A new IUCN report shows African forest elephants are more numerous than previously believed, not due to recovery, but thanks to groundbreaking DNA-based surveys that have transformed how the elusive species is counted
They argue that the international wildlife treaty is undermining sustainable use of species in the region such as elephants.
Moazu Kromah, aka ‘Kampala Man’, ran a wildlife trafficking syndicate in Africa and law enforcement authorities knew it. Why did it take so long to bring him to justice and what about the rest of his network?
Draft policy promotes species playing their role in wilderness systems but one conservationist says leopards are being sold out
The EU and UK are fuelling the illegal trade through their continuing sale of legal ivory items
One of the world’s biggest markets for African ivory, China announced that it would outlaw all domestic trade and processing by 2017
Research shows that legal sale of ivory increased smuggling by 71%.
Stance on ivory trade in Africa is not unified, with some countries calling for a global ban although others are open to elephant ivory trade.
Yahoo sold sold an estimated 12 tonnes of elephant tusks and fashioned pieces of ivory on its Japanese auction site
Killing elephants and rhinos for even a part of their bodies wounds our humanity and lives.
Poaching linked to crime syndicates has seen 85 000 tuskers being slaughtered in five years.
Lifting ivory and rhino horn trade bans could translate to an economic turnaround for Africa, where the black market for animal products is thriving.
It is not only armed insurgent and rebel groups that fuel the slaughter of elephants, it is also greed.
Tanzania claims the report about Chinese diplomats smuggling ivory was ‘cooked up’.
Officials who visited Tanzania with President Xi Jinping took advantage of the lack of security checks to buy large amounts of ivory, say activists.
Intelligence chiefs have red-flagged wildlife poaching as a security risk, saying proceeds from the crime are being used to fund terror groups.
A report has shown that political and military elites are seizing protected areas, putting Zimbabwe at risk of becoming a front for ivory poaching.
New UN resolutions bring sanctions against illegal wildlife and resource traders who support armed groups committing social atrocities in Africa.
Malaysian customs have seized 24 tonnes of unprocessed elephant tusks worth almost $20-million, the largest haul in the country to date.
Two men have been arrested at Cape Town Airport for the illegal possession of elephant tusks following a tip-off by airport officials, say police.
Interpol says its biggest operation against ivory traffickers has led to more than 200 arrests and yielded nearly two tonnes of illegal ivory.
A Chinese man has been arrested in Cape Town for possessing ivory and elephant tusks.
Conservationists say regulating trade in ivory and rhino horn is getting tougher because syndicates are becoming more sophisticated.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare has called for a ban on the ivory trade after Malaysia seized a shipment of illegal tusks from Cape Town.
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/ 10 January 2012
Malaysia has seized elephant tusks worth $760 000 from South Africa in the first haul of smuggled ivory destined for the south-east Asian country.
The past year has seen a record number of large ivory seizures across the world, confirming a sharp increase in the illegal trade in recent years.
Police on Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago seized 1 041 elephant tusks apparently being smuggled en route to Malaysia, say officials.
Kenya’s president set fire to more than five tonnes of ivory worth $16-million in an act meant to focus attention on a rising tide of poaching deaths.
A booming black market in African ivory linked to Asian crime syndicates may scupper efforts by Zambia and Tanzania to hold a one-off sale of tusks.
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/ 17 January 2010
Researchers have found that more than 14 000 products made from the tusks and other body parts of elephants were seized in 2009.
Scientists have used a revolutionary genetic technique to pinpoint the area of Africa where smugglers are slaughtering elephants.