Legal EU ivory sales 'condemn elephants'

By Matt McGrathEnvironment correspondent

10 July 2018

The open, legal sale of antique ivory in many European countries is covering up a trade in illegal and recently poached ivory, campaigners say.

Researchers from environmental group Avaaz bought 100 ivory items and had them radiocarbon dated at Oxford University.

Three quarters were modern ivory, being sold illegally as fake antiques.

Ivory from an elephant killed by poachers as recently as 2010 was among the items passed off as being antique.

"It's sick," said Bert Wander from Avaaz, which organised the purchase of the items.

"I'm looking at the trinkets we bought on my desk, and to think that an elephant with all the things we are learning about them, about their cognition and their advanced societies, and to think that one of them has died for this bracelet I'm holding now, it makes you sick to your stomach."

The items were purchased from both antique dealers and private sellers in 10 countries across Europe.

All the ivory pieces were advertised as originating from before 1947 or had no date information. The 1947 date is important because the EU classes ivory from before this date as antique and it can be traded without restriction.

Continued

Ivory poacher’s sick boast: I killed 70 elephants

In the latest example of how illegal poachers are bringing elephants to the brink of extinction, a Kenyan poacher has reportedly boasted how he brutally slaughtered more than 70 elephants in a decade.

John Sumokwo, 33, told a newspaper how the elephants “screamed as they died” adding “to me it was just business.” He described how he speared the animals through the heart before hacking off their trunks, skinning their heads and cutting off the ivory with an axe.

The convicted poacher told The Mirror that the elephants he slaughtered would then be sold to dealers for a fraction of the price they can fetch on the black market.

Continued

Rare pearl mussel at risk due to illegal poaching

Martin Williams

Senior News Reporter 

Monday 13 May 2013 

CONSERVATIONISTS have called for urgent action to curb illegal fishing that is threatening to push the freshwater pearl mussel into extinction. 

Buglife, the invertebrate conservation trust, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) say the mussel, which can live for more than 100 years, is one of the most endangered molluscs in the world, and that illegal poaching and pollution issues in Scotland threaten its future. 

Up to half of the world's remaining population is believed to be found in Angus, the Cairngorms and the north-west of Scotland. 

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has warned EU member states need to step up efforts to prevent the extinction of a number of species, including the mussel, which it said was particularly threatened. 

The mussel, exploited in the search for pearls, is now extinct in two-thirds of the 155 Scottish rivers it occupied a century ago. 

Continued: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/environment/rare-pearl-mussel-at-risk-due-to-illegal-poaching.21061480

Six white rhino to be translocated to Botswana's Okavango Delta

February 2013. In the first ever private game reserve donation of rhino, luxury travel company &Beyond has earmarked six white rhino to be translocated from Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa to Botswana's Okavango Delta. Facilitated in partnership with Rhino Force, this conservation coup has been generously funded by lead sponsor, Motorite Administrators.

Rhino poaching surge
"South Africa lost well over 600 rhino to illegal poaching last year alone and Botswana currently has an excellent security system to protect the species. Translocations are fundamental to secure the ongoing survival of rhino for future generations," says Les Carlisle, &Beyond Conservation Manager.

The Okavango Delta has proven to be a successful rhino relocation habitat and Botswana has a strong security and monitoring framework in place whereby the military helps to protect the species. "It's the ideal opportunity for us to move our eggs out of one basket," explains Carlisle. "The project has the full support of the Botswana Rhino Management Committee and we are thrilled to be driving such a vital initiative for rhino conservation in partnership with Motorite."

As one of southern Africa's largest independent motor-related insurance administrators, Motorite supports this translocation to ensure the ongoing conservation of South Africa and Botswana's natural heritage.

After years of negotiation and planning, the translocation process will begin this month. Game scouts from Botswana will undergo intensive tracking and monitoring training at &Beyond Phinda, as they learn about white rhino behaviour in the Delta. Capture and release bomas have been built in South Africa and Botswana respectively, permits obtained and various conservation initiatives set in place to ensure that the six carefully selected rhino arrive at their destination safely.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/okavango-rhinos.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

New airborne fast reaction force to bolster Ol Pejeta security

New security force to protect Ol Pejeta's wildlife

October 2012. It's been more than a year since a semi tame rhino called Max was gunned down on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, but this terrible incident marked a turning point for Ol Pejeta's security forces. In June 2011, recognizing the ever-increasing threat on rhinos, the Government of Kenya allowed Ol Pejeta to receive Kenya Police Reservist (KPR) status changing the way they protect our rhinos on the Conservancy - for the better.

Kenya policy reservists get training 

Under the command of the local police chief, 32 Ol Pejeta staff were issued KPR status, which gives them the right to carry automatic firearms, and are they are now the nucleus of what has become an independent department. Working closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Kenya Police and other government agencies, Ol Pejeta's security department has grown since its inception last year and undergone extensive training.

All this has paid with a reduction in poaching incidents. This year there has been only one attempted poaching which was unsuccessful, unlike last year where five rhinos were poached.

New fast reaction force
In a further effort to curb poaching in the greater Laikipia region, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy has partnered with Space for Giants to support the Kenya Wildlife Service under the command of the Kenya Police, by providing an anti-poaching rapid response team. A team of five Ol Pejeta KPR are on stand-by, ready to respond via helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft or vehicle to any incident of poaching or banditry in the area. In the first two months of operations, a total of eight arrests have been made and six firearms recovered.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/pejeta-security.html

1.5 tonnes of ivory seized in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka seizes 1.5 tonnes of elephant tusks - ivory traffickers developing new trade routes?

May 2012. The seizure of 1.5 tonnes of elephant tusks in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was the single biggest ever ivory haul made in the country, fuelling concerns over the increasing boldness of illegal ivory traders in developing new routes for their contraband.

"This is a greedy, vicious trade that is hell bent on getting its booty to the markets that demand it," said Jason Bell, Director of the Elephant Programme at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). "The boldness of these thugs in attempting to side-step authorities by developing a complex web of delivery networks is quite breathtaking."

350 elephant tusks in Colombo port - Arrived from Kenya
Sri Lankan authorities said they had seized some 350 elephant tusks in Colombo port. The tusks had been described as plastic waste and were hidden among logs of wood packed in shipping containers. The containers had arrived from Kenya, en route to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. No arrests have yet been made.

Terrible year for elephants
So far 2012 has proven a bloody one for elephants. Earlier this year about 650 free roaming elephants were killed by poachers in northern Cameroon, near the border with Chad.

"The ivory is smuggled into markets in Europe and Asia, most often China. East African ports are favoured points of departure and the ivory then often transits through South East Asia en route to its destination," said Bell. "The size of this haul and the choice of Sri Lanka, which is an apparently new route, raise concerns."

Bell said IFAW saluted the Sri Lankan authorities for intercepting the haul but warned that ivory trafficking would continue to enrich international criminal syndicates and devastate biodiversity unless arrests, convictions and daunting penalties are applied.

"For now ivory trafficking remains a low risk, high reward activity for international criminal syndicates. Each piece of ivory comes from a dead elephant, and until law enforcement authorities are resourced, equipped and trained to hit back hard at the illegal ivory trade, the terrible onslaught against elephants will continue," he said.

IFAW is working with INTERPOL on Project WISDOM in 2012 to tackle the horror of ivory trafficking. INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Programme will coordinate anti-ivory enforcement operations in 18 African countries, hopefully culminating in arrests, convictions and a serious blow to the cruellest threat to elephants.

"The operations with INTERPOL we are funding are vital for saving elephants now, but ultimately we must stamp out demand for ivory in China, and elsewhere as well. It is the only way to stop the slaughter," Bell concluded.

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

Baby gorilla death prompts bi-national poaching patrols

The death of a baby mountain gorilla has prompted Rwanda andDemocratic Republic of Congo to launch joint anti-poaching patrols to protect the endangered species, an official said Wednesday.

Prosper Uwingeli, a conservationist in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, which abuts the Virunga National Park in DR Congo, said the patrols were launched March 12 and had already destroyed several poaching traps.

Baby gorillas frequently fall victim to traps, even if they are not the species being hunted.

"These joint patrols were agreed upon following the death in a trap of a baby gorilla in February," Uwingeli said.

Mountain gorilla populations have been decimated by conflict and poaching. The creatures were famously brought to the world's attention by the late Dian Fossey, and are one of the region's main tourist attractions and foreign currency earners.

Rwanda charges $750 to foreign tourists for a permit to visit the primates.

Only about 700 mountain gorillas survive in the wild, with half of them concentrated in the Virunga massif that straddles the border between Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda.

The critically endangered species is also found at a second location in Uganda, in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

http://news.yahoo.com/baby-gorilla-death-prompts-bi-national-poaching-patrols-165257287.html;_ylt=AiSejalsK_FwIUofIizcd2t2hMgF;_ylu=X3oDMTRhb2VwcjhhBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgQW5pbWFsUGV0c1NTRgRwa2cDMGJiNjYzMTgtMWE0NS0zYmFmLTg3NmEtMjU1OGRjMjFjMWY0BHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzQ2MzI5MTAwLTczODEtMTFlMS05ZmJmLTAyNTcyNjJlY2RhZA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3 

Vigil saves rare birds

Bhagalpur, Feb. 19: The administration has stepped up vigil against poachers to save migratory birds at the eco-friendly Gangetic diara in the district.

The diara (sandbar) is considered a green belt and was in the news recently when the residents of Dharhara, a village in the riverine area, decided to celebrate the birth of a girl by planting saplings. But there are places in the Naugachia sub-division where many people earn their livelihood by catching and selling migratory birds.

These areas fall in the 63km-stretch between Sultanganj and Kahalgaon.

The administration’s bid to check poaching paid off on Saturday when a team of Naugachia sub-division officials caught six poachers and found 48 migratory birds on them.

“I had asked my officials to step up the vigil on such illegal activities. I had also told them not to divulge our plan to anybody,” district magistrate Narmadeshwar Lal said.

He said the officials posed as prospective buyers and approached some poachers at Birbanna village under Narayanpur block. Though the poachers demanded Rs 1,600 for a pair of birds, they finally agreed to sell them for Rs 1,000.

Naugachia sub-divisional officer Sushil Kumar said: “They handed me 48 birds that they had caught. It was then that the officials arrested the six poachers.”

Indian Bird Conservation Network and Wetlands International State co-ordinator Arvind Mishra said all the birds recovered were protected under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120220/jsp/jharkhand/story_15155877.jsp

Concern at poaching of Kerry red deer

ANNE LUCEY


UK DEMAND for venison and a steep rise in price for the meat has contributed to poaching in Co Kerry, according to a senior conservation ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Dr Tim Burkitt, a member of the inter-agency deer policy group drawing up a framework for sustainable wild deer management, has also called for a more positive attitude towards the unique Killarney red deer, which he said were a wonderful resource for tourism and for the education of young people.

The comments follow concerns by public representatives in Co Kerry over poaching. However, landowners outside Killarney National Park say they are being “tormented” by the red deer.

Following the continuous poaching of red deer and the non-native sika deer in Co Kerry, Fianna Fáil councillor John Joe Cullotty has called for more National Parks and Wildlife Service staff to be redeployed.

Two county councillors, father and son Danny Healy-Rae and Johnny Healy-Rae, have called for a deer census in the county and for more culls.

“Deer stags are causing destruction and torment to landowners in many parts of the county,” the councillors have said.

According to a draft deer management study published recently by a policy group including the National Parks and Wildlife Service and forestry group Coillte, deer populations of all species in Ireland have expanded in recent times.

However, Dr Burkitt said there was no deer census in Co Kerry.

He claimed that strained resources as well as the multitude of landowners outside the national park were factors that made carrying out a census difficult at present.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1221/1224309340883.html

More huge ivory seizures as rampant poaching is reported

Elephant poaching in DRC and seizures in Vietnam show elephants imperilled by ivory tradeOctober 2011. Reports this week of rampant poaching by armed forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo add a disturbing twist to the recent announcement of a seizure of more than one tonne of ivory in Vietnam.

Record poaching
These alarming events come after seven months of record poaching incidents and seizures. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) commends the authorities for the arrests that have been made but warns that much more needs to be done to reduce the threat to elephants.

All ivory sales should be banned
"As long as demand for ivory in China continues to rise, elephants in Africa and Asia will be under increasing pressure from poaching," said James Isiche, IFAW East Africa Director. "China and Japan may have bought legal ivory in 2008 but here in elephant range states we continue to pay the price for that purchase as any legal trade in ivory provides the cover for ivory trafficking. We know what the solution is - it worked in 1989 and it can work again - a full and complete ban on all sales of ivory."

DRC soldiers poaching ivory
According to media reports, soldiers from different parts of the DRC conduct massive poaching raids in the Okapi Reserve, in the north-east of the DRC near the Ugandan border. Local populations are coerced into leading soldiers to find their wildlife targets, predominantly elephants. The soldiers use automatic weapons for poaching from the 7,500 forest elephants in the reserve; the largest remaining population in eastern DRC.

1 tonne of ivory confiscatedIn Mid October, Vietnamese authorities found one tonne of ivory made up of 221 individual pieces hidden in rolls of fabric that were being transported on a boat on the Ka Long river bordering Vietnam and China. Customs officials said on Monday that a Chinese man who was escorting the boat and the Vietnamese captain were detained by local police for further investigation. Earlier in the year Vietnamese officials seized 122 tusks and Chinese officials seized 707 tusks just over the border in separate incidents.

"These events make it clear that China's legal ivory market is a big attraction for ivory smugglers. There is ample opportunity to get the illegal ivory ‘white-washed' and sold under the cover of legal trade," said Grace Ge Gabriel, IFAW Asia Regional Director. "We need the international community to stand up against the ivory trade once and for all. We urge everyone to go to www.elephantmarch.com to pressure their government into taking action to save elephants."

Illegal ivory seizures in recent months

According to the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) there has been, "a steadily increasing trend in levels of illicit ivory trade in 2004 onwards, with an exceptionally sharp upsurge in 2009....seizures of ivory reached record levels in 2009 and that these levels were largely sustained in 2010."

2011 has borne witness to a staggering degree of carnage with 5,004 elephant tusks seized in these known major seizures. Countless smaller seizures have also taken place.

• On April 1 Thai officials discovered 247 tusks hidden in a shipment from Kenya. It is not clear where the ivory originated.
• Two weeks later Vietnamese officials seized 122 elephant tusks and a day after that Chinese officials uncovered 707 elephant tusks during a routine inspection.
• In early May Kenyan authorities uncovered 84 elephant tusks at Nairobi airport.
• On July 8 Malaysian officials seized 405 elephant tusks.
• On July 26 US Fish and Wildlife Officers made their biggest-ever bust in Philadelphia of approximately one metric tonne of ivory.
• In mid-August a China-bound shipment from Tanzania was seized in Malaysia with 664 elephant tusks.
• 1,041 elephant tusks bound for Malaysia were seized in Zanzibar on August 23.
• Officials in Hong Kong seized 794 African elephant tusks on a shipment from Malaysia at the end of August.
• That same week officials in Malaysia seized 695 elephant tusks that had come from Tanzania and were bound for China.
• On September 30 Vietnamese officials seized at least 24 tusks in the north-central province of Nghe An.
• Three weeks later Vietnamese officials seized approximately 221 tusks hidden in a boat bound for China.

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

Could legalising rhino horn trade stop poaching?

South Africa is considering legalising rhino horn trade - in a bid to combat rampant rhino poaching, but the suggestion has been met with mixed reaction in Southern Africa.

Demand for rhino horn is at an all time high and South Africa, which has the largest reserves of the wild animal, is a prime hunting ground for poachers.

Over the past three years, gangs are said to have killed more than 800 rhinos for their horns, which can fetch £22,000 ($35,055) per kg on the black market.

Poachers use a chainsaw to cut away the rhino's horns, after darting it with a tranquilizer - drugged and helpless the animal bleeds to death.

Large syndicates are involved in this multi-billion dollar trade worldwide - exporting the horns from Africa to parts of Asia and the Middle-East.

Despite many anti-poaching measures 310 have been killed in South Africa this year, more than 330 had been killed at the end of last year - and the numbers are set to increase, experts warn.

In the five years up to 2005, an average of 36 rhinos were killed each year.

Some say today's efforts are "too conventional" and are not enough.

Now South Africa has commissioned a study into whether legalising trade in rhino horn could in fact help to bring down poaching, the Department of Environmental Affairs announced recently.

"We are impartial at this stage but we are looking at all the suggestions which could help us in the fight against poachers," the department's spokesperson, Albie Modise, told the BBC.

"We are awaiting submissions and would consider this if we get authentic scientific backing that this would be effective," he said.

The idea is that legalising rhino horn trade would make South Africa directly responsible for meeting the demand for the horns - taking power out of the hands of poachers and placing it in the hands authorities who would also be sensitive to current conservation efforts.

These authorities would do market research into global markets of the trade, said Mr Modise.

The department says rhino horn stock piles could also be sold to fund further rhino conservation efforts.

Mr Modise says the suggestion first came up at a rhino summit held last year to find ways of tackling poaching in southern Africa.

Rhino horn trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) and at present South Africa allows the export of horns only as hunting trophies.

The legal debate
But the consideration has drawn heavy criticism from international conversation group WWF, which says this would be a setback by decades the efforts made to stabilise the rhino population.

"We understand the need to come up with new ways of combating the rhino horn trade but we are against the notion that legalising it is the answer," said Morne du Plessis, of WWF in South Africa.
By Pumza Fihlani BBC News, Johannesburg

Read on ...

Giant stag killed by poachers

One of the country's most majestic stags, which was set to rival the famous Exmoor Emperor, has been shot dead illegally by poachers.

The impressive young animal - dubbed the Goodleigh Giant - was shot in north Devon.

 Photo: SWNS

He was expected to become one of the biggest stags in the country when fully mature because he already had an impressive 19 points on its antlers - compared to The Emperor's 14.

The stag had become less wary as the rutting season approached and local landowners tried to keep him a secret for fear of trophy hunters tracking him down.

But rumour of the 200lb animal's presence spread and poachers descended on the region to get a glimpse or a shot at the stag, which would fetch thousands of pounds on the black market.

The death follows a series of stag slayings in the area as poachers target the impressive animals as trophies.

News of the animals' demise also comes almost a year to the day after the country's largest wild animal - the 300lb 9ft Exmoor Emperor was killed.

Experts branded the slaying as ''unnecessary'' and ''reprehensible''.

Peter Green, of Shirwell, near Barnstaple is veterinary advisor to the British Deer Society as well as the Royal parks of London and National Trust.

He said: ''Stags are removed either because they are poorer quality younger animals or when they become older and are no longer in their prime.

''There is nothing wrong with the shooting of a mature stag that is older and in decline, since he will already have left his genes in the population and he will no longer be able to compete with the more vigorous stags that are a year or two younger than him.

''There is therefore a legitimate place for the trophy shooting of older stags that have started to go back in condition and dominance, but the indiscriminate shooting of mature stags simply for trophies is reprehensible.''

Stags can only be shot legally during daylight hours by licenced people from August 1 to April 30 and there are strict controls upon the calibre minimum of rifle that can be used, so that deer are not wounded by inappropriate bullets.

Mr Green said he has previously chased hunters with rifles after they were spotted on his farmyard.
He added: ''On Monday October 17 the 19 point stag was found dead on private land locally.

''I examined the stag post-mortem to recover forensic material and found that he had been shot two or three times in the back and in the belly. He had undoubtedly suffered considerably from these wounds before dying slowly.

''He had travelled some distance from where he had been holding his hinds and had obviously managed to flee from the poachers, who had clearly taken indiscriminate potshots at him as he ran away.

''This was the very worst of cruel, senseless deer poaching.

''The stag was not an elderly animal and was not past his prime. He would have continued to improve in size and spectacle and would probably have had even better antlers next year.

''He had probably mated with very few hinds this season, as the rut is barely under way.

''Deer poaching is not just a slightly questionable countryside activity undertaken by wily countrymen steeped woodcraft and field skills, who take the occasional deer for the pot.

''It is a vicious and violent crime, committed by thugs with no thought of animal welfare or human safety.

''I am appalled and distressed by such killing. Not only is it cruel and illegal, but also it makes no sense for the long-term quality of the local deer.

''Every farmer knows that herds are improved by keeping the best ram or the best bull for breeding, yet the best deer are at greatest risk of being shot because of the emphasis upon trophies.

''The venison from rutting stags is poor in both taste and texture, it seems that the poachers were simply after the head of the stag to hang a trophy on a wall.

''In the event, all they achieved was the painful and lingering death of a fine animal and they went away empty-handed.''

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8852698/Giant-stag-killed-by-poachers.html

Maltese hunters jailed for killing white storks

Prison for illegal stork hunters

July 2011, Malta. The law courts in Malta have sentenced a hunter to two years imprisonment and a €9,000 fine, and another to one year imprisonment and a €5000 fine, for targeting protected White Storks on the 18th May this year. All hunting licenses were permanently revoked for both individuals.

Both hunters were found guilty of contravening several sections of national hunting law including; hunting out of season, hunting protected birds, the use of illegal cartridges with large pellets and the use of an illegal irregular shotgun.

Previous convictions
In sentencing them the court also took into consideration the fact that in spite of both accused having several previous hunting convictions they persisted in hunting illegally.

One of the hunters was apprehended by two ALE (Maltese wildlife police) officers in Zurrieq with a dead stork and a loaded shotgun after the officers heard shots taken at a roosting flock of White storks and saw two of the birds being shot down. Another two hunters managed to escape the ALE. Two dead storks and a third injured and dying stork were recovered from the area.

The other hunter was seen with his shotgun in Madliena when several shots were fired at a large flock of White Storks and an eye witness gave his number plate to the police. He was later apprehended by the police, when he admitted chasing the storks seeking an opportunity to shoot at them, but denied shooting at them. A dead stork was recovered from Madliena the day after the incidents.

BirdLife Malta congratulates the ALE on their successful action in these incidents and today's prosecution.

"Enforcement in the field needs to be supported by effective court sentences like these if illegal hunting is to be controlled. BirdLife Malta is hopeful that future court sentences will increasingly serve as real deterrents to illegal hunting." concluded Mr Joseph Mangion, BirdLife Malta President.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/malta-poachers-jail.html#cr

Austrian frogs pinched by Italians (Via HerpDigest)

Austrian frogs pinched by Italians

BigPond News, April 20, 2011 -Austrian Wildlife authoritiesare hopping mad that efforts to save the local frog population are being hampered by Italian poachers.

Officials in southern Austrian province Carinthia say poachers are collecting frogs from the roadside buckets they have been guided into to save them from busy highways, and are then smuggling them home to Italian dinner tables.

Frogs' legs are a delicacy in some parts of Italy and officials have told Austrian state television that the victims tend to be those with the meatiest thighs.

Frogs attempting to cross some Austrian highways are channelled by a series of fences into roadside buckets. Once a day, volunteers collect the buckets and carry the amphibians to the other side of the road and set them free.

But 'the Italians strike before the frog pickers come', says Carinthian environmental official Bernhard Gutleb.

The delicacy can be costly. Officials warn that those caught with their hand in the bucket face fines up to 3600 euros ($A4889).

Nearly one third of the world's 6485 frog species are on the brink of extinction, according to Save The Frogs - a nonprofit organisation dedicated to amphibian conservation.
_______________________________________________________

32 Lemurs killed by poacher in Madagascar

Lemur poacher arrested in Madagascar

January 2011. 32 poached lemurs were found by police in north east Madagascar on New Year's Eve. The poacher, who was caught during a routine check, confessed that he had-at least- two other accomplices. Once again, among the 32 seized corpses, the crowned lemur (Eulemur Coronatus) is one of the main victims of this latest deadly discovery. There is at least one more, as yet unidentified species, amongst the grisly haul. DNA tests will reveal which species it is.

In 2009 Malagasy NGO Fanamby identified a case of large scale lemur hunting - with the support of local communities, and alerted the international community. Since then, poachers have become more careful within the area and operate at night only.

"The use of poison for lemur poaching is new and could have an impact on the consumer's health" reflects Sylvain, one of the few environmentalists in the region.

Despite the vigilance of some local communities that have been involved in conservation for several years, demand for bushmeat (especially turtles and lemurs) is increasing in the nearby cities of Sambava and Antalaha. The economy of Antalaha is already known to be deeply involved with the illicit rosewood trade.

Lemur poaching is illegal
According to forestry regulations, lemur poaching is prohibited by law, and traffickers risk imprisonment of 2 to 5 years. Unfortunately, these sentences do not stop the traffic as there is strong demand from restaurants and other Bushmeat markets.

"I am horrified by this continuing situation; the environment should not be the scapegoat of any crisis" said Russ Mittermeier, president of the Conservation International.

The prosecutor of Antalaha welcomes this arrest and has encouraged the police to do more.

"I feel helpless, this sad situation resurfaced despite the conservation work we do everyday" says Serge Rajaobelina, President of Fanamby. "But let's face it; this is not an isolated case. We should be all involved and act if we do not want our heritage to disappear!"


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/lemur-poaching.html