Here now the 4th edition of « On the Trail »
Information and analysis bulletin on animal poaching and smuggling.
1st January – 31th March 2014.
112 pages, 468 events, 352 information sources.
Whales and marine mammals, pages 12 to 14

All dials are in the red. On the endangered species market prices are soaring. China and the world exotic pet trade are weighing heavily. The red-fronted parrot in Congo smuggled by Blue Helmets are sold for 800 US$ on Internet. Rhino horns reach 100,000 US$/kg, leopard skin more than 30,000 US/$. Mumbai golden youth gets high on cobra venom (180,000 US$/l). Isilo, the elephant who became a symbol of South Africa, is dead. His 2 tusks worth 600,000 US$ have disappeared. Poachers were the first to find his body by spotting the vultures. Suspicion lingers. Daytime rangers become night-time poachers. Prices go wild, the violence does also. Animals, thieves and rangers fall. Traffickers kill each other like traffickers of a drug cartel. Gangs rule, gangrene thrives. This is war. Justice is incoherent. From severe punishment to set an example to a mere bail, justice sometimes goes astray. Traffickers are often very young. Poachers ride BMWs. Killing methods are both modern and archaic.

Twenty-eight years following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Ukraine is confronted with political turmoil. In this context, management issues concerning the Ukrainian nuclear industry are dangerously put aside. There are 15 nuclear reactors in Ukraine, all fueled by Russia. They were designed in EX-USSR in the 1960s and 1970s and do not meet safety regulations in place today in Ukraine. However, in 2012 the Ukrainian government decided to implement life extensions of 20 years for 11 of its oldest reactors which were to be decommissioned from 2015. Under the current financial and political difficulties, it is doubtful that necessary funds will be available. Important investments are needed to guarantee the adequate radiation protection of workers responsible for upgrading the sites as well as the safety of the reactors beyond the initial life-span. The reactors life extensions are financed by the international community, notably European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The nuclear life extensions have not been subject to a public Environmental Impact Assessment and are not in compliance with the ESPOO Convention which addresses transboundary environmental and health impacts issued by industrial projects.

At least 15.000 exotic animals died in a fire of the Savannah Reptiles Planet warehouse in Saint-Sulpice-la-Pointe in the southwestern part of France. The animals were intended for the exotic pet market.

Sand boas, boa constrictors, royal pythons, panther chameleons, green iguanas, Hermann’s tortoises, Asian leaf turtles, leopard tortoises, African spurred tortoises, poison dart frogs are listed under CITES Appendix II (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Appendix II regulates international trade.

bulletin of information and analysis on ship demolition

The genealogical investigation of Robin des Bois and the comparison of photos of the Zanoobia and the Cosette show that it is very well the same ship. The Zanoobia is some sort of funder of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. France and Martinique have inherited a historic wreck. The French authorities hesitate between the scuttling and the dumping at sea or demolition. The first option is currently being used in the French overseas territories; the last would be an innovation.

Only in French.