Horror in Africa

African elephants being poached in unprecedented numbers.  They are disappearing from the continent as the poachers become increasingly militarized.

Full story here at the New York Times.

Huge Ivory Seizure in Malaysia

Possibly the largest ever....full story here in Wildlife Extra News.

December 2011. Malaysian authorities have seized a staggering 15 tonnes of elephant ivory in Port Klang, just west of Kuala Lumpur; the sixth and by far the largest major seizure involving Malaysia in recent months, quite possibly the largest ever.

Asian Demand for Ivory Pushing Elephants to Extinction

Be warned. Very upsetting article.

UN Refuses to Re-open Ivory Trade

Zambia and Tanzania proposed re-opening the trade, but the UN said no.

Sierra Leone's Elephant Population Near Extinction

Be warned. Awful picture here.

Again, it's all about the damn ivory.

Zambia Calls for Tougher Wildlife Crime Enforcement

Wildlife crime such as poaching and live animal smuggling is becoming increasingly sophisticated. This because it is being run by organized crime networks with professional and ruthless criminals. It's not just some guy with a gun and snare.

Zambia's Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources is calling for a greater cooperation between her country's agencies in dealing with this serious issue. The worst areas of wildlife crime appear to be in rhino and elephant poaching. Obviously, this is due to one word....ivory.

Huge Ivory Seizure in Africa

From the Environment News Service...

More than two tons of illegal ivory have been seized and more than 100 people have been arrested in the largest international operation targeting wildlife crime across Eastern Africa, the Kenya Wildlife Service and INTERPOL announced today.

Thai Police Arrest Ivory Traffickers

Police arrested two Thai nationals for trafficking in African ivory. Unfortunately, if they are found guilty, they would face a maximum of only four years in jail. The fines could be up to 40,000 baht (1,150 dollars).

The dollars part doesn't seem like much to me either, but it could be a fortune in Thailand. Anyone know?

Kenyans Seize Huge Amount of Illegal Ivory

Kenya seized almost 700 kilograms of ivory worth millions of dollars in a night-time raid at the country's main airport. Elephants are being screwed by Asian demand for ivory. It's a mess.

From the BBC....

Officials say the sales have fuelled demand for ivory in Asian countries, especially China, contributing to a sharp increase in elephant poaching.

So far this year poachers in Kenya have killed 128 elephants for their ivory; last year 98 were killed.

In July, Kenyan authorities intercepted 16 elephant tusks and two rhinoceros horns being illegally exported to Laos from Mozambique.

Some wildlife experts have attributed the increase in elephant poaching to the presence of Chinese workers in Africa.

With demand for ivory products increasing back home, some Chinese workers on low salaries in Kenya are reported to have become middlemen in the ivory trade.

Ivory Bigger than Drugs in Africa

Sad, sad, sad. Why doesn't this greed ever end? Ivory means NOTHING. It's just a material. There is no magic, no power, NOTHING to it. And even with all the public education and media attention, there is just no abatement in demand. It's just so frustrating!

From the AFP...

Trafficking in ivory and game meat has become one of the most lucrative illegal trades in Africa due to rising demand in Asia, experts said on Friday.

"In terms of monetary value, ivory trade has surpassed drugs and is now one of the most thriving illegal trade in the continent," said Karl Karugaba, the head of a panel from the Lusaka Agreement Task Force.

Zambian Police Officers Caught in Ivory Trafficking

ZAMBIA Wildlife Authority (Zawa) yesterday arrested four people, including two police officers, in Kafue for trafficking in ivory and rhino horns worth more than K1 billion.

Zawa director general, Lewis Saiwana said in Lusaka yesterday that the suspects were arrested for trafficking in 72 pieces of elephant ivory and five pieces of rhino horns.

...For such huge ivory, Dr Saiwana said the poachers killed 36 elephants but, however, said it was suspected that the animals were killed from neighbouring countries and not in Zambia.

36 elephants? That's a huge slaughter in my opinion.

US Fish and Wildlife Offers Ivory Identification Guide

Wonder if something is made from illegal ivory? US Fish and Wildlife has a guide for identification.

From the web page....

This is a web version of the Identification Guide for Ivory and Ivory Substitutes by Edgard O. Espinoza and Mary-Jacque Mann, published in cooperation with the CITES Secretariat, and was developed to give information about a nondestructive and visual means of tentatively distinguishing clearly legal ivory from suspected illegal ivory at ports of entry....

One point which must be emphasized: while the methods described in this handbook are reliable for the purposes described (i.e. tentative visual identification, and "probable cause" to seize as evidence), an examination of the carved ivory object by a trained scientist is still necessary to obtain a positive identification of the species source.

Elephants Missing in Chad, Presumed Poached

This situation sounds a lot like the the mountain gorillas, the Congo and Virunga National Park.

Elephants in Zakouma National Park, the last stronghold for the savannah elephants of Central Africa's Sahel region, have crashed to just 1,000 animals from an estimated 3,000 in 2006. Ivory poachers using automatic weapons have decimated elephant populations - particularly when herds migrate seasonally outside of the park.

Civil unrest in has made conservation exceedingly difficult in Chad. Several park guards have been shot and killed in recent years. However, safety conditions have recently improved somewhat and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is optimistic that it can increase on-the-ground elephant conservation work in and around Zakouma to protect the remaining population.

Largest Ever Trafficking Bust in Africa

Just five days ago.

An operation across five Africa countries over weekend, targeting wildlife crime has led to arrest of almost 60 people and seizure of one ton of illegal elephant ivory, Interpol has reported.

The one-day sweep, code-named Operation Baba, targeted more than 50 locations, including local ivory markets, airports, border crossings and smuggling points, international policying body said.

Body said arrests and seizures were part of a five-country law enforcement operation co-ordinated by INTERPOL, and involved more than 300 law enforcement officers from police, customs, national wildlife and national intelligence agencies in Congo (Brazzaville), Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, further saying this represented largest-ever international wildlife law enforcement operation conducted in Africa.

Ebay Bans Ivory Sales

Hooray!

EBay has announced a worldwide ban on the sale of ivory products on its auction websites from next year.

An eBay spokesman said the move was the best way to help African and Asian elephants. The endangered animals are often hunted for their ivory tusks.

The ban comes as a conservation group prepares to release a report critical of the auction site.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare will say more than 4,000 ivory products have been listed on eBay

Shut Down Domestic Ivory Markets?

This guy provides an interesting analysis of the ivory trade.

The real cause of increased elephant poaching, which does seem to be a reality, is being obscured by the debate over international ivory sales authorised by Cites. The real cause is legal domestic ivory markets existing while legal raw ivory sales to supply those markets are prohibited.....

THERE IS ENOUGH IVORY originating from natural deaths and the elimination of rogue elephants to supply current global demand. However, there is too much corruption built into the supply system by the 18-year Cites ban for legal trading to recommence on a regular basis.

The only way I see of rooting out the corruption is to shut down the entire system for a specified period. Shut down all domestic use and selling of ivory. In the interim, governments and conservationists should launch a dedicated campaign to reduce consumers' desire to buy ivory, aimed primarily at Asia.

Canadian Sentenced for Ivory Smuggling

Good news.

Tania Julie Siyam, a 32-year-old Canadian art dealer, has been sentenced to serve 60 months in prison and pay a $100,000 fine for illegally smuggling ivory from Cameroon to the United States. The sentence follows a long running international investigation by special agents of the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife officials from Environment Canada and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland, Ohio. Siyam plead guilty in a U.S. District Court to four federal felony charges.

Tania Siyam originally operated art import and export businesses in Montreal, Canada, and Cameroon that were fronts for smuggling products from endangered and protected wildlife species, including raw elephant ivory.

China Gets to Buy Elephant Ivory

I don't know how to call this one....will it help or hurt the elephant population in the long run?

Either way, I hate these incredibly intelligent animals being "harvested" as "product."

The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Geneva voted in favour of China becoming a licensed importer. Britain was one of nine countries which supported the move.

It will allow China to bid for more than 100 tonnes of ivory stockpiled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe through culling and natural deaths.

The African states say they need to sell the stockpiles to finance the conservation and management of their elephant populations but critics say it will give illegal traders the opportunity to launder poached ivory.