Tiger-part adverts declining

Chinese-language online advertisements for tiger-part ornaments and tiger-based medicines appear to be in decline, according to a new report by TRAFFIC .Though tiger items are still being advertised online, there were signs that the number of times such advertisements are appearing is in decline. This appears to be a response to greater awareness of the illegality of such sales as well as the growing number of internet retail companies who have pledged a zero tolerance policy towards such illegal trade and routinely remove such advertising.

Education and advocacy work with those sites hosting a greater number of advertisements has shown positive outcomes and a clear reduction in this type of trade," states the report. "If the desire for the tiger as commodity (fake or otherwise) is to be lessened, investment in demand reduction is necessary to effect behavioural change and to reduce such trade in the long term."

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Monkeys appointed station masters

Two baby monkeys have been appointed station masters of a Japanese railway station.


Nehime and Rakan have started "working" at Hojomachi Station in Hyogo prefecture in a bid to attract more visitors to the line.

The monkeys, aged seven months and three months, were dressed in blue uniforms made from traditional local fabrics complete with mini hats.

The pair were formally appointed station masters and "special city residents" by the local mayor and now go on duty at the station located on the Hojo-cho line.

The monkeys belong to a local resident who proposed the unusual arrangement in order to help revive the fortunes of the financially troubled railway line, according to the Mainichi newspaper.

It is not the first time in Japan that animals have found themselves at the helm of a railway station: Tama, the tortoiseshell cat, is famous in Japan as a longstanding station master of Kishi station in Wakayama prefecture.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Monkeys_appointed_station_masters