Source:  Business-standard.com

Poachers Wednesday killed yet another rhino in Assam's high security Kaziranga National Park, bringing to 15 the number of one-horned rhinos found dead in the state this year, officials said.

The horn of the female rhino was missing, a park official said. The poaching took place in the Burhapahar range of the park.

The official said forest guards exchanged fire with the poachers but they managed to escape.

A total of 13 one-horned rhinos have been killed in Kaziranga, a UNESCO world heritage site, by poachers so far this year, according to official statistics. Poachers also killed one rhino each in Manas National Park and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary this year.

Last year, poachers killed over 40 rhinos in Assam.

The Assam government has set up an elite unit - Assam Forest Protection Force - and equipped it with AK series rifles to fight poachers.

Source:  Ktsm.com

Santa Fe, NM — May 1 is “Stop Trophy Poaching Day,” in New Mexico, emphasizing the serious threat the illegal activity poses to the state’s long tradition of hunting, and highlighting the contribution of hunting to New Mexico’s heritage and economy.

Trophy poaching occurs when illegal hunters kill large wild game and take only the heads, antlers and horns, which can fetch large amounts of money on the black market. The meat and hide on the poached animals usually are left to rot. The offense is a misdemeanor in New Mexico and convictions often result in light penalties. The Department supported bills for stiffer penalties in the last two legislative sessions, but neither passed.

The Wild Friends Program at the University of New Mexico School of Law is a network of students, teachers and mentors who support wildlife and seek common-ground solutions to wildlife issues.

"The Wild Friends students across New Mexico worked hard to make this day happen, and feel strongly about the need to stop trophy poaching,” said Susan George, director of the Wild Friends Program.

"We want those big beautiful animals to be around forever,” said Matthew Farnsworth, a 5th-grade student from Ladera Elementary in Farmington.

Governor Susana Martinez has proclaimed May 1 as “Stop Trophy Poaching Day”; click here to read the Governor’s proclamation. To learn more about how you can help stop poaching, please visit the Department of Game and Fish website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us and click on the “enforcement” tab. To learn more about the Wild Friends Program, please visit http://wildfriends.unm.edu/.

Source:  Mobile.nation.co.ke

Residents of Taita Taveta want the Kenya Wildlife Service disbanded for what they claim is failure to properly carry out its mandate.

They are also angered by what they term as KWS unfairly associating them with with poaching experienced in the area.

They said the problem being experienced in the parks was a creation of KWS who cut deals with livestock traders from northern parts of the country and allow them to graze in the facility.

Led by the Taita Taveta Human Rights Watch chairman Mr Haji Mwakio, the residents said they were disappointed by the association of the community with poaching even after the park took away more than 10 square kilometers of their land.

“We have been protecting the animals from time immemorial until recent years when corrupt officers from KWS started cutting deals with livestock traders to allow them access the park to graze huge numbers of livestock,” he said.

ELEPHANTS KILLED

This comes a few days after one of senior KWS officers was quoted saying that the community bordering the park and ranch owners were involved in the killing of six elephants last week.

(READ: Six elephants killed in Dawida Ranch, Taita Taveta)

Mr Mwakio said KWS was one of the major beneficiaries of public and donor funds intended to help it discharge its role of protecting animals and the entire ecosystem from intruders but had failed to properly do so.

These people are not doing as expected of them. Instead of appreciating the generosity of the community they implicate them in wildlife crimes.

We are calling for the disbandment of KWS since they have failed in their mandate. They should give back the land they got from the community,” he said.

POACHERS KNOWN

Mr Mwakio said that some poachers were well known by the KWS management and pointing an accusing finger at the community was an insult.

He said the fact that hundreds of cattle could graze and water at Mzima Springs deep inside the Tsavo West National Park then that showed failure on the part of the KWS management and not the community.

The entire park, he claimed, was now littered with livestock from outside the county while locals were arrested and charged in court for trespass whenever they approached the park.

“We want KWS disbanded and the entire management sent home for failing to protect the parks and our animals as per their oath of office,” he said.

The sentiments from Taita residents come at a time when KWS is facing a huge challenge of dealing with rampant poaching in its parks.

Last week, poachers killed six elephants in Dawida Ranch near Tsavo East National Park in Taita Taveta County.

Source:  Assamtimes.org

Forest guards in Kaziranga National Park had a heavy exchange of firing with poachers hours after a female rhino was killed on Wednesday.

The encounter took place near the Rangolu forest in Burhapahar range in the morning hours after forest guards spotted the hornless rhino carcass atop the Kukurakata Hill.

The heavy gunbattle lasted for nearly 2 hours. But there is no report of any casualty as the poachers were believed to fled from the spot.  

With this, poachers have killed 16 rhinos in the world heritage site during this last four months.

Source:  Assamtimes.org

After a brief halt, poachers have struck again in Kaziranga where a full grown rhino was killed on Wednesday.

The incident took place at Borghop in Burhapahar range of the national park in the wee hours.

The carcass was recovered in the morning after the poachers had taken way the horn. With this, poachers have killed 16 rhinos in the world heritage site during this last four months.

Source:  Brandonsun.com

By Larry Kusch

Manitoba has unveiled a new strategy for protecting woodland caribou that environmental groups are calling the most progressive in the country.

Under the strategy, 15 boreal caribou ranges have been identified in the province and plans are underway to protect each of them, beginning with those considered most fragile.

The government has committed to protect and manage 65 to 80 per cent of the caribou habitat in each of the management units.

"Manitoba’s (caribou) recovery strategy is by far the best one in all of Canada," said Ron Thiessen, a spokesman for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS). "The unprecedented commitment to protect large areas of intact caribou habitat is setting a great example for the rest of Canada to follow."

Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh announced the strategy at a news conference Wednesday that included representatives from industry, environmental groups and the aboriginal community.

Woodland caribou were protected as a threatened species in Manitoba in 2006 under the Endangered Species Act. Threats to the beasts, featured on Canada’s 25-cent piece, include habitat destruction from forest fires and habitat fragmentation from roads, trails, transmission lines, logging and other industrial operations.

The government is forming a series of plans, with public input, to protect caribou habitats in each of the 15 designated zones. It has already received commitments of support from forestry company Tolko Industries and the Hudbay mining company.

Manitoba will complete management-unit action plans for high-priority areas within two years and for all 15 caribou ranges by 2018.

Estimates of Manitoba’s boreal caribou population range from 1,800 to 3,150. One of the province’s goals is to improve population monitoring. It said it will also continue to monitor the causes of caribou mortality.

The health of the woodland caribou is an excellent indicator for the health of the boreal forest itself, said Thiessen. "They’re a very sensitive species."

Source:  Eenews.net

By Emily Yehle

Gabon's government announced grim news last year: Poachers had killed 11,000 elephants in Minkebe National Park.

The data suggested that 60 percent of the African park's elephants were gone, all within a decade. But unlike many conservationists, Richard Ruggiero wasn't surprised.

Ruggiero, a towering 61-year-old comfortable in khakis and sneakers, was part of a team that first discovered the extent of poaching in the park. He compared what he saw to "one of Dante's circles of hell": a half-mile-wide cut in the wilderness rigged with bright spotlights and filled with thousands of illegal gold miners, weapon traffickers and elephant poachers.

As the Obama administration makes wildlife trafficking a priority, Ruggiero is among the foot soldiers on the ground in Africa, one of the few at the Fish and Wildlife Service who will help coordinate what is now a global response to a growing illicit trade. Colleagues and friends say he is the quintessential man behind the scenes -- a guy who rarely takes credit for his role in protecting African wildlife.

Ruggiero has been waiting his entire career for poaching to get the attention it now commands. Last year's executive order from President Obama -- and a subsequent national plan -- means resources across the federal government will be used to stop a slaughter he has watched for decades from the front lines.

On a recent afternoon, Ruggiero sat in his Arlington, Va., office, a typical rectangular room that seemed worlds apart from the photos of African wildlife on his walls. Classical music played in the background: "Capriccio Espagnol" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Music, he said, keeps him calm. But when Ruggiero talks about elephants -- and rising poaching -- he exudes urgency.

"You know when you get the two-minute warning in a football game? I hear the whistles going," said Ruggiero, who heads FWS conservation efforts in Africa as branch chief of the Near East, South Asia and Africa. "But it's not too late because we can still score in a way that's going to make the game work. I'm convinced of that. I'm more excited and optimistic than I have been before I knew any better."

To Ruggiero, wildlife trafficking verges on the personal. He has spent a combined 17 years in Africa, studying wildlife, learning local languages and working with Africans on conservation. He has bonded with elephant families, lying next to them as they nurse their calves and watching them mourn their dead. He has seen their faces sliced off by poachers harvesting ivory, and he knows that many of the elephants from his younger days have all met a grisly end.

Elephants, he said, display the same types of emotional scars that people do after a generation of "running scared and being raped and pillaged and shot at and bled and oppressed and violated in every way possible."

People exposed to such trauma are the "walking wounded. They've already lost a great deal of their quality of life. They've lost sometimes the integrity of their societies because maybe the men are all dragged out and killed," Ruggiero said. "In the case of elephants, the first ones to go are the big males. Then they start killing the females. Then you have 'Lord of the Flies,' with a bunch of young running around that are shell-shocked, and they act like it."

But Ruggiero is optimistic that the Obama administration's focus on wildlife trafficking can turn the tide in what has so far been a losing battle. With Obama's mandate, agencies are now opening their doors, providing expertise and resources to the cause.

"We've got all of these people who come with their institutional experience, with their own databases, with their contacts, with their mindsets," he said.

He added later: "These people are tripping over themselves to help us to do this because that synergy is being demanded, because all of this good thought and good energy and the power and capacity of this government is being focused. It's unleashed and now being focused on this issue."

Unflappable

Wildlife trafficking is nothing new. Ivory, in particular, has long been a luxury commodity, a material skillfully carved into statues, religious objects, decorative trinkets and adornments on everything from knives to pipes.

But the price of such art is dead elephants.

In the 1980s, according to the World Wildlife Fund, poaching killed off up to 80 percent of herds in some regions. By 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) had banned international trade in African elephant ivory.

Ruggiero first traveled to Africa in 1981, in the middle of what would later be recognized as a mass slaughter. He started as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic, later moving on to Kenya, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo and Gabon.

His career path led him into the midst of violence, aimed both at people and wildlife. But instead of getting discouraged, he discovered he was good at staying calm under duress. He credits coming from a long line of what he calls "cannon fodder": his grandfather fought in World War I, his father in World War II and his brother in Vietnam.

"It was a calling. It was exciting. It was something that I was good at," he said. "It came naturally to me, easily to me. The more dangerous a situation became, the more calm I was."

Ruggiero also turned out to be good at working with communities. One of his lasting achievements is persuading a village in the early 1990s to adopt sustainability measures to ensure they didn't run out of food to hunt. His tactic: Bring the village chief to another village that had overhunted in order to sell off the bush meat to a logging concession.

By seeing the effects firsthand, the village chief agreed to establish rules, including prohibiting the sale of meat outside the village and establishing guidelines for when, how and what to hunt. Residents still follow those rules today, if perhaps not as strictly, and elephants roam safely.

Such experiences helped develop Ruggiero's conviction that African communities and countries must be engaged in any conservation work -- and must eventually take over the task. It's a Peace Corps principle: Work yourself out of a job.

Ruggiero applies that philosophy in his job at FWS, where he determines how best to spend the agency's limited funds for conservation work. The agency looks for places with the political will -- or the potential for that will -- to conserve wildlife and then partners with African officials.

"You know, you hear people say, 'Well, elephants are a world heritage.' Well, sure they are. ... It resonates with everybody," Ruggiero said. "But who ultimately has the de facto and the de jure responsibility to keep elephants alive? The answer is the people who live in the country who make those decisions. They are Africans, in this case."

'It's really personal'

While many conservationists find their way into the nonprofit world, Ruggiero has stuck with the Fish and Wildlife Service for 16 years.

During that time, he has helped build up the service's Multinational Species Conservation Acts, which provide grants to projects that benefit elephants, rhinos, great apes and marine turtles. His division selects which projects in Africa get grants, focusing its choices on what can make the biggest difference.

Sue Lieberman, who worked with Ruggiero at FWS until 2001, said he excels at strategically dispersing money where it will go furthest. He's not chained to a desk; instead, he goes out in Africa to get the "current lay of the land," she said.

"He's dedicated," said Lieberman, now the executive director for conservation policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. "He didn't take that job because he wanted to work in Washington for the government. He took the job because he's really a dedicated conservationist."

Ruggiero and his staff act as the government's in-house experts on how conservation is playing out in Africa. They travel to bushmeat markets, to remote national parks, to ports. They establish contacts and learn the "field reality" for efforts that most people only see on paper.

Dirck Byler, the FWS program officer for Africa Programs, said Ruggiero leads the small staff with a strong passion for conservation -- and a willingness to be confrontational when necessary.

When poachers killed four elephants in Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, Ruggiero was immediately on the phone with the nongovernmental organization that manages the park, holding senior officials accountable for the breach.

"For Richard, it's really personal. I think he takes on a certain level of responsibility beyond what other conservationists might," said Byler, who works under Ruggiero.

"He's less willing to overlook things. We get bad news all the time, and after a while, a tendency for a lot of conservationists is to say, 'We'll do our best.' With Richard, he gets upset. He gets angry. He takes action."

Foster dad for a chimp

On first impression, Ruggiero appears unflappable, a biologist who talks about the dire situation of elephants and other African wildlife with the demeanor of someone who has seen it all.

But he also loves to tell stories, like the time his wife unleashed her blond locks from her baseball cap and began to brush them, to the astonishment of African children who had never seen a white woman. Or when he took a "stupid-ass" challenge to travel for two weeks without seeing any sign of humanity, only to spot a satellite as he admired the starry sky.

More recently, in 2012, he became the temporary guardian of a 6-month-old chimpanzee, after spotting the animal on the hip of a man on the side of the road. The man appeared to be involved in illegal wildlife trafficking, and the chimp was likely the orphan of a mother killed for bushmeat.

Ruggiero comforted the chimp for two days, holding the young animal close to his chest to calm him. In a blog post on the experience, he admitted to giving in to the "luxury of feeling, rather than just thinking and rationalizing the situation as a wildlife manager should."

But he also reflected that such caring can be useful, prompting responsibility for the fate of animals that have been orphaned, mistreated and otherwise put at risk.

Ruggiero's wife, Heather Eves, called the story "classic Richard." It's one he immediately told to his kids -- who are now 13 and 11 -- when he returned home.

Family is obviously Ruggiero's priority; the walls and desk in his office feature photos of his daughter and son, and he frequently injects them and Eves into the conversation.

Ask Ruggiero how he met his wife, and he immediately repeats the line he tells his children: "She turned over the right rock."

In Eves' version, their paths crossed for years, beginning with his request that she lecture to a class for a study abroad program in Kenya. They later met for coffee on Nairobi's well-known Mama Ngina Street and then attended the same conference in South Africa, where he was too sick with malaria to ask her on a date. They eventually began writing each other letters, which took weeks to reach the remote areas where they worked.

One day, he got off a plane in Kenya and told her she was it. By 1993, they were engaged after just six months of long-distance dating, and Ruggiero had convinced her to join him in the Republic of Congo.

"I said to her in my normal obnoxious style, 'Well, you know, Kenya's really nice and it's nice to do conservation there, but anybody can do it; it's too easy. Why don't you come to Congo? See if you can do it there,'" he recalled. "So she came to Congo and did her doctorate work."

More than 20 years later, they live in Arlington -- far from where they began their life together in Africa. But they both wanted a family, and when Ruggiero got an offer from FWS, they felt he couldn't turn down the opportunity.

Eves, an expert in the bushmeat trade, exudes confidence in Ruggiero, describing him as diplomatic but also "willing to stand up and speak up for what he believes."

"I absolutely believed from the very beginning that he was going to be a key to enabling wildlife to have a chance to live for the next seven generations," she said. "I wanted to be a partner in that."

In deciding where to live, they took out a map and looked for the "biggest patch of green," Eves said. Their house abuts a bike path, 3 miles from Ruggiero's office and close to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University program for which Eves is a visiting professor. They make a point of having dinner together as a family each night, with Ruggiero often cooking the meal.

It's a far cry from where Ruggiero grew up, in what he calls the "big, blighted city" of Paterson, N.J. He attended Eastside High School, a school made infamous for its gang and drug violence in the 1989 film "Lean on Me."

His escape was nature -- first on camping trips with his father and brother to Harriman State Park in New York and later when he took a 5 a.m. bus to go barbless fly fishing. Pigeons, starlings, house sparrows and cats all piqued his attention closer to home.

"I was an urban refugee, and so nature became my escape, my therapy, my panacea, my safe haven," he said. He kept that passion through college, earning a doctorate from Rutgers University with a dissertation on the ecology and conservation of elephants in central Africa.

Gabon's promise

Today, Ruggiero travels to Africa three or four times a year, for a few weeks at a time. Much of his focus is on Gabon, which is home to more than half of Africa's remaining forest elephants.

Despite the massacre in Minkebe National Park, Ruggiero believes Gabon holds the most promise in saving the elephant population. Not only is it a prosperous country with a small population, but the country's leader, President Ali Bongo Ondimba, has made wildlife preservation a priority.

In other words, Gabon has the political will that Ruggiero believes is integral to making headway. It's a country that wants to work with the United States to protect an environment that is home to elephants, gorillas and other animals.

"The quick bucks are there: Cut the damn forest, kill all the fish, let the ivory go to wherever. We'll make the money, we'll put it in our pockets, bang, we're off to Switzerland to the U.S., or wherever," he said. "They're not doing that, because they have pride in their country."

Ruggiero hopes Gabon can serve as an example of how partnerships with African countries can yield the best results. As the Obama administration helps kick-start a global effort to combat trafficking, FWS's efforts in Gabon could provide lessons in how to best tackle the problem on the conservation side.

But Ruggiero acknowledges that the situation will get worse before it gets better. In 2012 alone, poachers killed 30,000 elephants, fueling an ivory trade that funnels billions of dollars each year to criminal syndicates -- all to provide consumers in China, the United States and elsewhere with expensive baubles.

To Ruggiero, the situation is nothing short of the genocide of an animal that mourns its dead, loves its young and suffers emotionally.

"I am convinced many, if not most, know that people are trying to kill every last one of them and that they emotionally suffer because of it, and I can see it in their behavior," he said. "I am sure that they feel that and that they know it. That people are committing a genocide on them, and most of them even know it's for their teeth."

Source:  AllAfrica.com

By Kiplang'at Kirui

A 25-year-old man was killed by a stray elephant near Sekenani trading centre in Masai Mara Game Reserve in Narok county on Monday evening. Narok police boss Samuel Mukindia said the deceased was headed home at about 4pm. He was a construction worker in one of the camps.

"He met with two elephants and ran. Unfortunately one caught up with him and tramped him to death," said Mukindia. The body was taken to Narok District Hospital mortuary.

Source:  Dailytimes.com.pk

LAHORE: The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) has condemned the hunting of around 2,100 houbara bustards in Chagai District of Balochistan Province.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the WWF-Pakistan verified that Chlamydotis undulata, commonly known as houbara bustard, was listed as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. It was also listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I, pertaining to species that were vulnerable to hunting and poaching due to their economic value.

Source:  Prweb.com

Today, Artists Against Ivory—a network of artists dedicated to creating sustainable art, jewelry, and fashion without the use of ivory—will launch an Indiegogo campaign to raise awareness about the cruelty of the ivory trade and the global necessity of protecting elephants.

“The ivory trade has devastated the elephant community,” says Richard Horner, Artists Against Ivory’s Executive Director. “Fortunately, there is something we can do. Our campaign seeks to raise awareness and promote local and global activism around elephant conservation. Through individual support and donations, we can do our part to protect one of nature’s most majestic creatures.”

A staggering 36,000 elephants are killed every year for their ivory — and if this rate continues, elephants have just 10 years left to enjoy their natural habitat. Artists Against Ivory is calling on citizens from all over the world to take a stance against such harmful poaching, which has decimated elephant populations and ravaged local communities.

The Indiegogo campaign will feature a variety of fundraising levels, which begin at as little as $2. Each donation goes directly towards feeding, protecting, and rehabilitating elephants that have been injured and orphaned due to poaching. For each donation, donors will receive an original work of art from internationally-acclaimed contributing artists such as Miss Elle Anyoux, Alice Popkorn, Paul Robbins and Karen Laurence-Rowe..

In addition to its thousands of individual supporters, the Artists Against Ivory campaign involves major global leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey and Peng Liyuan. Beneficiaries include the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, PAMS Foundation, Save the Elephants, WildAid, and Space for Giants.

To donate to the campaign, go to http://igg.me/at/ArtistsAgainstIvory/x/5360058.

Source:  Newswise.com

Press Release

The Wildlife Conservation Society’s 96 Elephants campaign is urging the popular PBS program “Antiques Roadshow” to stop its on-air appraisals of ivory. WCS says the appraisals are sending the wrong message to the public and are helping perpetuate a black market that is wiping out elephants at an unprecedented rate.

96 Elephants has launched a satirical appraisal on YouTube that brings to light the many negative issues surrounding the ivory trade. These include the wholesale slaughter of elephants, murdering of park guards, organized crime, terrorism, and human rights abuses.

Antiques Roadshow regularly appraises ivory objects on its popular program including this carved tusk from the Belgian Congo http://video.pbs.org/video/2179163203/. While the program mention various legal requirements required in order to sell ivory, WCS says that the current legal trade masks a black market trade. In addition WCS says that glorifying the burgeoning value of ivory – due in part to the rise in the Asian market sends a troubling mixed message.

Said John Calvelli, WCS Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Director of the 96 Elephants campaign: “Thirty-five thousand elephants were slaughtered last year due to the demand for ivory. We know that the legal trade has a confusing set of loopholes that allows the black market trade to thrive. We believe that Antiques Roadshow has a moral obligation to do the right thing and halt ivory appraisals while this crisis rages on.”

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it is extremely difficult to differentiate legally acquired ivory, such as ivory imported in the 1970s, from ivory derived from elephant poaching. USFWS criminal investigations and anti-smuggling efforts have shown clearly that legal ivory trade can serve as a cover for illegal trade.

WCS is urging the public to tell the show to stop appraising ivory and help stamp out the black market for ivory in America: http://bit.ly/1mcDTzV

Added Calvelli: “We recognize that Antiques Roadshow has the unique ability to reach a broad audience to help protect Africa’s elephants. We urge them to join our campaign and take a stand against ivory by ending on-air appraisals.”

Unscrupulous antiques dealers falsely identify ivory from recently killed elephants as antique, which not only harms elephant populations, but also harms legitimate antique businesses. In 2011, an antiques dealer in Philadelphia was convicted of smuggling more than one ton of ivory into the U.S. by disguising it as antique.

Said Calvelli: “Allowing any carved tusks or worked ivory – antique or not – into the marketplace furthers the existing loophole for illegal ivory and renders law enforcement ineffective. It sends a message to China and other consumer countries that it’s okay to sell raw and worked ivory, including ‘old’ stockpiles – further fueling the elephant poaching crisis. Our message to the public is simple: Don’t do ivory.”

The 96 Elephants campaign has already achieved success with the recent announcement by the Obama administration of a federal ban on most ivory sales. In addition, legislation has been introduced to ban ivory sales in New York and Hawaii. The campaign’s next steps are to continue to work to pass state moratoria and close loopholes that would allow ivory to continue to be traded, as well as work with other nations on banning ivory.

The public overwhelmingly supports banning ivory sales. A recent independent survey in New York State shows that 80 percent or voters support a ban of ivory sales.

96 Elephants was named for the number of elephants gunned down each day for their ivory. 96 Elephants partners include more than 100 North American zoos and aquariums, along with the Bodhi Tree Foundation, DD&B Worldwide, Enough Project, ESRI, Horizon Media, Hotel Plaza Athanee, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Organization of Young Citizens of Guinea, The Resolve: LRA Crisis Initiative, Invisible Children, and Tsavo Trust. "Satirical" Video.

Source:  Cdapress.com

By Keith Kinnaird

SANDPOINT - A Boundary County man pleaded guilty Monday to aiding and abetting the poaching of Idaho mountain lions.

Tod S. Navarro entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Coeur d'Alene. He faces up to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine and up to five years of probation. His hunting privileges will also be revoked for up to five years, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.

The government also seeks to seize Navarro's 2001 Dodge pickup truck, which was used to facilitate the crime.

Navarro, a 49-year-old from Naples, was indicated by a federal grand jury last year and ultimately charged with aiding and abetting the transport of three mountain lions that were shot in Idaho and taken to North Dakota in January 2012.

Navarro's plea comes about four months after his son, Jacob, and Christopher B. Wilson entered pleas to an identical set of charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Coeur d'Alene.

All three suspects in the scheme were indicted by a federal grand jury last year. They were investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and prosecuted under the Lacey Act, a century-old federal conservation law which protects plants and wildlife.

Sentencing dates are pending in the cases against Jacob Navarro, a 22-year-old from Naples, and Wilson, a 33-year-old from Elgin, Ore.

Tod Navarro is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21.

In a plea agreement, he admitted that he allowed his Idaho tag to be put on a mountain lion taken by a hunter from North Dakota, knowing that it was going to be transported out of state. The plea agreement further states that he provided hunting dogs that were used in the poachings.

Each of the three suspects were originally charged with felonies, although the offenses were reduced to misdemeanors in exchange for pleas of guilt, federal court records indicate.

Source:  Thestatesman.net

More than 2000 tribal youth participate in Lakha bindha

More than 2,000 tribal youths from different parts of Mayurbhanj district took part in an archery competition at Bahalda village under Khunta forest range, which is locally known as “Lakha Bindha” event.

Significantly, the programme, which was organised by a well-known local youth outfit, Baba Baidyanath Yuvak Sangha, with support of forest department, aims at creating awareness against poaching and other forest crimes, and also to promote and popularize the tribal culture and life-style.

The president of the Sangha, Mr Makar Chandra Soren informed that the event is held annually at Bahalda village.

“It is a successful event given the fact that the number of participants is going up everywhere. More number of youths is showing interest to take part in the competition and showcase their archery skills,” he said.

Lauding the efforts, the divisional forest officer (DFO) Mr Sanjay Kumar Swain stressed on preserving the age-old tradition of the tribals and claimed that such events spread the message of harmony and peaceful life.  Ranger Mr Batakrushna Padhi said that the completion is creating awareness on how to conserve forest and wildlife while playing a key role in protecting the tribal culture which is facing many onslaughts these days.

An arch fighter Mr Biranchi Singh said that the youths of his village eagerly wait for the annual event.

“It sends a message that archery can be used for good purposes. If one thinks that archery is used only for things like poaching, he is wrong,” Mr Singh said.

DFO Mr Swain gave away awards to winners of the competition.

Source:  Florencegichoya.wordpress.com

Kenya is losing wildlife at an alarming rate and if something is not done soon we might lose our heritage. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the institution mandated to protect our wildlife, has not been up to the task in effectively fighting poaching. Recently the Director General William Kiprono dismissed wildlife conservationists’ call on the President to declare poaching a national disaster.

The question is: When will poaching be, at least, declared a crisis? When we no longer have elephants and rhinos in our parks? KWS is showing laxity and not reigning on the poachers as expected.

The most affected animals are rhinos and elephants and this year, we have so far lost 18 rhinos and 51 elephants. Last year, we lost 59 rhinos and 302 elephants and if the trend continues, in a few years to come, we will not have these animals. Technically, simple calculations dictate that the rate at which rhinos are massacred far out numbers the calves born. A rhino’s gestation period is about 16 months while elephants have the longest gestation period of almost two years.

We pride ourselves in being a home of the Big Five, yet experts have warned us that if something is not done, then we might lose our heritage and our wildlife may one day be a subject in history books. Conservationists have alleged that there has been increased poaching in Africa because of the high demand of ivory in Asian countries especially Vietnam and China. The rhino horn is perceived to have medicinal value in some Asian communities, a kilogram of rhino sells at more than Sh1 million.

Kenya is not the only country facing the brunt of poaching. Last year, South Africa lost more than 1,004 rhinos through poaching, an activity that thrives in a complex network of cartels taking advantage of our porous borders and corrupt law enforcers.

Organised cartels

The culprits seem to be well organized syndicates that use superior weapons and have a network of funders, traffickers and traders who remain elusive to authorities. Although Parliament can be commended for enacting the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act which became operational this year, more needs to be done to end the vice. The security forces must be proactive and make arrests before the killings take place. They also need to conduct thorough investigations so that we can see more convictions from the courts. If poaching is not stopped, it will have a negative ripple effect on the economy.

Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner that heavily depends on our wildlife. The revenue could drastically drop if there are no interventions. For Kenya to retain its position as the world’s ideal safari destination, tougher measures should be adopted to deal with poaching. Right now, the poachers seem to be one step ahead.

Deliberate awareness

New technology need to be adopted to reduce the number of animals killed. The fight against poaching should also involve communities and the private sector. Just like the ‘Nyumba Kumi initiative’, deliberate awareness should be made to communities living in the environs of our national parks and conservancies. Community conservation policy should be encouraged so that people will be on the lookout of suspects and report incidences to the authority. President Uhuru Kenyatta recently said he is disgusted on the rising cases of poaching. He also said he will decisively deal with the matter. Moving forward, the long term solution includes a global ban against ivory and rhino horns trade. The Kenyan government through the African Union should aggressively lobby for the ban, especially in Asian countries. As Kenyans, it is our collective responsibility to speak up and safeguard our wildlife which is our national treasure and pride.

Source:  Biologicaldiversity.org

Press Release

Committee Votes to Divert Resources Away From Saving Endangered Species

WASHINGTON— In a series of partisan votes today, House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee approved four bills to weaken the Endangered Species Act, including siphoning scarce money away from saving wildlife for pointless reporting requirements. The bills would also discourage citizens from holding the government accountable in protecting endangered species; it would water down the definition of “best available science” in determining how to manage imperiled species. The full House of Representatives will likely vote on the bills later this year.

“Let’s be clear: None of these bills will save a single species from extinction or move it closer to recovery,” said Brett Hartl, endangered species policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Quite the reverse. Rather than focus on what’s really needed — more funding to save endangered species — Rep. Hastings and other extreme Republicans have voted to hamstring the Fish and Wildlife Service, whittle away at citizen participation in enforcing the Act, and put imperiled species at greater risk of harm from poaching.”

H.R. 4315, introduced by Rep. Doc Hastings, the Washington Republican who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, will require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to post all information about listing decisions online, despite the fact that posting some geographically specific information could increase the threat of poaching and collecting of some highly imperiled species.

“Like most of his Tea Party brethren, Doc Hastings has voted to weaken the Endangered Species Act every chance he’s gotten,” said Hartl. “These latest bills are part of a long-running strategy to hobble the law that, over the past 40 years, has put whales, wolves, grizzly bears, bald eagles and hundreds of other iconic species on the path toward recovery.”

Earlier this year, a “working group” of 13 House Republicans led by Hastings released a proposal to dismantle key portions of the Endangered Species Act, including limiting citizens’ ability to hold the government accountable and giving local politicians more influence over which plants and animals receive protections. Today’s bills represent the first steps taken by the Republicans to further the radical changes envisioned by the working group.  The Natural Resources Committee approved three other bills today in highly partisan votes:

• H.R. 4316, introduced by Rep. Cynthia Lummis, (R-Wyo.), directs the Fish and Wildlife Service to complete onerous, annual-reporting requirements regarding the amount of resources spent by the federal government on litigation brought to protect imperiled plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act. The Department of Justice’s own data, as well as data from a recent Government Accountability Office report, demonstrate that litigation costs are already available.

• H.R. 4317, introduced by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), would arbitrarily define “best available science” so that any state or local data would automatically be declared the “best” even if the data are outdated, unscientific, or rejected by the peer-review process.

• H.R. 4318, introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), would reduce attorney fees paid under the Endangered Species Act, making it harder for citizens, conservation, ranchers and farmers to ensure the government is following laws meant to protect and recover imperiled plants and animals.

“Given the outright hostility to endangered species that we have seen from the House Republicans, these votes aren’t surprising,” Hartl said. “But it’s sad that they continue to needlessly attack the Act when reasonable improvements — such as fully funding recovery activities — could actually pass in Congress and help to change the course of the extinction crisis that’s robbing us of our native wildlife.”

Source:  Ecowatch.com

By Katie Rucke

Early last week, it was reported that the U.S. Navy was sending military-trained dolphins to the Black Sea as an additional layer of defense against the Russian Navy, which had reportedly recently taken control of Ukraine’s military-trained marine life, including dolphins.

The U.S. Navy has used sea lions, dolphins and other marine mammals since the 1960s to search for underwater mines, rescue U.S. soldiers, attack enemy soldiers and plant explosives on enemy targets, among other missions. The Navy also studies these animals, hoping to learn how to design better torpedoes, ship hulls, missiles and sonar systems, but the U.S. military’s arguably violent use of the stereotypically friendly animals came as a shock to many.

The U.S. military doesn’t largely promote the program, possibly because animal rights activists have long objected to the use of animals for military purposes. Whether it’s this resistance or other factors, there are reportedly only a handful of places in the world where marine life is taught man’s dirty war tactics—one of which is in San Diego, CA.

Though the Navy initially denied that it was sending its trained dolphins and sea lions to the Black Sea, Tom Lapuzza, spokesperson for the U.S. Navy’s San Diego-based marine mammals program, told the International Business Times (IBT) that 20 dolphins and 10 sea lions would be sent to the Black Sea this summer to take part in a NATO drill testing a new anti-radar system.

According to the IBT report, the new system disorients enemy sonars “while sea lions and dolphins are looking for mines and military divers.” Recently developed armor for the dolphins will also be tested during the trial this summer, which is expected to last from one to two weeks.

Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights advocacy group, told MintPress News that she was surprised to hear the Navy was going back to using dolphins after announcing it was cutting back on the marine mammal program in the 1990s, citing a lack of uses for the dolphins due to new technology.

“Why in 2014 are we relying on dolphins for anything in the military, when we have come to an understanding that marine mammals are sophisticated and intelligent?” Guillermo asked. “They don’t belong to us. They are not our weapons, not our toys.”

Guillermo added that since dolphins don’t make war, they shouldn’t have to fight human wars, either.

Even some former naval staff and dolphin trainers agree the program is not in the best interests of the animals. As Navy Lt. Commander Douglas Burnett put it, there could be situations in which no one can tell whether an animal is a potential enemy, which could lead to a mass slaughter of marine life.

But according to James Fallin, a spokesman for Space and Warfare Systems Command Pacific, which oversees the Navy’s marine mammal program, there are some things sea lions and dolphins do better than any technology any human has created.

“Because of the unique capabilities of the marine mammals in the shallow water environment, there are several critical misions (sic) that they perform that cannot be matched by technology or hardware in the near-term,” Fallin said. “While the Navy is working on developing replacement technologies, there is no definitive pathway charged for a full replacement of the operational use of marine marine (sic) mammals.”

While it’s astonishing to learn just how much humans can and have learned from animals, many animal rights activists have expressed concern over use of the animals. They argue that the animals are violently captured in the wild, kept in cramped living quarters and negatively impacted by the tasks they’re asked to perform.

According to a letter to the U.S. military from the Biodiversity Legal Foundation, sonar technology negatively affects the animals.

“Sound penetrates an animal’s body when immersed in water. Essentially all of acoustic energy goes into a body immersed in water. This effect, which can cause tissue rupture and hemorrhage, has not been adequately addressed in the Navy’s [environmental impact statement],” the group wrote.

In other words, working with the Navy often causes marine life tissue to rupture and hemorrhage, and microscopic bubbles in their blood, bladders and lungs impede the animals’ ability to breathe and swim.

Due to the private nature of the U.S. military, Guillermo says it can’t be entirely known how dolphins are affected by their military duties, but she says scientists are aware that dolphins are incredibly intelligent and sensitive animals who depend upon connections for their both psychological and physical well-being. When they are separated from their friends and family—which often happens when they are captured—they become depressed, and are then forced to live in unnatural habitats.

When asked whether the military had opted to expand the marine mammal program after decreasing it in the 1990s, or if the military just said it had limited its use of marine life to appease the public, Guillermo said she didn’t know. She also said the military is highly sensitive to public opinion.

“They don’t want to say more than they really have to say,” Guillermo said, while talking about PETA’s efforts to expose the military’s use of goats and pigs in medical training exercises. “My guess is whatever they are actually doing, they will minimize it and sugar coat it and make it sound benign, while keeping the dolphins prisoners and then put them in harms way, while depriving them of everything that makes their life worth living.”

Source:  Advocacy.britannica.com

By Michael Markarian

Tonight, WAVE 3 News in Louisville is airing an exclusive story, for which reporter John Boel went undercover with a hidden camera at a recent pro-cockfighting rally. The investigative report asks the question, “What did Kentucky politicians really promise to cockfighters?” and focuses on GOP Senate candidate Matt Bevin’s appearance at that rally, raising questions about his statements that he didn’t know the purpose of the event was to promote the legalization of cockfighting.

In the weeks since the story broke, Bevin has said that cockfighting is a “states’ rights” issue, and even that it’s “part of a tradition and a heritage that go back for hundreds of years and were very integral early on in this country.” But the organizers of the event had promoted it as a rally to legalize cockfighting in Kentucky. If it’s a state issue, and the state currently bans cockfighting, does Bevin support or oppose that anti-crime and anti-cruelty law? The hidden-camera video obtained by WAVE 3 News should shed some light on the situation. Manu Raju of Politico reported yesterday that Bevin’s Republican primary opponent, Sen. Mitch McConnell, has released a new statewide radio ad attacking Bevin on the cockfighting issue. The ad lampoons Bevin for attending the pro-cockfighting event, and for “making national headlines, but not in a good way.” The primary is May 20th, and it’s just more evidence that the political winds are blowing against the small but vocal group of people who unlawfully force animals into staged combat, and that politicians have nothing to gain by associating with these organized criminals.

An important animal welfare issue is coming up in another GOP statewide primary race, too, this one in Texas. Brittney Martin of the Dallas Morning News reported that in the race for state agriculture commissioner, Republican Tommy Merritt has sent a mailer to primary voters drawing attention to rival Sid Miller’s efforts to legalize horse slaughter. When both candidates served in the Texas legislature, Miller introduced bills seeking to repeal the state’s ban on the sale of horsemeat for human consumption.

“I voted against the bill [in 2003\ and on the side of the horses and the people who love animals,” Merritt said. “It’s very clear to me that he has total disrespect for the animals.”

Texas, along with Illinois, was the last place in the U.S. to have active equine abattoirs, which were shuttered in 2007 when Congress banned the use of tax dollars to inspect and certify horsemeat for human consumption. A number of plants have tried unsuccessfully to open since that time, but most people don’t want their community to be known as the one that killed Trigger and Mr. Ed, just to serve up horse meat as a delicacy to foreign gourmands in Belgium and Japan. It’s clear that animal issues are becoming a larger part of our civic and political discourse, and mainstream voters stand on the side of decency, opposition to cruelty, and the rule of law. No party or candidate, whether Democrat or Republican, should defend animal cruelty without understanding the political consequences. When candidates court the cockfighting crowd or the horse slaughter profiteers, they’re taking a bigger political risk than they ever imagined.

Source:  Wildlifenews.co.uk

By Kevin Heath

The UK government appears to have gone into a bit of a sulk over the badger cull and the criticism it was given by an independent panel that was set up to monitor the effectiveness of the cull. The independent panel will not be allowed to monitor the second year of the cull in Gloucestershire and Somerset – effectively meaning there will be no unbiased monitoring of the badger killings this year.

The Independent Experts Panel had monitored the progress of the badger cull last year which was put in place in England to try and reduce the prevalence of Bovine Tb. The cull only took place in England as Wales opted for a badger vaccination programme.

Since the vaccine programme was introduced into Wales 2 years ago the number of cattle being killed because of Bovine Tb has fallen by over 30% and the number of herds affected by Tb has fallen by 23%. In contrast the impact of the badger cull in the trial areas of Somerset and Gloucestershire has been minimal.

Following the first year of shooting  badgers in England the Independent Expert Panel reported that the cull had been both ineffective and cruel. In order for the cull to be effective the badger shooters had to kill 70% of badgers in the target area, the shooters consistently failed to meet this target. The panel also found the cull was cruel and inhumane as too many badger took over 5 minutes to die after being shot – bringing into question the quality and ability of the ‘marksmen’ used.

Taken from the report published earlier this month -

Humaneness- “It is extremely likely that between 7.4% and 22.8% of badgers that were shot at were still alive after 5 min, and therefore at risk of experiencing marked pain. We are concerned at the potential for suffering that these figures imply.”

Effectiveness- “Controlled shooting in conjunction with cage trapping, over the 6-week period of the pilot culls, failed to remove at least 70% of the pre-cull badger population from either pilot area. It is extremely likely that combined shooting and cage trapping removed less than 48.1% of the badgers in Somerset and less than 39.1% of the badgers in Gloucestershire.”

In order to protect itself from further criticism as the start of the second year of culling approaches the government has confirmed that the Independent Expert Group will no longer be needed to monitor the effectiveness of the cull and its methods.

In a parliamentary question to George Eustice MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Natural Environment, Water and Rural Affairs), Maria Eagle MP (Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary) asked,

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to ask the Independent Expert Panel which recently reported on the first year of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire to report on the second year of such culls. [195731]

George Eustice: I have no plans to ask the Independent Expert Panel to report on the second year of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Ms Eagle explained, “An Independent Expert Panel said that the Tories’ badger cull in Somerset and Gloucestershire was inhumane and ineffective in dealing with the problem of TB in cattle.

“Now ministers have confirmed that they will not allow further expert scrutiny of their disastrous policy when the cull resumes later this year.

“What do the Tories do if they don’t like the independent scientific advice they get? Stop asking for advice.

“Labour has said consistently that the culls are bad for farmers, bad for the taxpayer and bad for our wildlife. Working with wildlife groups, farmers and leading scientists, we need an alternative strategy that would focus on badger vaccination and enhanced cattle measures.”

Source:  Nature.com

By Andy Butterworth

As I write this piece in mid-April, small boats are weaving their way through the shifting Arctic sea ice off the east coast of Canada to hunt seals. In previous years, more than 1,000 boats have taken part. By the end of the 2014 hunt, a quota of some 400,000 young seals could have been taken, leaving the ice stained red with blood. The pace is rapid. Most of the annual take occurs in the first five days.

The annual Canadian commercial seal hunt is the world's largest hunt of marine mammals. A few weeks old, the seal pups are prized primarily for their skins and also for the omega-3-rich oil used in food supplements — products that are shipped around the world.

This month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, is expected to announce whether products from commercial seal hunting can be marketed in Europe. At present, they cannot. Such products have been banned by the European Union (EU) since 2009 to protect 'public morals'. Canada and Norway have asked the WTO to overturn the ban — the first of its kind — and the trade body will soon deliver its verdict.

My research has been at the centre of the case, and papers I published on welfare aspects of the seal hunt in the journal Marine Policy (see, for example, A. Butterworth and M. Richardson Mar. Policy 38, 457–469; 2013) were cited more than 40 times in a WTO panel report last year that backed the European ban. I have been part of the EU delegation to the WTO, and had a ringside seat to view an international tussle between the promotion of trade, animal welfare and public morals. The WTO should reject the appeal, and the ban on seal products must stay in place. Here is why.

As an official observer, I have seen the hunt at close quarters, from the ice and from helicopters. The details are grisly. That is why the WTO originally agreed that the EU could act to limit trade on the grounds of public morals — the first time that such a restriction had been put in place.

When they are born, seal pups have white fur. They are suckled, weaned and then abandoned by their mothers at about 12 days of age. Stranded on the unstable ice, they remain alone and unfed for up to six weeks, and during this time their fur changes from white to grey — and the hunters arrive.

The pups are either shot from boats, or clubbed with a wooden bat or an iron-tipped pole called a hakapik. Some shot and injured seals slide into the water and are lost. Many shot and injured animals could potentially suffer for several minutes while the hunters manoeuvre their boats close enough to club them unconscious. If the ice is too unstable for the hunters to cross, shot and injured but conscious and reactive seals can be dragged into the boats with long hooked gaffs before being clubbed.

My publications on the hunt reflect my scientific and veterinary perspective. Animal welfare can be scrutinized and measured. I brought both my compassionate (veterinary) and dispassionate (scientific) perceptions to bear. It is impossible to monitor all the hunting activity, which takes place across a huge shifting frozen expanse the size of France. But what I have seen and measured on the ice challenged me, and provoked concern within me. The Canadian Marine Mammal regulations allow hunters to retrieve injured animals from the ice using the hooked gaffs before they have been checked for unconsciousness. But people do not allow land animals to be treated in this way. If what I have witnessed being done to a young seal was done to a horse or a dog, there is little doubt that it would be labelled as cruel.

The EU ban was introduced on moral grounds, and science and scientific evidence can inform judgements on moral questions. When it comes to the seal hunt, the science indicated that some shot seals took a considerable period of time to die, and some injured animals were 'unchecked' for periods of several minutes before being finally killed by clubbing. The post mortems that we carried out on the ice indicated that some seals had multiple shooting, clubbing and hooking injuries — and that some had swallowed their own fresh blood — probably indicating that they were alive for a period following the first contact with the hunter. The assessments also described the distressed behaviour of conscious injured animals in response to being recovered from the ice with the gaffs.

Interestingly, the appeal from Canada and Norway does not challenge the “poor welfare outcomes” of the seals, which the WTO last year judged sufficient to justify the European ban. Instead, the appeal concentrates on trade issues and claimed unfair restrictions.

In reaching its decision, which will be final and binding, the WTO must reconcile contrasting statements from international agreements that are almost 70 years old. One forbids “arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination” between countries. Another says that nations can act in a way that is “necessary to protect public morals”.

As a human and as a veterinary scientist I consider the hunt to present real and significant welfare concerns. The available scientific evidence supports that opinion. But science, of course, is only one of the factors at play. Perhaps the final word should go to a statement attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Source:  TimesofIndia.Indiatimes.com

By Vijay Pinjarkar

NAGPUR: Eight days after the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a statutory body under the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), issued an advisory to curb illegal wildlife trade along railway routes, the state forest department sleuths nabbed a poacher from Bhusawal station on Monday night. He was suspected to be the dreaded Luchi, but turned out to be Pappu Rajput of the Baheliya community from Katni in Madhya Pradesh.

The suspect was part of a 35-member gang, mostly women, who arrived at Bhusawal station from Katni. The gang was to board another train for Pune when forest officials from Bhusawal picked up Pappu (40) around 10pm.

This is the second case of mistaken identity. In November last year, a man thought to be most wanted tiger poacher Keru Chiyalal Rajgond turned out to be Makhanlal Hariprasad Rajput, a goof up attributed to Madhya Pradesh forest officials.

Chief conservator of forests (CCF) for Dhule circle Sunita Singh said the arrested poacher is Pappu Rajput and has been handed over to a team led by assistant conservator (ACF) Vishal Mali from Melghat, where some poachers are wanted in tiger killing cases.

Melghat officials took Pappu before the arrested Baheliya poachers in jail. "The arrested poacher is not the one we thought. His identity could not be confirmed by those arrested. Hence, we are discharging him after recording statements in the presence of witnesses," said Amravati CCF Virendra Tiwari.

Since June 6, 2013, when tiger poaching was first exposed, at least 21 poachers have been arrested by the forest officials. Still, 35 more poachers are on the run. The last poacher arrested by Amravati forest officials was Ranjitsingh Bawaria from Andhra Pradesh on December 12, 2013.

The arrested poachers claim that more than 20 tiger skins were trafficked from the region between October 2012 and May 2013 by different gangs. Luchi is one of the prime accused, wanted in poaching of tigers in Melghat. His name figures in statements of arrested poachers now in jail at Amravati and Nagpur.

Even as news of Pappu's arrest turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, the movement of Baheliya gangs towards Pune exposes the tall claims of forest minister Patangrao Kadam that poachers are avoiding Maharashtra after decisive action against them.

Earlier, on March 1-2, at least 25 Baheliya women and men were arrested at Wahgaon near Karad from a farm. The men escaped while the women were detained, but since forest officials gave them a clean chit, they were released by police officials.

Source:  ABCnet.au

By Sam Burgess

Queensland Agriculture Minister John McVeigh says anyone who imports illegal pets faces stiff fines, after the discovery of an exotic turtle in Toowoomba on the Darling Downs.

The environmentally destructive Chinese striped neck turtle was found in the city's waterbird habitat last week and is believed to have been dumped there.

Mr McVeigh says importing such animals can have serious consequences.

"We're reasonably confident there aren't any others but people should keep in mind that there are very stiff penalties for the illegal pet trade, the suspicion is that that's where this has come from in this instance," he said.

"It may well have come in accidentally by boat or some form of transport but more than likely the illegal pet trade."

Source:  Winnipegfreepress.com

KAMLOOPS, B.C. - The remains of eight bald eagles and one golden eagle have been found in a ditch near Kamloops, B.C.

The Conservation Officer Service is urging anyone with information about the discovery to come forward.

Officials say the carcasses were discovered last month in the ditch beside a well-used public road.

Heads, feet, tail feathers and wings of all nine birds had been removed.

No suspects have been identified but conservation officers continue to investigate and hope the public can provide some important clues.

There's concern that the poaching incidents could threaten the eagle population in the southern Interior.

Source:  Thesouthern.com

_ VANDALIA – Illinois Conservation Police have arrested three men in connection with a March duck-poaching incident at Carlyle Lake Wildlife Management Area near Vandalia.

Steven Dean of Granite City, along with Bradley Peters and Daniel Groves of Wood River, were arrested April 25. The three men face felony charges for their alleged involvement in the illegal killing of more than 30 ducks out of season on March 6. The illegal killings included northern pintail and mallard species and left several ducks crippled.

“We are grateful to members of the public and to the media for publicizing this case and providing support for our officers,” said Rafael Gutierrez, Chief of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Law Enforcement.

“Illinois Conservation Police Officers stand with hunters and conservationists to prevent poaching whenever possible and to find those responsible when it does occur.”

Charges include:

• Felony resource theft of migratory waterfowl
• Unlawful possession of freshly killed species during the closed season
• Wanton waste of migratory waterfowl
• Unlawful take over the limit of mallard ducks
• Unlawful take over the limit of northern pintails

In addition Groves was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm when he is ineligible for a Firearm Owners Identification Card, a class 4 felony.

Hunting ducks out of season potentially carries both state and federal penalties. Spring duck hunting was eliminated a century ago by the McLean-Weeks Act, the first law passed in the United States to regulate the shooting of migratory birds.

Information that led to the arrests was received through an anonymous tip made to the Illinois T.I.P. hotline at 877-236-7529. All tips remain anonymous.

Source:  Gulfnews.com

By Rabab Khan

A study published in 2013 has estimated that an average of approximately 100 million sharks are killed every year.

More than 270,000 sharks are killed every day worldwide. This means that every time you blink, three sharks are slayed.

On May 3, Dubai will participate in a global effort with a community event to reduce and eventually stop this barbaric culling.

Globally, shark finning has become a common practice, according to Shark Project, an international shark protection initiative based in Germany.

Many groups across the globe are striving to put an end to finning and conserve sharks. One such group is Divers Down Dubai. They have pledged their support to Project Aware, a non-profit organisation from California dedicated to protecting the ocean, in its battle to raise awareness about this horrifying crime.

Stuart Martin, general manager at Divers Down Dubai, told Gulf News: “We are concerned about sharks and the vital role they play in the ocean’s ecosystem and therefore we will be joining thousands of scuba divers and non-divers around the world to help end finning and conserve sharks on May 3, at Palm Jumeirah.”

Project Aware launched the global ‘Finathon’ in 2013.

Martin said: “It was a global campaign calling on dive leaders, shark protectors and other supporters to organise events in their community to raise awareness and much needed funds for this cause. Events took place globally throughout the year.”

This year, Divers Down Dubai will also be participating in the cause as active members.

The shark’s fin is removed and most often the fish is still alive when it is tossed back into the water. Unable to swim, the shark slowly sinks, where it is eaten alive by other fish.

According to Shark Project, a pound of dried shark fin can retail for $300 (Dh1,102) or more and is used in many parts of the world to make shark fin soup, a delicacy.

Martin said: “On May 3, we will be holding fun activities for both adults and children, which will include face painting, sand art competitions, stand-up paddle boarding, swimming challenges, a climbing wall and much more. We will also be hosting a fun race for anybody who would like to participate. At the end, there will be an award ceremony and a raffle with a range of prizes to be won, such as dive courses, standup paddle boarding lessons and a meal.”

The event is open to all and there is no entrance fee.

The money that is raised from these events will be used as donations towards Project Aware, which aims to “fight against the practice of finning, insist on full protection for critically endangered sharks and negotiate stronger policies to ensure a brighter future for all sharks”.

At the venue, the group also plans to put up kiosks that will provide information on shark conservation and allow people to donate.

“Shark fishing is largely unregulated around the world. This Finathon is a fun, healthy way to raise awareness about this important cause. Ultimately, we want people to learn and understand about sharks and how they directly affect the ecosystem. We place great emphasis on protecting the aquatic world. Sharks are just one of the many species that need our help and security for the future generations,” Martin said.

In an official press release, Ania Budziak, Project Aware’s associate director of science and policy, said: “Project Aware has recently helped close loopholes in the European Union (EU) finning ban and secure international trade protections for eight of the world’s most vulnerable sharks and rays. But to ensure the survival of sharks, stricter and enforceable controls are needed for more species at national, regional and global levels.

“It’s the healthy shark and ray populations that support tourism, which in some coastal communities, territories and states around the world underpins entire economies. Action is key, not only to keep the shark populations healthy, but also for longterm economic benefits that are not yet fully realised.”

As time passes, shark species are vanishing and the time to act is now and if you’re passionate about the cause you can join the race to protect sharks at a global level.
*********************************************
Facts

Shark finning refers to the removal and retention of shark fins. The shark is most often still alive when it is tossed back into the water. Unable to swim, the shark slowly sinks to the bottom where it is eaten alive by other fish.

Any shark is taken, regardless of age, size or species. Shark meat is considered low in value and so the entire body is not worth the cost of transporting to the market.

A study published in 2013 has estimated that the total number of sharks killed by fisheries each year is between 63 and 273 million, with an average of approximately 100 million. This equates to around 270,000 sharks killed every day!

Shark finning has increased over the past decade due to the increasing demand for shark fins, which are either used in shark fin soup or for other traditional cures.

One pound of dried shark fin can retail for $300 or more.

Sources: Shark Project, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

How to participate

The local Finathon is on Saturday, May 3 at Riva Beach Club, Palm Jumeirah.

Time: 7am to 2pm.

Visit www.diversdownuae.com and click on Finathon 2014 for details.

For donations, visit www.justgiving.com/teams/diversdowndubai.

About Project Aware

Project Aware focuses on advocating for national, regional and global management and conservation actions that heed all available scientific advice for limiting shark catches; fully protect shark species listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); set precautionary shark fishing limits and ensure all sharks are landed with their fins naturally attached.

In 2013, the European Commission finally closed the loopholes in the EU shark finning bans after six years of debate. Five species of highly traded sharks, both manta rays and one species of sawfish were listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) at the conclusion of CoP16 held this March in Bangkok, Thailand.

In 2013, the first Global Finathon organised by Project Aware raised $69,757 (Dh256,218). Thirty nine teams and 158 individual fundraisers participated, and they swam 798km globally. Visit www.projectaware.org for more details.

Source:  Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine authorities have arrested 7 Vietnamese fishermen allegedly caught poaching in Philippine waters off the coast Zambales, the Philippine Coast Guard announced on Wednesday, April 30.

PCG acting spokesperson Commander Genito Basilio said that the poachers were arrested by a joint team of the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR).

“They were caught retrieving the net. It is BFAR that will file a case against them,” Basilio said.

The fishermen were on a fishing vessel registered as “BD 96281 T5” spotted 16 nautical miles from the Port of Silanguin in Subic Freeport, Zambales.

The vessel was under guard by BFAR’s MC-3008, which sent a PCG and BFAR team to conduct a routine inspection of pertinent documents, the vessel’s crewmen, and license and equipment.

The team identified the fishing vessel owner as Pham Minh Ouoc, a resident of Bing, Vietnam, who was also its captain and among those arrested.

The other crewmembers are Le Van Muoi, Nguyen Van Tu, Nguyen Binh, Ngo Van Tuan, Truong Van Luan, and Nguyen Huynh Duc.

Basilio said there was still no information on whether the vessel was found with endangered or protected marine species.

He said the fishermen may also be brought to the Bureau of Immigration.

There have been repeated cases of Vietnamese fishermen caught poaching in Philippines waters. Last year, 13 of them were arrested off Palawan.