Ivory Trade

[Sprocky]

Johannesburg - A Chinese woman was sentenced to a R50 000 fine or three years' imprisonment by the Kempton Park Regional Court on Wednesday for trying to smuggling ivory through South Africa, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said.

"She attempted to smuggle 12.7kg ivory, two lion claws and 10 Pangolin scales to Hong Kong," spokesperson Adrian Lackay said in a statement.

"The items were detected in her check-in baggage after information regarding the consignment was received by Sars."

Jialing Yang, 58, from Guangdong province in China, was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport on Friday.

She was en route to Hong Kong from Dubai.

"She stated that she had bought the ivory tusks and worked ivory, including ivory combs, ornaments, bangles and pendants at a flea market in Mozambique."

Four men and three women were subsequently arrested at Hong Kong International Airport between Friday and Sunday following co-operation between Sars, the SA police, and Interpol.

The seven had travelled to Hong Kong from Dubai via Johannesburg.

Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan Magistrate's Court handed down sentences of imprisonment and fines ranging from about R39 000 to about R106 000 to these smugglers.

- SAPA

[okie]

Johannesburg - A Chinese woman was sentenced to a R50 000 fine or three years' imprisonment by the Kempton Park Regional Court on Wednesday for trying to smuggling ivory through South Africa, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said.

"She attempted to smuggle 12.7kg ivory, two lion claws and 10 Pangolin scales to Hong Kong," spokesperson Adrian Lackay said in a statement.

Hmmmm..... IMO , With the price of raw ivory in China reported to be at around $2000 per kg ( SAR20, 000 per kg ) , she came off quite light .

[Richprins]

It's China, you know! Our new imperial masters....

[nan]

It's China, you know! Our new imperial masters....

yes, I'm afraid

[Sprocky]

2014-01-06 13:02

Beijing - China crushed a pile of ivory reportedly weighing over six tons on Monday, in a landmark event aimed at shedding its image as a global hub for the illegal trade in African elephant tusks.

In what was described as the first ever public destruction of ivory in China, masked workers fed tusks from a pile surrounded by ivory carvings into crushing machines in the southern city of Dongguan.

The event was "the country's latest effort to discourage illegal ivory trade, protect wildlife and raise public awareness", the official news agency Xinhua said.

Surging demand for ivory in Asia is behind an ever-mounting death toll of African elephants, conservationists say, as authorities have failed to rein in international smuggling networks.

Experts believe that most illegal ivory is headed to China - where products made from the material have long been seen as status symbols - with some estimating the country accounts for as much as 70% of global demand.

Illegal trade

Chinese forestry and customs officials oversaw the destruction, which was shown live by state broadcaster CCTV. It reported that the ivory weighed 6.1 tons and had been seized over a period of years.

Some of the crushed ivory powder would be disposed of, some would be displayed in a museum exhibit, while the rest would be "preserved", state-run China National Radio reported. The substance can be used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

China was in March named by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) as one of eight nations failing to do enough to tackle the illegal trade in elephant ivory.

In July last year more than 1 000 ivory tusks, mainly from baby elephants and headed for mainland China, were seized by customs in the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong.

Cites banned international ivory trading in 1989, but the environmental group WWF estimates that around 22 000 elephants were hunted for their tusks in 2012, with a greater number projected for the following year. There could be as few as 470 000 left, it says.

Other countries have carried out similar exercises, with the US crushing six tons of ivory in November. The Philippines destroyed five tons of tusks in June, and Kenya set fire to a pile weighing the same amount in 2011.

- AFP

[okie]

Well , but ..... just a small drop in a very big bucket .
Consider an ellie tusk weighing on average , what 25 kg ( not really a big ellie ) , which means 50 kg per ellie , and therefore they crushed the tusks from a mere 120 dead elephants . Compare that with around 22 000 ellies killed for their ivory , which would amount to more than 1000 metric tons ( 1 million kilograms ) of ivory

[Richprins]

I wonder what "preserved" means?

[okie]

For " preserved" read : " to be used as medicine " .

[Richprins]

They should burn the crushed stuff...that would send the full message?

[Sprocky]

2014-01-09

Harare - Zimbabwe police said Thursday they were investigating the killing of four people who were shot near a game park in what local media reported could have been a deal gone wrong with suspected poachers.

The bodies of a man and a woman were found inside an abandoned van in a riverbed near Ngongonye Bridge in the Binga region, close to the border with Zambia in the north, police spokesperson Charity Charamba said.

A third body was found near the car, and the other body was discovered decapitated about a kilometre away. All four bodies had gunshot wounds.

Local villagers were quoted in the media as saying the killings could have been a result of a deal between poachers and ivory dealers that went sour prompting the poachers to kill the prospective buyers to cover their tracks.

Cases of big game poaching including elephants are often reported in Binga, which borders Hwange, Zimbabwe's largest game park.

Last year poachers poisoned the environs of main waterholes in Hwange killing more than 100 elephants.

- AFP