“On the Trail” n°2
Take a trip of beauty and cruelty in the following 80 pages (pdf. 4Mo), swing through the trees with the supreme pleated gibbon, still at liberty in the wild despite being endangered, get to the bottom of cyanide and of poisoned pineapples, survive the etorphine laced arrows, scheme with furniture dealers looking for ivory, discover the cunning tiger trappers, hunt down blackbucks with Bollywood stars, cruise towards China with 2,000 saiga antelope horns worth 22 million dollars, look into the eyes of a baby chimpanzee in a pathetic plastic bag at a Cameroon market, entrench yourselves in the fate of thousands of birds and animals unwilling migrants forcefully removed from their habitats, float down a river with a mutilated elephant carcass and find out about France’s stance on the future of illegal ivory stockpiles, eat Ganges river dolphin meat, pay homage to rangers and forest guards murdered in the wild by poachers …
Rhinoceroses and elephants, pages 42 to 69
Obama, Hollande and Elephants
Since early September the United States announced that they would carry out on October 8 the destruction of 5.4 tonnes of illegal ivory confiscated over the last 25 years on their soil. This destruction is in line with an Executive Order by President Obama on July 1, 2013 on Combating Wildlife Trafficking. In this light the United States has launched a national and international programme aimed at stopping “slaughter commissioned by armed and organized criminal Syndicates.” This constitutes a formidable task.
India Burns Smuggled Ivory. And France?
Today, the state of Maharashtra will burn precious animal materials that have been seized by anti-poaching organizations. The leopard and tiger fur that was priced at about €12,000 a piece, along with the tusks of ivory that are sold on the black market from €1,500/kg for up to €5,500/kg, will be completely destroyed.
The state of Kerala is getting ready to do the same with their stock of 3 tons of ivory that has been seized over the past 20 years.
The Indian authorities will be taking advantage of the widespread presence of spectators to raise awareness, thereby doubling their efforts in the fight against environmental crime by enforcing both International regulations and Indian law for the protection of animals.
Robin des Bois will Pursue them via “On the Trail”
Today, Robin des Bois, the Paris based NGO, released the 1st edition of “On the Trail”, a quarterly information and analysis bulletin on poaching and smuggling of endangered animals.
206 events of poaching, seizures, arrests and convictions which occurred in Africa, Australia, America, Europe and Asia are listed. This panoramic vision of cruelty and criminal acts on wildlife, between April 1 and June 30, 2013 makes one shiver and deliberate.
In three months the equivalent of 707 elephants, in tusks, were seized. Poaching of Mali elephants is increasing. Robin des Bois recently wrote to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, requesting that UN peacekeeping troops be given strict instructions to protect the subsisting elephant population.
Ivory: A very disturbing premiere !
Whatever the motivations of the ivory thief at the Museum of Natural History in Paris are, this heist is to be taken seriously. Is it a personal initiative, an order, or the emergence of a new underground ivory trafficking network in France and Europe?
Since 2011, 82 rhinoceros horns were stolen in Europe, including 7 in France. These thefts are attributed to organized criminal networks. They target museums, antique dealers, auction rooms, taxidermists, and private collectors. These thefts are sometimes accompanied by violence. In zoos, rhinos are under increased protection. The development of thefts is parallel to the increase of poaching in Africa and Asia and the increased price per kilo of the rhinoceros horn on the legal and black markets. Some experts suggest the price goes up to 65,000 euros per kilo.
CITES has no cure for elephant poaching
Compromise and Rhetoric is killing world’s elephants
Despite the praise for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora on its 40th anniversary, CITES has failed to protect the elephant. African elephant populations are under siege and in decline primarily to satiate the demand for ivory in Asia. In 2011 alone, around 25,000 elephants or more were slaughtered for their ivory and the killing was even worse in 2012.
Enough is enough. Several conservation and animal welfare organizations, including the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF-United Kingdom), Elephant Advocacy League (United States), Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA-United Kingdom), Fondation Franz Weber (FFW-Switzerland), International Ranger Federation (Australia), Last Great Ape Organization (LAGA-Cameroon), Pro Wildlife (Germany), Robin des Bois (France), Youth for Conservation (Kenya) attending the 16th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties are outraged by the failure of CITES to stop the poaching of African elephants, particularly African elephants. Instead of demanding an end to the markets driving the slaughter, CITES Parties are coming up with weak compromises in a feeble attempt to stop the poaching. But China, the single country most responsible for the crisis due to its burgeoning ivory market, won’t even concede its responsibility as the main problem. Nor will CITES admit that previous decisions allowing “legal” sale of ivory to China and Japan have stimulated, not reduced, demand and directly contributed to the poaching.
Save the old ladies!
The decision to put to death two Asian elephants from the Golden Head Zoo (zoo de la Tête d’Or) in Lyon, France, would be tainted with illegality and cruelty.
Cruelty
Each year, thousands of elephants are put to death in Africa and Asia as a result of illegal ivory trade and the regression of their natural habitats. The execution of these two elephants, aged 42 and 43, can be added to that number. These elephants have reached a very respectable age for the elephantine species; only a small number of specimens in the wild have in this period the chance to grow as old.
