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tagged w/ poachers
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Unimaginable Horror as Helicopter-Borne Poachers Massacre 22 Elephants Before Hacking Off Their Tusks and Genitals
Daily Mail...
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Unimaginable horror as helicopter-borne poachers massacre 22 elephants before hacking off their tusks and genitals
Record numbers of ivory seizures amid rise of organised crime gangs
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PHOTO:
Barbaric: In a scene too graphic to show in full, the carcasses of some of the 22 massacred elephants lay strewn across Garamba National Park in the Congo after being gunned down by helicopter-borne poachers
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By Simon Tomlinson
PUBLISHED: 17:35 EST, 24 April 2012 | UPDATED: 17:53 EST, 24 April 2012
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In a scene of inconceivable horror, these slaughtered elephant carcasses show the barbaric lengths poachers will go to in their hunt for nature's grim booty.
The bodies were among a herd of 22 animals massacred in a helicopter-borne attack by professionals who swooped over their quarry.
The scene beneath the rotor blades would have been chilling - panicked mothers shielding their young, hair-raising screeches and a mad scramble through the blood-stained bush as bullets rained down from the sky.
When the shooting was over, all of the herd lay dead, one of the worst such killings in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in living memory.
'It's been a long time since we've seen something like this,' said Dr Tshibasu Muamba, head of international cooperation for the Congolese state conservation agency, ICCN, as he surveyed the macarbre scene at Garamba National Park.
After the slaughter, the killers set about removing their tusks and genitals before likely smuggling them through South Sudan or Uganda, which form part of an 'Ivory Road' linking Africa to Asia.
Elephant and rhino poaching is surging, conservationists say, an illegal piece of Asia's scramble for African resources, driven by the growing purchasing power of the region's newly affluent classes.
When the shooting was over, all of the herd lay dead, one of the worst such killings in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in living memory.
'It's been a long time since we've seen something like this,' said Dr Tshibasu Muamba, head of international cooperation for the Congolese state conservation agency, ICCN, as he surveyed the macarbre scene at Garamba National Park.
After the slaughter, the killers set about removing their tusks and genitals before likely smuggling them through South Sudan or Uganda, which form part of an 'Ivory Road' linking Africa to Asia.
Elephant and rhino poaching is surging, conservationists say, an illegal piece of Asia's scramble for African resources, driven by the growing purchasing power of the region's newly affluent classes.
A record number of big ivory seizures were made globally in 2011 and the trend looks set to continue in 2012 as elephant massacres take place from Congo to Cameroon, where as many as 200 of the pachyderms, listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as 'vulnerable', were slain in January.
In South Africa, nearly two rhinos a day are being killed to meet demand for the animal's horn, which is worth more than its weight in gold. More are being killed each week now than were being taken on an annual basis a decade ago.
Conservation group TRAFFIC, which monitors the global trade in animals and plants, said 2011 was the worst year for large ivory seizures in the more than two decades it has been running a database tracking the trends.
After the trade in ivory was banned at the end of the 1980s - a policy implemented to stem a slaughter of elephants at the time - the illegal trade declined sharply, helped by the co-operation of Japan from where most of the demand had been coming.
Conservationists say there was a spike in the mid 1990s driven by emerging Chinese demand that bubbled for a few years, then dropped off as red flags were raised.
Zimbabwe-based Tom Milliken, who manages TRAFFIC's Elephant Trade Information System, said since 2004 'the trend has been escalating upwards again, dramatically so over the last three years.'
Ben Janse van Rensburg, head of enforcement for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the international treaty that governs trade in plants and animals, said: 'The biggest challenge is that in the last few years there has been a big shift from your ordinary poachers to your organized crime groups.'
This was on display in Congo last month, where investigators determined the poachers shot from the air because of the trajectory of the bullet wounds.
Helicopters do not come cheaply and their use points to a high level of organization.
Ken Maggs, the head of the environmental crimes investigation unit for South African National Parks, said one person recently arrested for trade in rhino horn had 5.1 million rand ($652,400) in cash in the boot of his car.
South Africa is the epicenter of rhino poaching because it hosts virtually the entire population of white rhino - 18,800 head or 93 per cent - and about 40 per cent of Africa's much rarer black rhino.
As of the middle of April, 181 rhinos had been killed in South Africa in 2012, according to official government data.
At this rate, more than 600 will be lost to poachers this year compared with 448 in 2011.
A decade ago, only a handful were being taken.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134696/Scene-unimaginable-horror-helicopter-borne-poachers-massacre-22-elephants.html#ixzz1tbKCGg2f
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.Daily Mail... . . Unimaginable horror as helicopter-borne poachers massacre... more-
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Rhino Poaching: "These Animals Are All Too Easy to Kill"
The Telegraph...
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Rhino poaching: 'These animals are all too easy to kill’
A close friend of Prince William talks of the senseless slaughter of a favourite rhinoceros.
PHOTO:
Proud beast: Max the rhino on the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya Photo:
TEEKU PATEL/WWW.SOKOMOTO.COM
By Victoria Moore
7:00AM GMT 01 Mar 2012
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It’s a terribly patchy mobile telephone connection to northern Kenya when I speak to Ian Craig. We’re shouting and repeating ourselves, whole sentences vanishing frustratingly into the ether as I try to talk to the conservationist about the brutal murder by poachers of a very special and rather famous white rhinoceros called Max.
The Duke of Cambridge has said he is “appalled” by the animal’s “senseless slaughter”. As a close friend of Craig and his daughter Jecca, with whom he was once linked romantically, he has been a regular visitor to the family’s Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya where Max was hand-raised. He would have seen the rhino as it was growing up.
The Prince takes a keen interest in the plight of these animals, which are at ever-increasing risk from the poachers who sell their horns for more than the price of gold. They need protection and on a recent visit, he agreed to sponsor a black hook-lipped rhino at a cost of £6,000 a year. The beast was named William in his honour.
“Rhino are so vulnerable,” says Craig. “They have bad eyesight. They’re all too easy to kill.”
Then suddenly the line is crystal clear, as if it’s being held together by the great force of his wrath. I can hear every word he says.
“How do I feel about yet another rhino being killed by poachers who only want to sell its horn?” says Craig. “It’s such a massive, deep anger. That we have failed to protect these animals. And that the world can have such a demand for something that in real terms is just worthless. The value of rhino horn, which is thought in some cultures to have medicinal properties, is founded on myth. The case of Max highlights the fate of so many other rhino. It’s important that the world sees what’s going on because it’s very real. We need to do more about it.”
Rhino horn can be traded illegally for up to £60,000 a kilogram in some Asian countries, where it is renowned for its supposed therapeutic benefits. Over the past few years, its rising value has created a surge in poaching incidents. In 2007 in South Africa, where the rhino population is closely monitored, the number of rhinos poached was just 13. The following year it was 83; then up to 333 in 2010.
But, as Craig points out, this is not a South African but a “pan-African” problem.
Conservation has long been his passion. Kenyan-born, he converted the family cattle ranch into a rhino sanctuary back in the Eighties and went on to found the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in 1995.
In 2001, Prince William spent six weeks working at Lewa as a volunteer and has returned on several occasions since, even becoming a patron of the Tusk Trust [a conservation and community development organisation] after being inspired by Craig’s work.
Kenya is certainly a country close to the Prince’s heart; it was there that in 2010 he took Kate on the romantic holiday in the wilds during which he asked her to be his wife. And it was with the Craigs at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy that the couple enjoyed their first, very informal, celebratory drinks after the Prince had proposed.
It was to Lewa that Max the rhino came too, as a two-week-old after Craig got a call from an animal sanctuary saying he needed a new home.
“His mother was missing, presumed killed,” says Craig, who was speaking to me yesterday from Northern Kenya where he is helping the charity Save the Elephants treat an injured matriarch called Monsoon. “We flew to pick him up, blindfolded him, put cotton-wool in his ears, and brought him home. He was hand-reared on Lewa by teams of rangers: fed every four hours on lactogen and vitamins, kept warm at night in stables, taken out during the day and walked around. Whether it’s a rhino or a Labrador, you pick up a very close bond with an animal. Max became like a dog. He knew people. He wasn’t aggressive at all.”
When he was two years old Max was moved from Lewa to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy where, in common with other rhinos, he was dehorned in the hope of protecting him from poachers.
Poaching can be highly sophisticated. As the financial stakes have become higher, so the gangs can afford to invest in more equipment, deploying helicopters as well as night-vision goggles in search of their bounty, chainsaws (to remove the horn) and shotguns. It is becoming an increasingly bloody battle between conservationists and poachers, as even the prospect of excavating a few scraps from a rhino that has been dehorned makes an animal a lucrative kill.
This was to be Max’s bloody fate in June 2011 – although news of the death emerged only this week. He was six years old when, at 3 o’clock in the morning, Craig took a phone call to say that gunshots had been heard in the conservancy. Later, Max’s carcass was found lying in the warm mud. He had been shot 17 times and poachers had sliced deep into his face in an attempt to hack out what remained of the precious stumps of his horns, leaving it a grisly mess.
“I didn’t go to see him,” says Craig. “I didn’t want to go near. I put my energies into working with the police to try to apprehend the guys who had done it.”
In Craig’s view, so much more could be done to contain the poaching problem. “The issues for elephants and for rhinos are different and not just because ivory is a luxury product for wealthy people. Elephants are free-ranging animals. It is easier to keep rhino alive in a sanctuary by paying for high levels of security. But it costs a lot.
“Kenya has been relatively successful at protecting its rhino. The number dropped at one stage to 260 and now it is three times that. The government’s been putting a lot of resources into it. But you also have to remember that’s money that could be going into schools or water.
The demand for ivory and rhino horn is coming from outside Africa. It’s a world issue – but Africa is having to pay for the protection.”
And, sadly, not every rhino is lucky enough to have a royal sponsor.
.The Telegraph... . Rhino poaching: 'These animals are all too easy to... more-
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Sea Turtle Rescued from Poachers
"Lucky" was found 16 miles inland where poachers had left her to die.-
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Orphaned Gorillas Are Given a Safe Haven | Photos | Videos
Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19 a.m. EST
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) --
In a remote, rural area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has opened the country's first rehabilitation center for Grauer's gorillas.
Called GRACE (Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education), the center's goal is to teach orphaned gorillas how to survive in the wild as a new, self-sufficient "family," with the longer-term goal to release them into a natural habitat in a neighboring forest in the Congo Basin.
These young gorillas are physically and emotionally fragile, most having suffered from extremely traumatic conditions and experiences. Many have been violently taken from the forest by poachers, intent on selling them either as bush meat or for the animal trafficking trade.
CNN's Jessica Ellis and Ferre Dollar recently followed the first group of gorillas to be transported to the forested area from a temporary facility in Goma, in eastern DRC.
The pioneering young orphans were airlifted to GRACE by a helicopter donated by MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping force in the DRC -- a first for a U.N. mission. Traveling by road would have been almost impossible due to poor infrastructure and potential trauma to the animals.
Mapendo, Amani, Kighoma and Ndjingala were all originally snatched from the forest and their families by poachers. They are all Grauer's gorillas, a subspecies related to the Mountain gorilla, but live exclusively in eastern DRC.
Sandy Jones is the confiscated gorilla rehabilitation manager for the Dian Fossey Fund and now the manager of GRACE. "All of the gorilla species are endangered because Congo is so unexplored they have not done a real census on how many Grauer's gorillas there are," she says.
"But at the rate at which we know they are being killed and the forest is being destroyed we are really concerned that if things aren't stopped and changed now they can be wiped out very soon."
This freshman class of GRACE gorillas range in age from between one and five years old. Mapendo, whose name means "love," was rescued in December 2007. She was confiscated along with a male gorilla but he only survived for two days.
When Amani -- which means "peace" -- was rescued a year ago she had a large wound on her leg. "It seemed obvious that her mother was shot and she was caught in the crossfire," Jones explains. "It took many weeks to heal but now she is walking perfectly normal."
Kighoma -- "drums" -- is the only male in the group. He arrived in May 2009, and Ndjingala was rescued earlier this year. She is only a year old and was named after the place from which she was taken.
"A lot of primates, when they are taken by poachers, they have ropes around their hips and it digs in and so they have bad wounds and Ndjingala suffered from that," Jones says.
The Dian Fossey gorilla fund and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project have been caring for rescued gorillas in temporary quarters in Kinigi, in Rwanda, and in Goma.
Now they (the gorillas) are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy.
"What I know is that many of them have died," says Dr. Eddie Kambale of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. "We may have, I can say, about 20% that have been taken from the forest."
The GRACE center is the first facility of its kind in east Central Africa. It has room for up to 30 young gorillas to live in species-typical groups and roam through 350 acres of natural habitat.
Kambale helped bring the four orphans from Goma to GRACE. "The gorillas are enjoying this place compared to where they were," he says.
"In Goma there was too much noise and dust from the road; here is less pollution so this will be good for their health. Now they are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy."
The remaining rescued Grauer's gorillas currently cared for by the Dian Fossey Fund and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project will leave Kinigi on a second airlift scheduled for early next year.
"Having the gorillas here will help give the people a glimpse of the world of gorillas," says Debby Cox, of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.
Cox worked with the local community to build the infrastructure for GRACE. "When the local people see gorillas as so much like us -- they live in families, the infants need their mothers, they hug each other -- you immediately get an empathy coming," she says.
"So we need to work with the people in this area, and that helps create stability and that creates confidence too."
While for decades the world has only heard bad news from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, conservation is striking an increasingly important chord of awareness among the people.Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven From Jessica Ellis, CNN December 17, 2010 5:19... more-
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Sea Turtles Forever
Here is a link to my friend's YouTube website. Marc Ward is an authorized Marine Turtle Investigator who has spent many, many days trying to save sea turtles from extinction. The Sea Turtles Forever site on YouTube documents some of the organization's work, which includes collecting and analyzing tons of plastic debris that has washed ashore on the west coast of North America and Central America. Please visit this link and send it to all of your friends so that we might raise awareness and work together to save marine animals from death by plastic.
http://www.youtube.com/user/seaturtlesforeverHere is a link to my friend's YouTube website. Marc Ward is an authorized Marine... more-
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Surviving Floods, Droughts, and Poachers' Bullets to Save the Elephants | Photos
Photo: For four decades Iain Douglas-Hamilton has been an advocate for elephants, the endangered giants of Africa. Save the Elephants cofounder Iain Douglas-Hamilton has been named the 2010 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation. Four decades ago, he pioneered the first in-depth scientific study of elephant social behavior, which revealed their matriarchal society.
The Indianapolis Prize
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The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com
Save the Elephants cofounder Iain Douglas-Hamilton has been named the 2010 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation. Four decades ago, he pioneered the first in-depth scientific study of elephant social behavior, which revealed their matriarchal society.
(The Indianapolis Prize)
By Yvonne Zipp, / Correspondent
November 1, 2010 at 9:38 am EDT
When Iain Douglas-Hamilton first started studying elephants in Africa, he had to invent ways of tracking the giant mammals. Over the course of 40-some years in the field, the zoologist learned how to fly airplanes and use radio collars and other high-tech means to follow their movements.
He also learned how to get out of the way – fast. "I learned how to climb trees very quickly," says Dr. Douglas-Hamilton, winner of the 2010 Indianapolis Prize, the largest prize ($100,000) given for animal conservation in the world.
As cofounder of the nonprofit group Save the Elephants, he also has learned to be an activist, author, and politician.
When Douglas-Hamilton left Tanzania, in East Africa, in 1970 to study at Oxford University in Britain, he left behind "an elephants' paradise," he recalls.
But when he returned in 1972, the country's national parks looked more like a war zone. Douglas-Hamilton often found more dead elephants than live ones.
"Never in all our wildest dreams did the small group of scientists who worked in Tanzania's national parks [in the 1960s] imagine that men armed with automatic weapons would one day stride through the national parks. It was just not in our thinking," he says of the heavily armed poachers who had moved in.
The soft-spoken conservationist now lives in Kenya with his wife, Oria, who co-founded Save the Elephants. Together they have written two books, "Battle for the Elephants" and "Among the Elephants."
During the height of the ivory poaching, Douglas-Hamilton rode in small planes wearing one flak jacket and sitting on another as he helped park rangers in Uganda bring back elephants from the brink of extinction. He's been repeatedly shot at and has survived plane crashes, droughts, floods, malaria, and once, being squashed by a rhinoceros.
He campaigned for years for a worldwide ban on ivory sales, which finally took effect in 1989.
His long-term commitment to saving elephants across Africa impressed the prize jury, says Michael Crowther, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Zoo, which administers the prize. Douglas-Hamilton pioneered the first scientific study of elephant social behavior, Mr. Crowther says.
Among his discoveries: Elephants have a matriarchal society and travel in families.
"He has been creative, committed, and consistent," Crowther says. "And he's been courageous – politically courageous and physically courageous."
"He shows bravery ... [and his work is so important," says Laurie Marker, a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize who founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund, based in Namibia. When CCF expanded into Kenya, it began working with Save the Elephants in Samburu National Reserve, in Kenya's Great Rift Valley.
Douglas-Hamilton has given practical assistance to CCF, from making introductions to sharing researchers and resources, Dr. Marker says.
Despite the ivory poaching ban, the future of African elephants is far from secure. Douglas-Hamilton describes the conditions in the Congo, for example, as "catastrophic" – and not just for elephants.
In 2009, he worked to save a rare herd of desert elephants in Mali from the worst drought in more than a decade.
There have been other successes, particularly in East and Southern Africa, whose elephant populations have rebounded since the ivory ban. At this year's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting in Doha, Qatar, conservationists, including Douglas-Hamilton, defeated an effort by the governments of Tanzania and Zambia to downgrade the status of their elephants so that they could sell off their stockpiles of ivory.
"If there's to be a future for elephants, there has to be an accommodation about how they're going to live in juxtaposition with people," says Douglas-Hamilton, who considers the rapid expansion of human populations one of the largest challenges facing all wildlife. "This is where science and research comes in. It has to be linked to community development."
Elephants "need space," he says, including protected corridors so that they can travel from one protected area to another. (Such corridors would also benefit other large mammals, such as zebras, wild dogs, lions, and giraffes.)
Douglas-Hamilton has proposed the idea of a mobile national park, where the protected land would follow elephants as they travel. No country has yet adopted it.
"I know we're dealing with poor people who have immediate needs," he says. "But we have to escape from the tyranny of poverty in order to have the luxury of long-term planning. If we don't, the poverty is not going to get any better and the environment is going to deteriorate."
He's also thrilled that young African-born conservationists now are joining the effort to save the continent's elephants.
Even after decades of research, Douglas-Hamilton still enjoys the company of these gentle giants, the largest of land mammals.
"I love to sit with them and be with them," he says. "I have the greatest joy just to be with elephants at peace."Photo: For four decades Iain Douglas-Hamilton has been an advocate for elephants, the... more-
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More Tigers in U.S. Backyards Than in the Wild (Worldwide)? | Lack of Regulation Allows U.S. to Have One of the Largest Populations of Captive Tigers
More tigers in American backyards than in the wild worldwide?
A lack of regulation allows the United States to have one of the largest populations of captive tigers in the world.
Tigers Among US
Captive tigers in the United States and their impact on tigers in the wild
Did you know that there are more tigers in American backyards than there are in the wild around the world? The United States has one of the largest populations of captive tigers in the world − estimated at perhaps 5,000 tigers, compared to as few as 3,200 in the wild. They are found in backyards, urban apartments, sideshows, truck stops and private breeding facilities.
In many jurisdictions, people can legally keep a tiger on their property without reporting it to local officials or neighbors. In some states, it is easier to buy a tiger than to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter. Rarely can officials determine how many tigers there are in captivity within state borders − or where they are, who owns them, or what happens to their body parts (highly prized on the black market) when they die.
It’s critical that the United States better regulate the captivity of tigers. When tiger ownership and breeding aren’t monitored, captive tigers become easy targets for black market sales, and those sales end up threatening wild populations. Here’s how that happens: The illegal trade in products derived from captive tigers stimulates demand, especially for wild tigers. The more demand there is, the more wild tigers are poached.
The lack of regulation of captive tigers is also a major threat to public safety. Lax oversight means tigers can be held in areas that may not be adequately secured. Let’s not wait for another tragedy to occur before taking action.
There has never been a better time to make it right. In 2010 − the Year of the Tiger − WWF is working to close loopholes in regulations for tiger ownership set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We also play an active role in supporting tiger range countries’ commitment to Tx2, WWF’s ambitious goal of doubling wild tiger numbers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.
In November, world leaders will gather at a Tiger Summit in Russia to discuss the plight of wild tigers and agree upon a range-wide recovery plan for these big cats. Take action today by encouraging Secretary Clinton to attend the summit and ensure strong U.S. commitment to global tiger conservation.More tigers in American backyards than in the wild worldwide? A lack of regulation... more-
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Four Elephants (Two Calves), Allegedly Poisoned, Now Dead in Assam | Video
Four elephants, allegedly poisoned, dead in Assam
Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Updated: October 12, 2010 16:38 IST
Guwahati: The fringes of the Kaziranga National Park have turned into deadly territory.
In the last few days, four elephants - two of them calves - have been found dead in the area, the most recent was discovered in the Panbari Reserve Forest. All are suspected to have died of poisoning.
Panbari is one of the most important animal corridors in the country, but the corridor has been choked with more than a hundred stone quarries.
The impact of that on wildlife is compounded by the tea estates in the area which chemical pesticides and toxic weedicides.
It's not clear whether the poisioning was deliberate. But the conflict between elephants and humans has been rising. This year, elephant herds from near-by Karbianglong have destroyed fully-grown rice paddy in at least ten villages in Kaziranga.
In September, the government announced that the elephant would be given National Heritage Animal status, which would entitle it to the same level of protection as the tiger. A task force set up to draft policy has presented an agenda that tackles the diversifying conflict with humans, as well as the loss of habitat. However, it has not touched upon the issue of pesticides in eco-sensitive zones.
"There is no measure as of now and we have enough laws, it's the implementation which is lacking," says Rathin Barman, Coordinator of the Wildlife Trust of India.
Last month, pictures of seven elephants run over by a speeding train in Siliguri in West Bengal had people all over the country cringing. It also became a sore point between the Railways Ministry and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/four-elephants-die-in-five-days-in-assam-59091?cpFour elephants, allegedly poisoned, dead in Assam Kishalay Bhattacharjee,... more-
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Poachers kill last female rhino in South African park for prized horn
PHOTO: The last rhinoceros cow in Krugersdorp park, South Africa, bled to death on Wednesday after poachers hacked off her horn. Photograph: Reuters
Poachers kill last female rhino in South African park for prized horn - Record levels of poaching are endangering survival of rhinoceros in South Africa
South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off.
Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said Japie Mostert, chief game ranger at the 1,500-hectare Krugersdorp game reserve.
The gang used tranquilliser guns and a helicopter to bring down the nine-year-old rhino cow. Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos.
Wanda Mkutshulwa, a spokeswoman for South African National Parks, said investigations into the growing number of incidents had been shifted to the country's organised crime unit. "We are dealing with very focused criminals. Police need to help game reserves because they are not at all equipped to handle crime on such an organised level,'' she said.
Rhino horn consists of compressed keratin fibre – similar to hair – and in many Asian cultures it is a fundamental ingredient in traditional medicines.
Mkutshulwa said poaching was also rife in the Kruger Park. Five men were arrested there in the past week alone – four of whom were caught with two bloodied rhino horns, AK-47 assault rifles, bolt-action rifles and an axe.
Krugersdorp game reserve attracts at least 200,000 visitors every year. It is also close to a private airport, which may have been used by the poachers.
"The exercise takes them very little time," Mostert said. "They first fly over the park in the late afternoon to locate where the rhino is grazing. Then they return at night and dart the animal from the air. The tranquilliser takes less than seven minutes to act.
"They saw off the horns with a chainsaw. They do not even need to switch off the rotors of the helicopter. We do not hear anything because our houses are too far away. The animal dies either from an overdose of tranquilliser or bleeds to death."
The committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) warned last year that rhino poaching had reached an all-time high. The Cites conference in Geneva in July 2009 heard that Asia's economic expansion had fuelled the market in rhino horns.
The horns are also used in the Middle East to make handles for ornamental daggers. Cites said demand for them had begun to soar in recent years. In the five years up to 2005, an average of only 36 rhinos had been killed each year.
Conservationists estimate that there are only 18,000 black and white rhinos in Africa, down from 65,000 in the 1970s. Mostert, who has been a ranger for 20 years, said the animals fetch up to 1m rand (£85,000) at game auctions and cannot be insured.
Cites has praised South Africa for its action against poachers. Two weeks ago, a Vietnamese man was jailed for 10 years for trying to smuggle horns out of the country.
Krugersdorp game reserve attracts at least 200,000 visitors every year. It is also close to a private airport, which may have been used by the poachers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/18/poachers-kill-last-female-rhinoPHOTO: The last rhinoceros cow in Krugersdorp park, South Africa, bled to death on... more-
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TEDTalks: John Kasaona Tells Us How Poachers Became Caretakers [video]
In his home of Namibia, John Kasaona is working on an innovative way to protect endangered animal species: giving nearby villagers (including former poachers) responsibility for caring for the animals. And it's working.In his home of Namibia, John Kasaona is working on an innovative way to protect... more-
- GrrlScientist
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- 1 year ago
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U.N. Will Carry Out Its Second Emergency Airlift of the World's Most Endangered Species, the Baby Gorillas, from the Democratic Republic of Congo
UN to airlift gorillas from DR Congo
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 6, 2010 5:39 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- The United Nations will carry out a second airlift of baby gorillas, one of the world's most endangered species, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The operation, planned for mid-July, will take the gorillas to a sanctuary where they will be cared for before being released into the wild, the U.N. said Saturday.
The first such rescue was undertaken on May 27.
Until now, the Congo Basin in Central Africa had been a rainforest refuge for gorillas and other apes.
But the threats to the gorillas' survival are so acute that a study that predicted only 10 percent of the gorilla population will remain by 2030 is now considered too optimistic.
A new U.N. report, released in March, said gorillas may go extinct in much of central Africa by the mid-2020s.
The situation is especially critical in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There, militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan -- used in cell phones -- generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them, the report says.
As the militia fight the army, the insecurity in the region has driven thousands into refugee camps. Professional poachers have taken to providing "bush meat" -- wild animal meat -- to the refugees and to the workers in the mining and logging camps. And increasingly, that meat comes from apes, the report said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01250/baby-gorilla_1250136i.jpgUN to airlift gorillas from DR Congo By the CNN Wire Staff June 6, 2010 5:39 a.m.... more-
- EthicalVegan
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- 1 year ago
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"Children of All Ages Delighted by Enslavement of Topsy the Circus Elephant" - The Onion
I'm so, so, SO amazed at "The Onion," who always publishess THE funniest "news" articles. This time, the staff of writers outdid themselves, and no one is laughing. I'm grateful as all hell for their clever contribution..........
Children Of All Ages Delighted By Enslavement Of Topsy The Elephant
June 2, 2010 | ISSUE 46•22
Photo: Topsy charms the crowd with a "silly hula dance" that he has been conditioned to fear performing incorrectly.
TUCSON, AZ—Cheers, laughter, and applause filled the big top tent at the Ringling Bros. Circus Saturday as children of all ages were captivated by the savage enslavement of Topsy the elephant.
Whether young or just young at heart, thrilled audience members watched with glee as a circus trainer forced the frightened Topsy to perform tricks by brutally poking and prodding the traumatized 4-year-old pachyderm.
"He's such a funny happy elephant," said 8-year-old Madison Helms, referring to the abused creature that spends the majority of his time chained up in a cramped, feces-covered enclosure. "He loves being in the circus!"
The crowd reportedly let out loud gasps and vigorously clapped when Topsy stood up on his hind legs, an unnatural and excruciatingly painful movement that stresses and permanently damages the 8,000-pound elephant's joints.
Topsy also delighted the audience after the trainer repeatedly thrust a hooked rod into his skin, causing the miserable animal to lift one leg and his trunk to simulate waving.
"Aww…" said the assembled circus-goers, who were taken by the cuteness of the barbaric spectacle.
Branden Helger, 9, said Topsy was his favorite performer at Ringling Bros. because the elephant knew how to do neat tricks like pretending to limp. The third-grader also excitedly pointed out the "cool necklace" clamped on the animal's foot.
Topsy and the other elephant performers, who are separated from each other at all times, preventing the socialization that's so crucial to their well-being, received a standing ovation from the crowd when they marched into the center ring, nervously rocking back and forth.
"Look, they're dancing," said 5-year-old Jonah Meeks, mistaking the elephants' constant swaying for something that wasn't a maladaptive behavior caused by serious psychological trauma. "I can dance like an elephant, too. Look at me!"
Unaware that the elephant was terrified of the glaring stage lights, deafening crowd noise, and constant beatings, Phil Wingren, who brought his family to the circus, remarked that Topsy must relish being a star.
"Boy, that Topsy's got it made," Wingren said to his children, referring to the mistreated, severely neglected creature, who is exposed to numerous diseases and receives no medical attention except when dirt is rubbed into his wounds to hide them from the public. "Always in the spotlight and everybody pampering you. That lucky elephant."
"Look, he even has his own ball," continued Wingren, referring to the most hated object in Topsy's life.
Attending the circus with her grandparents, Gretchen Anderson, 4, was delighted by Topsy and by the other pachyderms as well.
"There's his mama," Anderson said of an elephant unrelated to Topsy, who has not seen his parents since being torn away from them shortly after birth, and last nestled up to his mother when he tried to suckle at her corpse shortly after poachers killed her. "They have a big happy family."
Eyewitnesses who spotted the trainer patting the side of Topsy's body during the final trick were convinced the elephant and the man were best friends, though in fact the look of reverie on Topsy's face was the result of his daydreaming about stomping and crushing the cruel asshole's head like an overripe melon.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/children-of-all-ages-delighted-by-enslavement-of-t,17534/I'm so, so, SO amazed at "The Onion," who always publishess THE... more-
- EthicalVegan
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- 1 year ago
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Poacher chased by hippos then eaten by lions #fail
A POACHER has been chased by hippos into a pride of lions and eaten in South Africa's Kruger Park.
Rangers said they believed the man was devoured by the beasts after he was chased by a pack of wild hippos while hunting in the world famous reserve.
He was reported missing last week by two alleged fellow poachers who managed to escape the horror.
Officials who searched the area where the attack happened later discovered part of a human skull and pieces of ripped clothing.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/travel/poacher-chased-by-hippos-ten-eaten-by-lions-in-kruger-national-park/story-e6freqwf-1225845214226A POACHER has been chased by hippos into a pride of lions and eaten in South... more-
- stupidy
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- 2 years ago
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4 suspected poachers held with unlicensed guns in TN
Four suspected animal poachers were today arrested and six unlicensed guns seized from them near a forest area at Vellitiruppur in the district.
http://www.indiareport.com/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/750486/National/1/20/1Four suspected animal poachers were today arrested and six unlicensed guns seized from... more-
- indiareport
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- 2 years ago
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Deer in Water was Crime of Poachers - See Removal
Yesterday I had found a dead deer in the Prentice Cooper State Forest and its carcass lying in water that flows into Suck Creek in Marion County just north of Chattanooga, Tennessee. I reported it to the State Forestry officials upon my finding it. No one from the Tennessee State Forestry Prentice Cooper Division called me back. So, I went prepared today to remove the deer from the water of the Prentice Cooper State Forest property. I discovered that this deer had been killed by poachers. The video shows that the area where the antlers were was cut out with precision. I, on the video, had said someone had removed its brain, but I was kind of upset and not thinking clearly. What I should have said was that someone had removed its antlers.
When I got home, I tried to contact the Prentice Cooper State Forest officials to tell them that I had removed the deer and they could come retrieve the carcass and dispose of it, however, I could not reach them. So, I called the Tennessee Environmental Assistance Center of the Tennessee Department of Conservation and spoke thoroughly about this matter describing it to him. He told me that based upon what I was telling him, poachers had killed this animal and cut off the antlers and bone out of the head with a saw. He was very concerned and said that I could rest assured that he was as concerned about this matter as I was and that he would follow through on this matter and have the carcass picked up. He also went on to say that this was a crime and that the officials of the Prentice Cooper State Forest should have immediately followed up on this from the initial report and that they would be hearing from his office. I admit I do not remove dogs or animals on a daily basis and this was kind of an emotional incident for me and at the same time it made me angry. I do not mind getting my hands dirty. I do not mind taking part in keeping our natural resources clean and well-kept. I am very much for the protection of our natural resources and am not afraid to say it or show it.
So, anyway. I hope that everyone will try to bare with me and understand that this was a threat to the health of others; it also is a federal offense to kill deer when out of season as it is against the law to kill other animals; it is also an outright shame and is disgusting to throw the carcass of a dead animal into the area of a State Forest or anywhere in the water that leads into our creeks and rivers. This is a felony. Should they ever catch someone committing or taking part in this activity there will be grave penalties. It is a highly punishable crime to kill wildlife when it is prohibited or no license or not in season.
I know that looking at it from the sick individuals point of view that did this, they did not have time to take it away, "man, just cut it off and lets go." Well, that view is WRONG! So suck it up if you want to argue about this. Because it is flat out WRONG! Take a stand for what you say you believe in.Yesterday I had found a dead deer in the Prentice Cooper State Forest and its carcass... more-
- Rickharmon25
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- 2 years ago
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From Race Horse to Main Course | VIDEO
Horses are being poached and slaughtered for their meat on the black market.
Dozens of horses disappearing in the dead of night only to be found stripped of skin and meat on a roadside. Other horses are discovered butchered in their stables by mortified owners.
But the culprit isn't some half-wolf, half-man abomination that preys on thoroughbreds during the full moon.
They are poachers from Miami's black market who sell the horses' meat, which is a popular delicacy among new arrivals from other countries to the area. The horse meat can go for as much as $20 per pound and based on the number of bloody horse remains and meat-stripped carcasses found on the side of dirt roads and in stables across Miami-Dade, harvesting horses for meat is a lucrative business.
The sale of horse meat for human consumption is illegal in the U.S., but that hasn't stopped the meat from being in high demand by natives of the Caribbean, Cuba and other European countries who crave horse cuisine.
Some U.S. cattle ranchers have worked around the law by exporting horses to Mexico or Canada, where killing horses for dinner is legal.
Fostering some of the boom in slaughterhouses has been the horse-racing industry and some owners of race horses. Some discard a horse after it's out-lived its racing life or is injured. They are usually sold to the first person who offers a few bucks for the animal, as was the case for Freedom's Flight, a horse rescued during a raid at a Miami area slaughterhouse.
Please follow link for the rest of this story, a slideshow and video and related stories. http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/From-Race-Horse-To-Main-Course.html
Hopefully 'Animal Planet' will choose to end their new 'Jockey' series. Too many race horses are being abused and/or brutally slaughtered.
Please watch for follow up posts on the crisis affecting America's horses.Horses are being poached and slaughtered for their meat on the black market. Dozens... more-
- julesrs007
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- 3 years ago
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As Tigers Disappear, Poachers Turn to Leopards in India
Not content with killing off tigers for their skins, recent stashes of seized leopard skins by Indian wildlife authorities suggests that with numbers of the stripey big cats on the decline, poachers are increasingly turning to their spotty cousins.
At least 141 leopards been killed by poachers so far the year, compared to 124 leopards in 2007. Meanwhile, 24 tigers have been killed so far this year in the country.
Enforcement agencies are saying that the situation has become "serious".Not content with killing off tigers for their skins, recent stashes of seized leopard... more-
- purplefox
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- 3 years ago
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Mountain Gorillas Under Attack
Guerillas threaten gorillas in African park - The new conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has forced dozens of rangers to flee Africa's oldest national park, leaving hundreds of threatened mountain gorillas at the mercy of rebel fighters and poachers.
Wildlife officers escaped into the forest when fighters loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda occupied part of the park as they launched their march on Goma, the main city in the east of DR Congo, which is now surrounded.
Set up in 1925, Virunga covers some 7800 square kilometres. Its varied terrain includes two of Africa's most active volcanoes, swamps and snow-capped mountains.
It is also home to more than half of the world's 700 remaining mountain gorillas as well as 20,000 hippopotamus, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
UNESCO named Virunga a World Heritage site in 1979 and placed it on the organisation's endangered list in 1994 when a first civil war broke out in the country.
DR Congo's Environment Minister Jose Endundo Mononge said that the fighting between the army and Nkunda's rebels poses a great threat to the park and would hit tourism income, while opening up worrying opportunities for poachers.
"In just 2007, we recorded the slaughter of 15 mountain gorillas ... and more than 20,000 antelopes," he told a press conference in Kinshasa on Friday.
Park rangers told how they fled Virunga on October 26 after Nkunda's forces moved in as part of their campaign to take over Nord-Kivu province.
"We were at our posts when we heard an exchange of gunfire between the rebels and the army. At around 6:30 am, the gunshots got closer so we fled into the forest," said Desire, a 31-year-old ranger.
Benjamin, a ranger at Kalengera, 60km north of Goma, told how his father was killed by rebels and how he has no news of his wife and five children. Benjamin spent four days hiding in the forest before arriving in Goma a week ago.
"There are a lot of people in the forest. Not just park rangers, but families as well. Some have died there; from exhaustion, lack of food and water," he said.
"The rebels came and started killing people. My father lost his life over there. I was hidden in a house with friends. We fled into the forest while my family stayed in the village and they are still there," Benjamin said. "They said that my father has been buried but I wasn't there to see it."
Desire and 52 others headed for the town of Rumangabo as Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) took territory around Goma, 50km to the south of the park.
Desire and 180 of the park's 680 rangers are now hiding in a small camp set up on the outskirts of Goma by the Congolese National Park Authorities.Guerillas threaten gorillas in African park - The new conflict in the Democratic... more-
- julesrs007
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- 3 years ago
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A cheaper plan to stop poachers
While I would also support giving poachers a taste of their own medicine, by catching them only to let them loose in a quarantined space while allowing anyone with a weapon to take aim. This article describes another approach that is currently being tested in Zambia. I am not sure if they even deserve a second chance, but this program gives them one. Anything that can be done to help prevent the killing of wildlife (most of the time endangered) should at least be tried...
Article:
A cheaper plan to stop poachers: Give them real jobs
Mfuwe, Zambia - Jimmy Mbewe spent six-and-a-half years in prison after he was caught illegally killing an elephant outside South Luangwa National Park here in eastern Zambia.
Poverty drove the father of nine to wander the bush evading wildlife scouts to shoot buffalo and elephant and sell the meat to local traders. "I'm not educated, so I chose my profession as hunting," he says.
Out of prison now, his movements are monitored by a local antipoaching team.
But Mr. Mbewe says he has no intention of going back behind bars. He's now busy learning carpentry skills with other former poachers under the Community Markets for Conservation program.
Mbewe is also learning to farm and work as a beekeeper. As long as he refrains from poaching, COMACO buys his honey at a price higher than the local market average, processes it, packages it, and sends it on to local markets.
The program goes beyond teaching former poachers new ways to earn a living; it is creating a sophisticated network of markets that makes money for locals while reducing poaching, improving land use, and supporting conservation.
"The challenge is you can't demand support for conservation if conservation is a cost," says Dale Lewis, an American conservationist who moved to Zambia 28 years ago as a college research assistant, and has spearheaded the project.While I would also support giving poachers a taste of their own medicine, by catching... more
