Big cat poacher is mauled to death and EATEN by the pride of lions he was hunting with only his head remaining at South African game reserve

Man is believed to have been hunting pride of lions when the big cats attacked

Screams were heard as he was being mauled to death at South African reserve

The lions devoured most of the poacher's body but left his head untouched

By Jamie Pyatt In Cape Town For Mailonline

PUBLISHED: 09:56, 12 February 2018 | UPDATED: 11:32, 12 February 2018

A big cat poacher has been killed and eaten by the pride of lions he was hunting at a private game reserve in South Africa.

The hunter was heard screaming for help as he was attacked at the Ingwelala Private Nature Reserve in Hoedspruit outside Phalaborwa.

But the lions quickly killed their victim and devoured most of his body before being chased off, leaving his head untouched. 

A big cat poacher has been killed and eaten by the pride of lions he was hunting at the Ingwelala Private Nature Reserve in South Africa. Pictured: Two lions at the private park that were not involved in the incident

Police at first thought the dead man was a tractor driver who worked at the game reserve. 

But when he turned up alive, they realised he may have been a poacher. A hunting rifle was found close to what was left of the blood drenched body.

Police in Limpopo have called in the Department of Home Affairs to help them to try to identify the dead man, who was not carrying documents.

Read more: 

Sea Turtle Poachers Attack Sea Shepherd Volunteers, Police, on the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean – via Herp Digest

By The Maritime Executive, 07-13, 2017

Sea Shepherd volunteers and local police have had rocks thrown at them during efforts to save turtles. Less than two weeks after publishing images of poached sea turtles on the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, Sea Shepherd volunteers interrupted a poaching operation on the night of July 7. 

The island in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Mozambique is home to a 68,381km² protected marine reserve, rich in ocean wildlife. Yet the sea turtles are often killed by poachers who sell the meat on the black market.

When the volunteers arrived at the beach known as Moya 1, one of the most popular tourist beaches on the Petit Terre island, they spotted a 4x4 vehicle, its lights switched off as it waited to pick up poached turtle meat. The guards, who should have been there to protect the turtles who come to lay their eggs, were nowhere to be seen.

Down on the beach, the volunteers found two turtles ripped open with their eggs scattered in the sand. Sea Shepherd alerted the local gendarmes. The poachers, who had run to hide on a hill overlooking the beach, began throwing rocks at the volunteers and police from above. No one was hurt, however the poachers also set the Sea Shepherd volunteers’ car on fire.

Despite the intervention of three police officers, who helped seize some of the turtle meat which was left behind by the fleeing poachers, no arrests could be made because the security on the beach that night was grossly insufficient compared to the scale of the threat, says Sea Shepherd.

“France seems to remain blind and deaf concerning the social and ecological crisis which is raging in Mayotte,” said President of Sea Shepherd France, Lamya Essemlali. “France is letting its overseas department perish, a place which is home to one of the world’s largest lagoons, rich in local biodiversity. The only law which seems to prevail on this island is the law of the jungle. This condition has caused social and environmental chaos which is hard to imagine in continental France.”

Sea Shepherd launched Operation Nyamba in June 2017 at the request of locals and work with them to fight the poaching with direct action. “Even though the circumstances on the ground turned out to be worse and more dramatic than we expected, the situation has only reinforced our determination,” says Essemlali. “We will not give up on Mayotte.”

Sea Shepherd has released video footage of the incident on YouTube at http://bit.ly/2v0kHAD

Poachers and wildlife traffickers to face prison sentences across Europe

New sentencing policy would end legal loopholes that leave wildlife crimes in many central and eastern European countries punishable by non-custodial sentences

Arthur Neslen

Thursday 25 February 2016 16.38 GMTLast modified on Thursday 25 February 201616.40 GMT

Organised wildlife criminals will face prison sentences of at least four years in a crackdown on poachers, smugglers and illegal trophy hunters that the European commission is due to launch on Friday.

An action plan seen by the Guardian would force all EU countries to consider major wildlife trafficking a grave offence under the UN’s convention against transnational organised crime.

The environment commissioner, Karmenu Vella told the Guardian the package was “a bold step forward”.

He said: “It is essential that we work together. All 28 member states must consider wildlife trafficking as a serious crime. The plan will help on coordination with Europol. At a local level, communities must feel economically invested in conservation. Then we can truly tackle the issue.”

The new sentencing policy would end current legal loopholes that leave wildlife crimes in many central and eastern European countries punishable by fines and non-custodial sentences.

Only 11 EU countries imposed prison sentences on wildlife criminals in 2013-14 according to an EU staff working document on wildlife crime, seen by the Guardian.

“Concern has been expressed in a number of reports that the severity of fines and prison sentences imposed in the EU fails to reflect the seriousness of the crimes and the value of the wildlife on the international (black) market, and lack deterrent effect,” the paper says.

Werner Gowitzke, an environmental crime officer for Europol said: “The fact is that different penalties in different member states can create a bias for organised crime groups to base their activities in one country or another.”

Continued …

Indian poachers threaten lesser-known animals

NEW DELHI: Wildlife poachers, hindered by India's efforts to protect majestic endangered animals including tigers and rhinos, have begun to think smaller. And activists say scores of the country's lesser-known species are vanishing from the wild as a result.

The Indian pangolin — a scaly critter whose defense mechanism of rolling up into a ball is no help against humans — and the star tortoise — a popular pet that maxes out at a foot in length — are just two of the species that are being killed or smuggled in increasing numbers while conservation efforts focus on such iconic animals such as tigers and elephants.

"The problem is that we were turning a blind eye to all lesser-known species and suddenly this very lucrative trade has been allowed to explode," said Belinda Wright, director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, an advocacy group.

- See more at:

Mozambique logs a rare victory against poachers

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The recent arrests of six suspected poachers on a vast wildlife reserve in Mozambique are seen by conservationists as rare good news in a country where elephants and other species are under extreme threat.

The poaching ring had been operating in the Niassa National Reserve, which is twice the size of South Africa's flagship Kruger National Park, where the rhino population has been hit hard by poachers, many of whom cross over from Mozambique.

The Sept. 7 detentions in the southern African nation followed nearly a year of investigative work, illustrating the challenges of policing rugged areas where armed poachers hike on expeditions that often last two weeks and sometimes kill elephants with single shots targeting vital organs.

Continued ...

Wildlife 'WikiLeaks' targets Africa poaching elite

Poachers slaughtering Africa's elephants and rhinos with impunity are often shielded from police by powerful connections, but a group of conservationists has turned to the anonymity of tip-offs to try to stem the killing.

The founders of WildLeaks— a sort of WikiLeaks for the environment— say it is the first secure, online whistle-blowing platform dedicated to wildlife and forest crime.

While wildlife rangers face gun battles in national parks with poachers carrying out the slaughter, the online project hopes to target the top-end traffickers who cream off millions of dollars in profit.

"We got, for example, a very interesting leak on a very powerful individual in Kenya, linked to the government, who is behind the ivory trade," said founder Andrea Crosta, a former security consultant and longtime conservationist.

This kind of person "will never be taken out from within. They're too powerful. You need help from outside. So right now, we're trying to gather more evidence," he said in rapid-fire, Italian-accented English.

Read more at:

KWS Ranger killed by poachers

Posted by: Joal Chebet / posted on June 4th, 2014

A Kenya Wildlife Service ranger was killed on Monday after being caught in an ambush by poachers. The ranger was part of a team protecting rhinos at the Ol Jorgi Ranch in Laikipia North The ranger team was involved in a gun fight with a poaching gang outside the park when they were also attacked by a poaching gang that was already inside the park.

25-year-old Paul Harrison Lelesepei was shot during the gunfight and died while on the way to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital.

The poaching gangs managed to escape but officials say that there are leads which are currently being followed by investigators.

Senior Ranger Aggrey Maumo described that “One gang was inside the ranch already while another was outside. Our rangers had no information about the other gang that was inside and were caught unawares during the shootout with the other that was outside”

Continued

China announces $100 million aid for African wildlife

Posted by: Kevin Heath / 18 hours ago

On his visit to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Chinese President has announced that China will provide $100 million in aid for Africa in its fight against poachers and the continents attempt to conserve fast declining species. The amount came as part of an extra $12 billion dollars of aid announced by President Li Keqiang.

The bulk of the aid will be in credit lines – $10 billion – with an extra $2 billion going to the China-Africa Development Fund. Today’s announcement brings a total of $30 billion in credit that China provides to African countries.

President Li also announced that China will make available its expertise in high-speed rail to African nations as part of Li’s vision of connecting up every capital city in Africa with fast rail transport as a driver for the continents growth and development.

“We have a dream that all African capitals are connected with high-speed rail, so as to boost pan-African communication and development,” the Chinese Premier said at the press conference. “China is ready to work with Africa “to make this dream come true,”

Continued

Machine-gun weilding poachers arrested in Tanzania

Posted by: Kevin Heath / 28 mins ago

Police and wildlife rangers in Tanzania have arrested 6 poachers armed with a submachine gun who had been on an elephant poaching spree killing at least 28 elephants. The suspected poachers were arrested just after mid-night on Monday in the village of Kiyombo in central Tanzania.

Authorities recovered 55 elephant tusks from the gang, indicating that they had killed at least 28 elephants in their poaching spree.

Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu said the poachers were arrested some hours after midnight in Monday morning. “Right now, the arrested poachers are being held at the Manyoni police station,”

Continued

Gila monsters, rare rattlers make Arizona 'Shangri-La' for poachers – via Herp Digest

The ridge-nosed rattlesnakes are among the reptiles that make Arizona a draw for reptile poachers.

Poaching targets

• Gila monster

• Twin-spotted rattlesnake

• Massasauga rattlesnake

• Banded rock rattlesnake

• Ridge-nosed rattlesnake

BY PETER HADEN

Cronkite News Service 11/29/13

MESA, AZ - After monsoon rain, poachers are known to prowl desert roads looking for Gila monsters warming themselves on the asphalt. That's where Ranger comes in.

State law enforcement officers release Ranger, a Gila monster fitted with an identifying microchip, and keep watch nearby.

"If someone pulls over and picks it up and takes it, that's reasonable suspicion to make a stop and issue a citation," said Tyler VanVleet, law enforcement coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department's regional office in Mesa.

A Gila monster, one of only two venomous lizards in the world, can fetch up to $1,500 on the black market, according to experts.

Along with four other venomous reptile species protected in Arizona - the twin-spotted, massasauga, banded rock and ridge-nosed rattlesnakes - Gila monsters make Arizona a draw for reptile poachers.

"They've come from Australia, Germany, other European countries, and from all over the U.S. to collect animals that can only be found in Arizona," VanVleet said.

He said poachers often time their trips with monsoon season.

"All of that water hitting the ground gets the animals moving," VanVleet said. "People will come to Arizona and start driving the roads at night, spotting reptiles with their headlights or flashlights."

They come to Arizona because of the diversity of reptiles indigenous to the state, including 13 different species of rattlesnake, according to Nate Deason, venomous serpent curator at the Phoenix Herpetological Society.

"For reptile lovers, it's Shangri-La," he said.

Experts know there is quite a bit of illegal collection going on, but assessing the magnitude and damage to species is tricky, according to Dave Prival, co-founder of Southwestern Ecological Research Co. in Tucson. He has been monitoring a population of twin-spotted rattlesnakes in southern Arizona for more than 15 years.

"It's difficult assess the impact of reptile poaching on a statewide level because there is very little monitoring," he said.

Prival said his long-term monitoring of snakes in the Chiricahua Mountains has provided some clues, however.

"The site is well-known for poaching," he said. "What I have found is that snakes there are smaller than at other sites. That's one of the outcomes of poaching: Fewer animals survive long enough to get big. And that impacts reproductive success."

Prival said periods of stepped-up law enforcement in that area have had a measurable effect.

"When we see a year when there is increased law enforcement at the site, the following year we have more snakes and larger snakes," he said.

The Web has made it easier for sellers to find buyers for protected species, but it also makes it easier for Game and Fish to find poachers, according to VanVleet. That's how the agency discovered an out-of-state collector whose case is pending.

"He was listing protected animals as 'Arizona species' and putting them up for sale all over the world," he said. "We watched him and waited for him to come to the state, and we caught him in the act."

It's not only people from beyond Arizona attempting to profit off the state's reptiles. Over the past three years around eight Gila monsters have been sold in Tucson - either to reptile stores or on Craigslist, according to Gabriel Paz, law enforcement coordinator for Game and Fish's regional office there.

"We bought several of them ourselves, and cited the individuals," he said.

VanVleet said policing across state lines complicates nabbing poachers.

"You've got 50 states, and you're going to have 50 different rules pertaining to reptiles," he said. "Some states are very restrictive, and some states are wide open. It's hard for us as an agency to prosecute someone in a state 2,000 miles away on the other side of the country."

Prival said that combined with the effects of wildfires and climate change, poaching can wipe out a small population of snakes in an area.

"The old-timers always say that there used to be a lot more snakes than there are now," he said. "When they go to some areas, they say, 'I used to find snakes all over the place, and now I can't find any.'"

VanVleet said Game and Fish is determined to keep reptile populations healthy and has officers on the lookout for telltale signs of poaching, including the tools poachers use.

"Someone wandering around with a snake hook or a pair of snake tongs, pillow cases, buckets in vehicles - that would send up a red flag for an officer," he said.

Poachers Are Using Scientific Papers to Guide Them to Their Next Victims – via Herp Digest

December 2, 2013, Smithsonian.com

|When scientists publish a paper on a particular species, they’re generally not imagining that they’re helping out poachers. But that’s exactly what’s happening for some scientists. According to Laurel Neme at Mongabay, scientists discovering a new species have been inadvertently contributing to wildlife trading. Take the story of Bryan Stuart, who has discovered 27 different species of newts:

Shortly after Stuart described the previously unknown species Laotriton (Paramesotriton) laoensis in a scientific paper published in 2002, commercial dealers began collecting this Lao newt for sale into the pet trade. In essence, the dealers used Stuart’s geographic description in the paper as a “roadmap” to find the rare newt.

Collectors came from all over to the two tiny streams where Stuart found the newt and began illegally collecting the critters and selling them for over $250 a pop. And Neme says that Stuart’s story isn’t even that uncommon:

This situation is not unique. It’s also happened with a turtle (Chelodina mccordi) from the small Indonesian island of Roti, which was so heavily hunted that today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Similarly, a rare gecko (Goniurosaurus luii) from southeastern China was extirpated from its locality as prices in importing countries soared to highs of $1,500 to $2,000 each.

What can researchers do to keep their work from endangering the species they’ve just discovered? Stuart suggests that they start working with local governments to figure out how to keep poachers away from these new species. And sometimes, Stuart says, it might actually be prudent to keep some information out of the public domain:

In some cases, I know that some other museum curators, such as myself, while we are motivated by trying to make all the information from the collections that we are responsible for as freely available to the public as we can, we do try to keep in mind stories like the one I’ve just reported, where there are those few bad apples out there, people who are looking to obtain those data not for scientific activities but rather for personal profit.

For scientists who discover new species, the prospect of their science being used to gather and sell the species they so painstakingly described is a strange one. But species hunters have to start taking note of the other kind of hunters out there.

Horror as severed heads of 11 stags found in South Molton layby

Police are hunting poachers after the severed heads of eleven stags were found strewn in a layby.

The majestic animals had their antlers hacked off before their remains were dumped at South Molton, near Exmoor National Park.

Fully-grown antlers can sell for several hundred of pounds each and locals are convinced illegal poachers are behind the massacre.

It is not illegal to shoot deer in daylight but hunters need permission from landowners and licenses for their firearms.

Wildlife crime officer PC Martin Beck said: "We are trying to encourage good sport and tourism for the area but we want to stamp down on illegal practices."

http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Horror-severed-heads-11-stags-South-Molton-layby/story-20008372-detail/story.html#ixzz2jEwUBWz0

Notorious Indian tiger poachers jailed in landmark conviction

Undercover work funded by UK charity leads to ‘one in a thousand' breakthrough

September 2013. Six notorious tiger poachers have been jailed in Southern India in what is being described as a landmark conviction. The five men and one woman were sentenced to three years each by Karnataka High Court - a sentence made more remarkable by the fact that the conviction rate for tiger poaching in the country is 0.1%.

The gang travelled the country poaching tigers and other wildlife for sale into the international market - tigers would be carved into fur, bones and organs for use as decoration, tonics and medicine.

Caught red handed in Bandupur Tiger Reserve

They were caught red-handed with lethal ‘jaw' traps in the Bandupur Tiger Reserve, and brought to justice by the Karnataka Forest Department with specialist legal assistance from the Care for the Wild-funded Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) Wildlife Crime Enforcement Team.

Care for the Wild CEO Philip Mansbridge said: "This conviction is a landmark for tiger conservation and sends a powerful message of deterrence to wildlife criminals who aim to poach India's tigers. Our partnership with the WTI is instrumental in a huge number of cases per year alongside de-snaring and undercover enforcement activities. The team also work with government forest staff to ensure more arrests lead to convictions, just like this one, in the future."

Continued

Zimbabwe elephants poisoned by poachers in Hwange

Poachers have used poison to kill 41 elephants in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, an official has told the BBC.

Zimbabwe Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said it was suspected that cyanide was used to poison salt pans but tests are still being carried out.

She said it was Zimbabwe's worst case of elephant poaching.

There has been a rise in the killing of elephants and rhinos in parts of Africa in recent years, mostly to feed demand for horns and tusks in Asia.

The horns and tusks are used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia, even though scientists say they have no beneficial properties.

Five of the suspected poachers have been arrested, Ms Washaya Moyo told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

She said touching the poisoned carcasses posed a danger to any animal or human.

She said the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority had reminded people who live near the park, in western Zimbabwe, not to eat the meat of any dead animals they find.

Some poachers were found with a large haul of tusks and cyanide earlier this year.

Two years ago, nine elephants, five lions and two buffalo were poisoned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23991510

Turtle conservationist shot dead 'by poachers' on Costa Rica beach

Late in April a dedicated young Costa Rican conservationist, Jairo Mora Sandoval, logged on to his Facebook page, with its pictures of cavorting baby sea turtles and wild beaches, and typed out an urgent plea. "Can you send messages to the police to come to the Moin beach," he asked his friends, stressing that the officers must be armed and not afraid, "60 turtles are lost – there wasn't even a nest left. We need help and soon."

In a comment beneath the post, Mr Mora Sandoval, who was working to protect the endangered leatherback turtles on his country's Caribbean coast, explained that the beach was being targeted by "hueveros" (egg thieves). Five people liked the message and 135 shared it. But the response was insufficient.

The 26-year-old's naked body was found on the same beach shortly before 7am on Friday. His hands had been tied behind his back and he had been shot in the head after being kidnapped by a masked gang. Four of his female colleagues, all foreign volunteers, were also bundled into a car as they patrolled the beach and have given evidence to the police.

The murder has shed light on the criminal trade linked to the largest of living turtles. At around the same time last year, a group of six men armed with AK-47 assault rifles and 9mm handguns forced their way into a nursery on the same beach designed to protect young leatherbacks. Volunteers, many of them foreigners, were bound and gagged as the gang raided the hatchery for 1,520 eggs from the 19 protected nests.

In the Costa Rica newspaper La Nacion on 28 April, a few days after his Facebook warning, the young conservationist had written that delinquents were stamping out the sea turtle, and that environmentalists were being threatened by a mafia that was looting the nests for eggs, which were then sold to drug traffickers.

Continued

At Least 26 Elephants Killed by Poachers in Central Africa

Denise Chow, LiveScience Staff Writer 

Date: 10 May 2013 Time: 12:33 PM ET 

At least 26 elephants were killed in Central Africa after a group of armed poachers raided a protected sanctuary on Monday (May 6), according to wildlife officials. 

Seventeen poachers armed with Kalashnikov rifles entered Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic earlier this week, representatives from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a statement. The poachers made their way to the Dzanga Bai, an open area where anywhere from 50 to 200 elephants gather daily to drink nutrients and mineral salts in the sands. 

At least 26 elephant carcasses, including four calves, were counted in and around the Dzanga Bai on Thursday (May 9), WWF officials said. All had had their tusks removed, Jules Caron, head of communications for the WWF's anti-poaching program in Central Africa, confirmed to LiveScience. 

Wildlife representatives described the Dzanga Bai scene as an "elephant mortuary," and it was evident that local villagers had started taking meat from the remains of the dead animals, they added.

"The killing has started," Jim Leape, WWF's international director general, said in a statement. "The Central African Republic must act immediately to secure this unique [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] World Heritage site. The brutal violence we are witnessing in Dzanga Bai threatens to destroy one of the world's great natural treasures, and to jeopardize the future of the people who live there." 

Read on: http://www.livescience.com/29506-elephant-massacre-central-africa.html

Last black rhino on Kenya's Il Ngwesi Conservancy killed

Community elders take matter into their own hands after the killing of the only black rhino on Il Ngwesi

May 2013. On the 2nd of April 2013, Omni, the only black rhino on Il Ngwesi Group Ranch was speared to death by poachers. His carcass was found two days later, with a poisoned spear lodged inside his body. His horns were intact. 

Translocated from Lewa in 2002, Omni's presence to the people of Il Ngwesi was very symbolic. It was a first for rhino conservation in Kenya when the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) agreed to return a black rhino back into a newly established community-owned rhino conservation area. Until the 1970s, the area had a very large black rhino population that completely disappeared after the massive slaughter during the years that followed. 

Major significance

Omni's significance in Il Ngwesi could not be overstated; he was the only black rhino to live on the land since the 1970s, and his presence offered the possibility of reintroducing the species to their previous homeland as well as a way to share with the world at large the community's interest in using conservation to promote the welfare of their people and open up new commercial and employment opportunities through conservation.

Community devastated

Devastated by Omni's death, the Il Ngwesi community with help from other stakeholders (KWS, NRT, Lewa and Borana Conservancy) immediately launched an investigation into the killing. Community elders called for a meeting and decided to use modern as well as traditional methods to catch the poachers. The elders gave the culprits 10 days (from the 15th to the 24th of April) to confess or face dire consequences, including curses. 

Confession

On the 24th, during the second community meeting, two men confessed to killing Omni. Three other men were also identified to have participated in planning the act. The community has since pressed charges. One suspect is still at large, but four of them have been arraigned in court and have all confessed to the crime. 

The entire investigation has been a community-led initiative, using the arm of the law alongside a traditional cultural approach to expose the culprits within this small society. The entire process has been driven by the community's deep pride in Omni, recognising the benefits he attracted through tourism and a desire to see an expanding rhino population thrive on Il Ngwesi. 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ngwesi-rhino.html

Poachers shot dead in northern Kenya

Arrests made in Kenya's Isiolo county

January 2013. Two suspected poachers have been shot dead and a rifle, 12 rounds of ammunition and eight pieces of ivory recovered in Kenya's Isiolo County. The two deceased men were believed to be part of a poaching gang that has been linked to a spate of elephant poaching in the area.

Laikipia and Samburu elephant population of 6,454
Preliminary result in a 2012 aerial census estimate elephant population at 6,454 in the 59,000 km2 Laikipia, Samburu and Marsabit ecosystem. Kenya has about 39,000 elephants in total.

A few days before the suspected poachers were shot, two poaching suspects were arrested in possession of ivory weighing 19kgs and a carbine rifle in the same area. KWS officials were following up information volunteered by members of the public that led to the arrest of the gang.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kenya-poachers013.html

New Jersey Meadowlands -Diamondback Terrapins & other turtles may be falling prey to poacher - via Herp Digest

September 20, 2012, by Brian Anderson, Staff Writer, NewJersey.com, Turtles in the Hackensack River may be falling prey to poachers. The Riverkeeper contends he witnessed poachers attempting to set traps recently. The turtles were saved as the poachers’ boat wouldn’t start. 

But for Captain Bill Sheehan of the Hackensack River, it was a disconcerting sight to see a group of men, armed with turtle traps, looking to trap the diamond terrapins in the Hackensack River a few weeks ago. Sheehan said though this group of men wasn’t able to hunt any turtles that day (their boat broke down while still on shore), they had a permit from the state of New Jersey to hunt and sell turtles, and were looking to sell the turtles for human consumption.

Sheehan said the permit allowed them to trap turtles in three rivers: the Passaic, Hackensack and Rahway.

"That’s what upset me most about these guys—they had a permit," he said.

Sheehan said these turtles live longer than other aquatic life in the Meadowlands, and eat the smaller creatures found in the river. It’s a problem because the Hackensack River has a history of pollution. These turtles likely accumulate contaminants from the river. If the turtles are eaten, Sheehan said, the "bioaccumulation" becomes part of the individual who eats the turtle.

Sheehan said the men told him they were planning on selling the turtles to restaurants in other states, such as New York’s Chinatown.

However, officials from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) say there is no permit for hunting diamondback terrapin turtles, and that selling turtles is illegal in the state.

Bob Considine, a spokesman at the NJDEP, said the agency grants only one type of permit in regards to diamond terrapins. Under a study/collection permit, researchers and scientists can learn about the diamond terrapins found in New Jersey waters. The study must be approved and must show to have a positive effect on the species’ conservation, public welfare or the environment, he said.

"This permit does not allow someone to collect these animals to keep them long term," Considine said. "Catching diamondback terrapins is not permitted in the state, and violators can face a fine."

Diamondback terrapins can often be found in the marshes of the Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area, along the banks of the Hackensack River, and other Meadowlands marshes. Three native species of Meadowlands turtles—the diamondback terrapin, the painted turtle and snapping turtle—regularly sun themselves along the marshy banks.

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) is currently conducting a study on the diamondback terrapin, said Mike Newhouse, NJMC researcher. A group of researchers have been studying the diamondback terrapin population in the Hackensack River since 2009. Hundreds of turtles have been tagged since the study began, and researchers at the NJMC continue to tag turtles—a sign that the population of the diamondbacks in the Hackensack River is likely growing.

Last year, DEP issued 39 permits for studying these turtles, according to officials. When scientists apply for the permit, they must indicate where they will be working and what the study is about.

Both Sheehan and the DEP say that turtle meat, especially form turtles in the Hackensack River, could contain toxins and contaminates as a result of long-term pollution in the Hackensack River. The blue claw crabs found in the Hackensack River are highly polluted, and along the banks of the river, signs advise against eating the crabs.

Diamondback terrapins and blue claw crabs both feed on similar food—small invertebrates, fish and vegetation on the riverbed. Though there is no official ban or advisory on consumption of turtle meat, Considine advises against it.

"However, one can assume is if there are crabbing or fishing restrictions in that area, other creatures can accumulate contaminants in their system, and caution is urged," Considine said.

Considine confirmed there is no trapping permit for terrapin turtles, but the state does permit the hunting on snapping turtles throughout New Jersey. Residents with a valid fishing license can catch up to three snapping turtles per day, and hunting season for snapping turtles is between Jan. 1 - April 30, and June 16 - Dec. 31.

Whether they are hunted or admired from a distance, Meadowlands area turtle species are a pleasant sight to behold.

Nepal launches drones to combat poachers

WWF Nepal said it had successfully tested two unmanned "conservation drones" earlier this month in Chitwan National Park, in Nepal's southern plains, the home of a number of the world's rarest animals.

The remote-controlled aircraft, being used for the first time in Nepal, would monitor the animals and poachers via cameras and GPS to capture images and video, the organisation said in a statement earlier this week.

The aircraft, with a two-metre (6.5-foot) wing span and a range of 25 kilometres (15.5 miles), can stay in the air for 45 minutes, flying at an altitude of up to 200 metres.

"WWF Nepal has been introducing new science and technology to aid ongoing conservation efforts in Nepal. The conservation drones are the latest addition," said Anil Manandhar, the organisation's representative in Kathmandu.

"We believe that this technology will be instrumental in monitoring Nepal's flagship species and curbing illegal wildlife trade."

Continued:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/9343444/Nepal-launches-drones-to-combat-poachers.html