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.
Birds, pages 30 to 40
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.
Good news is rare but good wills are steadfast and countless. Customs manage some grand catches. Inspired by the Koran, the Indonesian Council of Oulemas pronounced a fatwa addressing the 200 million Muslims in the Country according to which poaching and smuggling species endangered of extinction is forbidden. The fatwa mentions tigers, rhinos, elephants, birds, reptiles, and orangutans. The look on «Mademoiselle Chinoise’s» eyes when she was freed is more good news, that « On the Trail » be on the right track is another.
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