https://www.facebook.com/WWFCanada
“It is surely unthinkable that these creatures, which have roamed the planet for thousands, if not millions, of years, could disappear completely within a decade, or even less.
As a father and a soon-to-be grandfather, I find it inconceivable that our children and grandchildren could live in a world bereft of these animals. Humanity is less than humanity without the rest of creation. Their destruction will diminish us all.” – Prince Charles.
Via – Cee4life
Part of the Guardian Project – Here is part of the investigation in 2007, it not only involved photos and such, it also involved numerous witness’s. Many witness’s to the wildlife trade were ignored because we were foreignors, so there was only one thing to do, get an temple worker to talk.. About it. I could never release this footage as the dangerous involved in the life of this man. But he is safe. The woman in this clip didnt want me to show it, her name is Fiona Patchett and she was the Foreign Manager of the Tiger Temple that also witnessed trades. Listen carefully, it is long, detailed and horrific. If any one has any doubts, I think you will have them removed now. Youre commets are appreciated. The Truth will continue to come out, this is just scratcing the surface.
When you hear the tiger mentioned called “Mek” Iveb posted his absolute ID of being in the temple, and now you will hear how this wonderful heathy original tiger “disapeared” Please refer to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.423135601111798.1073741825.135207709904590&type=3
To bring humane care to these animals has meant people have been through hell as well as these beautiful tigers. These work doent come cheap if you can donate please go to Wildlife Calling Charity http://www.wildlifecalling.org.uk/index.php and donate whatever you can, we need your help. Please mark your donation to Cee4life TT. This is dangerous work, it is not cheap and we need help, Watch this momen from the gruelling beginnings, but now there is hope xox I can finally see the day where these tigers may have peace, but it has been a gruelling journey and we still need help. Education has always beeen the key. Thankyou ~ Sybelle
INDIA – I want to warn the people of India, about something that is disrespecting the memory of Billy Argan Singh. For those of you who dont know the work I do, I was an undercover investigator who gathered the evidence of abuse and wildlife trading of tigers inside the Tiger Temple in 2007 and have continued investigating this place for 6 years. I am also the director of NGO Cee4life (Australia). While inside the Temple in October 2012, I found out that the temple is now considering conducting one of the most unethical projects being touted under the banner of tiger conservation. They plan to release captive inbred, cross bred tigers into the wild. This will fail. However, they used Billy Singh’s name, and his work with Tara. The Tigers of the infamous Tiger Temple in Thailand are horrendously inbred and cross bred. The idea they have is to use current Tigers, (whom they breed rampantly for tourism) and instead of taking the cubs away from the mother at 7 days old or less as they do now, they are going to let the mothers have the cubs, with no human contact and then release them into the wild of Thailand. They say that this will be successful. I told them that no Tiger has survived a long time in the wild, they then quoted Billy Singh and Tara. That was one of the biggest pathetic insults that could be thrown to Billy Singh. Not only is the Tiger Temple responsible for some of the worst abuse and deaths of Tigers in present days, but also, to use India, and the revered conservationist Billy Singh to promote their highly unethical, and completely non-conservation project using his name is a disgrace.
India, the Tigers inside the Tiger Temple are Bengals, not Indochinese. They are Bengals, inbred and cross bred, and bought via the wildife trade, and used and exploited in a hell that no Tiger should be in.
I asked them what will happen when the Tigers they release cannot hunt, they told me that those Tigers will then be kept in captivity.
I can tell you now, that this project will fail. (If you want me to go into the details of why it will fail please ask me) And in all likelihood, they are lying about release into the wild, and in reality they purely want more Tigers, for a 2nd or 3rd Tiger Temple.
Recently 20 members of the Tiger Temple came to India.
I am highly concerned that they are trying to get their hooks into India, the very country which the Tigers of the Temple were stolen from.
Please be aware and alert to anything regarding the Tiger Temple in India.
It is a disgrace that the memory of Billy Singhs work has now been linked with this evil abusive wildlife trading Temple.
Please be on guard.
I will update you on any future information. Please share this far and wide with all your Indian colleagues.
For more information on the plight of these Tigers, please go to http://www.facebook.com/BehindtheCloakBuddha?fref=ts
or www.cee4life.org
Thankyou
Sybelle
Cee4life
| http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130310/jsp/nation/story_16654730.jsp#.UTyL2Dc6uho
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| JAYANTA BASU |
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Calcutta, March 9: Calcutta is among “five hotspots” for illegal tiger trade and poaching in India, according to a study tabled at an international conference being held in Bangkok on the menace. “Calcutta spans the edge of the Sunderbans. Skins and whole carcasses are the most commonly seized items, although seizures at this hotspot have reduced during the most recent period (2010-12),” said the study conducted by three non-profit agencies, including the WWF. The other four “hotspots” are Delhi, Ramnagar in Uttar Pradesh, the central region and the Western Ghats. The study, titled “Reduced to Skin and Bones Revisited”, is based on seizures of live tigers and body parts between 2000 and 2012 in 13 south Asian nations. These include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. The study mentions 1,425 seizures in all. India, which has the largest tiger population among the nations, had the most cases at 336. Cambodia reported none. According to the report, “an average of 110 tigers were killed for trade per year or over two per week” from 2010 to 2012, the last few years of the over decade-long study. “Since only a fraction of tigers in illegal trade is intercepted by law-enforcement (agencies), the scale of the criminal activity represents a serious threat to the survival of wild tigers, generally considered to number as low as 3,200 (worldwide),” said the report. Most of the “hotspots” are close to reserves. Calcutta is near the Sunderbans and Ramnagar near the Corbett National Park. The central region covers the Kanha and the Pench parks. The Western Ghats are home to the Sathyamangalam reserve in Tamil Nadu. The exception is Delhi, which isn’t near a reserve and where seizures have been attributed to security as it is the national capital. “The report has correctly homed in on the hotbeds but nothing can be done to stop this illegal trade unless the spokes of the trade, spread all over the wilderness, are cut off,” wildlife expert Bittu Sahgal said. He suggested the comparatively lower seizures —and possibly less poaching — in the Sunderbans in recent years could be linked to the tough terrain of the marshy delta. But seizures in the central region —towns like Jabalpur and Balaghat — and the Western Ghats region “persisted throughout” the past decade, the study said. “The analysis provides clear evidence that illegal trade in tigers, their parts and products persists as a major conservation concern,” says the report whose co-authors are TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The study offers India a consolation, though: no live tigers were seized despite a sharp increase elsewhere that the report flagged as “the most significant finding”. Of the 123 such cases since 2000, almost half, or 61, were reported in the past three years (2010-12). Thailand topped the list. |
World Wildlife Fundhttps://www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund
Every part of the tiger—from whisker to tail—is traded in illegal wildlife markets. Poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. In relentless demand, their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol. Learn more: http://wwf.to/ZkyifJ
Share this image and help tigers say “Hands Off My Parts!”
http://www.facebook.com/BehindtheCloakBuddha?ref=stream
Just a Friendly Reminder for those of you Who have not Read Sybelle Foxcroft’s Journey and Experience with the Tiger Temple Tigers….and why she Continues to Fight for their Integrity and Ethical Treatment today. Go inside the Temple with her, and read an indepth Glimpse of the goings on ………inside Thailand‘s Tiger Temple.
Price: $23.35 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25….keeping in mind all proceeds are going towards her ongoing Work with the Tigers of the Temple. xo Thank you
http://www.facebook.com/BehindtheCloakBuddha
Reung Dao – Here is the photograph that my friend Ted Larson was able to take before Reung Dao was lost to the wildlife trade. Although I knew and met Reung Dao, I didnt get the opportunity to photograph her. Reung was the sister of Harnfa, she vanished in the early stages, when I first went to work inside the tiger temple in 2007. At that point, I did not know what was going on, but then one day she vanished…. She was gone forever. This is the sister of my beloved Harnfa. The diet of the temple tigers is near vegetarian, and lacking in every vitamin, mineral etc needed for a carnivore. You can see the horrendous deformaties of Reungs arched spine, bowed legs etc. This is the same with all the tigers. I am eternally grateful Ted Larson, you were able to show she was alive, that she existed, thankyou dear friend for having the courage to step forward xoxo
http://www.facebook.com/BehindtheCloakBuddha
I am pursuing a meeting with the Thai Gov soon to present ALOT of evidence to them. Evidence that they never got…. I found out that all the evidence that has been handed into the Thai Gov over the years has somehow disappeared. Luckily I throw away NOTHING…. During the filminig of the SBS Dateline program (Link to SBS documentary – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGD_p8HX2Vo), I gave the Wildlife Trade, Blackmarket document which is signed by the Abbot and the Laos tiger trader, to the investigative journalist, David O’Shea. David was able to get that document to the head of the Wildlife Department who admitted, on television, that it is Illegal and breaching the Thai Law and the CITES law. However, this document had NEVER been seen before.. Or at least never been seen by anyone in the Thai Gov that did anything about it. This document is only a tiny bit of the factual evidence to prove the wildlife trade occurring inside the Temple. Over the last year there have been over 30 tiger cubs born inside this place. Currently there is 105 tigers. Something is wrong. The numbers DO NOT add up. Unless the Tiger Temple can come up with these Tigers and present them, ALIVE, then there is no other explaination other than the Tigers ARE continuing to disappear.
To Tiger Temple – Don’t ever think that you have got away with the deaths of these animals. Don’t ever think that just because you have built some enclosures that you think this wipes all the evil deeds you have done. I saw you send Tigers to their death and you have never answered for that. Now I know why….. Produce evidence of the numerous CURRENT missing Tigers now. The ongoing arrogance you are continuing to display WILL NOT be kept in silence…… Sybelle
Will keep you up to date on this. I am appalled to find out that the Department of National Parks NEVER got this information and evidence…. This explains a lot…. Im am not Happy. For those that have never seen the Wildlife trade document, here it is. This is the death warrant of the original Tigers, Payak and Dao Rung. We could not save Payak, but did save Dao… Payak, along with other numerous tigers were lost to the wildlife trade, they are dead in bottles of Traditional Chinese Medicines Animal Body Part Use(TCM ABP).. ~ Sybelle
Press Trust of India / New Delhi January 02, 2013, 20:15
http://www.business-standard.com
Indian investigating agencies will “involve” Interpol to combat illegal trade of wildlife including tigers and other endangered species, official sources said here today.
Indian law-enforcement officials attended a training programme organized by Interpol in Kathmandu last month to step up efforts to deal with “organised transnational criminal activity and illegal wildlife trade,” sources said.
TRAFFIC, a global wildlife monitoring network, said 28 law enforcement officers from 11 Asian countries had gathered in Kathmandu to attend the Information and Intelligence Management Course on Environmental Enforcement initiated by Interpol.
The meeting took place from December 17 to 21 and brought together senior investigators and intelligence analysts from various law enforcement agencies from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, TRAFFIC said in its notes.
Indian officials said the country has taken several anti-poaching initiatives including preparation of tiger reserve specific security plan, deployment of local people as tiger protection force and use of sniffer dogs at sensitive places and electronic surveillance.
Government has also taken steps like payment of compensation for killed cattle, involvement of Special Tiger Protection force in sensitive reserves, creation of tiger photo data base and use of DNA analysis to identify the source of tiger body parts to tackle poaching and smuggling of endangered big cats, they said.
By Advocate | January 1, 2013 at 4:45 pm
http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org
The Wildcat Sanctuary’s director has a quote that often rings in my head. “We cannot rescue ourselves out of the captive wildlife crisis.” I’ve only been at the Sanctuary a short time and I humbly admit now that when I started here I thought we COULD rescue our way out. I thought if we and other accredited sanctuaries just took in all the unwanted, exploited abandoned cats, we could “fix” the problem.
Now, six months later and countless desperate phone calls from people wanting to surrender cats or report abuse, I know the truth. We cannot rescue our way out of the captive wildlife crisis. For every cat we rescue, a breeder somewhere is making six more. For every exotic pet we have surrendered to us, there are hundreds more left in tiny cages, chained to the ground or ignored in backyards.
While this information came as a huge disappointment to me, and a stunning reality check that has kept me awake on more than one night, it has also inspired me to learn more about how we CAN make a difference.
I often think back to the 1970′s impactful public service announcement showcasing a Native American man in a canoe 
shedding a tear for the environment. Back in the 70′s, it was commonplace for people to throw trash out their car windows. Fast food bags, pop cans, empty cigarette packs and even diapers were tossed with no regard for what it may be doing to the environment.
Through the years, we realized the error of our ways. We woke up to our ignorance of the truth. If everyone uses the earth as their garbage can, there will no future for our children. I don’t think the people of the 70′s and before were any meaner, or less intelligent than we are today. They were just ignorant, uninformed and not educated on the environment.
Likewise, I think this is the very root of the captive wildlife crisis. People do not realize that when they attend circuses or pet a tiger at a roadside zoo they are greasing the palms of the people whose greed has led to the problem of homeless and abandoned exotic pets in the first place.
If people continue to buy these “pets” from breeders instead of adopting one of the millions of appropriate pets from a shelter, they will continue to perpetuate the problem. I don’t believe the general public would condone or celebrate the captive, exploited existence of so many of these animals – they just don’t realize how they contribute.
If, every day, those of us who speak for the animals touch one person and ask them to touch another and so on, be it in conversation or through Facebook or in other creative ways, we can make a difference.
Just as our children now know that they can’t throw their garbage out the window, I trust that one day their children would not think of not spaying or neutering their pets or going to a circus or petting a baby tiger at the mall or getting a serval as a pet.
Just like the Native American man who shed a tear for the environment, I like to believe that every tear we shed today will spare a tear for future generations. I know that we can’t rescue our way out of the exotic animal pet trade. But we can educate our way out. As we begin 2013, please join us in continuing to spread the No More Wild Pets message.
Together, we can change the future!
Holly Henry – The Wildcat Sanctuary, Communications Manager
((((((((((
Nineteen tigers prowl outdoor cages the size of dormitory rooms, nibbling frayed wire fences.
It looks like a zoo, but it’s closed to the public. The facility breeds tigers, but has never supplied a
Conservationists allege that Vietnam‘s 11 registered tiger farms, including this one, are fronts for a thriving illegal market in tiger parts, highly prized for purported, if unproven, medicinal qualities.
Nonsense, says manager Luong Thien Dan. He says the farm in southern Binh Duong province was created simply because its management has a “soft spot” for the big cats, and that it’s funded privately by a beer company.
“At first we just kept them as pets, but when they started to breed, we got excited and wanted to expand their population,” Dan said during a tour of the farm, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Ho Chi Minh City.
The illegal wildlife trade is worth an estimated $8 billion to $10 billion per year in Southeast Asia alone and includes tigers, rhinos and other lesser-known animals.
The conservationists say the loosely regulated farms are used to “launder” illegally caught wild tigers, which they say are mixed in with stocks of legitimately bred animals, and that products from their carcasses are later sold on the black market.
| U.S. Department of State
Mobile
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m.state.gov
Remarks
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Well, it’s a great delight to see all of you here. And as I look out on this audience, I see many familiar faces from the diplomatic community. And I especially thank each and every one of you for being here on this important issue.Congressman Moran, thank you for joining us today. I’d also like to welcome Deputy Administrator Steinberg from USAID, Naoko Ishii of the Global Environmental Facility. Thanks to Under Secretary Bob Hormats for his commitment to this issue, along with Under Secretary Maria Otero and Under Secretary Tara Sonenshine and Assistant Secretary Kerri-Ann Jones, and many others here in the State Department, and particularly all of you from the conservation and wildlife community and the private sector who have been involved in this issue for many years and have done extraordinary work. Unfortunately, we now find ourselves with all of that positive effort that started 30, 40 years ago being affected by changes that we have to address at every level of the international community.
Now, some of you might be wondering why a Secretary of State is keynoting an event about wildlife trafficking and conservation, or why we are hosting this event at the State Department in the first place. Well, I think it’s because, as Bob Hormats has just pointed out, and as the public service announcements reinforce, over the past few years wildlife trafficking has become more organized, more lucrative, more widespread, and more dangerous than ever before.
As the middle class grows, which we all welcome and support, in many nations items like ivory or rhinoceros horn become symbols of wealth and social status. And so the demand for these goods rises. By some estimates, the black market in wildlife is rivaled in size only by trade in illegal arms and drugs. Today, ivory sells for nearly $1,000 per pound. Rhino horns are literally worth their weight in gold, $30,000 per pound.
What’s more, we are increasingly seeing wildlife trafficking has serious implications for the security and prosperity of people around the world. Local populations that depend on wildlife, either for tourism or sustenance, are finding it harder and harder to maintain their livelihoods. Diseases are spreading to new corners of the globe through wildlife that is not properly inspected at border crossings. Park rangers are being killed. And we have good reason to believe that rebel militias are players in a worldwide ivory market worth millions and millions of dollars a year.
So yes, I think many of us are here because protecting wildlife is a matter of protecting our planet’s natural beauty. We see it’s a stewardship responsibility for us and this generation and future generations to come. But it is also a national security issue, a public health issue, and an economic security issue that is critical to each and every country represented here.
We all, unfortunately, contribute to the continued demand for illegal animal goods. Wildlife might be targeted and killed across Asia and Africa, but their furs, tusks, bones, and horns are sold all over the world. Smuggled goods from poached animals find their way to Europe, Australia, China, and the United States. I regret to say the United States is the second-largest destination market for illegally trafficked wildlife in the world. And that is something we are going to address.
Now, several conservation groups are here with us today, and we greatly appreciate their invaluable work. But the truth is they cannot solve this problem alone. None of us can. This is a global challenge that spans continents and crosses oceans, and we need to address it with partnerships that are as robust and far-reaching as the criminal networks we seek to dismantle.
Therefore, we need governments, civil society, businesses, scientists, and activists to come together to educate people about the harms of wildlife trafficking. We need law enforcement personnel to prevent poachers from preying on wildlife. We need trade experts to track the movement of goods and help enforce existing trade laws. We need finance experts to study and help undermine the black markets that deal in wildlife. And most importantly, perhaps, we need to reach individuals, to convince them to make the right choices about the goods they purchase.
Now, there’s no quick fix, but by working closely, internationally, with all of these partners, we can take important steps to protect wildlife in their environments and begin to dry up the demand for trafficked goods. So with these goals in mind, the State Department is pursuing a four-part strategy.
First, on the diplomatic front, we are working with leaders from around the world to develop a global consensus on wildlife protection. I spoke with President Putin, Ambassador, when we were together at the APEC summit in Vladivostok. He has been a staunch, vocal, public supporter of Russian wildlife. And I think it’s fair to say his personal efforts over the last years have made the lives of tigers in Russia much safer. There’s still poaching, but at least there is a commitment from the highest level of the Russian Government to protect the wildlife of Russia. In fact, when I was in Vladivostok, there were posters everywhere with tigers on the pictures on the lampposts and walls and everywhere we looked, reminding people that this was an important issue to Russia and the Russian Government. And I worked – I had the great privilege of working with President Putin and the other leaders there to make sure that the leaders’ statement that was issued included, for the first time ever, strong language on wildlife trafficking.
Now, Undersecretaries Bob Hormats and Maria Otero have met with African and Asian leaders to discuss the immediate actions needed to thwart poachers. Next week, President Obama and I will personally bring this message to our partners in ASEAN and the East Asia Summit when we meet in Phnom Penh.
We are also pressing forward with efforts to protect marine life. And last week, we joined forces with New Zealand to propose the world’s largest marine protected area, the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. And we hope to gain support from the international community as this important proposal moves forward.
We’re strengthening our ability to engage diplomatically on these and other scientific issues. Building scientific partnerships is an important tool in addressing such global challenges. That’s why I’m pleased to announce our three new science envoys, Dr. Bernard Amadei of the University of Colorado, the founder of Engineers Without Borders; Dr. Susan Hockfield, the former president and currently faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and renowned evolutionary biologist Dr. Barbara Schaal of Washington University in St. Louis. Are these three scientists with us today? Are they? Okay. But I think it’s working to create a scientific consensus and very preeminent scientists from across the world speaking out that is one of the important steps that we are urging partners to join with us in doing.
Secondly, we are reaching beyond governments to enlist the support of people. As part of this effort, Under Secretary Tara Sonenshine, our Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, is spearheading a global outreach campaign which we will launch December 4th on Wildlife Conservation Day. Our embassies will use every tool at their disposal to raise awareness about this issue, from honoring local activists, to spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter. We want to make buying goods, products from trafficked wildlife, endangered species unacceptable, socially unacceptable. We want friends to tell friends they don’t want friends who ingest, display, or otherwise use products that come from endangered species anywhere in the world.
Third, we’re launching new initiatives to strengthen and expand enforcement areas. USAID has already provided more than $24 million over the past five years on a range of programs that combat wildlife crimes. Last year, they launched the ARREST program, which is establishing regional centers of expertise and expanding training programs for law enforcement. We really want to work with all of you, and we want both from countries that are victimized by trafficking to countries where consumers are the end-buyers of such products.
Finally, this is a global issue, and it calls, therefore, for a concerted global response. So I hope every government and organization here today will join the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking. That is the global partnership for sharing information on poachers and illicit traders. We’ll also be convening meetings with traditional stakeholders like NGOs and governments and with less traditional stakeholders like air and cruise line companies to discuss new potential partnerships.
Some of the most successful initiatives we’ve seen so far are the regional wildlife enforcement networks. These networks are critical to strengthening protection efforts and enhancing cooperation among key countries. To build on these efforts, today I’m calling for the creation of a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks to take advantage of those networks that already are operating and the lessons we have learned from them. The sooner we get this off the ground, the better, and to that end, the State Department is pledging $100,000 to help get this new global system up and running.
I want to mention one last step we’re taking. Trafficking relies on porous borders, corrupt officials, and strong networks of organized crime, all of which undermine our mutual security. I’m asking the intelligence community to produce an assessment of the impact of large-scale wildlife trafficking on our security interests so we can fully understand what we’re up against. When I was in Africa last summer, I was quite alarmed by the level of anxiety I heard from leaders. It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts. It’s something else when you’ve got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat to human life as well as wildlife. Local communities are becoming terrified. Local leaders are telling their national leaders that they can lose control of large swaths of territory to these criminal gangs. Where criminal gangs can come and go at their total discretion, we know that begins to provide safe havens for other sorts of threats to people and governments.
So I think we have to look at this in a comprehensive, holistic way. And there’s something for everybody. If you love animals, if you want to see a more secure world, if you want our economy not to be corrupted globally by this kind of illicit behavior, there is so much we can do together. After all, the world’s wildlife, both on land and in our waters, is such a precious resource, but it is also a limited one. It cannot be manufactured. And once it’s gone, it cannot be replenished. And those who profit from it illegally are not just undermining our borders and our economies. They are truly stealing from the next generation. So we have to work together to stop them and ensure a sustainable future for our wildlife, the people who live with them, and the people who appreciate them everywhere.
So let me thank you all for being here. I really appreciate the turnout, and it means a great deal and the fact that so many ambassadors are here representing their countries – and I particularly want to thank our colleagues, the Ambassador of Kenya, the Ambassador from Indonesia, for taking a leading role in this effort. We want to hear your ideas. These are our ideas, but we really are soliciting your ideas – what works, what can we do better, how can we make a difference. Let’s put the poachers out of business and build a more secure and prosperous world for all of us, and particularly for children generations to come.
Thank you, all. (Applause.)
# # #
PRN: 2012/1758
[This is a mobile copy of Remarks at the Partnership Meeting on Wildlife Trafficking]
Clinton’s directive could prove critical to stamping out the cruel and illegal practice of poaching. Photograph: Li Qihua/Xinhua Press/Corbis
Thursday 8 November 2012
America’s intelligence community was ordered to track poachers in Africa and Asia on Thursday as part of a new global drive against the illegal trade in elephant tusks and rhino horn.
Conservationists said it was the first time trafficking in wildlife, an underground trade in animal parts thought to generate $15bn a year for sophisticated smuggling networks, was elevated to the status of a security threat, rather than sidelined as primarily an environmental concern.
In a further sign of US commitment, Hillary Clinton said she and Barack Obama planned to talk about trafficking of endangered animals at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Phnom Penh next week.
Over the last few years, heavily armed trafficking gangs were overwhelming local authorities, terrorising village communities and increasingly posed a security threat, Clinton said.
“It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts,” Clinton told conservationists. “It’s something else when you’ve got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat to human life as well as wildlife.”
Poachers were crossing national borders at will, stoking concerns among US security officials that the conduits used by the traffickers in Asia and Africa to get their goods to market could also be used to smuggle drugs or arms for terrorist organisations. There is already some evidence to support that connection, conservationists said.
Clinton’s directive, for a study looking directly at the impact on US national security from trafficking operations, could prove critical to stamping out the cruel and illegal practices of killing endangered rhinos for their horns or elephants for their tusks.
“The important thing is linking this with security issues and acknowledging this is an international crime,” said Cristián Samper, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
America is also assembling a global anti-trafficking alliance with Interpol and customs agencies.
The security steps were part of a broader State Department initiative aimed at assembling a global alliance to end wildlife trafficking.
Clinton, in remarks delivered before a crowd of about 200 including members of Congress, ambassadors, and State Department officials, said the effort could not be one-sided.
America is the second largest market for trafficked goods. Unless you cut off demand, poaching in Asia and Africa won’t stop.
“We want to make buying goods, products from trafficked wildlife, endangered species unacceptable, socially unacceptable. We want friends to tell friends they don’t want friends who ingest, display, or otherwise use products that come from endangered species anywhere in the world,” Clinton said.
Crawford Allan, who directs the anti-trafficking efforts in the US of the World Wildlife Fund, said getting the seal of approval from Clinton and the State Department could take the effort to end the trade to a new level. “For the first time we are seeing such a high-level of commitment for combatting wildlife trafficking on the world stage,” he said. “Regardless of whether Secretary Clinton stays at the State Department or not, there is now going back now,” Allan said. “She has certainly let the genie out of the bottle and we are going to make the most of that.”
Leopard skins seized in Nepal believed to have originated in India. Photo credit Wildlife Trust of India
Four Leopards a week enter India’s illegal wildlife trade
September 2012. At least four Leopards have been poached every week for at least 10 years in India, and their body parts sold by the illegal wildlife trade, according to TRAFFIC‘s latest study “Illuminating the Blind Spot: A study on illegal trade in Leopard parts in India” launched by Dr Divyabhanusinh Chavda, President, WWF-India.
420 leopard skins seized
The study documents a total of 420 seizures of Leopard skins, bones and other body parts reported from 209 localities in 21 out of 35 territories in India during 2001-2010. Statistical analysis is used to estimate the additional levels of “undetected trade” and concludes that around 2294 Leopards were trafficked in India during the period-an average of four animals per week over the 10 year period.
Fully protected
Leopards are fully protected under India’s domestic legislation, and commercial international trade is banned under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
“TRAFFIC’s objective analysis has cast new light onto the sheer scale of the illicit trade in Leopard parts in India, which has hitherto been overshadowed by the trade in another of the country’s national icons, the Tiger,” said Dr Chavda at the launch of the report.
“Without an effective strategy to assess and tackle the threats posed by illegal trade, the danger is that Leopard numbers may decline rapidly as happened previously to the Tiger” he further added.
Uttarakhand and Delhi at the centre of the trade
Uttarakhand emerged as a major source of Leopard parts in trade, while Delhi was found to be a major epicenter of the illegal trade, along with adjacent areas of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
Dr Rashid Raza, Coordinator with TRAFFIC in India and the lead author of the study said: “Even though reports of illegal trade in Leopard body parts are disturbingly frequent, the level of threat to Leopards in the country has previously been unrecognized, and has fallen into our collective ‘blind spot’.”
Close to 90% of reported Leopard part seizures in India comprised solely of skins, making them the dominant body part found in illegal trade during the 10 year period. Other body parts, particularly bones, are known to be prescribed as substitutes for Tiger parts in traditional Asian medicine.
Smuggling routes to other countries
It is believed most Leopard parts are smuggled out of India to other countries in Asia, often via the porous border with neighbouring Nepal. Earlier investigations indicated many of the Leopard parts found for sale in northern Myanmar, northern Laos and the ethnic Tibetan regions of China originated from India.
The report recommends the establishment of a Task Force to tackle illegal trade in the areas identified as having the highest levels of Leopard-related crime, as well as better regional co-operation between source, transit and market countries through initiatives such as the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN).
An official database along the lines of “Tigernet”, used for Tiger conservation in India, would also help monitor the illegal Leopard part trade. Studies are also needed to assess the levels of threat from human-Leopard conflict in the country, according to the report.
Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India said: “The Leopard is among the most charismatic large animals in the world, and plays an important ecological role in the forests it inhabits”.
“Any increase in external market demand could easily lead to a decimation of Leopard numbers in India, but I am hopeful this latest analysis will provide the impetus to catalyse effective conservation action; particularly increased effectiveness of law enforcement initiatives to curtail the illegal trade in Leopard body parts”.
TRAFFIC’s work on the Leopard trade in India is supported by WWF-India and WWF-UK.
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NEW DELHI: After being separated from its mother, life for seven-month-old Tejas has not been easy. The leopardis slowly being taught how to survive in the wild. In its small enclo
The officials, who have been rearing this wild cat for the past four months, say the cub will be released in the zoo closure in another one and a half months, when it starts feeding on beef. In May, Tejas was brought to the zoo from a village in Uttar Pradesh.
The cub had strayed into the village a month after its birth, and a family had taken it under their wing. The cub was handed over to the zoo officials when it was two to four months old. Officials say they are working mainly on its feeding habits to preserve its wild nature.
By IANS,
New Delhi : Even as news of rampant poaching of rhinoceroses has become a political issue in Assam, here is a report that claims that at least four leopards have been poached and their body parts traded illegally each week for at least 10 years in India.
According to the “Illuminating the Blind Spot: A study on illegal trade in leopard parts in India” by wildlife organisation TRAFFIC, along with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a total of 420 seizures of leopard skins, bones and other body parts were reported from 209 places in India during 2001-2010. The report was released Friday.
Statistical analysis concludes that around 2,294 leopards were poached and their parts traded over the 10-year period in India, an average of four leopards a week.
Leopards are protected under India’s domestic legislation, and commercial international trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
“TRAFFIC’s objective analysis has cast new light on the sheer scale of the illicit trade in leopard parts in India, which has hitherto been overshadowed by the trade in another of the country’s national icons, the tiger,” said Divyabhanusinh Chavda, president, WWF-India.
“Without an effective strategy to assess and tackle the threats posed by illegal trade, the danger is that leopard numbers may decline rapidly as happened previously to the tiger,” he said.
Uttarakhand emerged as a major source of leopard parts in trade, while Delhi was found to be a major epicentre of the illegal trade, along with adjacent areas of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
Dr. Rashid Raza, coordinator, TRAFFIC in India, and the lead author of the study, said: “Even though reports of illegal trade in leopard body parts are disturbingly frequent, the level of threat to leopards in the country has previously been unrecognized, and has fallen into our collective ‘blind spot’.”
Close to 90 percent of reported leopard part seizures in India comprise solely of skins, making them the dominant body part found in illegal trade during the 10 year period. Other body parts, particularly bones, are known to be prescribed as substitutes for tiger parts in traditional Asian medicine.
It is believed most leopard parts are smuggled out of India to other countries in Asia, often via the porous border with Nepal.
By: Kevin McArdle |New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak wants to establish the “Task Force on the Illegal Trade and Inhumane Treatment of Endangered and Exotic Animals” to develop recommendations to protect endangered species and avoid the exploitation of exotic animals.
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Legislation he’s sponsoring to create the panel was unanimously approved by the Senate Economic Growth Committee today.
The resolution would create a six member task force. It stipulates that the chair of the task force should be someone with significant managerial experience at the Department of Environmental Protection or the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and that three other members must represent nonprofit organizations Big Cat Rescue, the EcoHealth Alliance, and the Humane Society of the United States. The final two members would be required to be public members who do not hold elective office, and who have substantial knowledge and expertise related to endangered and exotic animals.
“As an ethical society, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our natural environment, and that includes preserving species of animals that are on the brink of extinction,” explains Lesniak. “Unfortunately, there are far too many incidents in this world of over-hunting, of inhumane practices and of outright exploitation of and cruelty towards rare and exotic animals. If New Jersey can do something to slow down the black market trade that is promoting inhumane treatment and pushing animals into extinction, then we should by all means do it.”
The task force would be required to evaluate the permitting, registration and reporting of all endangered species and exotic animals, and make recommendations for a comprehensive approach to curtail the illegal trade and inhumane treatment of such animals. The task force would be required to submit a report containing its findings and recommendations within 180 days of first organizing to the presiding officers of each legislative chamber, and to the minority leaders in each chamber.
The measure is in response to Governor Chris Christie’s conditional veto of Lesniak’s legislation which would have created a registration system for tigers in order to combat the illegal trade of tigers and tiger body parts in New Jersey. In his veto message, Christie said he wanted to create a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the issues facing exotic and endangered animals in New Jersey. Lesniak says he agrees that a more comprehensive approach is needed, but empanelling a task force through the Legislature is a better solution than tapping existing cabinet members to create a plan of action.
Lesniak explains, “While I agree with the Governor in theory on the need for a comprehensive plan of action to protect all endangered and exotic animals, I believe this approach is a better way to go.”
Sept. 10
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A new survey of the illegal trade in wildlife across Asia has contradicted some commonly held beliefs. The survey was conducted by a consortium of wildlife and conservation NGO’s and media companies in preparation for a marketing campaign to reduce the trade. It discovered that the younger generation is driving the increasing illegal trade.
The most prolific purchasers of animal products are wealthy urban males aged between 25 and 45. These young men are not buying rhino horn, for example, as cures for cancer or fertility boosts but as status symbols and investments. A finding that counters the belief that the majority of buyers use wildlife product for traditional medicinal practices.
Consumer profiles collected during the survey across 15 Asian countries indicated that the quest for prestige and higher status is driving much of the current slaughter of elephants, tigers, pangolins, bears and rhinos. Government interest in the issue in most countries remains very low, outside small and under-funded environmental agencies but the coalition is now working on educational efforts based on their shared surveys, with joint campaigns being designed in several countries.
The Working Group gathering was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development “ARREST” Program (Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking), which is coordinated by FREELAND.
TigerTime fund FREELAND’s tiger protection programme in the Thap Lan National Park, Thailand. Please help us continue this vital work by donating.
Source: Kevin Heath
Photo credit: EIA
