Singapore seizes record haul of smuggled elephant ivory

Nine tonnes of contraband tusks from about 300 animals found in illegal cargo from DRC

Agence France-Presse in Singapore

Tue 23 Jul 2019 08.18 BST Last modified on Tue 23 Jul 2019 11.38 BST

Singapore has made its largest ever seizure of smuggled ivory, impounding a haul of nearly nine tonnes of contraband tusks from an estimated 300 elephants, according to authorities.

The illegal cargo, discovered on Sunday in a container from the Democratic Republic of the Congo also included a huge stash of pangolin scales – the third such seizure in as many months.

Officials said both the ivory and pangolin scales were in a container declared to be loaded with timber destined for Vietnam and passing through Singapore, a major transhipment hub for global trade.

On inspection, authorities found 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory, the national parks board, customs and immigration and checkpoints authority said in a joint statement.

It said the ivory haul was valued at $12.9m (£10.4m) and was the largest seizure of elephant ivory in Singapore to date, and was estimated to have come from 300 African elephants.

Also found in the container were 11.9 tonnes of pangolin scales estimated to be worth about $35.7m. The scales were estimated to have come from 2,000 of the mammals.

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Large ivory seizures in Singapore make it a smuggling hub of 'primary concern'

In the last three years, significant amounts of illegal ivory have been picked up in the Singapore – conservationists worry that new smuggling routes are opening up

Karl Mathiesen

Friday 12 August 201607.00 BSTLast modified on Friday 12 August 201617.32 BST

  

Large-scale seizures of ivory in Singapore over the last three years make the south-east Asian city-state one of the world’s premier ivory smuggling hubs for organised crime, say conservation watchdogs. 

Data from seizures, collected by the UN’s wildlife trade monitor Traffic and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and shared with the Guardian, reveals how the gangsters operate. Shipping containers carrying thousands of tusks are labelled as carrying anything from tea to waste paper or avocados. They leave Africa from a few ports well-known for high levels of corruption.

Customs officials in China and Hong Kong – where most ivory ends up – target containers which have come from those ports. In order to get around this, according to EIA director of campaigns Julian Newman and traffic wildlife trade expert Tom Milliken, ivory shipments are being dropped off in transit ports, such as Singapore or Port Klang in Malaysia, where they can sit for months before being loaded on to a new vessel with paperwork listing a new port of origin.

“You’d probably get a red flag if you were shipping dried fish from Africa to Hong Kong,” said Newman. “But if it came from Malaysia then it wouldn’t. There’s lots of loopholes that people are able to exploit to try and get their stuff through customs control.”

Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are the transit countries traditionally favoured by the gangs. Between 2010 and today, the EIA recorded these countries seizing a total of 32, 18 and 14 tonnes of ivory respectively.

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Singapore's celebrity urban otter family

By Rebecca Bailey

BBC News, Singapore

5 July 2016 

They're known as the Bishan 10 - and they're possibly Marina Bay's most famous residents.

They've starred in a David Attenborough documentary, and their affairs frequently make the local news. Facebook groups are dedicated to them, andacademics study them.

They're a family of ten smooth-coated otters, and like many celebrities, they exude an aura of mystery, occasionally making an appearance to the delight of their many local fans. Like true stars though, when they do show their faces, they're extremely comfortable in front of the camera.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these urban otters don't seem to mind the crowds of humans that inevitably gather to watch them frolic around in the water, or chomp their way through an unfortunate fish's head.

(On which subject, Singaporean otters seem to have expensive tastes - local media reported back in February that otters were suspected of having eaten more than $80,000 worth of ornamental koi carp on Sentosa, a resort island just off Singapore.)

It's difficult to imagine that in the 1970s smooth-coated otters were thought to have vanished from Singapore.

Now their resurging numbers are seen as a sign that the island's waterways are becoming cleaner, and last week "Ottie the Otter" became the official mascot of an island-wide conservation movement backed by the government.

"The otter is a particularly pertinent reminder of the need to continue preserving our environment so that we do not lose these beautiful creatures again," said a spokesman at the project launch.

Fittingly, the 13th International Otter Congress is taking place in Singapore this week, with the theme Otters and People.

Continued ...

Singapore and Thailand customs seize over 40kg rhino horn

January 2014: Customs officers in Singapore and Thailand have both recorded significant rhino horn seizures within a few days of one another.

Customs in Singapore seized eight pieces of smuggled black rhinoceros horn, weighing almost 22kg, in the luggage of a man travelling from Changi Airport to Vietnam. He was tried and convicted, on 16 January, to 15 months in prison. 

Just a few days later in Bangkok, on 19th January, Royal Thai Customs seized nine rhino horns weighing 21.8 kg from a transit passenger who arrived from Nairobi, Kenya, en route to Ha Noi, Vietnam.

Continued

Falling demand for ivory in Cambodia and Singapore?

November 2013: Despite unprecedented levels of illegal ivory trade globally, there are positive signs that ivory markets in Cambodia and Singapore may be showing signs of decline, according to a piece in TRAFFIC Bulletin, the only journal devoted exclusively to wildlife trade issues.

Two separate surveys carried out by TRAFFIC suggest that there has been a significant reduction in ivory items for sale in markets in Cambodia and Singapore over the past decade. Where large amounts of ivory were on sale in retail outlets in Phnom Penh during surveys carried out in 1994 and 2001, most of the approximately 900 ivory items observed for sale in March 2013 were estimated to comprise less than 30 kg of ivory.

Similarly, a survey undertaken in Singapore in 2012 found a reduction in ivory products for sale and the number of outlets selling ivory, compared with a similar study a decade earlier. However, Singapore remains an important transit route for high volume consignments of illicit ivory between Africa and Asia, and within Asia.

www.traffic.org/bulletin/

NASA satellites reveal fire hotspots that are polluting Singapore

Fires lit to clear forest for palm oil and wood pulp plantations

June 2013. WWF has renewed calls for zero-burn policies to be enacted and enforced, as satellite hotspot analysis showed the single jurisdiction of Riau Province, Sumatra as the location of over 88% per cent of the fire hotspots that have seen Singapore and parts of Malaysia blanketed with the worst haze and pollution since 1997.

Fire hotspots are in concession areas

The call comes as Sumatra NGO coalition Eyes on the Forest (EoF) - WWF-Indonesia, Jikalhari and Wahli Riau - released a new analysis linking NASA indications of fire hotspots to concession areas. Fire and haze information is now available online through interactive maps through a joint project of EoF and Google Earth Outreach.

9000 fire hotspots

According to the most current analysis, more than 9000 fire hotspots were mapped in Sumatra by NASA satellites between 1 and 24 June, with more than 8000 in Riau province. Nearly 40 per cent overlapped with large scale pulpwood concessions or oil palm plantations.

WWF-Indonesia and EoF caution that further investigation will be required and is underway to better indicate responsibility for the fires. Concession holders have legal responsibilities over concessions but it does not necessarily follow that the companies are responsible for lighting the fires.

Palm oil 

Many are likely linked to the supply of palm oil. WWF-Indonesia this week released a report detailing the supply of oil palm fruit illegally grown inside the iconic Tesso Nilo National Park. The hotspot analysis shows the Tesso Nilo forest complex (the national park and two adjacent selective logging concessions) to be a significant source of haze, with 449 hotspots (6 per cent of the overall total for Riau) recorded there.

Continued

Large seizure of wildlife made from Singapore flat

Slow loris, marmoset, Indian star tortoise and ball python amongst wildlife seized

June 2013. Following a tip off, staff from Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) seized over 30 wild animals from an individual living in a high rise flat. The seizure, which includes highly endangered and threatened species like the slow loris, marmoset, Indian star tortoise and ball python, is AVA's largest inland seizure of wildlife since 2002. These animals are not allowed to be kept as pets in Singapore. 

The animals that were seized have been sent to the Wildlife Reserves Singapore for proper care and custody, and a man has been arrested. 

1 Sunda slow loris

1 Common marmoset

2 Indian star tortoise

3 Leopard tortoise

2 Red-footed tortoise

2 Yellow-footed tortoise

2 Alligator snapping turtle

3 Ball python

5 Ornate horned frog

2 Green iguana

1 Inland bearded dragon

2 Sailfin dragon

1 Lined flat-tail gecko

3 Black-tailed prairie dog

2 Degu

Maximum fine of $50,000 per item

In Singapore, a permit is required for any import and export/re-export of animals. In addition, as Singapore is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it is an offence to be in possession or to trade in any illegally imported or acquired CITES species. If found guilty, the offender shall be liable on conviction for a maximum fine of $50,000 per specimen (not to exceed an aggregate of $500,000) and/or jail term of up to 2 years.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/wildlife-singapore.html

Dolphin dies on plane to Singapore

WORLD'S SADDEST DOLPHINS

The “Save the World’s Saddest Dolphins” campaign (www.saddestdolphins.com) was launched in May 2011. Over 680,000 individuals have joined ACRES in urging RWS to please let the dolphins go. The campaign is in partnership with Earth Island Institute. 

Wild caught dolphins shipped to Singapore resort

December 2012. Wen Wen, one of 27 wild-caught dolphins purchased by Singapore's Resort World Sentosa (RWS), died on the plane that was taking the remaining (2 died in captivity in the Philippines) to Singapore for a new attraction at RWS. The 27 dolphins were caught from the wild in the Solomon Islands.

Singapore charity ACRES campaigned for the dolphins to be returned to the wild. 27 wild Indo-Pacific dolphins were caught in the waters of the Solomon Islands in 2009, and were shipped to Ocean Adventure Marine Park in the Philippines. The Philippines was never their intended final destination though, more a ‘holding pen' whilst the vast Resorts World Sentosa was being built in Singapore. The dolphins were and are held in the Philippines until the Marine Life Park, part of Sentosa, was ready, and so they could be ‘trained' before reaching the resort.

ACRES launched the next phase of the campaign to urge Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to let the dolphins go at an event in Singapore. Members of the public held candlelight vigils and memorial services for Wen Wen in Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), The Philippines (Manila) and Thailand (Bangkok).

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/dolphin-plane.html

Philippines halts shipment of 25 live dolphins to Singapore resort

25 dolphins awaiting shipment to giant new Singapore resort

October 2012. 27 wild Indo-Pacific dolphins were caught in the waters of the Solomon Islands in 2009, and were shipped to Ocean Adventure Marine Park in the Philippines. The Philippines was never their intended final destination though, more a ‘holding pen' whilst the vast Resorts World Sentosa was being built in Singapore. The dolphins were and are held in the Philippines until the Marine Life Park, part of Sentosa, was ready, and so they could be ‘trained' before reaching the resort.

Solomon Islands restrict dolphin capture
They were imported from the Solomon Islands by Resorts World Singapore (RWS) into the Philippines in three batches in 2008, 2009 & 2011 despite scientific reports from the IUCN stating that the harvest of wild dolphins from the Solomon Islands could put the survival of the species at risk. The IUCN report titled "Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Assessment Workshop Report" estimates that the population of this particular species in the island nation is less than 5,000 individuals. To protect the species from extinction, the Solomon Island government banned dolphin hunts in their territorial waters starting January 1, 2012. Island officials have also limited the captures to one dolphin every 5 years.  

According the Ocean Adventure, the dolphins are not on display there, they are just being held and trained before they are shipped to Singapore. Which seems to Wildlife Extra to go against their own mission statement: "To establish a world-class marine attraction that provides a highly entertaining and informative guest experience through presentations and direct interaction with marine mammals, and viewing of marine life exhibits. To increase public awareness on the need to protect and conserve marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the surrounding communities."

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/solomon-dolphins.html

Singapore man fined for setting cat on fire

SINGAPORE –  A newspaper says a Singapore man who set his neighbors cat on fire after the feline defecated in front of his apartment has been fined by a court.

The Straits Times said a district court on Tuesday ordered 78-year-old Chua Tuang Seng to pay a fine of 3,000 Singapore dollars ($2,400) and to pay SG$1,235 to the cat's owner for medical treatment.

The paper said Chua pleaded guilty to "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal." It said Chua last year poured kerosene over a 7-year-old Persian tabby named Ricco and set its fur on fire with a lit piece of newspaper.

The cat belongs to a neighbor on the floor above Chua.

The paper said Ricco was hospitalized for four days and still has scars from the attack.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/04/24/singapore-man-fined-for-setting-cat-on-fire/#ixzz1sxMjIDG4

Marine study in Singapore digs up 100 species

Some are new to the island or to science; project one-third done

By Grace Chua

Burrowed deep into the mudflats of Lim Chu Kang is a bumpy, warty sea anemone so new to science, it does not even have a scientific name yet.

Its finders have fondly nicknamed it Bill.

It is one of the new findings scientists have made, just a year into the most comprehensive study of marine life here.

In the first phase of the three-year Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey, researchers looking at coastal mudflat and intertidal areas have already found a hundred species, some of which are new for Singapore or new to science altogether.

Continued:  http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_760850.html

Amazing Neptune’s Cup Sponge Rediscovered in Singapore

By John R. Platt
More than 100 years after it was last seen, the giant Neptune’s cup sponge (Cliona patera) has been rediscovered off the coast of southern Singapore.

First discovered in 1822, the sponges grew so large—a meter or more in both height and diameter—that their cup-like structures were sometimes used as tubs for babies. But their size made them valuable to collectors around the world and they were overharvested until they disappeared from Singapore in the 1870s. The last time living sponges were seen was 1908, when collectors found some in West Java, Indonesia. The species was then thought to be extinct.

But in the 1990s, a few dead Neptune’s cup sponges turned near Australia, giving researchers hope that they might find these massive Porifera again in the oceans around Singapore.

And now that hope has been met: Two living Neptune’s cup sponges have been found near Singapore’s St. John’s Island. The first specimen was found in March by biologists with the environmental engineering firm DHI Water & Environment (S) Pte Ltd. A second sponge was found 50 meters away.

Read more here ...