a Tiger Journal.com Begins a Three-Part Interview Series with Jean-Christophe Vié, Director of SOS – Save Our Species, for Endangered Species Day, May 17, 2013

• 
  Photo: PRWeb

 

http://www.seattlepi.com/business/press-releases/article/a-Tiger-Journal-com-Begins-a-Three-Part-Interview-4524902.php#ixzz2TkHmxMRU

 

 

a Tiger Journal.com begins a three-part interview series with Jean-Christophe Vié, Director of IUCN’s Global Species Programme and Director of SOS – Save Our Species, for Endangered Species Day, May 17, 2013.

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) May 17, 2013

a Tiger Journal.com begins a three-part interview with Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Director of IUCN’s Global Species Programme and Director of SOS – Save Our Species, for Endangered Species Day, May 17, 2013.

“Wild tigers are in a critical state with less than 3,500 individuals remaining, of which only around 1,000 are thought to be breeding females,” says Vié. “Breeding populations are scattered across a number of small areas and are at risk of further decline due to unsustainable hunting of the prey base and direct poaching to satisfy an illegal market for skins, bones and other body parts. Current conservation strategy must adapt fast to change the status quo and improve enforcement effectiveness in protecting and recovering these breeding populations.”

In his interview with a Tiger Journal, Vié talks about the plight of species facing extinction, possible solutions and why he decide to work with on these issues.

“I am really concerned because things are really bad,” says Vié. “In the last years, we have lost even very charismatic species like three sub-species of rhinos; one in Vietnam and two in Africa (Cameroon and DRC). And when you lose a species like a rhino, which is not harmful to anyone, is actually a very peaceful animal that can generate large tourism income, then that’s quite worrying.”

Vié continues, “Also, fifty percent of primates are currently on the brink of extinction including species like the mountain gorilla. And it’s because people are hunting them, but also because their habitat is being destroyed. Mountain gorillas are stabilized for the time being, but for how long?”

About SOS – Save Our Species (SOS):

SOS is a global coalition initiated by the three founding partners the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the World Bank, to build the biggest species conservation fund, supporting on-the-ground field conservation projects all over the world.

According to Vié, the goal of SOS is to combine resources and funding experience from the World Bank and GEF, with the authoritative science of IUCN and the resources and ingenuity of the private sector, to create a mechanism that ensures sufficient funding goes to species conservation projects where, and when, it will have the most impact.

About Jean-Christophe Vié:

Vié joined the IUCN Global Species Programme in 2001 as its Deputy Director. He oversees many diverse aspects of the Programme, including regional and global biodiversity assessments and the Red List of Threatened Species, the assessment of climate change impact on biodiversity.

The IUCN inputs to several international agreements and supporting the extraordinary Species Survival Commission (SSC) network where the bulk of expertise about species resides. He also started developing SOS at the end of 2008 and became its Director when the initiative was launched at the end of 2010.

Vié’s involvement with IUCN started more than 20 years ago when he was invited to join the SSC. In early 2000, he joined the IUCN West Africa Regional Office where he was in charge of coordinating all aspects of the IUCN programme in Guinea Bissau including, among others, protected areas design and management, coastal zone management, local fisheries, public awareness, species conservation, capacity building and micro credit.

Vié has extensive field experience in various parts of the world including various parts of Africa, South America, Saudi Arabia and the USA where he spent 15 years overall. He started his career as a wildlife veterinarian with a main interest in primates. He also worked on the reintroduction of Arabian Oryx and subsequently designed projects covering a wide variety of Neotropical species such as marine turtles, manatees, giant otters, black caimans, primates and snakes.

Vié designed, and then directed, a large project aiming at monitoring the impacts of a dam on wildlife in a pristine area of tropical forest. He was also heavily involved in the design and management of protected areas, as well as public awareness campaign.

This led Vié to interact with a variety of stakeholders such as indigenous communities, local governments and administrations, logging companies, hunters, dam builders, fisheries and the private sector in general. He then completed a PhD in ecology and, while keeping a strong interest in species and site based conservation, he moved to more general conservation issues first regionally and then globally.

Parts two and three of the interview with Jean-Christophe Vié will be published in a Tiger Journal the week of May 20th, 2013.

—————————————————————–

Go here for more information about a Tiger Journal.com.

a Tiger Journal.com was created by Endangered Species Journalist Craig Kasnoff in an effort to promote the plight of endangered species and the efforts to save them.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/5/prweb10744261.htm

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/business/press-releases/article/a-Tiger-Journal-com-Begins-a-Three-Part-Interview-4524902.php#ixzz2Tmt3O0AK

 

Chasing the cheetah smugglers

Posted by Kevin Heath on February 8th, 2013 at 11: 10 am

http://wildlifenews.co.uk/2013/chasing-the-cheetah-smugglers/

Next month CITES members will get to vote on action to help combat the cheetah smuggling trade.

Next month CITES members will get the chance to discuss and vote on employing specialist consultants to examine the illegal trade in cheetahs. A proposal has been put to the convention by Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda that a study be undertaken to discover the impacts of the illegal cheetah trade.

There are currently an estimated known 7,500 cheetah left in the wild with an estimated additional 2,500 living in areas that are poorly surveyed for this big cat. Two of the five sub-species are critically endangered and the remainder are classed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

The trade in cheetahs is predominately driven by the Middle East countries where the cheetah is a status symbol in private zoos or used as a hunting animal in much the same way that some hunts uses dogs.

The cheetah is a CITES Appendix 1 species so it has the highest levels of protection. There is some trade permitted in the cheetah with three African countries having the right to export an annual quote:

• Namibia – 150 individuals,
• Zimbabwe – 50 individuals,
• Botswana – 5 individuals.

While being able to export live cats under the CITES quotas there have been very few live exports since the 1990′s. Most of the exports through the quota have been as hunting trophies or skins. This opens the opportunity for wildlife criminals to provide for the live cheetah trade.

Monitoring of seizures by various organisations show that cheetah cubs in particular are often traded. In 2011 one organisation – Coalition of Wildlife Trafficking – indicated that 70 cheetahs had been intercepted from wildlife traffickers. Many cubs will die during the process of transport and even when intercepted and rescued the cubs have a high likelihood of death.

Cheetahs

CDN$ 15.63 Buy Now

amazon.com

While little is known about the trade in cheetahs it is thought the the Horn of Africa and Somalia are the major routes used by wildlife smugglers to get the big cats out of southern and eastern Africa which are now the stronghold of the species.

The trade in cheetahs for pets, private zoos and hunting animals is believed to be putting increasing pressure on the wild populations. It is difficult to breed cheetahs in captivity and a study in 2001 showed that the captive population was not self-sustaining with 30% of captive animals having been caught in the wild.

To try and get a better understanding of the impacts of the illegal cheetah trade the three African countries have asked that CITES consider the following proposals:

Directed to the Standing Committee

16.xx The Standing Committee shall commission an independent study, in accordance with UN rules, of both the legal and illegal trade in wild cheetahs, and assess the impact of this trade on the species’ conservation in the wild. The study will research the source of cheetah in illegal trade, transit routes of trafficked cheetahs, and will document the measures taken by Parties with regard to live confiscated specimens. All range States will be fully consulted as stakeholders, and the findings will be reported to the 65th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee.

Directed to the Parties

16.xx All relevant Parties are urged to assist those commissioned to undertake the above-mentioned study in any way possible including through the provision of necessary information about illegal and legal trade in cheetah.
16.xx Parties are further urged to provide reports concerning all detected illegal trade in cheetah specimens to the 65th meeting of the Standing Committee and relevant Law Enforcement Agencies including Interpol Wildlife Crime Unit.

The number of cheetahs estimated to be in the wild in eastern Africa (Ethiopia, southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania) is estimated at 2,572 while the stronghold of southern Africa containing about 4,500 adults.  This is broken down as:

• Angola – present but unknown;
• Botswana – 1,800;
• Malawi – <25 (and probably extirpated: Purchase and Purchase 2007);
• Mozambique: <50;
• Namibia – 2,000;
• South Africa – 550;
• Zambia – 100;
• Zimbabwe – 400.

By getting a better understanding of the illegal trade and the routes that wildlife smugglers use it is hoped that better conservation management plans for the enigmatic big cat can be developed.

 

Conservationists turn camera traps on tiger poachers

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
November 12, 2012
new.mongabay.com

Camera trap catches intruders in Lazovsky Nature Reserve. Photo courtesy of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

 

Remote camera traps, which take photos or video when a sensor is triggered, have been increasingly used to document rare and shy wildlife, but now conservationists are taking the technology one step further: detecting poachers. Already, camera traps set up for wildlife have captured images of park trespassers and poachers worldwide, but for the first time conservationists are setting camera traps with the specific goal of tracking illegal activity.

Dubbed the “Forest Eyes” project, scientists with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have installed and camouflaged 30 camera traps in two Russian far east protected areas: Lazovsky Nature Reserve and Zov Tigra National Park. The group hopes the camera traps will help to shed new light on trespassers in the parks, home to at most twenty Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica).

“The images from camera traps set up for humans will better inform us of any illegal activity in protected areas, so inspectors can be notified and patrols changed accordingly.” explains ZSL tiger conservationist Linda Kerley in a press release. “We will be able to monitor the area more effectively and ensure we are doing all we can to try and change people’s attitudes and behaviors towards poaching.”

Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are down to around 360 animals and listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. While the subspecies is imperiled by habitat loss, prey decline, low genetic diversity, and human-tiger conflict, poaching for traditional Chinese medicine remains the most pressing concern.

The small tiger population in the two parks have already suffered from past poaching. Scientists believe poachers may have killed as many as seven tigers five years ago, while in the last twelve months authorities have confiscated tiger parts in three different operations.

“We hope the awareness of extra camera traps targeting people who encroach on protected areas will deter poachers from trying to kill tigers and their prey animals,” said another ZSL conservationist, Sarah Christie.

In 2010 Russia hosted a tiger summit with all 13 tiger range countries. The meeting ended with an ambitious pledged to double the number of wild tigers in the world by 2022. Amur tigers represent around 10 percent of the total wild population. Already three tiger subspecies have vanished forever.

WARNING: Graphic images below.

Setting up a camera trap in Lazovsky Nature Reserve. Photo courtesy of: ZSL.

Poached Amur tiger in the region. Photo courtesy of: ZSL.

Poached Amur tiger in the region. Photo courtesy of: ZSL.

Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1112-hance-camera-traps-poachers.html#eZzwxbmc7DkO8vQ5.99

 

Illegal hunting threatens iconic animals across Africa’s great savannas, especially predators

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
October 25, 2012

http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1025-hance-bushmeat-savanna.html

Lion with a snare around its neck. Photo by: Egil Droge/Zambian Carnivore Program. Courtesy of Panthera.

 

Bushmeat hunting has become a grave concern for species in West and Central Africa, but a new report notes that lesser-known illegal hunting in Africa’s iconic savannas is also decimating some animals. Surprisingly, illegal hunting across eastern and southern Africa is hitting big predators particularly hard, such as cheetah, lion, leopard, and wild dog. Although rarely targets of hunters, these predators are running out of food due to overhunting and, in addition, often becoming victims of snares set out for other species.

“Snaring is the most common illegal hunting method and is particularly undesirable from a conservation perspective as it is highly effective, difficult to control, unselective in terms of the genders or species of animals captured, wasteful, and has severe animal welfare implications,” reads the report which was co-authored by Panthera, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

The report finds that demand for bushmeat is growing in both eastern and southern Africa as populations boom–human populations in Africa are growing faster than anywhere else in the world–and protected areas suffer from ongoing human encroachment. In addition, bushmeat is becoming seen as a “luxury” good in urban centers, pushing some in rural communities to see illegal hunting as a new livelihood where there are few.

Snared wild dog. Photo by: Egil Droge/Zambian Carnivore Program. Courtesy of Panthera.

The bushmeat boom, which has not been largely studied across eastern and southern Africa, has put the continents big predators on notice, according to the report.

“Most cheetahs and African wild dogs occur outside protected areas, coexisting with people and their livestock, and are very vulnerable to snaring and the loss of their wild prey,” says Netty Purchase with both ZSL and WCS.

Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, while African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are considered Endangered. Africa’s most well-known top predator, the lion (Panthera leo), is listed as Vulnerable with data showing it has plunged by 30 percent since 1990. Leopards (Panthera pardus) are probably doing the best of the four, and are listed as Near Threatened. All of these predators face other threats beyond illegal hunting—including habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and in some cases trophy hunting—but an overall decline in prey and injuries or death caused by snare cannot be overstated. For example, in Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve over half of lion mortalities are caused by snares.

The report notes that some areas have undergone “empty savanna syndrome,” similar to the more well-known “empty forest syndrome.” The ecosystem is there, but large wild mammals are simply gone due to unregulated over-hunting. In some countries, hunters have begun turning to smaller animals, as larger-bodied mammals have vanished.

Recommendations from the report include addressing human population growth through education and family planning; better land-use planning; providing alternative livelihoods and other protein sources in rural areas; encouraging tourism and sustainable-use of wildlife; as well as passing and enforcing better laws.

“Frank discussion of the issue of high levels of human population growth within and near to protected areas is required,” the freely-available report reads, “because if current trends continue, other interventions to address illegal hunting the bushmeat trade are much less likely to succeed.”

Snared cheetah recovered by a park ranger in Zambia. Photo by: Zambia Carnivore Programme.

Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1025-hance-bushmeat-savanna.html#8qGIV1HKMAr4qGFf.99