submit a report in three months. Besides the chairperson, the …
Poachers have killed a 12-year-old black rhino in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru national park, the national wildlife agency said on Tuesday, days after the authorities announced that ten of the critically endangered animals had died in a bungled relocation. To widespread consternation from wildlife and environmental groups, Kenya’s government announced last …
Wayne Lotter, a renowned South African conservationist, has been awarded a posthumous 2018 Global Ranger Award by International Ranger Federation (IRF). The anti-poaching activist was shot dead aged 51 in Tanzania last year. He has won the IRF Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts to stop the poaching of elephants …
Cambodia’s general election campaign has been accompanied by illegal logging, local leaders say, which can be a way for political parties to fund their activities. Facing scant and fractured opposition, the Cambodian People’s Party and its leader, Hun Sen, who has served as prime minister for 33 years, were expected …
Millions of tonnes of illegally logged timber, felled from forests across Papua New Guinea, are being exported to China and from there to the world as finished wood products, a new report from Global Witness has revealed. Global Witness’s investigation has found that the majority of logging operations in PNG …
From a distance, the Gile National Reserve in northern Mozambique is a vast, dense ocean of green that reaches as far as the horizon. Bigger than Luxembourg, the 2,800-square-kilometre (1,080-square-mile) forest seems to be reassuringly preserved, its hardwood treasure placed by Mozambique under legal protection. Close up though, the forest …
