Rhino Poaching (outside SA) & Horn Trafficking

[Duke]

Rhino horn trade thrives in Jo'burg

[Flutterby]

And nothing's been done about it!!

[Flutterby]

Tanzanian rangers can now shoot down poachers

Dodoma, Oct 4 (IANS): Tanzania has announced that all poachers arrested in its national parks and game reserves will be promptly shot in the jungle, ordering wildlife rangers to immediately execute the directive.

"There will be no forgiveness when it comes to cases of poachers terrorizing innocent wildlife like elephants, rhinos and other species in this country," reported Xinhua citing Tanzania's Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Khamis Kagasheki.

There will be no need for poachers to take them to court, he added.

The minister was speaking at the climax of the global Elephant March, which was held in 15 countries worldwide and in Tanzania the three km mass walk was held in its northern safari capital of Arusha.

He warned all perpetrators of poaching and those involving in illegal hunting to pack their weapons and find a legal business "as anyone who would be caught in the parks for whatever reasons will be shot dead on the spot".

[nan]

oups... it's the aperture of all abuses

[Sprocky]

2013-10-08 12:20

Kathmandu - Nepal police arrested 14 people on charges of rhino poaching, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

Chitwan National Park authorities said the men had been arrested in various places around the country during an operation they started in September.

Police said they had busted a major group involved in supplying rhino horns from Chitwan to Kathmandu, from where they are smuggled across the border to Tibet.

One of the suspects, Buddhi Bahadur Praja, is accused of being involved in rhino poaching for more than a decade, killing 12 rhino. Police said the charges could carry a 15-year jail term and fines.

The poaching became rampant in Nepal during the civil war period of 1996 - 2006, during which the number of rhino dropped from 600 to 375.

Authorities said they have been successful in curbing the crime. Only one case of rhino poaching was reported last year.

The official figure of rhino in Nepal currently stands at 534. The horns are prized for their alleged medicinal qualities in China and some countries in south-east Asia.

- SAPA

[Richprins]

As per Duke's link:


Wildlife trafficking syndicates brazenly sell rhino horn and ivory at Chinese markets in Southern Africa's capital cities, in the face of global attempts to crack down on the illicit trade in endangered species.

China is responsible for an estimated 70% of the world trade in ivory, and research by the international wildlife trade monitoring organisation Traffic indicates that nearly 80% of the reported seizures of illegal rhino horns in Asia between 2009 and late last year happened in China.

The recent influx of Chinese immigrants to Southern Africa has seen the market grow. Who are the Chinese people involved, and how do they go about buying these illegal products?

Chinese journalists on an undercover assignment discovered that the Bruma flea market and nearby New Chinatown in eastern Johannesburg are the hub of the illicit trade in rhino horns and ivory in South Africa.

Transactions between African sellers and Asian buyers occur relatively openly and daily.

From 9am to 5pm, sellers hang around the entrance to the Bruma flea market and eagerly surround Chinese people as they approach.

"What are you looking for? Do you want xiangya? I have," says Mike, a seller who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Do you have xiniujiao?" we ask.

Xiangya is the Chinese term for ivory, xiniujiao for rhino horn, and it is clear Mike, as well as many other shop owners, is familiar with the terms.

"Xiniujiao ... any time but now. If you come back next month, maybe I could help you get some. Now it is impossible," says Mike.

He opens a door that is covered by a hanging blanket and shows us into a secret room near his craft shop where he has a stock of worked ivory products: small sculptures of elephants, chopsticks, necklaces, bracelets.

The prices are not too expensive, ranging from R200 a piece.

Matt, a Zimbabwean who works in Mike's craft shop, says most of the rhino horns and ivory comes from his home country.

He explains how he imports it: "There is a river that divides the two countries and we find a part where the water is not too deep and there is almost no security patrolling. We take off our clothes and carry the stuff on our shoulders across the river."

His biggest concern appears to be that there are crocodiles in some parts of the river.

Other shop owners in this market call out to us with offers of xiangya and xiniujiao.

Ernest, another shop owner from the Congo, says: "Your Chinese friends may find it hard to get rhino horns, but we are Africans, we know how."

Along Derrick Avenue in New Chinatown, home to many of Johannesburg's recent Chinese immigrants, we speak to Gong, a taxi driver whose business list includes clients from the local immigration office and the Chinese embassy.

"It is easy to buy ivory and I could help you tell which ones are fake – I have been buying it for many years," he says.

Ivory is just one of the businesses Gong has engaged in in South Africa since he immigrated six years ago. Like most Chinese in his community, he does not have a good educational background and barely speaks English.

He used to assist a friend running a Chinese brothel until police closed it down.

"Nowadays [the ivory trade] is more dangerous than drugs," he says.

"Even if I could get it for you, I would not take the risk of selling it to an outsider like you rather than known partners. Ivory and rhino horns are like weed [dagga] and heroin."

Gong says fewer Chinese people are directly involved in smuggling rhino horn these days, although some still buy from Vietnamese traffickers.

Consumers would be advised to buy horn in China, where he could introduce us to sellers, he adds.

Research released by the World Wide Fund for Nature in September indicates that the Vietnamese dominate the rhino horn trade, but non-Asians often find it hard to differentiate between Chinese and Vietnamese people. Chinese smugglers still dominate the abalone smuggling market in South Africa and, according to a police expert, up to 90% of abalone smugglers are connected with rhino horn because they share the same smuggling pipelines to Asia.

Several residents of New Chinatown echo Gong's concern about the dangers involved in trading rhino horn.

"Everyone knows that it is a crime. Some Chinese were arrested because of participating in the trade. You would be advised not to ask around," says Jing, who works in a massage parlour.

Many employees of Chinese companies in South Africa avoid New Chinatown, so named to distinguish it from the original Chinatown in central Johannesburg, because of its reputation for being involved with smuggling and other dangerous business.

"I would usually not go to the New Chinatown area. There is a mix of good people and various criminals," says Zhang Jinguo, the head of the Chinese Construction Bank in Johannesburg.

Among the Chinese community of Johannesburg, it is common knowledge that the Chinese tend to buy ivory and rhino horn in Maputo, Mozambique.

We visit the Saturday market at Praça 25 de Junho in Maputo, where we have learnt that buying such products is a "must-do" for employees of Chinese companies who are not well educated and have unskilled jobs.

"The products are unique and cheap," says Chen, a frequent buyer in Maputo who works for a Chinese construction company.

At the Saturday market, Kai, a 29-year-old working for a Chinese telecommunications company, is shooting a video to send to his families in China.

"Hello dears, look where I am. This is the most famous ivory market here. I will bring you some good stuff," he says.

Shop owners like Adam are visibly excited when they see a group of Chinese people approaching.

"Come, we have heimu and xiangya," he says.

He says the Chinese are generally interested in buying two things in Mozambique: heimu, or African blackwood, and xiangya.

He also offers rhino horns at $15 000 a kilogram, though he says he does not keep it in the marketplace because it is too expensive.

He opens a big box filled with various ivory products and displays them openly.

However, when some Chinese customers lift the ivory too high he asks them to put them down, in case the police notice and make trouble.

Dong is an employee of a Chinese national oil company and has been in Mozambique for almost four years. He is browsing with three colleagues and is interested in buying bracelets made of blackwood, animal horns and ivory.

After bargaining, he buys two ivory bracelets for about R500 and his colleague also buys two.

"We will need to take them apart and hide the pieces in the corners of our luggage. Then even if customs finds some we can still make them up into bracelets in China," Dong advises his less-experienced colleague.

As Dong's group walks away, a nearby shop owner reminds them to hide their ivory bracelets inside their pockets, because if the police see them they will ask for money to "solve the problem".

Policemen patrol the market all the time, but they seem more interested in asking foreigners for their passports and money than finding ivory.

Most of the buyers know where the ivory comes from, but don't care about the slaughter of elephants.

Kai, who bought ivory bracelets, admits that he does not feel guilty about buying illegal products even though he knows how the sellers get them.

However, there are some Chinese who refuse to buy into the market.

"These items are art from killing," says Xu, a friend and colleague of Kai. But he adds that there are few Chinese like him.

Owing to the sensitivity of the investigations, real names cannot be disclosed. This investigation by the Oxpeckers Centre for Investigative Environmental Journalists was supported by the Forum for African Investigative Reporters and the Wits China-Africa Reporting Project

[Duke]

Rhino Permit for Auction

DALLAS, TX - -(Ammoland.com)- —Through an historic collaboration between governments, one hunter will have a chance to hunt a black rhino, help manage and conserve the species, and import a rare trophy to the US in 2014.

The Dallas Safari Club (DSC) has been selected by the Government of the Republic of Namibia to auction a special hunting permit with all proceeds earmarked for rhino conservation in that country.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has promised full cooperation with a qualified buyer.

DSC will sell the permit during its annual convention and expo Jan. 9-12 in Dallas.

An unprecedented sale price is expected.

“This fundraiser is the first of its kind for an endangered species,” said DSC Executive Director Ben Carter, “and it’s going to generate a sum of money large enough to be enormously meaningful in Namibia’s fight to ensure the future of its black rhino populations.”

The Government of the Republic of Namibia approved the permit in accordance with CITES provisions to generate crucial funding for rhino conservation initiatives including anti-poaching efforts—while at the same time managing the black rhino population within Mangetti National Park, where the hunt will take place.

Science has shown that removing certain individual animals can help rhino populations grow.

Black rhinos commonly fight to the death. In fact, the species has the highest combat mortality rates of any mammal. Approximately 50 percent of males and 30 percent of females die from combat-related injuries. Extremely aggressive bulls are known to be population-limiting factors in some areas. Selectively harvesting these animals can lead to population increases and greater survival.

Rampant and indiscriminate poaching is threatening rhino populations across Africa. Rhino horn has high black-market value, especially in Southeast Asia, for ornamental uses and folk remedies, although medical research has disproved actual benefits.

The Conservation Trust Fund for Namibia’s Black Rhino will receive 100 percent of the hunting permit sale price. Both DSC and contracted auctioneer Ed Phillips of Houston offered to forego their customary sales commissions to support the special cause.

Louisiana conservation attorney John J. Jackson, III, helped facilitate the auction item and proceeds will be channeled through his Conservation Force, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity, for income tax deduction purposes.

The winning bidder may hire his or her qualified outfitter or guide to lead the hunt, which will be accompanied by Namibian wildlife officials.

[Flutterby]

Germany demands UN resolution on poaching

Poaching and illegal animal trading are not only threats against animals but also for humans. Proceeds finance violence and terrorism. Now Germany and Gabon are demanding a UN resolution.

For Jams Leape, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), poaching is a deadly spiral of crime. "Elephants are being poached; their ivory is sold and in the end that finances the purchase of weapons," he told DW in an interview.
Three recent reports of international trading of wild animals highlight the severity of this issue. In Nepal, police arrested 14 alleged rhinoceros poachers; in Hong Kong elephant tusks worth 740,000 euros ($1 million) were seized from a shipment from Africa and in Kenya, customs found more than 1,600 ivory pieces hidden in sesame seeds.

Extinction of animal species feared
The black market for these animals is a "big business," according to Leape. Slaughtering protected animals such as elephants or rhinos in order to sell their tusks and horns on the international black market "is now one of the largest organized crime businesses in the world," he said.
The illegal poaching business is worth an estimated 14 billion euros ($19 billion) per year, a trend that is on the rise. "And you can see the effects on the ground. Estimates say we are losing more than 30,000 elephants every year," Leape said. "The elephant population in the Congo Basin in Central Africa has dropped 60 percent in the last decade."
The Congo Basin with its savannas and forests is considered Africa's "green lung" and is home to many wild animals. But rhino poaching has soared in the last several years. "We lost 13 rhinos in 2007. We've lost 688 rhinos already this year, and we still have three months to go," Leape said.

Stability threatened
The worldwide illegal trade of protected animals not only threatens endangered species, it also damages flora and fauna, and that is a serious threat for many states and their citizens.

After all, proceeds from this underground business finance international drug dealers, criminal associations, rebel groups and, ultimately, terrorism. Violence and corruption greatly benefit from illegal poaching, which in turn exacerbates the conflicts that are threatening to unravel the stability of governments.
"We want people to understand that this is not just a wildlife crisis; it's in fact a humanitarian crisis," Leape said. "Because poaching and international trade are undermining governments and communities across the countries where these animals live."

Germany calls on fighting poaching
To break this spiral of violence, Germany and Gabon have begun tackling the issue and called for action at the last UN General Assembly.
"It is obvious that this issue is not on the front pages of the media everyday, but it is an issue of great importance," outgoing German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said at a meeting of German and Gabonese dignitaries in New York.
"Poaching is not only a crime against animals but also against peoples, because it is destabilizing countries, societies, and it is an organized crime. And that's why we want to fight against it and work together," Westerwelle added.

No demand - no market
Gabon's president, Ali Bongom, agreed with Westerwelle and said "poaching today is more than transnational crime and a real environmental problem."
He pointed to the responsibility of those on the receiving end of the criminal activity, namely the purchaser that pays a large price for tusks and rare animal fur.
"No demand, no market: and all of us have to work towards achieving that end," Bongom said.
Calling for a UN resolution
For Leape, cooperation is also crucial, and the UN General Assembly was a good opportunity to highlight the problems and initiate a common UN approach.
"We asked for a UN resolution on international wildlife trafficking and got quite enthusiastic support from several corners," Leape said.

"We also called for [Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon] to appoint a special representative whose full-time focus would be addressing the international wildlife trade problem - and understanding its connection to sustainable development."
Like other non-governmental organizations, the WWF works together with governments of affected countries to help them bolster enforcements and make sure that poachers are prosecuted when caught.
"It is paramount that we track down not only those on the ground but the kingpins who are actually running the show."
"We've had a couple of successes in the last years," Leape said. "But that's clearly an area that needs to be strengthened. We're helping governments do that and come together in regional cooperation to catch gangs who are roaming freely across national borders."

[Flutterby]

M&G rhino article misleading
16 OCT 2013 14:49


Frankly speaking, I am of the view that the content of the M&G article "Rhino horn trade thrives in Jo'burg" may mislead the public, writes Pan Peng.

China is one of the countries with the richest wild animal species in the world. The Chinese people love animals and nature, just like the South African people. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of wildlife and has promulgated laws and regulations in this concern, established a multi-sectoral joint law-enforcement mechanism, and taken various measures to protect wildlife and raise public awareness.

China joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 1981, and has been fighting against wildlife cross-border crimes in close co-operation with the international community. We have signed wildlife protection co-operation agreements with many countries and implemented a series of international wildlife projects and protection activities.

China has always paid special attention to protection of the rhino and African elephant. In 1993, the rhino was identified by the Chinese government as "wildlife under first-class national protection", the same as the giant panda. Also in 1993, the state council of China issued a notice prohibiting the trade in rhino horns. The smuggling and trading of rhino-horn products became criminal offences with a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The African elephant is also identified as "wildlife under first-class national protection" in China. We have taken strict regulatory measures on ivory, further enhancing law enforcement in this area. The China Wildlife Conservation Association has set up a special fund for elephant conservation. China is the largest sponsor of the African Elephant Protection Fund.

Chinese celebrities such as former National Baseball Association star Yao Ming and pop singer Li Yuchun have visited Africa as animal-protection volunteers; they have called on everyone in China to protect rhinos and elephants. I believe their efforts, and the efforts of many others, will further raise public awareness of wildlife protection in China.

China has long been committed to co-operation with South Africa on wildlife protection. The Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and China on Co-operation in the Fields of Wetland and Desert Ecosystems and Wildlife Conservation, signed during President Xi Jinping's state visit to South Africa in March, further endorsed bilateral co-operation here.

We will support and collaborate with South Africa in the fight against rhino-poaching and smuggling of rhino horns and ivory. – Pan Peng, press counsellor, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of South Africa

[Flutterby]

China has always paid special attention to protection of the rhino and African elephant. In 1993, the rhino was identified by the Chinese government as "wildlife under first-class national protection", the same as the giant panda. Also in 1993, the state council of China issued a notice prohibiting the trade in rhino horns. The smuggling and trading of rhino-horn products became criminal offences with a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Actions speak louder than words Mr Peng!!