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Elephant Deaths Rise in Tanzania after Shoot-To-Kill Poachers Policy is Dropped

12/31/2013

Source: Theguardian.com

By David Smith

Elephant deaths in Tanzania have risen dramatically since the government abandoned a shoot-to-kill policy against poachers, officials admit.

Lazaro Nyalandu, the deputy minister of natural resources and tourism, said 60 elephants were "butchered" in November and December, compared with two in October.

Soldiers, police, game rangers and forestry officers had been involved in a month-long crackdown on poachers, codenamed Operation Terminate, in October. But the operation was suspended after an inquiry by MPs uncovered a litany of arbitrary murder, rape, torture and extortion of innocent people.

Mizengo Pinda, the prime minister, told Reuters: "The anti-poaching operation had good intentions, but the reported murders, rapes and brutality are totally unacceptable."

The inquiry's findings – including the killing of 13 civilians and arrest of more than 1,000 people – led to the sacking of the tourism minister Khamis Kagasheki, who had called for perpetrators of the illicit ivory trade to be executed "on the spot",as well as the defence minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, the home affairs minister Emmanuel Nchimbi and the livestock development minister David Mathayo.

Nyalandu said that, with the operation on hold, the government would appeal to foreign donors to help Tanzania's wildlife department and ranger service. "Those to be approached include the European Union and Asian countries," he was quoted as saying in media reports. "Asian countries are reportedly the main consumers of elephant tusks and byproducts."

There is huge demand for elephant tusks in many Asian countries, where they are used to make ornaments. In August 2011, Tanzanian authorities seized more than 1,000 elephant tusks hidden in sacks of dried fish at Zanzibar port and destined for Malaysia.

Recent research by the International Union for Conservation of Nature found that 22,000 elephants were killed in 2012 and Africa will lose one-fifth of its elephants in the next decade if the poaching crisis is not arrested. There were around 10m African elephants at the start of the 20th century, but that number has fallen to 500,000 owing to poaching and habitat loss. More....

Tiger Management is Becoming High Tech, and So Is Poaching

12/31/2013

Source: Deccanherald.com

By Avani Kumar Verma

It is the usual tiger time again. On the one hand, the media, people and officials are going ga-ga over few direct tiger sightings reported from all over India in the ongoing Tiger Census.

On the other are the grim reminders of the human-tiger conflict that has resurfaced in the form of recent happenings in Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks in Karnataka which have reported five cases of human killings by tigers in the last one month keeping the authorities and villagers on tenterhook.

The problem seems to be far from over despite catching one such alleged murderous animal. These incidents have prompted the state government to undertake a long over due measure of setting up a dedicated staff of sharp shooters and trained departmental vets to tackle above type of exigencies. This ought to have been done long back. Nevertheless this step will instill confidence among people in the villages living on forest fringes that have been on war path with the forest department.

Then there were media reports in Karnataka of about 400 cameras being donated by a global tech service provider for fixing them in one of the prime national parks of the state to ostensibly closely monitor the health and well-being of the 60-odd tigers reported to be living in the above-mentioned national park. It is a moot point whether such an invasion in the privacy of tiger land is ecologically and scientifically desirable. There is another small matter that some of such donors have tourism and resort running interests. But these are beside the point.

What is noteworthy is that the tiger management is becoming high tech with the use of camera traps, GPS path finders, DNA mapping and the likes becoming essential tool-kits of the foresters and wild life managers. And why not? Are we not living in the age where technology is paramount and not seen being with it would make one feel not only out of the league but would perhaps be suicidal. So it is good that a lot of emphasis is being given to technology in wild life management in general and tiger management in particular.

But it would be of utmost importance to not only train and upgrade the skills of the staff in the usage of the modern tools but also in its proper maintenance. More....

When Answers Raise More Questions

12/30/2013

Source: Thestar.com.MY

By Isabelle Lai [Opinion\

When we are promised that enforcement action will be taken to tackle wildlife crime, we deserve to know what’s really going on instead of being fed a non-answer.

Without a doubt, one of the top 10 favourite words bandied around by the authorities is “enforcement”.

I can see why it is so favoured. Doesn’t it convey reassuring confidence that the full might of the law is going to come down hard on wrongdoers?

But enforcement is a much more meaningful word than that. It speaks of concrete action being taken to stop the spread of something which is bad or wrong.

When we are promised that enforcement action will be taken, I think we deserve to know what’s really going on instead of being fed a non-answer – which is to say, a nice, polite, reassuring answer that really doesn’t answer any of our questions.

Fresh in the public’s mind is illegal wildlife trade kingpin Anson Wong, whether he is really back in business and what the authorities are doing about it.

Burning questions have arisen in the wake of Al-Jazeera’s 101 East’s The Return of the Lizard King documentary, which provides substantial evidence that he might just have returned to his old habits.

Wong’s house was shown to have an enclosure housing African Serval cats, while the worker at Rona Wildlife, a shop lot housing exotic wildlife, named him as his boss.

What was the Department of Wildlife and National Parks’ (Perhilitan) reply? More....

Charity Appeal: The Weapons that Bring Death to The Savannah

12/30/2013

Source: Independent.co.uk

By Vidhi Doshi

Elephant poachers are using firearms left over from Mozambique’s civil war to slaughter elephants in neighbouring Tanzania.

The wildest sound on the savannah is not the lion’s roar, but the elephant’s trumpet. When he senses a lurking poacher, the elephant screams, loud and shrill, to alert the herd and scare his enemy.

The poacher, standing only a few feet away takes aim and fires. The elephant screams again, before he collapses in a heap. One bullet will rarely kill an adult elephant, and it takes many minutes before the life drains away.

Military weapons such as AK-47s are increasingly used by poachers. Bullets from these guns weigh too little to penetrate the elephant’s thick skull so an instant death is rare. In the meantime, poachers carve out the elephant’s tusks – never sparing the valuable inches of ivory lodged firmly inside his head. A local poacher will sell a kilogram of ivory for as little as 80,000 Tanzanian shillings or £30.

Max Jenes is patrol manager for the Pams Foundation, a conservation organisation based in Tanzania. He and his team of 200 scouts who guard Tanzania’s southern border with Mozambique have witnessed the growth in weapons coming into the country over the past five years. “Since 2011, we have started to concentrate our efforts on the boundary because most of the firearms being used against wildlife are coming in from Mozambique.

“Almost every patrol we do along the Rovuma river we arrest people with firearms. We usually get nine or 10 firearms in a single patrol.”

The foundation’s most recent report from August 2013 documents the seizure of 473 firearms and 1,138 rounds of ammunition in the previous 12 months. It also found 255 elephant carcasses, 17 other wildlife carcasses and confiscated 118 ivory tusks. The foundation works alongside local communities and the government to prevent poaching and reduce human-elephant conflict in the Selous-Niassa corridor, an area around half the size of the UK.

The ivory, worth thousands of pounds can be carried in on foot, small boats or motorcycles and even on buses. There are also cases of trucks carrying ivory disguised as government vehicles that go unchecked at borders, where the guards are often complicit in the smuggling operations. Last month, an immigration official from Mozambique was caught with 16 tusks.

Ivory is smuggled both ways but mostly from Mozambique into Tanzania. From the southern border, it is transported to the capital, Dar es Salaam, before being taken abroad. More....

Major Upsurge in Tanzania Elephant Poaching, Says Official

12/30/2013

Source: News.yahoo.com

Tanzania has been hit by a sharp upsurge in poaching, with at least 60 elephants killed in the two months since the government was forced to halt a controversial crackdown, a senior official said.

This month Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete sacked four top ministers amid accusations that the anti-poaching drive -- codenamed 'Operation Tokomeza', or 'Operation Terminate' -- had led to security forces carrying out a wave of killings as well as torture and rape.

But Deputy Natural Resources and Tourism Minister Lazaro Nyalandu signalled that the draconian operation, in force during October, had at least resulted in a drop in poaching.

"During the entire period of the operation only two elephants were reportedly killed, while 60 were butchered between November 1 and December 28," the deputy minister said late Sunday.

He said the east African nation, home to the world famous Serengeti national park, would now approach foreign governments and institutions for help on how to proceed.

"Those to be approached include the European Union and Asian countries. Asian countries are reportedly main consumers of elephant tusks and by-products," Nyalandu said, adding that Tanzania's wildlife department and ranger service needed to be strengthened.

The anti-poaching operation saw the security forces operating under a shoot-to-kill policy and making sweeping arrests.

Poaching has risen sharply in Africa in recent years. Besides targeting rhinos, whole herds of elephants have been massacred for their ivory -- threatening the tourism sector, a key foreign currency earner for Tanzania.

Are We Losing the Rhino War?

12/29/2013

Source: Sundaymail.co.zw

By Tendai Chara

Driving towards Kezi from Bulawayo can be a rare spectacle filled with pleasure. After only a few kilometres from the country’s second biggest city, large herds of grazing livestock are usually seen munching grass as they seem unfazed by the noise emanating from the many vehicles from the busy highway.

Further down the road, the landscape becomes particularly spectacular with valleys that are surrounded by both huge and small granite outcrops. Balancing rocks hang precariously as if they might fall off any time.

It is in this vast conservation area that the Matopos National Park, a World Heritage site which is rich in both history and culture, is located.

Intertwined with this beautiful scenery is the abundant wildlife. From the squirrel to the giraffe to the endangered black rhino, the park is pregnant with a variety of reptiles, birds and several animal species.

The park is home to the zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, eland, reedbuck, impala and sable among other animals. Apart from the popular game drives, the historical tours and the rock paintings, visitors can also visit the grave of Cecil John Rhodes.

Shangani Memorial, which chronicles the often bloody historical conflicts between the white colonial settlers and the Ndebele people, is situated some few kilometres from the highway.

To the visitors, the area surrounding the Matopos National Park is a haven of tranquillity and beauty. However, it is in these serene environs and many other animal conservancies across the country that vicious “wars” to save the rhino from extinction are being fought.

Officers from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management, villagers living in areas surrounding the park and tourism and conservation organisations are engaged in a bitter struggle to stop poaching activities and save the endangered rhino from extinction.

There are growing concerns that if the rhinos are not protected, they will, like the pre-historic dinosaurs, soon become extinct. During the past five years, there has been an alarming increase in rhino poaching which is threatening the existence of the animal species. More....

Abolish Trophy Markets to Eliminate Poaching

12/29/2013

Source: Ippmedia.com

Editorial

For decades now Tanzania has been fighting against poachers to protect its endangered animal species such as rhinos and elephants. Several such operations have been conducted before in attempt to flush out poachers from national parks and game reserves.

The operations, to some extent, recorded considerable success though the situation worsened the moment such campaigns ended.

It may be recalled that in the late 1980s, the government carried out a special campaign codenamed ‘Operesheni Uhai’ in which members of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) under the late Major General John Walden were involved.

Operesheni Uhai was deliberately carried out after it was realized that the number of jumbos had tremendously decreased from 350,000 during independence to 55,000 in the 1980s.

The number of elephants in the country increased to 110,000 in 2009, thanks to the ban imposed on ivory trade in the world by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

However, government statistics released recently showed that between 2010 and September this year a total of 3,899 pieces of tusks, weighing 11,212 kilogrammes and another 22 pieces of processed elephant tusks, weighing 3,978 kilogrammes were impounded.

The same statistics showed a total of 4,692 pieces of trophies, weighing 17,797 kilogrammes that were seized abroad emanated from Tanzania. Still worse, data from researchers show Tanzania has been losing 30 elephants to poachers on daily basis.

Findings are yet to be made public on what could be the impact of the recent ‘Operesheni Tokomeza Ujangili’ (Eliminate Poaching) that ended up costing political lives of four ministers. Despite the determination to combat the problem more individuals are still being arrested in possession of the trophies.

While the war against poaching is being fought on all fronts, Tanzania in collaboration with other countries, must work hand in hand with world bodies such as CITES to convince Asian nations where ivory fetches good market to discourage the business.

In the Asian nations, according to reports, the reliable market for trophies is in China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong. More....

UK Boosts Fight Against Wildlife Trade

12/29/2013

Source: Newvision.co.UG

By Samuel Sanya

The UK government has put together a £10m (sh41b) fund to fight illegal wildlife trade in developing countries such as Uganda in a bid to fight corruption and improve tourism earnings.

The fund will finance activities at government level, charities and non-government organisations. Wildlife trafficking is estimated to be worth at least £12b (sh48 trillion) annually and is a constant threat to the tourism sector as it depletes wildlife in game parks.

Recently, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) joined a multinational move to stamp out of trafficking of elephant ivory, rhino horns, big cats, great apes and reptiles.

Funding from the DFID programme will bolster on-going efforts to protect Uganda’s wildlife by providing training and specialised equipment and by raising awareness of the impacts and economic losses caused by wildlife crime to curb illegal wildlife demand.

“Poaching devastates livelihoods and sustainable communities as well as endangering the existence of these wonderful animals,” Owen Paterson, the UK government Environment Secretary said in a statement.

“We must work together with other countries to stamp it out by stopping demand, improving enforcement and by helping communities develop sustainable economic activity,

“The wildlife in areas where this is already being done becomes a valued and protected community asset so both the wildlife and the community benefit,” he added.

Paterson noted that heavily armed poachers and organised criminal networks are destroying some of the world’s most iconic species and posing a threat to security in rural African communities.

Revenues from tourism hit sh2.7trillion last year. Many tourists trek to Uganda to view the unique landscapes, lakes, and unique mammals such as the mountain gorillas, monkeys, rhinos, African elephants, lions and chimpanzees. More....

Poacher

12/28/2013

Source: Dailykos.com

Last fall Marv Hoyt shot three elk, taking the meat from one and leaving the other two to rot covering one with branches to make it less visible. That much we know.

Marv was not just some poacher, he was the Idaho Director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) a large and influential environmental org representing the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Audubon, and some ten or fifteen other groups. Marv sat on the board of directors for years.

But all that, the poaching, the leadership position on probably "The" most influential environmental association in the Yellowstone area, is not what makes this incident confounding.

Like a lot of places along the Idaho/Wyoming border I know these hills. It was a while ago but I've walked east west the whole way a few times and north south at least once The area the poaching occurred in are some not so high not so impressive mountains east of Afton Wyoming past the Idaho border, they're between Afton, Soda, and Montpelier if you know where that is.

Kind of brushy, kind of grazed a lot, trees and mountains not so high. Mormon country. Ranches but nothing too big or too impressive. It's the kind of area where people know each other and reputation is important. Mostly summer range, with plenty of lower canyons, some of it has been logged. There's access, you can drive in from a lot of directions, it's a lot less wild than the Wyoming range across Star Valley. Nice hills, nice folks, nice country.

This story broke ten days ago as of this writing, it was printed or posted on the web sites of all the small papers in Idaho, and quite a few in Montana and Wyoming. The one I linked to above is actually more thorough than the AP articles that followed. In almost all cases it was that one brief article, then nothing, it's Christmas.

One of his friends, from an org too extreme to belong to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition suggested that maybe Marv had "buck fever". Another, a journo thought Marve had become confused. By his telling, Marv has been hunting fifty years, and has taken six elk and three deer from that same area. Sixty three year old guys with a lifetime of hunting do not get buck fever then shoot three elk, nor do they shoot three elk due to confusion. Two elk were shot in the hind quarters then dispatched from close range. That's a lot of shooting.

A local property manager tells of another incident when Marv party hunted, that's shooting two animals and telling a friend to come and tag the second one. He also shot a spike elk on a cow tag. The spike elk could have been a mistake, the other two incidents not quite. Marv has shown a real disregard for game laws for a long time. The property manager did mention he didn't allow Marv to hunt on the properties he managed. Reputation. More....

Councilor Cited in Deer Poaching Case

12/28/2013

Source: Registerguard.com

By Jack Moran

Six months after pleading guilty to an intoxicated-driving charge, Springfield City Councilor Dave Ralston now faces additional legal trouble in two Oregon counties.

Ralston, 58, is scheduled to appear Jan. 13 in Deschutes County Circuit Court to enter a plea to a misdemeanor charge alleging that he broke an unspecified state wildlife law.

Ralston was involved in an Oct. 6 traffic stop in which a state trooper found an illegally taken buck inside a vehicle, state police Lt. Gregg Hastings said Friday.

The criminal case arises nine years after Ralston pleaded no-contest to shooting a black tail deer out of season and then borrowing another hunter’s tag to place on the carcass. He was fined nearly $600 in that case and had his hunting license suspended.

Deschutes County prosecutors could not be reached Friday for additional information on the current poaching case involving Ralston. Court records show that Ralston was not arrested after the traffic stop. He made an initial court appearance and was appointed a public defender on Nov. 6.

Ralston did not immediately return a telephone message left Friday at his home. His court-appointed attorney, Andrew Doyle of Bend, declined to comment on the case.

The Deschutes County charge isn’t the only pending legal matter involving Ralston, who won re-election to a fourth four-year term on the City Council in 2012. More....

A Kenyan Wildlife Ranger Arrested Over Poaching

12/27/2013

Source: Coastweek.com

A wildlife ranger attached to Isiolo complex in the Kenyan northern frontier was on Monday arrested for involvement in a series of poaching activities.

The Isiolo County Game Warden, Michael Gichure revealed that the officer had been colluding with criminals responsible for wildlife poaching in the region.

“We suspected the officer for a long time and have now managed to arrest him after obtaining credible evidence linking him to poaching,” Gichure told the journalists.

He said that an elite paramilitary squad tracked mobile phone conversation between the arrested officer and poachers.

Gichure disclosed to the journalists that intercepting phone calls helped unearth a well established syndicate behind Rhino poaching in the Kenyan northern frontier.

The officer together with a suspected poacher caught with an elephant tusk in Isiolo town on Sunday night will be arraigned in court soon.

Gichure confirmed that the 11 suspects arrested with eight riffles and 197 rounds of ammunition at Isiolo barrier on Sunday night were on a poaching mission to Solio ranch in Nyeri County.

“Our intelligence officers from a special squad leaked the information about the suspects to the police before they were intercepted near the barrier on their way to Nyeri to undertake poaching,” said Gichure

He added that the suspects were ferrying lethal arms to poach for the rhino horns whose demand has spiked recently.

The security agents managed to recover an assortment of arms that included five AK 47 riffles, two G3, M16 riffle and197 ammunitions.

“We received information that the suspects were planning to ferry the arms to Nyeri in order to commit heinous crimes over festive season,” said Gichure.

He assured the public that wildlife rangers were pursuing suspects who were still at large and could be plotting to commit wildlife crimes during the holidays.

According to Gichure, the anti poaching paramilitary squad will intensify patrols during Christmas and New Year festivities to deter this criminal activity.

“Let me warn poachers that our security agents will be vigilant throughout the festive season,” Gichure intoned.

2013, the Worst Year Ever for Tigers in India.

12/26/2013

Source: Huffingtonpost.com

By Sourav Roy

Many in India worship Sherawali Mata or Durga, the divine "Mother Goddess" who comes mounted on a tiger, making the king of the jungle the chosen vehicle of one of India's most powerful and revered religious deities. An equal number, also worship her husband, Shiva, one of the three commanding gods of the Hindu trinity, and one who meditates sitting on a tiger skin.

Clearly, between the husband-wife divine duo, the tiger is the common connotation of power. While one rides it into the battlefields, symbolizing her vanquishing power and infallibility, the other either sits on its skin or wears it, denoting his control over all worldly affairs.

It would then be obvious to assume that the eminence of tiger in India would be of epic proportions and the majestic cat would be revered within the country as much as its countless temples.

But alas, the tiger in India is only safe as long as its been ridden on by the goddess in fables and folklore. For in the wild, it runs the phenomenal risk of being poached and mutilated for the trade of its skin and body parts. Ironically, the iconic representation of immortal power and might is itself begging for some divine intervention now.

According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India, 2013 saw 39 tigers poached in India, the highest ever in seven years. The Times of India, reported that poachers in India killed 101 tigers across 17 states since 2008, citing proximity of human settlements to tiger habitats as the main reason for the rapid increase in poaching.

The southern-Indian state of Karnataka lost more tigers to poachers than anywhere else in the country. The Ministry of Environment and Forests of the state of Karnataka stated that there were about 762 villages with 48,549 families in the core/critical tiger habitats across India of which 101 such villages were in Karnataka.

However, even the numbers quoted above are disputed by conservation activists as many claim that a good number of poaching cases go unreported or are hushed up due to complicity of conniving officials.

"Our law enforcement is a joke and we all know that even the pettiest of the crimes in India are committed with the consent of colluding officers. What do you think, they'll let go off the lucrative tiger trade so easily?," questions tiger activist Ramesh (name changed due to safety reasons) who works for a wildlife watchdog.

"Just look at these rangers protecting the tigers. They are ill-equipped, under-paid, have no life or health insurance, handicapped in the absence of a strong intelligence gathering network and are often armed with obsolete weapons that are no match for the automatic weapons that poachers use. To make matters worse, some of them are involved in the trade and the laws around tiger poaching and the trade of tiger parts is absurdly weak and full of loopholes. How do you expect the situation to come under control, then?," adds Ramesh. More....

Religious Leaders Visit Katavi National Park to Pray For Animals

12/26/2013

Source: Ippmedia.com

By Gerald Kitabu

A thunderous wheezing sound from a group of hippopotamuses floating on Katuma River near Sitalike village could be heard as we entered the Katavi National Park in Mpanda district, Katavi region enthralling Bishop Charles Gadi of the Dar es Salaam based Good News for All Ministry.

He braved the scotching sun capturing every event that was taking place in the River. Katuma River is the vital lifeline of the Park which feeds Lake Katavi in the north and Lake Chada in the centre as well as the huge Katisunga floodplain.

In recent years, apart from being used as the source of water for varieties of wild animals, has also become home to thousands of hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

Despite being the third largest National Park in Tanzania, Katavi national park was not even known to many people in the country.

After getting out of the vehicle to take some photos a group of journalists could see hundreds of grunting hippos murmuring and squeezing themselves into the muddy water.

It was journey full of joy, sympathies, friendship, and laughter. Casual glances at trees along the road that crossed the river from Mpanda town to Sumbawanga district, Rukwa region, journalists could see birds swaying smoothly on feeble branches preening their feathers excitedly as they prepared to play on the soft backs of the hippos.

Beautiful vegetation and green environment inside and around the national park, has attracted a variety of huge animals, plants and birds species.

As he was strolling further through tall green grasses, incredible scenery that include immense wetlands, roaring waterfalls and original miombo woodlands, where the sable antelopes often hide, were enough charm to journalists.

However, despite all the wonders that are actually key to attracting tourism in the park which earn foreign currency for the nation’s economy, the national park is faced with several challenges both inside and outside it. More....

Arab Spring Breeds More Trade in Exotic Pets

12/26/2013

Source: Ipsnews.net

By Cam McGrath

At a small pet shop in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood, puppies, kittens and sickly-looking parakeets occupy the cages behind the storefront window. But if you want more exciting and exotic animals – such as crocodiles or lion cubs – just ask behind the counter.

Trade in wild animals is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), of which Egypt is a signatory. But decades of ineffective border controls and police indifference have made the country a major hub for the trafficking of wildlife.

Conservationists suspect that criminal gangs have expanded their networks and stepped up shipments of protected and endangered species under cover of the political turmoil that has engulfed the region since the start of the Arab Spring.

“Since the revolution in 2011, Egypt has fewer resources for enforcement, and traffickers have recognised this,” an environment ministry official told IPS. “The country is facing many serious political and economic problems, and checking shipments for wildlife is not a priority.”

Cairo is less a destination than a transit point for animals trafficked from Africa to markets in Asia and the Arab Gulf states. Rare and endangered animals are concealed in air and sea shipments, or smuggled overland through the porous borders of Libya and Sudan.

In recent years, authorities have seized satchels full of dying tortoises, rare birds stuffed into toilet paper rolls with their beaks tied shut, and a pair of dolphins floundering in a murky swimming pool. Foreign customs officers have also discovered baby chimpanzees drugged with cough syrup and crammed into crates shipped from Egypt.

Many of the trafficked animals are kept in rented apartments in Cairo and Alexandria that act as showrooms for prospective buyers. Others fill the overcrowded and dirty cages of disreputable pet shops, or end up in the country’s growing number of private zoos.

One licensed pet store in Cairo’s Zamalek district had its front end geared for the pampered pets of the district’s affluent residents, with imported pet foods, rhinestone studded dog collars, and colourful catnip toys. Further back the shop catered to more exotic tastes, with pens of juvenile crocodiles, caged fennec foxes, and a full-grown vulture that was eventually sold to a local businessman for 1,200 dollars.

The pet store was shuttered last year after municipal authorities acted on residents’ complaints. More....

President Kenyatta of Kenya Signs New Wildlife Law

12/25/2013

Source: Eturbonews.com

By Wolfgang H. Thome

The conservation fraternity in Kenya had reasons to welcome Christmas as news broke yesterday in Nairobi that President Kenyatta had assented to the new Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill, making it the law of the land with immediate effect.

For years had the country’s conservationists demanded that harsher penalties be imposed as often poachers, when nabbed, were released on bond or bail almost immediately as they faced minimal fines and often short prison terms, which led to a sharp increase in poaching across the country with hundreds of elephants and dozens of rhino killed.

Now, under the new law, poachers, their financiers and the traders will face substantially higher fines, confiscation of property and long prison terms, but most significantly will those nabbed at airports, in possession of blood ivory or other prohibited wildlife items, face fines of not less than a million Kenya Shillings and prison terms of not less than five years. Many smugglers have been caught over the past years at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the majority of them Chinese citizens.

‘I hope the next one caught will now be given an exemplary sentence, to pay the million shillings fine, or more, and be sent down for the full 5 years, or more, depending on how much ivory they carried. Only when we start to seriously put them away will the message take hold that when you come to Kenya, or when you transit in Kenya, DO NOT CARRY CONTRABAND. That is the only language they will understand and to protect our wildlife we need harsh sentences.

Any magistrate who now fails to impose both fines and custodial sentences must be hauled before the disciplinary committees and investigated for possible links with poaching syndicates. Let that be therefore a warning to the smugglers and to the lower judicial cadres’ wrote a regular Nairobi based source when passing the information that the long awaited amendements to the law have now been put into effect.

A full overview of the new law can be found here by clicking on the link below: http://www.kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/bills/2013/WildlifeCon...

Perhaps some belated relief for Kenya’s beleaguered wildlife on Christmas? Time will tell.

Tanzania’s Anti-Poaching Shambles

12/24/2013

Source: WildlifephotographyAfrica.com

2013 has been a disastrous year for Africa’s rhinoceros and elephant populations.

South Africa has seen a record number of rhinos poached and in other countries Africa’s elephants are being killed at an unprecedented rate and Tanzania has been one of the countries worst affected.

Conservationists and campaigners have been in overdrive; raising public awareness through relentless media campaigns, lobbying and haranguing governments to put pressure on the Asian nations that account for the vast bulk of the demand that drives the trade in illegal ivory and rhino horn and desperately urging the everyone in the countries where this catastrophic poaching is taking place to do everything within their power to take the fight to the poachers.

It is a stark indicator of the scale of the problem that, despite all these efforts poachers seem to be operating with impunity in many countries and nothing that is being done seems to be able to put the brakes on the slaughter.

Tanzania’s anti-poaching shambles
But, though countries like Botswana, South Africa and Kenya can demonstrate vigorous efforts and a real will to take on the poachers, Tanzania’s efforts are in total disarray.

Wipe Out wiped out
The country’s flagship anti poaching operation ‘Operation Tokomeza (wipe out) has been suspended after serious and sustained human rights abuses by the forces tasked with implementing the policy and after recriminations have rumbled on for over a month, 4 government ministers have now been sacked for their part in the fiasco. The ministers are Mr Kagasheki (Natural Resources and Tourism), Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi (Home Affairs), Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha (Defence and National Service) and Mr Mathayo David Mathayo (Livestock Development and Fisheries).

President Kikwete trys to stop the rot Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete addressed the country’s parliament and pledged that the nationwide anti-poaching drive will resume after assessing and rectifying the weaknesses in the campaign implementation. He condemned dishonest officials whom he accused of tarnishing the well-intentioned drive, vowing to put to task all those responsible for the irregularities. More....

Elephants Pushed Toward Extinction as Terrorist Groups Bankrolled With Ivory Trade to US and China

12/23/2013

Source: Alternet.org

By Richard Schiffman

I was choking back tears by the end of my interview with Andrea Turkalo.

Turkalo is one of the founding members of the Elephant Listening Project, which is documenting elephants' ability to communicate, often using low-frequency sounds below the threshold of human hearing. She is conducting her fieldwork at Dzanga Bai, an idyllic clearing in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic (CAR) where elephants come to drink the mineral-rich waters and wallow in the mud.

Unlike their cousins on the open savannah, forest elephants are typically hidden by thick jungle and difficult to track. Scientists often locate the reclusive animals by monitoring their vocalizations, some of which can be detected from miles away.

Despite being one of the best protected sites in the region, heavily armed poachers entered Dzanga Bai last May butchering 26 elephants, mostly mothers and their calves. They fired their automatic weapons from the observation platforms used by researchers themselves, leaving behind a horrific crime scene. The grassy glade, usually teeming with elephant family groups emotionally reuniting after weeks of wandering in small bands through the forest, was littered with piles of elephant parts, bones and blood-soaked scraps of skin.

Tragically, such scenes are becoming commonplace throughout Central Africa. An astonishing 60 percent of the region’s forest elephants have been lost in the first decade of the 21st century, and they have disappeared entirely from over half of their range in just the past 30 years. The forest elephant is regarded by biologists as a separate species from the more numerous and larger bush elephants of the African plains, but it is under the same unrelenting pressure from poachers, who are slaughtering them in order to hack off their tusks.

Elephant ivory is fashioned into intricately carved statues, jewelry and religious icons, which are in demand worldwide, but especially prized in East Asia and the Philippines—a $7 billion to $10 billion a year business. Most ivory is processed in China, but a lot of the carving is now being done in Africa itself, particularly in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prime subject for African carvers, ironically enough, is elephants. Ivory elephants may already outnumber the living creatures, which are being killed at the unsustainable rate of 35,000 per year. Fully eight out of 10 elephants now die as a result of poaching rather than from natural causes.

The frenzy to obtain ivory is accelerating, as many Asian economies boom and prices for the increasingly rare luxury items soar. Andrea Turkalo knows all about this frenzy. Last March, she managed to escape from advancing Séléka guerilla fighters who were descending on the nation’s capital Bangui to stage the coup that ousted former CAR President François Bozizé. Turkalo is now back in the states waiting for things to settle down before returning to Africa. Groups like the Séléka train their guns on innocent civilians as well as the wild elephants in their path. More....

Poachers Kill Three of Malawi’s Rare Black Rhinos

12/23/2013

Source: Ens-newswire.com

By Charles Mkoka

Wire snares and traps set by poachers have cost the Malawian Department of National Parks and Wildlife three of the Critically Endangered Black Rhinoceros that were re-introduced 20 years ago after the species was declared extinct in Malawi.

The collapse of an electric solar-powered perimeter fence around a 14sq km sanctuary has created a loophole inside Liwonde National Park in the southern region district of Machinga, conservationists said. The lack of a fence, which was not built due to a wider financial scandal in Malawi dubbed “cashgate,” allowed poachers to enter the sanctuary.

The black rhinos, Diceros bicornis, were reintroduced from South Africa’s Kruger National Park through the Care for the Rare wildlife species program, initially supported by J&B Whisky and several business magnates.

Care for the Rare was an idea hatched following Malawi’s Black Rhino extinction after two of the last remaining animals were wiped out by armed poachers in Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve in 1991.

The proliferation of automatic assault rifles from the 16-year civil war in neighboring Mozambique is believed to be cause of the loss of Malawi’s last remaining population of rhinoceros, highly sought globally for their horns.

In an obituary statement following the loss of the three rhinos, Bentley Palmer, a lead member of the rhino monitoring team said the dead female, Justerini, together with the dead male, Brooks, were the original two rhinos brought back into Liwonde as part of Malawi’s Black Rhino re-introduction program. They arrived at Chileka airport on October 28, 1993 from Kruger National Park.

Justerini produced six calves during her 20 good years in Liwonde. However, on July 15, 2013, the rhino monitoring team sighted Justerini in the sanctuary, and when they started to track her they found she was dragging a massive gin trap on her left rear leg. They lost her tracks and even after days of searching she still managed to evade any contact with the monitoring team.

Ironically, on October 15, which is Mothers Day in Malawi, the carcass of this rhino mother was found by a rhino monitoring patrol two kilometres from a waterhole inside Liwonde National Park.

She died from the results of the gin trap snare, a steel spring trap which severed off her foot. More....

UK invites Myanmar’s Cooperation in Fighting Illegal Wildlife Trade

12/23/2013

Source: ElevenMyanmar.com

“The UK hopes that H.E. President Thein Sein’s government will be represented in London,” the British Embassy said today.

The conference, to be hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron in the presence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, is aimed at gathering the UK’s international partners to spur action to combat this growing threat. The conference will address three inter-related aspects of the illegal wildlife trade: supporting the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by the trade; improving law enforcement and the role of the criminal justice system; and reducing demand for wildlife products.

“The illegal wildlife trade is a multi-billion pound activity which promotes corruption, damages tourism opportunities and undermines economic growth in some of the world’s poorest countries. Heavily armed poachers and organised criminal networks are destroying some of the world’s most iconic species and posing a threat to security in rural communities,” the British Embassy said in a statement.

The UK government has announced a £10-million (Ks 16.12-billion) funded package to support efforts to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife products, including rhino horn and elephant ivory. Funding will be awarded to support action in developing countries, including efforts to reduce the opportunity and incentive for poaching by improving economic opportunities and promoting security and good governance; providing training and access to better equipment and practical support to agencies in their efforts to address the illegal trade; and reducing demand for illegal wildlife and animal products such as elephant ivory, rhino horn, and tiger parts by raising awareness of the impacts and economic losses caused by crime against wildlife.

The UK’s International Development Secretary Justine Greening stated that the government has been helping to improve the economic opportunities of the poorest people whose livelihoods depend on natural resources by working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

“The Department for International Development carries out significant work tackling corruption and illicit flows from developing countries, and this fund will also help stop the corruption fuelled by the illegal wildlife trade,” she said. More....

Charity Appeal: 'The Way to Stop Poaching is to Use People Like Me,' Says Man Jailed for Cutting Off Dead Elephant's Tusks

12/22/2013

Source: Independent.co.uk

By Sarah Morrison

Joseph Maina had never seen an elephant up close before. The first time he looked into the eyes of one of Africa's giants, he was hacking off its tusks with an axe. The elephant was dead and he was ripping it apart to obtain ivory. He had been paid 500 Kenyan shillings, or a little over £3.50 for the work – twice his normal daily income.

The 47-year-old casual worker is now in a medium security prison. Unlike the majority of poachers who kill African elephants and leave them to rot in the bush, he was arrested the next day. The father of six is serving four and a half years inside Naivasha Prison. He wears a black and white striped uniform and sleeps with up to 80 other convicts on mattresses on the floor. He is one of around 800 inmates. He never thought he would end up here.

Statistically, he is unlucky. The poaching epidemic is now an internationally recognised crisis. More than 100 African elephants are killed every day and in 2011 alone, almost 12 per cent of the population was destroyed. But despite the fact that Kenya's elephant population has plummeted from around 167,000 to 35,000 in less than four decades, prosecution rates for wildlife crimes are shockingly low.

Around 2,000 people in Kenya are arrested every year for offences linked to poaching and trafficking, according to a study by conservation charity WildlifeDirect, which analysed records from around 15 courts in the country. But only 10 per cent of those arrested ended up in court (200) where more than half pleaded guilty. Despite this, only one in 20 received a jail sentence.

At Makadara court – which handles those arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport – less than 7 per cent of people caught with ivory or rhino horn were put behind bars. Paula Kahumbu, who carried out the research, said the statistics show a clear pattern: "Even though the conviction rate is high, very few go to prison."

As for Maina, from Nyandarua County, he said very few poachers know killing an elephant can lead to jail. "I am a casual worker. I do any type of business to raise money for my children. We don't have the money to pay their school fees. Men asked me to help remove ivory from an elephant. It was already dead and I was to get paid for the job. I had never really thought about elephants – people in my community think they are destructive. They destroy crops and can be dangerous."

He said the men poisoned the elephants by leaving contaminated food, often salt and ash mixed together, at known feeding areas. The lethal mixture gives the elephants diarrhoea and eventually kills them. The other poachers had promised him a cut of the ivory sale – he hoped it would be around 10,000 Kenyan shillings, or just over £70. "That day I saw an elephant for the first time up close. I felt something in my heart. I really felt for it. I still have the vision of that dead elephant in my mind. The other men were part of an organised group, who also sell game meat. Those involved in the actual poaching are rarely arrested. Perhaps if they knew they could end up in prison, it might deter them." More....

Tanzanian President Sacks 4 Ministers over Poaching Abuses

12/21/2013

Source: Themalaysianinsider.com

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete (pic) has sacked four government ministers following accusations of abuses committed by security forces during a huge operation against wildlife poaching.

The dismissals, which did not affect the key finance and energy portfolios, come after reports of arbitrary murder, rape, torture and extortion of innocent civilians by members of the anti-poaching crackdown dubbed "Operesheni Tokomeza" ("Operation Destroy").

Kikwete dismissed Defence Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, Home Affairs Minister Emmanuel Nchimbi, Tourism and Natural Resources Minister Khamis Kagasheki and Livestock Development Minister David Mathayo.

"The president has agreed to nullify the appointments of all four ministers," Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda announced in parliament late on Friday to applause from lawmakers.

"The anti-poaching operation had good intentions, but the reported murders, rapes and brutality are totally unacceptable."

The dismissals come after a parliamentary inquiry uncovered the murder of 13 civilians, arrests of over 1,000 people and other abuses by members of the operation, which included soldiers, policemen, game rangers and forestry officers.

Kikwete sacked six ministers last year, including holders of the finance and energy portfolios, due to growing public and opposition discontent over graft allegations.

Investors have long complained graft is one of the main reasons for the high cost of doing business in Tanzania, which has made big discoveries of natural gas off its southern coast.

The president's latest intervention against officials seen to be abusing their positions could further strengthen his hand ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in 2015.

Analysts said Kikwete was expected to announce a wider cabinet reshuffle in the coming days following growing criticism of the performance of other key members of his government, with more ministers likely to lose their jobs. More....

The Ultimate Act of Cover Up in Tanzania

12/21/2013

Source: Eturbonews.com

By Wolfgang H. Thome

Tanzania's Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Amb. Khamis Kagesheki was sacked yesterday evening by Tanzania’s president Kikwete alongside three other cabinet colleagues, allegedly over the mishandling of anti poaching operations. Reactions were swift and united in calling this the ultimate act of a coverup, as Kagesheki was known as a minister full of integrity and backbone and had made a name for himself since replacing his hapless predecessor Ezekiek Maige.

‘Kagesheki wielded the axe in his ministry without fear or favour. He sacked those who were lazy and worked in cohoots with poachers and timber vandals. It is now clear to all of us that his remaining in office would have been a very big threat to those who organize poaching and profit from it and some are in the highest levels of government. He was as usual the first to react when reports filtered in that some of the operations in the field targeted herdsmen and pastoralists instead of poachers. He was right to then call for a temporary halt of such operations until new orders could be established.

He also stood up against very powerful interests over the Serengeti highway, the Lake Natron issue and other projects which endangered the principles of conservation in Tanzania. You wrote a lot about those issues and from what I read you always were very fair to our minister. He was an excellent minister and Kikwete surely must have succumbed to pressure to remove him because he was an obstacle to the evil schemes to keep poaching our wildlife and ransack our forests’ wrote a regular contributor from Dar es Salaam overnight, after the news broke that Kagesheki and his colleagues Mathayo (Lifestock and Fisheries), Nchimbi (Home Affairs) and Nahodha (Defence) had been sacked unceremoniously.

Another source wrote: ‘This makes Kagesheki the scapegoat. He is the one who reacted first when it became clear how the commanders in the field behaved. Some settled scores, others enriched themselves by stealing cattle. It was Kagesheki who stepped in and now he is being sacked? It shows that you were right that the entire operation Tokomeza was mishandled to make sure it had to be stopped. There are a lot of ulterior motives around and a lot of people who benefit from poaching are celebrating today that they brought him down. But for tourism and conservation it is a big blow. Some of the others may have been responsible but not Kagesheki’.

It is unprecedented that in one term of office a president in Tanzania sacks two of his ministers for natural resources and tourism in subsequent years, the first entirely justified of course but the second clearly done to please pressure groups with deep pockets bound to further benefit from this development.

Fare well and all the best to Ambassador Khamis Kagesheki, now immediate former Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism.

Wildlife Trafficking Is a Popular Crime [audio\

12/20/2013

Source: NJ1015.com

By Dino Flammia

International smuggling doesn’t only involve drugs and counterfeit goods. In fact, the illegal transport of wildlife parts has become one of the most lucrative forms of international crime.

Black market demand has increased, threatening the future of the world’s most magnificent animals.

A Chinese national pleaded guilty in Newark federal court on Thursday to being the organizer of an illegal wildlife smuggling conspiracy in which rhinoceros horns, elephant ivory and numerous objects made from the material were smuggled from the United States to China.

Overseas, the smuggled horns were sold at a rate of $17,500 per pound to factories where they were carved into fake antiques or ground to powder for “possible medicinal purposes.”

“Rhino horn can sell for more than gold and is just as rare, but rhino horn and elephant ivory are more than mere commodities,” said Robert Dreher, acting assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “Each illegally traded horn or tusk represents a dead animal, poaching, bribery, smuggling and organized crime.”

“The brutality of animal poaching, wherever it comes from, feeds the demand of a multibillion-dollar illegal international market,” added New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. “As a major hub of international commerce through our ports and busy airport, the District of New Jersey plays an important role in curbing the escalation of this devastating trade.”

According to the Associated Press, all rhinoceros species are protected under U.S. and international law, and international trade in rhino horns and elephant ivory has been regulated since the mid-1970s. Audiofile.

Dubai Exposed as Major Wildlife Trafficking Hub [video\

12/20/2013

Source: Greenprophet.com

By Laurie Balbo

The United Nations now classifies the illegal trafficking of exotic wildlife as second only in scale to the illegal drug trade, with Dubai emerging as a major smuggling center for the world’s most rarefied creatures. “Dubai is a major hub in terms of international travel, especially coming from African countries. This is a big place for wildlife trafficking,” said Steve Chao, host of the Al Jazeera current affairs program 101 East, which televised an investigative report on poachers in late November.

Entitled The Return of the Lizard King, the documentary focuses on Malaysian wildlife trafficker Anson Wong and barely mentions Dubai. But Chao told The National that, in the course of his research, he discovered that poachers are exploiting the emirate’s position as an efficient transit hub between Asia and Africa.

Dubai’s become a critical path on the smuggling road.

Watch the full 26 minute documentary, below:

Video.

Rare animals are stolen from their African habitat, then routed through Dubai to Asia for sale to collectors worldwide. Posing as a wildlife dealer, Chao met with traffickers in Madagascar, Malaysia and Thailand, shadowy figures with keen knowledge of major airports’ security procedures.

“They have inside information from Customs officials as to which airports have xray checks, how many hours it takes before a suitcase is xrayed,” said Chao. Quick connections make Dubai Airport attractive since, for some flights, luggage checked at the point of origin is not re-screened.

“They know that if they can get something from Madagascar to Dar Es Salaam and then through to Dubai, they can quickly pick up another plane within a few hours, bypassing the need for an xray check,” Chao said.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) regulates trade in endangered animals and plants. But Chao says traffickers sidestep restrictions by shipping animals to Asian countries such as Malaysia, where corrupt officials certify the animals are non-endangered species before exporting them to nations with more rigorous importation rules.

“It might be an exotic tortoise that’s been shipped in,” Chao said. “They change the name of the tortoise and then get papers that are legal Cites documents saying it’s an average tortoise, not endangered.”

Cites protects over 5,600 animals and distinctions among subspecies can be difficult to discern, making it challenging to verify whether the documents match the animal. More....

2013: A Year of Positive Developments in the Wildlife Trafficking War

12/18/2013

Source: Annamiticus.com

By Rhishja Cota-Larson

In 2013, horrifying headlines about the voiceless victims of wildlife trafficking captured public attention around the world. Has a turning point in the war on wildlife crime finally arrived?

Make no mistake: This is not a fight that will one day be “won” so we can all go home. Rather, it is an ongoing state of vigilance for law enforcement, activists, NGOs, environmental journalists and concerned citizens. Nevertheless, we need to recognize — and celebrate — our progress.

I’ve been writing about wildlife trafficking for nearly five years and I think there is something different about 2013. World leaders have publicly committed to tackling the illegal wildlife trade and there seems to be a consensus that this scourge is nothing less than transnational organized crime which — and it should be dealt with accordingly. Wildlife trafficking breeds corruption in governments and encourages greed in the private sector. It threatens regional security and funds global terrorism.

So, what happened in 2013?

Experts agree that demand for wildlife products must be reduced. It can be said that from almost every corner of the world, demand reduction was a unifying battle cry for 2013.

John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), writes that CoP16 was a “watershed moment” for combating wildlife crime.

“In addition to addressing enforcement, there was a clear recognition by CITES Parties that we need to reduce demand for illegal and untraceable products and to enhance overall public awareness of the severe damage caused by unregulated and illegal trade.”

The Clinton Global Initiative launched “Partnership to Save Africa’s Elephants”, a coalition of non-governmental organizations brought together to “directly target the chief drivers” of ivory trafficking.

This commitment takes a triple pronged approach by dedicating funding to: “stop the killing,” “stop the trafficking,” and “stop the demand.”

A post on the ARREST (Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking) blog notes that as part of NGO Education for Nature-Vietnam’s demand reduction campaign, banners discouraging consumption of wildlife were hung at nearly 30 markets in major Vietnamese cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Da Nang. More....