Engineers develop new method to repair elephant tusks

Date: November 17, 2015

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham

When Birmingham Zoo veterinarians approached researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering to help them stop a crack from growing in their oldest elephant's tusk, the engineers saw an opportunity to use their expertise in materials science to improve the industry standard for the repair process.

Cracks in elephants' tusks have historically been repaired by adhering a metal ring to the tusk in order to stabilize the crack and prevent it from growing any farther up the tusk.

The Birmingham Zoo asked the director of UAB's Materials Processing and Applications Development Center, Brian Pillay, Ph.D., to do just that, for Bulwagi, a 35-year-old male African elephant in their care.

Pillay's immediate response was to innovate the process, and apply some of the science the lab uses in other materials processes to create a new, more robust and seamless treatment for the crack.

"When the team at the Zoo asked me to create this metal ring, I thought, 'we can do better,'" Pillay said. "We can use what we know about materials development to make something that will work better for the elephant."

"This is something that's bridging the gap between what Dr. Pillay's lab does working with industrial settings and what we do working with a biologic situation," said Richard Sim, DVM, associate veterinarian at the Zoo. "It's a first of its kind in that way -- combining engineering that would normally be used in structures like bridges and applying it to an elephant."

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EU bans import of elephant tusks as hunting trophies from Tanzania and Mozambique

The EU has banned the import of elephant hunting trophies from Tanzania and Mozambique, due to their elephant populations being decimated by poaching. A ban on elephant trophies from Zambia was also upheld. 

The decision was taken by an EU scientific committee which rules on whether hunting trophy imports are sustainable. Previously Tanzania and Mozambique were each permitted to export tusks from 100 elephants every year into the EU as hunting trophies.

Both countries have seen a significant decline in elephant numbers due to soaring levels of poaching, and neither could give information to show that the export of tusks as hunting trophies is sustainable.

Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, long-time wildlife campaigner and founder of the cross-party MEPs for Wildlife group, said: "I'm glad the EU is leading the way in stopping the slaughter of endangered animals for sport. Trophy hunting of elephants is not only senseless and cruel, it is wholly unsustainable. African elephants could be extinct in the wild within our lifetimes; we must do everything we can to prevent this iconic species from being wiped out."

Source ...

France makes biggest ivory bust in a decade

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Kevin Heath

French customs have announced they have seized 12 elephant tusks at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris making it the biggest single seizure in a decade. The tusks had been cut down to 37 individual pieces and hidden under aluminium plates in cases to try an avoid detection.

The ivory was on route to Vietnam and the original flight of the plane was from the DR Congo.

“This is a sadly typical case,” said airport customs official Sebastien Tiran. “There’s one thing that never goes out of fashion and that’s ivory,”

The total weight of the ivory was 136 kilos and makes it the largest single seizure since December 2006 when 600 kilos of ivory were intercepted.

Source

Mozambique raids wildlife house of horror

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Kevin Heath

Mozambique police and wildlife officials have made their biggest wildlife bust ever after raiding a house belonging to a Chinese national. Hidden in the house of horror was 340 elephant tusks and 65 rhino horns.

“Undoubtedly, this is a case that is related to poaching. Some of the ivory tusks still have fresh blood, a sign that some animals may have been recently victimized, “said the spokesman for PRM in the province of Maputo, Emidio Mabunda.

The raid was undertaken on Tuesday on a house in Matola in Southern Mozambique. The operation culminating in the seizure involved 20 officers from various branches of the police and a team from the forestry and wild life department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Information was gained from intelligence work with the local community which led the officers to a condominium in the Tchumene neighbourhood of the city. The Chinese had been living in the house for about 3 months and his cover was that he earned money from recycling cans. The owner of the house is not connected with the investigation.

In total the haul is estimated to have a value of US$19 million. It is estimated at least 170 elephants and 65 rhino died from this one consignment. Part of the haul had already been packaged ready for export. As well as the haul of tusks and rhino horn the officials also recovered a collection of finished ivory products.

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Ugandan officials intercept $1.5 million ivory heading to Amsterdam

Kevin Heath / 1 day ago

Customs officials in Entebbe International Airport have made a large seizure of ivory and pangolin scales that were destined to be flown to Amsterdam. 700kg of tusks and 2 tonnes of pangolin scales were confiscated.

Customs officials discovered the haul packed into three boxes that had been marked for export to Amsterdam.

The tusks had evidence that they had recently been removed from elephants.

The first box contained 76 tusks, the second box had 61 tusks and pangolin skins while the third box contained purely pangolin skins.

The boxes had been marked up for communications equipment needing to go to Amsterdam for repairs and had already been cleared for customs. It was only on the insistence of wildlife officials that the boxes were re-examined more closely and the tusks and skins found.

A number of people have been arrested including a customs official, an airport clerk and the driver of the lorry which delivered the consignment.

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Huge haul of rhino horns, elephant tusks and leopard skins found in Hong Kong

13 rhino horns and 1,120 elephant tusks amongst haul

August 2013. Following an intelligence tip off from Chinese authorities, Hong Kong Customs seized a huge haul of illegal wildlife items. 

During the operation, Hong Kong Customs seized a total of 1,120 ivory tusks, 13 rhino horns and five leopard skins, inside a container shipped from Nigeria to Hong Kong.

Acting on the intelligence, Hong Kong Customs monitored two suspicious containers shipped from Nigeria. On August 6, Customs officers detained the two containers, which were declared as containing "Red Cam Process Wood" for inspection and found 21 sealed wooden crates, disguised as timber, hidden at the rear of one of the containers.

Lack of arrests

Whilst Wildlife Extra applauds the work of the authorities, and all of those that have made the many seizures of ivory and other wildlife products recently, it seems that very few, if any, arrests are made in conjunction with these seizures. It seems very odd that it is so difficult for the authorities to be able to trace the owners/shippers of these items. Additionally, if the authorities know or suspect that there are illegal items on board, can they not track the containers to their destination and seize them, and those responsible, there?

Continued

Thai policeman arrested in possession of 20 elephant tusks

Corrupt officer caught by Thai Police in smuggling attempt

February 2013. On February 2 Thai policemen pulled a vehicle over at a checkpoint. The driver turned out to be an off duty policeman, and his was found in possession of 20 elephant tusks, hidden in bags of fertilizer, and a firearm.

FREELAND (A Thai NGO) applauds the Royal Thai Police for foiling a cross border elephant tusk smuggling operation, and for arresting a main culprit and exposing corruption.

The suspect claimed that he was hired to smuggle the elephant tusks from Malaysia into Thailand. The suspect was arrested and charged for violating Thailand's Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act (WARPA) and for carrying unregistered weapons.

Thailand a hub for illegal ivory
FREELAND, which provides tip-offs and training to law enforcement agencies to counter wildlife crime, has observed that elephant tusks are being laundered into Asian markets to be mixed with legal stocks or are sold quickly as carvings. The price of ivory in Thailand remains high as most consumers remain unaware that most ivory carvings come from illegal elephant poaching. Currently, Africa is experiencing high levels of violent and rampant elephant poaching, sponsored by organized crime groups that are smuggling the tusks into Asia. In the last year, tusks from thousands of dead elephants have been seized as they were smuggled from Africa into Asia.

Thailand is set to host the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) in Bangkok in March. Trade in ivory and enforcement matters will be high on the agenda of the 180 country UN body.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/thai-police-ivory.html

214 elephant tusks seized in Tanzania

Arrests and ivory seizures in East Africa

October 2012. Police in Dar es Salaam have arrested three men in possession of 214 elephant tusks and some bones. Dar es Salaam Police Commander, Mr Suleiman Kova, announced that the suspects were arrested en route to Kenya.
Kenya arrests

Meanwhile, Kenyan Wildlife Rangers killed a suspected poacher in Meru National Park, and 24 kgs of ivory were recovered along with an AK47 rifle and 27 rounds of ammunitions. Across Kenya a total of 40 suspects were arrested and 82kgs of raw ivory recovered during the past week of anti-poaching operations.

In Nairobi County, a 50 year-old man holding a Chinese passport was arrested and a piece of ivory seized at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while on transit from Lumbumbashi, DRC to Bangkok, Thailand. 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ivory-tanzania-seized012.html

46 elephant tusks seized at Cape Town airport

Two suspects arrested
July 2012. While on a routine inspection, South African customs officials spotted a suspicious activity at a Cape Town airport storage facility, and upon further investigation they came across parcels indicating the presence of elephant tusks. After the police were notified, an operation was conducted which led to the discovery of 46 tusks concealed in two different containers. The consignment appears to have been destined for Hong Kong.

Two male suspects aged 36 and 43 respectively are being detained for the illegal possession of elephant tusks after members of the South African Police Hawks and Crime intelligence acted on information received from Custom officials. The suspects, both from Cape Town are due to make a court appearance once they have been charged. The value of the seized items will be established at a later stage after the Department of Nature Conservation have taken various aspects into account, such as weight and age.

 The circumstances surrounding the discovery are being investigated, and the possibility of further arrests is not ruled out.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cape-town-ivory.html

More than 1000 ivory tusks seized in Tanzania

Authorities in Zanzibar reported the seizure of 1041 ivory tusks August 2011. Police in Zanzibar have seized 1,041 elephant tusks hidden in a shipment heading for Malaysia, according to media reports. The consignment was reported to have been offloaded at Zanzibar two weeks previously, where it arrived from Dar Es Salaam, and had been stored near Stone Town. Two local transport agents are being held by police for further questioning.

The ivory was hidden in a container of anchovies, where the strong smell would have discouraged an investigation of its contents. A similar modus operandi was used last year, when authorities in Hong Kong seized 384 elephant tusks in September, packed into two containers shipped from Zanzibar and labelled as dried fish.

Zanzibar Port
Following that seizure, in discussions with the Tanzanian government, TRAFFIC called for better law enforcement focus on the port of Zanzibar.

"TRAFFIC applauds the Tanzanian officials for apprehending this latest seizure and we are delighted they are zeroing in on the port of Zanzibar as a major conduit for contraband wildlife products," said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's Elephant & Rhino Programme Co-ordinator.

Milliken manages the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), the illegal ivory trade monitoring system that TRAFFIC runs on behalf of Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). ETIS holds the details of nearly 17,000 reported ivory and other elephant product seizures that have taken place anywhere in the world since 1989.

Tanzania a major link on ivory smuggling chain
According to the ETIS data, Tanzania has been implicated in more large flows of ivory than any other country-a total of 21 of the 83 largest (>800 kg) ivory seizures to date. This is the first large-scale seizure that Tanzania has made itself since 2007 and only the second large seizure since 2002, although many smaller seizures have been made during this period.

Between 1989 and 2002, Tanzania made 10 large seizures (some 18.7 tonnes of ivory) before they were illegally exported, and no other large seizures were made elsewhere in the world during this period that implicated Tanzania, indicating a very good law enforcement record for the country.

But from 2003 through 2010, 10 further large seizures originating from Tanzania (totalling 28.6 tonnes) were made in Asia (Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan and Viet Nam), and only one large seizure (890 kg) was made inside Tanzania.

"The authorities in Tanzania appear to be making a welcome return to the pro-active law enforcement record they established throughout the 1990s," said Milliken. "As the country with the second largest elephant population in Africa, it's vitally important that Tanzania demonstrates good law enforcement, not only in terms of interdiction, but also subsequent investigation, arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the crime.

At least 500 elephants killed
Milliken added "The seizure represents a minimum of 500 dead elephants so it's essential to find out who was behind the killings and how come the ivory got as far as it did."

Overall, illegal trade in elephant ivory has been increasing in Africa since 2004.

A report tabled at last week's CITES Standing Committee noted: "the eastern Africa sub-region has consolidated its position as the primary exit point for illicit ivory leaving the African continent, with Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania as prominent countries of origin or export in the trade, despite significant seizures being made in Kenya in recent times."

Malaysia a key player in ivory trade
The role of Malaysia in illicit ivory flows has also been identified through analysis of ETIS data. According to the most recent full analysis, published in 2009: "Malaysia has progressively gained prominence in successive ETIS analyses as a transit country for African ivory."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/tanzania-ivory.html