Issue 49 of “On the Trail”, 3 hours’ reading
Poaching and smuggling worldwide of animal species that are threatened with
extinction or are likely to become so.
1,690 events between November 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026
371 photos and 6 maps
1,192 sources, 256 pages, 8.6 Mo
“On the Trail”, English version
“A la Trace”, French version
The world as it is
THE RUMOUR
The live long-tailed pangolin seized by the police at a bushmeat market and taken in by the Tikki Hywood Foundation did not survive for long. The post-mortem examination revealed that his tongue, measuring between 20 and 40 cm in length, had been torn out, confirming that an old superstition is still alive and well. A mixture of the tongue and certain plants is said to cure stuttering and other speech impediments in children.
Illustrative photo
CHILD MONKEYS
In Peru, a small woolly monkey dressed in hand-knitted baby clothes and a diaper, was abandoned
in front of the office of the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Serfor).
AND HERE COMES EBOLA
Horrifying discovery inside the suitcase of a passenger arriving from the Congo:
a dried-up monkey intended for consumption at Chicago International Airport.
THEY SAID
“The wolf’s main enemy is misinformation”, the Italian NGO Hic Sunt Lupi (The Wolves Are Here).
“Wildlife doesn’t have brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers to call the police if something happens”, a prosecutor in New Zealand during the trial of a 24-year-old South Korean man charged with trafficking geckos.
“During the year-end holidays, the illegal trafficking and possession of wild animals, the stresses of travel, various festivities, and fireworks harm the well-being of species and the balance of ecosystems”, statement from the Colombian authorities.
“After seeing this, I don’t even know which one is the animal”, an internet user regarding the lynching of a macaque in Malaysia, which was shared on social media.
“We are proud to protect our country and also our animals”, soldiers of an elite Tzahal unit after an “operation” in a Palestinian village and the seizure of a captive Eurasian eagle-owl.
THE TENOR VICTIM OF TRAFFICKING
In 3 months, around 1,500 European goldfinches were seized in 15 countries: Iran, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and even Argentina. Taking into account Interpol’s estimate that seizures represent only 10 % of the contraband, the total figure stands at 15,000 goldfinches.
Illustrative photo
DRONES
Drones are weapons of war and poaching.
Xiaosong, Ganzhou Prefecture, Province of Jiangxi, China. Li was often seen and heard prowling the forests at night in his van.
The police eventually raided his home and found a modified drone equipped with a thermal camera
that tracks wild animals at night and an arrow launcher that shoots them.
AT THE ELEPHANTS’ BEDSIDES
“Airavat”, the elephant ambulance truck named after Airavata, the king of elephants who served as the mount of the god Indra. State of Odisha, India.
Rescue of a female elephant calf, approximately 2 years old, caught in a nylon trap. The rescue operation lasted 3 hours. Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra Island, Indonesia.
RHINOS, NOTHING IS LOST
November 2025, Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, Zhejiang Province, China.
Seizure of fragments and powder of rhinoceros horn in 4 small bags in the suitcase of an arriving passenger. A total of 461.52 grammes.
Subsequent analysis revealed that the contraband came from a black rhinoceros, probably from South Africa.
SHOTS AND HARPOONS
December 4, 2025
Anavyssos, Region of Attica, Greece
A male monk seal was found on the beach with two large-calibre bullet wounds.
January 29, 2026
Near Agradwip, Bardhaman District, State of West Bengal, India
Another Ganges River dolphin has been found dead, harpooned on the banks of the Bhagirathi – a female measuring 2.43 metres in length.
“The cruelty is all the more pronounced because she was pregnant.”
“We suspect that the docile creature was killed by the miscreants for the purpose of extracting oil”,
says Shibaprasad Singha, a forest officer.
DENATURED NATURE
This is the first time in the history of Iława in Poland that a stuffed caiman has ended up on a policewoman’s desk.
Seizure of a stuffed snow leopard from a private vehicle, Pakistan.
The stuffed flamingo ended up in a landfill site in the Saint Julien Valley in Malta.
Seizure of a female baby ostrich and other protected species at the Monte Cristo Hotel, 5th arrondissement, Paris.
Seizure of a leopard trophy at a hotel in Bhopal, India.
Seizure of a stuffed puma from an antique shop in Hamburg, Germany.
GUILLOTINE
All over the world, deer are beheaded so that their antlers and trophies can be sold.
Beheading of a white-tailed deer in Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto, Canada.
Beheading of a red deer at a zoo attraction in Donabate, Ireland.
TRAPS!
Sardinia, Italy. Seizure of 30 trap nets for European eels in a lagoon. Known depending on the location as martavello, bertuello, bartavello, bartevello, bertavello, bertovello and tofo, this shows their importance to the region’s culture. These funnel-shaped nets, at the end of which there is a hole from which the eels cannot escape, are set in lakes and lagoons without any distinguishing marks and are accessible only by poachers’ boats.
Catalonia and Valencian Community, Spain. Seizure of around 3,000 glue-coated sticks used in parany traps, a military-inspired camouflage system.
FASHION SHOW
Seizure of 1,550 already dyed crocodile skins concealed in a container declared to contain “cattle hides” in Shandong Province, China.
Seizure in the luggage of a passenger arriving from Istanbul of 612 wallets, coin purses, and handbags made of python skin, crocodile skin, monitor lizard skin and cobra skin at Kazan Airport, Russia.
Seizure of fashion accessories made from chinchilla, python and crocodile skins from the luggage of 4 Ukrainian women and 2 Ukrainian men entering Poland.
USEFUL TIPS FOR AVOIDING CROCODILES
The authorities of the Indian State of Gujarat provide information and caution instructions, which add to the traditional knowledge of local residents and may be useful to newcomers or occasional visitors.
“Crocodiles determine prey based on ripples in the water. When someone washes clothes or utensils or splashes in a river, the crocodile feels that some prey has come to the bank to drink water. In these circumstances, the crocodile attacks it. If a person dies in a crocodile attack, the government pays 400,000 rupees as compensation.
• Do not go to a river or pond if there is a crocodile there.
• Keep an eye on the water while washing clothes and utensils. Do not wash clothes and utensils with your back to the river.
• Do not go more than 1 foot into the water to give water to cattle.
• Do not go to the river alone, draw water with a motor.”
“On the Trail” is carried out by Robin des Bois with the support of the Fondation Franz Weber, the Fondation Brigitte Bardot, donors and members of Robin des Bois, and the Séché Environnement group.
English version:
https://robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_49.pdf
French version:
https://robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/A_LA_TRACE_49.pdf
Featured on the cover of issue 49 of “On the Trail”: the Polymita picta snail. See page 175.
Photo: Miguel Ernesto Suárez Blancart (BY-NC 4.0).
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