tagged w/ animal smuggling
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Live tiger cub found in suitcase at Thai airport
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 27, 2010 12:36 p.m. EDT
This two-month old tiger cub was found stuffed in a woman's luggage at Bangkok's international airport.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Authorities are trying to determine where the tiger came from
* Trade monitoring network says a baggage scan sparked airport workers' suspicions
* The tiger cub is two months old
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- A live tiger cub hidden in a suitcase filled with stuffed toys was spotted as it went through a luggage X-ray at a major Thai airport, a wildlife trade monitoring network said.
Staff at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport contacted authorities after a baggage scan showed an item resembling a real cat in a passenger's over-sized bag, the non-profit organization TRAFFIC said Thursday.
Investigators found a sedated, two-month-old tiger cub when they opened the bag for inspection.
Officials are trying to determine where the cub came from and whether it was caught in the wild or bred in captivity, TRAFFIC said.
Authorities found the tiger Sunday in a suitcase belonging to a 31-year-old Thai national, who was scheduled to board a flight for Iran, the organization said.
Chris R. Shepherd, TRAFFIC's deputy regional director for Southeast Asia, praised authorities for discovering the smuggling attempt, but said the case showed a need for more monitoring and tougher punishments.
"If people are trying to smuggle live tigers in their check-in luggage, they obviously think wildlife smuggling is something easy to get away with and do not fear reprimand," Shepherd said. "Only sustained pressure on wildlife traffickers and serious penalties can change that."Live tiger cub found in suitcase at Thai airport
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 27,... more
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Mexican police arrest man hiding 18 monkeys under clothes at airport
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 20, 2010 4:17 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Mexican authorities searching a man with a bulge under his shirt at the airport in the nation's capital found 18 monkeys hidden beneath his clothes, police said.
Investigators grew suspicious after Roberto Sol Cabrera Zavaleta, 38, became "markedly nervous" when asked what he was transporting, Mexico's Public Safety Department said.
Two of the tiny titi monkeys he was carrying in a belt were dead, the department said in a statement, and 16 of them survived the journey from Lima, Peru. Cabrera has been detained as authorities continue their investigation, the statement said.
In an interview with authorities released by police, Cabrera said he first carried the monkeys in his suitcase, but then hid the animals in his clothes so they would not be harmed by X-ray machines at the airport. He described the animals as "pets" and told authorities he had purchased them for $30.
Titi monkeys are protected endangered species requiring a permit for possession, police said.
Images released by police show the tiny creatures, many of which are tied up in pouches, squirming in a cardboard box.
EthicalVegan's Note: Visit this better article, especially to see the heartrending video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10692772 [Thanks, Stoneyroad!]Mexican police arrest man hiding 18 monkeys under clothes at airport
By the CNN Wire... more
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Al Jazeera English - Americas
The US is the biggest consumer of black market wildlife in the world earning smugglers up to $20m a year.
US customs agents say smuggling of protected wildlife is becoming a multi-billion dollar business, generated by a huge demand.
Mike Kirsch reports from Los Angeles.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/03/201032013352628634.htmlAl Jazeera English - Americas
The US is the biggest consumer of black market... more
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Despite an international ban, the trade in endangered animals to the Middle East is flourishing. This exclusive report tracks the dealers, buyers and government officials who protect them.
In January 2005, a crate containing six baby chimpanzees and four monkeys was rescued from a flight from Cairo. The animals had been denied food and water for days and one soon died. Scouring flight records, animal investigators linked the shipment to a notorious wildlife smuggler. It's believed this smuggler traffics an average of 40 chimpanzees a year, bribing airport officials. Despite a wealth of evidence against her, she has never been prosecuted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7gsvvzlab8&NR=1
There is NO EXCUSE for this horror. As a compassionate and smart consumer, know where you 'stuff' comes from!
Please do not add to the environmental devastation and ethical atrocities taking place.
Climate change (global warming) already threatens these magnificent beings with extinction. Deforestation, mining and "exploration" in the DRC (& surrounding African nations) is driven by CONSUMERISM.
Please visit my blogger page http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/ for links and other information on how to help this magnificent & endangered being, the Mountain Gorilla.- FULL LENGTH FILM -
Despite an international ban, the trade in endangered animals... more
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Did you read the story about the illegal trade in gorilla testicles? Have you seen the one about parrots poached in Brazil using glue? How about the news bulletin last week about the guy at LAX with Australian lizards strapped to his chest?
Generally there are two kinds of wildlife crime stories in the media: the weird news item showing a smuggler in flagrante (a stunned German tourist with a marmoset hidden in his beard) and the "in-depth" overseas report. I want to focus on the latter because too often these overseas reports kill endangered species.
After a description of a featured [mammal] [reptile] [bird] enjoying the best day of its life, chances are that any overseas report you've encountered went something like this:
Illegal trade in wildlife is a $10 billion a year industry, second only to trade in illegal drugs. Last summer [fall, winter, spring] I visited [foreign country] and found [mammal, reptile, bird] for sale. Here's a photo. Then I interviewed an NGO official who told me that [mammal, reptile, bird] is near extinction. So, I joined up with a ranger and went with him on patrol--notice the spectacular scenery--and sure enough the ranger caught somebody [picture] with a [mammal, reptile, bird]. Insert quote. Conclude with a personal reflection on man's inhumanity to [mammal, reptile, bird].
Starting with the first sentence, as above, these stories are factually wrong. And after that, they spiral into something that often reads like an eco-tourist's vacation diary.
Almost every news report on the illegal wildlife trade gives its value at between 6 billion and 20 billion dollars a year, and they invariably compare it to the markets for illegal drugs and guns. Google search "second only to drugs." Unfortunately, there is absolutely no basis for these numbers.
I first heard the six billion, second only to drugs description from a convicted smuggler who told me he had been hearing the same statistic for 20 years so if it was true he should be left alone since it meant he was in a zero-growth industry. Then I heard U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agents use the statistic, and then NGO leaders. I grew suspicious when I asked an NGO official her source for the figure, and she responded, "Why do you want to know?"
In most cases, stories cite Interpol for the figures, or the State Department, or an NGO, which in turn cites Interpol.
I contacted Interpol to find out some details on the figures and got a response from Bill Clark, Interpol Secretary, who lives in Israel. Clark knew the statistic and its sourcing to Interpol. He said: "We have no idea where the media gets its numbers, but it's not from Interpol." In fact, he added, "Interpol has no reliable data on which to base an estimate."
The six-billion-dollar figure has been increased every few years to get the ten and twenty billion figures often reported. Clark said that a newspaper in Nairobi had recently published "$31bn annually!"
So what? We all know illegal wildlife trade is big and that illegal traders are bad, so (apart from accuracy) who cares if we spice up the numbers a little?
Click on link for complete article.Did you read the story about the illegal trade in gorilla testicles? Have you seen the... more
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Malaysian wildlife authorities said they have rescued 130 pangolins and arrested two men attempting to smuggle the protected species, destined to be sold to restaurants and medicine shops.
Officials from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks said the two men were detained at a cemetery in central Pahang state, national news agency Bernama said late Saturday.
"The cemetery is believed to be the transit point before the animals are taken to (southern state) Johor and illegally exported to China, Japan and Hong Kong," state department head Khairiah Mohamad Shariff told Bernama.
He added the 130 pangolins seized were worth 40,000 ringgit (11,500 dollars).
Malaysian marine police on Thursday rescued 62 pangolins.
Pangolins are indigenous to the jungles of Indonesia, parts of Malaysia and areas of southern Thailand. The animal's meat is considered a delicacy in China, but it is classified as a protected species under the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.Malaysian wildlife authorities said they have rescued 130 pangolins and arrested two... more
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Thought I'd post this after yesterdays revelation of the python man.
Other weird smugglers include Sonny Dong, who had 14 live birds strapped to his calves.
There was also an Australian traveller who put a pigeon down each of his legs.
Click the link for some freaky pictures!Thought I'd post this after yesterdays revelation of the python man.
Other... more
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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia should take urgent steps to curb animal smuggling to the Middle East that is cutting into export earnings worth tens of millions of dollars to the poor country every year, a senior official said.
Livestock exports are an important source of hard currency for the Horn of Africa nation, which boasts 50 million cattle, 50 million sheep and goats and more than half a million camels.
It made $53 million from exports last year, but Berhe Gebreigziabher, at a top official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said crime was slashing revenue.
"A significant number of live animals ... are being smuggled to neighboring states to be re-exported to Middle Eastern countries," he told Reuters on Friday.
"Our animal sector resources are being stolen and taken to other nations. The government must adopt strict policies and control mechanism to stop the illegal trade undermining us."
Berhe, who heads the ministry's Animal and Plant Regulatory Department, said the authorities should support economic growth by adding value to their exports, not just selling livestock.
The government has converted tens of thousands of acres in the Oromia, Amhara and Somali regions to rangeland for the leather goods sector, which it hopes will earn $200 million from exports in 2009/10 (July-June), up from $100 million in 2008/09.
The country used to export mostly raw hides and skins to markets in Europe and Asia, generating about $30 million a year in the late 1990s. It has since built dozens of tanneries, shoe factories and other leather-working facilities.
Among the major buyers of Ethiopian-made shoes are Germany, Italy, China, India and the United States.ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia should take urgent steps to curb animal smuggling to... more
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