Category Archives: wildlife-trafficking

World Scientists Warning to Humanity

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Scientists Warn of Global Dangers

Tomorrow is World Population Day. A good day to take note of the warnings coming from the world’s scientists.
“Humanity is on a collision course with Nature.
A damaged Nature will survive. We may not.
We must change course to avert an ecological disaster.”
Twenty-five years ago, 1700 scientists published a warning and recommendations for controlling environmental pollution and population growth. Except for global efforts to curtail ozone emissions, the warning had no effect. Last fall, more than 20,000 scientists issued a new warning urging efforts to change our disastrous path toward global ecosystem devastation. If you agree that action is needed, please sign up to show support. Scientists, other individuals, businesses, and organizations sign here: http://www.scientistswarning.org/please-sign.

You can read the article here: http://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu.  You can also download the PDF file here:  Warning_article_with_supp_11-13-17.

How This Tanzanian Musician Made Ivory a National Campaign Issue

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GR: Individual activists are important spark plugs for nature conservation and wildlife protection. Here’s a great example.

Shubert Mwarabu promotes the grassroots campaign to save Tanzania’s elephants at a festival in Iringa, in the southern highlands. PHOTOGRAPH BY MOHAMED MVUMBAGU, FEMINA HIP

“Until Shubert Mwarabu saw a photograph of an elephant with its face hacked and bloodied, poaching was an abstraction. He didn’t know anything about ivory trafficking, or even what ivory was used for. That was in 2011, and the Tanzanian musician was 25.

“The photo had a powerful impact on him, and from then on, he says, he threw himself into the fight to save Tanzania’s elephants.Mwarabu, who previously had organized clubs in primary schools for advocating against child abuse, now started school conservation clubs. He composed songs about protecting elephants. His first, called “Let’s Talk About Poaching,” or “Tupige Vita Ujangili” in KiSwahili, was played on Tanzania’s national radio station.

“His efforts have been noticed in Tanzania and beyond. The California-based nonprofit Generation Awakening, which works to support young environmental activists, appointed him their first country ambassador.

“In October 2013, Mwarabu launched a one-man campaign, naming it Me Against Poaching, to show that change can come from a single person.

“Now he’s leading the first organized citizen campaign to lobby the Tanzanian government to halt the ivory trafficking that has made this East African country ground zero in the slaughter of Africa’s elephants. Okoa Tembo wa Tanzania, “Save Tanzania’s Elephants,” succeeded in making conservation an election issue in the hotly contested presidential race, Mwarabu says.” –Maraya Cornell (How This Tanzanian Musician Made Ivory a National Campaign Issue)

WATCH on the original post: A video aired in 2013 shows investigative journalist Aidan Hartley attempting to gain access to a maximum-security warehouse in Tanzania that holds perhaps the world’s largest cache of raw ivory. Maintaining this stockpile is expensive. Moreover it can’t legally be sold. So why not follow Kenya’s example and burn it!

Ring-Tailed Lemur Populations Have Crashed by 95 Percent

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GR: Sad times if you care for wildlife. The researchers explain that Ring-Tailed Lemurs declined to this point with no outcry because no one was watching. Around the world at this crucial time for wildlife, there are too few scientists monitoring populations. “The two most prolific Lemur researchers, Alison Jolly and Robert Sussman, have died and we are the only descendants with active research in Madagascar,” said researcher Tara A. Clarke of the organization Lemur Love.

Credit: Eric Kilby Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

“Madagascar’s beloved ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) have all but disappeared from many of the island nation’s forests. According to two worrying new studies, the species’ population has fallen to between 2,000 and 2,400 animals—a shocking 95 percent decrease since the year 2000.

“To put that number in context, there are now fewer ring-tailed lemurs living in the wild than there are living in zoos around the world.

“Factors driving the decline include rapid habitat loss, hunting, and the illegal pet trade, according to a paper published last month in the journal Primate Conservation and a second paper published today in Folia Primatologica.

“The situation is so bad that many ring-tailed lemur sub-populations now contain fewer than 30 individuals. In addition, the animals have completely disappeared from at least 15 sites they once called home.

“The now-empty forests are “very sad, quiet and dusty,” says Marni LaFleur, lead author of the second paper and a co-director of the conservation organization Lemur Love. “There was a thick layer of crunchy leaf litter on the ground, and dust on top. Some trees were heavy with ripe and rotten fruits. Without birds or mammals to consume them, the untouched fruits just rot in and around the trees. Normal aspects of a forest, which as a biologist I have a fairly keen eye for—footprints, scat, bite marks, sleeping spots, calls—are absent.” —John R. Platt

(Continue reading: Ring-Tailed Lemur Populations Have Crashed by 95 Percent – Scientific American Blog Network.)

2016: Another fatal year for elephants

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GR:  With great sorrow, we watch as poachers eliminate elephants from the Earth.

HAMBURG, Germany, Dec. 22, 2016 — Elephants continued to be slaughtered for their ivory this year. More than 18 tons of illegal ivory, plus 949 elephant tusks and more than 3,000 pieces were reportedly seized in 2016, with at least 15 large seizures in excess of 500 kilograms. Most large shipments were intercepted in Vietnam, although huge amounts were also found in Malaysia, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Spain, Austria and Germany.

“It is a sad fact that practically no day goes by without dozens of elephants being killed by poachers and every single week this year enforcers discovered illegal ivory somewhere in the world,” said Rikkert Reijnen, Director of the Wildlife Trade Program for International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). “And this is just the tip of the iceberg as only a small fraction of the illegal ivory on the market is being intercepted.” –International Fund for Animals (Continue Reading:  2016: Another fatal year for elephants)

Stop Wildlife Trafficking | ForceChange

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GR:  Here’s a petition with a tight focus on a high-volume wildlife-crime center.

“Target: Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam

“Goal: Act to end the illegal trade in endangered species by shutting down the trade in Nhi Khe.

“Investigators with the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) have alleged that tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in illegal wildlife is being trafficked through the Vietnamese village of Nhi Khe. Over the investigation, the WJC linked $53.1 million in illegal wildlife products to 51 traders based in the village of Nhi Khe. Over an 18-month investigation, these traders allegedly sold products made from an estimated 225 tigers, 579 rhinos, and 907 elephants. Deals were reportedly completed in person and through social media platforms such as Facebook and WeChat. If the tiger products allegedly sold in Nhi Khe over the investigations were exclusively wild tigers, this represents about six percent of the wild population.

“Vietnam is a hub for wildlife trafficking and the final stop for ivory before it enters Chinese markets. The WJC handed the results of its investigations to the Vietnamese government, however, the response has not been sufficient. Sign our petition and demand that the Vietnamese government act immediately and effectively to end wildlife trafficking in Nhi Khe.”

PETITION LETTER:  (Read and sign at:  Stop Wildlife Trafficking | ForceChange)

Bipartisan Senate legislation gets tough on wildlife crime

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GR:  Almost brings a tear to an eye to see Congress doing something good.

“Update:  On October 7, 2016, President Obama signed into law the END Wildlife Trafficking Act (H.R. 2494).

“Wildlife trafficking fills criminal coffers to the tune of $7-10 billion a year at the expense of our planet’s most magnificent wildlife,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. “President Obama has put organized crime syndicates on notice that the US government will not stand idly by while thousands of elephants, tigers and rhinos become victims to this brutal trade.”

“Update:  On September 21, 2016, the US House of Representatives the House of Representatives unanimously passed the END Wildlife Trafficking Act (H.R. 2494). The bill now heads to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

“In a continuing demonstration of the U.S. government’s commitment to combating wildlife crime globally, the U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt (END) Wildlife Trafficking Act (H.R. 2494), a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

“The END Wildlife Trafficking Act is the result of several years of dedicated work by congressional offices and conservation organizations. WWF has played a leadership role in those efforts, collaborating closely with champions in Congress and advocating to incorporate several important provisions into the legislation. Among these are measures that will ensure federal agencies continue to use a coordinated, whole-of-government approach as they respond to the global poaching crisis and direct them to work with affected countries to improve their abilities to protect wildlife populations, disrupt wildlife trafficking networks and prosecute wildlife criminals.

“This bill helps ensure a unified approach by the US government as it works with countries and communities around the globe to combat wildlife crime and the challenges it poses to development, security and conservation,” said Ginette Hemley, WWF’s senior vice president of wildlife conservation. “It also smartly elevates wildlife trafficking into a serious crime under US law, upping the penalties and providing law enforcement with greater tools for going after the worst offenders.

“The END Wildlife Trafficking Act also encourages the transfer of surplus equipment and uniforms to rangers and other wildlife law enforcement personnel in developing countries, who are often ill-equipped and under resourced. And the bill gives strong support and endorsement to community-based conservation approaches like the ones WWF has long championed, recognizing that communities are on the front lines of the poaching epidemic and can be among the strongest allies in the fight to address it.”  —Bipartisan Senate legislation gets tough on wildlife crime | Stories | WWF

Bushmeat Demand Overwhelming “Supply” of 301 Mammal Species

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GR:  We praise indigenous people for their reverence for nature. The study discussed here shows how population growth and evolving social values have erased the reverence.

“You might rejoice at having some habitat remaining, say a pristine forest, but if is hunted out to become an empty larder, it is a pyrrhic victory.”

“A team of authors recently published a new study in The Royal Society Open Science journal with the title, “Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world’s mammals.” The work shows how bushmeat hunting (mostly for food and medicinal products) is driving a global crisis whereby 301 terrestrial mammal species are threatened with human-induced extinction.

“The abstract notes that nearly all of these threatened species occur in developing countries where major coexisting threats include deforestation, agricultural expansion, human encroachment and competition with livestock. You can click here to read the full study.

“At the beginning of their solution section, the authors write: “Growing human populations, increasing middle-class wealth, access to hunting technologies in developing nations and the modern ease of transporting goods around the planet are facilitating a global demand for wild animals as food and other products that simply cannot be met by current global wildlife populations.”—Joe Bish, Population Media Center.

The study: Bushmeat Demand Overwhelming “Supply” of 301 Mammal Species

Pledge to Protect Species Threatened by International Trade – Defenders of Wildlife

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Pledge to Protect Species Threatened by International Trade

Source: Pledge to Protect Species Threatened by International Trade – Defenders of Wildlife

African forest elephants may ​face extinction sooner than thought

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GR.–It’s difficult to think of a response to this.  Apparently humanities love of ivory is stronger than its love of elephants.

Oliver Milman, Guardian:  New study finds poaching has helped shrink population by 60% since 2002 – and eventually may be responsible for eradicating one of the largest creatures left.

African forest elephants: research indicates their rate of population growth is about three times slower than their savannah cousins.

Photograph: Cristián Samper/WCS

Forest-dwelling elephants are likely to face extinction far more quickly than previously assumed because their sluggish reproduction rate cannot keep pace with rampant poaching and habitat loss, a new study has found.

The first comprehensive research into forest elephant demographics found that even if poaching was curbed, it will take nearly 100 years for the species just to recover the losses suffered in the past decade. The forest elephant population has crashed by more than 60% since 2002, with the species now inhabiting less than a quarter of its potential range of the Congo basin in Africa.  Source: African forest elephants may face extinction sooner than thought: study

Project Protects Military Macaw Nests from Poachers

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GR.– The green body of these Macaws remind of Poirot, the mischievous little parrot in my children’s stories.  In one story, Poirot comes close to becoming a victim of the pet trade.

Juan Carlos Cantu.– “For the third year in a row, this nest monitoring project prevented poaching of endangered military macaws.

“At one time, you could see the striking plumage of the military macaw up and down the length of Mexico. But over decades, as we lost swaths of forest habitat and saw poaching for the illegal pet trade become more aggressive, these birds began to disappear from the wild. Today, only a few thousand remain in Mexico, in small, fragmented areas isolated from one another. And the threats that put this species in danger still continue.

“Military macaws are one of the most sought-after parrot species in all of Mexico for the illegal pet trade. While poachers will take macaws of any age, nestlings are the most vulnerable. And the methods they use to reach these young parrots are devastating in more ways than one.

“Military macaws nest in cavities high up in trees. To reach a nest, poachers will often cut down the entire tree – a practice that puts the nestlings in danger, and destroys healthy nesting habitat for the species. So three years ago, we joined forces with a team of scientists in Puerto Vallarta to start a nest monitoring program. With a watchful eye on a specific group of nests, the scientists could collect important data about these birds in the wild. And if poachers knew the nests were monitored, they would be less likely to strike.

“This year, I’m happy to say that we closed out the third successful season of the project in a row! MS Carlos Bonilla and his team of researchers were able to monitor 22 nests this season, 14 of which had successful parents rearing chicks until they fledged the nest. Not one of these nests was poached by traffickers. The end result: 15 fledgling macaws safely left their nests with their parents.”  Continue reading: Project Protects Military Macaw Nests from Poachers

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