CAWT News

UK Government commits £1.3 million to species protection

Richard Thomas — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:29:26 +0000

February 2012—The UK Government has awarded £1.3 million to species conservation projects around the world. Four of the 13 projects benefitting from funds secured through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are run by CAWT partners.

They include awards of £50,000 each for two IUCN specialists groups—those dealing with African Elephants and African Rhinos. The money will support efforts to promote conservation of these species and to tackle poaching and illegal trade in their products.

INTERPOL to host summit on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement

Richard Thomas — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:28:13 +0000

Project Predator launched

Richard Thomas — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:52:06 +0000

December 2011—INTERPOL and the World Bank have launched Project Predator, a global enforcement initiative to protect and save the world’s last remaining wild Tigers.

In the early 1900s, Tigers were found throughout Asia and numbered more than 100,000 animals. Current estimates indicate that fewer than 3,200 remain in the wild.

Rhino horn demand leads to record poaching

Richard Thomas — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:52:48 +0000

South Africa, November 2011—More rhinos have been killed in South Africa in the past 10 months than were killed in all of 2010, new poaching numbers reveal. Statistics from South Africa National Parks show that 341 animals were lost to poaching by the end of October 2011, compared to a record total of 333 last year.

South Africa’s grim milestone comes on the heels of an announcement by WWF last week that rhinos have gone extinct in Viet Nam. The carcass of Viet Nam’s last Javan Rhino was found with a gunshot wound and without its horn.

In September 2011, CAWT partners were instrumental in convening a workshop in South Africa of key stakeholders, including government representatives from rhino range States and others, to devise ways to address the growing rhino poaching crisis.

Operation BONAPARTE nets close to 400 wildlife goods

Richard Thomas — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:11:02 +0000

August 2011—An investigation this month by Australia’s federal environment department has netted close to 400 alleged illegal wildlife products in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta.

On 3rd August, enforcement officers raided a house and found a large collection of wildlife products including the skin and head of an Alaskan wolf, a lynx skin, lion and bear skulls, a mounted bear head, orangutan skulls, a carved monkey skull, ivory products and scrimshaw.

CITES reviews monkey business and more

Richard Thomas — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:43:26 +0000

August 2011—The trade in Long-tailed Macaques was one of the issues under scrutiny at the Animals Committee meeting of CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) that took place this July.

The CITES Animal Committee provides the technical and scientific basis for the sustainability of international trade in live specimens, parts and derivatives from over 4,500 species of animals.

Rhino poaching shows no sign of abating

Richard Thomas — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:11:35 +0000

July, 2011—Just over half way through 2011, and the level of rhinoceros poaching in South Africa shows no sign of diminishing.

Almost 200 rhinos were killed in South Africa during the first half of the year, according to statistics from the national parks department.

Unless the illegal killing is curtailed, 2011 looks set to surpass the record total of 333 rhinos poached in 2010 in South Africa, itself a large increase on the 122 poached there in 2009.

Creation of ICCWC heralds new era in wildlife crime detection

Richard Thomas — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:22:21 +0000

UK, May 2011— At a CAWT Partners meeting last month the recent formation of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) was welcomed; and partners agreed to seek opportunities to assist with its operations.

Concern over rampant rosewood harvesting

Richard Thomas — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:33:49 +0000

March 2011—CAWT partner Wildlife Alliance has raised concern over the rampant harvesting of Thailand Rosewood in Cambodia, which the Alliance says is the number one target for illegal loggers in a trade driven by markets in East Asia.

The rugged and lush Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia are among the best preserved rainforests in South-east Asia, but are being targeted by illegal international logging networks seeking Thailand Rosewood Dalbergia cochinchinesis.

Customs capacity building in Africa to combat illicit wildlife trade yields spectacular results

Richard Thomas — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:15:18 +0000

March 2011—Over 100 seizures of wildlife protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) were made in a two-week transregional operation in January and February 2011 to combat the illegal cross-border trade in great apes and other wildlife species.

Increasing wildlife crime and associated corruption is a matter of grave concern to governments and the international community; being on the frontline at international border crossings enables Customs to play a critical role in the fight against transnational organized crime which is more often than not linked to the smuggling of endangered species.