Poachers have poisoned hundreds of raptors in northern Botswana using three elephant carcasses as bait. The information has just been released by the Botswana Department of...
Poachers poison hundreds of Botswana vultures
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The elephants in the room – the myths informing Botswana’s hunting policy
Botswana has lifted its ban on hunting based on five myths about that country’s elephant population. The decision has as much to do with Botswana’s upcoming elections and the...
Botswana brings back trophy hunting
Botswana has now committed to a policy built on myths, while the rest of the world takes stock of the implications ecological crisis. Botswana’s Ministry of Environment, Natural...
Elephants reduced to a political football as Botswana brings back hunting
Splashing in the Zambezi River at Botswana’s Chobe National Park. Shutterstock Ross Harvey, University of Cape Town Botswana has reinstated trophy hunting after a 5-year...
Wildebeest migrations in East Africa face extinction. What must be done
White-bearded wildebeest migrate through the Mara. Jane Rix/Shutterstock Joseph Ogutu, University of Hohenheim Across the world, migratory animals like wildebeest – which rely on...
Trophy Hunting, Part One: The nasty colonial sport of shooting wild animals
A male white lion, part of a rare white lion pack, in the wild in South Africa. (PHOTO: EPA/LIESL EICHENBERGER) Trophy hunting has historically been the preserve of...
DRY SEASON AERIAL SURVEY OF ELEPHANTS AND WILDLIFE IN NORTHERN BOTSWANA JULY – OCTOBER 2018
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the 2018 dry season, a fixed-wing aerial survey of elephants and wildlife was flown over the core conservation areas of northern Botswana as well as...
‘Too many elephants’ in Africa? Here’s how peaceful coexistence with human communities can help
HordynskiPhotography/Shutterstock Vicky Boult, University of Reading Africa’s elephant population has plummeted from roughly a million in 1970 to around 400,000 today – a decline...
Syndicates move south; Botswana president calls it fake news
Image supplied A report by Elephants Without Borders claiming ‘a significant poaching outbreak is ongoing in at least four distinct hotspots’ in Botswana has provoked government...
Escalating poaching worrying
Killing of elephants for their tusks crisis is not a new issue Photo credit: Mike Chase After months of controversy, the results of the most extensive elephant population survey...
How wildlife traffickers exploit Chinese New Year
Abalone will be on the banquet table of many Chinese families celebrating Spring Festival this year. The sea mollusc will probably have been illegally poached and smuggled all...
Greater KNP Hunting Protocol for Reserves where hunting takes place
PREAMBLE Demands for competing land uses that are not compatible with conservation practices, make the need for viable conservation incentives more urgent. Well governed trophy...
China issues permits to trade in the bones of hundreds of leopards
Leopards are Asia’s most trafficked big cat, with more than 4,900 seized from illegal trade in Asia since 2000 – but despite this, new evidence indicates the Government of...
Op-Ed: Legal Eastern markets are gutting Africa’s wildlife – Traffic
Quite apart from the decimation of illegal poaching, legal export to Asian markets is tearing the wild heart out of Africa. Each year thousands of tonnes of live animals, bones,...
Poachers Are Just Part of the Problem for Endangered African Species
We’ve all seen the stories of gorillas and elephants brutally slaughtered by poachers in Africa. Whether it’s Diane Fossey’s beloved Digit, or an elephant calf mourning the death...
Op-Ed: Where are the rhino poaching stats?
Rhino poaching might be on the decrease, elephant poaching is on the rise, but without up to date poaching figures from the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), how do we...
Bushmeat hunting threatens tourism in Botswana’s Okavango Delta
The threat posed by illegal bushmeat hunting to the Okavango Delta‘s tourism industry in Botswana has been exposed in a recently published report. Botswana is not normally...
Hunting in South Africa: A bloody mess
PROLOGUE South Africa is the world’s top ‘canned’ lion hunting destination, the rhino hunting permit system has been repeatedly abused in recent years to launder horn...
Governments are not doing enough to stop wildlife crime
A scathing new report shows that key countries affected by wildlife crime have failed to halt poaching and illegal trafficking of endangered animals as a result of widespread...
Time for Action – end the criminality and corruption fuelling wildlife crime
The landmark London Conference in February 2014 brought together heads of state and government representatives to discuss the rise in the illicit trade in wildlife and to sign up...
What can we expect from SA at CoP 17?
As the countdown begins to the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) for CITES, which commences in Johannesburg on 24 September, conservationists question the...
The Great Elephant Census Country-by-Country Findings
The following is a listing of country-by-country findings from the Great Elephant Census (GEC). For each of the 18 countries flown to-date there is a listed GEC elephant count –...
Counting Africa’s beleaguered elephants: Massive two-year census finds alarming declines
The largest wildlife survey ever taken has delivered alarming data for the ongoing survival of elephants. The results should be taken as a major wake-up call. By DON PINNOCK. To...
Horns of a Dilemma: Mozambique poaching enriching North Korea’s leadership
The fatal breach in South Africa’s defence against rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park is Mozambique – and corrupt diplomats are continually widening it. According to a...
Calling out Ivo Vegter’s fractious fulminations
Ivo Vegter passes himself off as an environmental journalist, but consistently backs the right of those with money and power to destroy the environment. I have no other choice...
Wildlife crime assessed globally for the first time in new UNODC report
Today, UNODC launched its inaugural World Wildlife Crime Report, highlighting how the poaching and illegal trade of thousands of different species across the globe not only...
Anti-poaching lessons from Tanzania
As the world's largest planned burn of ivory is set to make a massive anti-poaching statementin Kenya on Saturday 30 April, we take a look at a multi-pronged Tanzanian project...
Markets of Death, Part Two: Blood Permits – how cheating officials undermine wildlife regulations
Poachers aren’t the only problem when it comes to wildlife trafficking. Also complicit are the very institutions and rules designed to protect animals, and the people that are...
Markets of Death, Part One: The Asian end of a grisly business
China’s desire for exotic animals, tastes and products will probably push wild elephants, rhinos, pangolins and many other species to extinction within the next 10 to 15 years....
SA opposes burning of ivory stockpiles
South Africa opposed a resolution that lauded CITES for supporting the destruction of government stockpiles of ivory seized from poachers and traffickers. It asserted that CITES...
Cites reluctant to turn the screws on ivory world’s deadbeat nations – analysis
THE EU has recommended that the conservation treaty organisation Cites enforce an immediate suspension of trade for Angola, Laos and Nigeria. This comes after the three countries...
UN Meeting on Poaching in Africa: The Impact of Weapons Trafficking
Khristopher Carlson, senior researcher at the Small Arms Survey, presented today on the impact of the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons on poaching in Africa at an...
Swaziland Elephant Export Ignores Alternatives
Controversial plans are progressing to export 18 elephants from Swaziland to US zoos, apparently without proper consideration of relocating them to other reserves in...
Elephant export plan damages Swaziland’s wildlife reputation
With severe drought in Swaziland, US zoos are yet again taking the opportunity to import elephants and 18 wild born elephants have been earmarked for a life of captivity .They...
Hunters Bagged 10,000 Lions in Africa Since 2003, Trophy Data Show
Given that in Africa wild lions are in catastrophic decline–the latest International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) figures suggest that fewer than 20,000 remain–it...
How to Save Elephants: Obliterate Ivory Stockpiles Simultaneously
To save African elephants from extinction, “range states should put their ivory stockpiles beyond commercial use immediately and simultaneously,” says South African economist...
Emergency declared as elephant poached
Johannesburg - An emergency was declared as the first elephant was poached on the western border of Kruger National Park. Each day in Africa around 100 elephants die at the hands...
Rhino horn trade central to draft government policy
A legal trade in rhino horns lies at the heart of a proposed new government policy for the conservation of white rhinos in South Africa, despite the fact that an official...
Congolese ivory kingpin wriggles out of yet another arrest
The video is shaky having been secretly captured. But the image of the table full of polished ivory artifacts and the merchant sitting behind them is clear. “How much?” asks the...
EU Bans Importation Of Lion Trophies As The World Bank Funds Sport Hunting In Mozambique In An Effort To Stop Poaching
The World Bank has allocated $700,000 bolster trophy hunting of elephants and lions in Mozambique as a way to preserve wildlife. “Hunting, when properly regulated and when...
60% Collapse of Tanzanias Elephants Justifies US Ban on Trophy Imports
The recent announcement that Tanzania had lost 60% of its elephants in just five years as well as Zimbabwe’s continued disregard of international opinion on the capture and...
Will Synthetic Horn Save Or Destroy Wild Rhino Populations?
US based bio-engineering firm, Pembient, is one of three companies that plans to flood Chinese and Vietnamese markets with synthetic 3D-printed rhino horn in an effort to stem...
Protecting South Africa’s biodiversity
Environmental destruction across the world is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, which begs the question why the South African government is so complacent in the face of...
Congo: Sniffing out wildlife crime – and the corruption at its core
One after the other the carcasses were extracted from the crammed vehicle. Burnt, shrunken-back lips exposed grimacing teeth…a gruesome effect. As the pile of animals mounted up...
Experts: Trading rhino horn will only increase poaching risks
A group of international experts comprised of over 30 conservationists, academics, journalists, authors and lawyers from Africa, Europe, Asia and America has warned the Committee...
How poachers kill jobs
International tourism to Africa reached record levels in 2013, with 56 million tourists bringing in $34.2-billion (about R410-billion). Significantly, 80% of them came to see the...
International Statement sent to the Committee of Inquiry into a Possible Trade in Rhino Horn
To: Ms. M.E. Nana Magomola, Chairperson, Committee of Inquiry Cc: Minister Edna Molewa, Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) All rhinoceros species are threatened by...
Submission by Alejandro Nadal to Committee of Inquiry into a Possible Trade in Rhino Horn
INTRODUCTION Greetings to the Chair of the Committee of Inquiry and to all the members of the COI. I am Dr. Alejandro Nadal, Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies, El...
Wildlife crime should be treated like drug trafficking
“Please, let’s stop talking about illegal trade in wildlife. It’s not illegal trade – it’s crime,” says John Sellar, an independent anti-smuggling, fraud and organised crime...
Namibia: Bizarre death of a rhino protector
The air over Sesfontein this time of year is usually a peculiar metallic hue, tinged by the talcum-fine dust whipped by the harsh desert wind blowing from the Skeleton Coast, 250...
Are rhinos abandoned by all but South Africa?
It looks like South Africa is going to break another record: 2014 is set to exceed 2013’s 1,004 rhino poached. But sadly, it’s not as though the nation is sitting back and doing...
World Elephant Day 2014 VIDEO
This August - on World Elephant Day - the Conservation Action Trust hosted a Mock Ivory Burn in Cape Town to raise awareness with South Africans about the slaughter of elephants...
Cape Town Mock Ivory Burn in Images
In Cape Town, conservationists, sports stars and celebrities gathered in Blaauwberg Nature Reserve yesterday to celebrate World Elephant Day by igniting a fire of mock ivory...
Legal Ivory Trade in a Corrupt World and its Impact on African Elephant Populations
INTRODUCTION: Illegal hunting of African elephants for ivory is causing rapid declines in their populations. Since 2007, illegal ivory trade has more than doubled. African...
US Upholds Ban on Elephant Trophies from Rogue States
The US government has upheld its earlier ban on the importation of elephant trophies from Tanzania and Zimbabwe for the duration of 2014, despite vocal objections from hunting...
Call for trade embargo against Mozambique for failure to address poaching issues
Two international environmental organisations have called on the US government to implement trade sanctions against Mozambique for its official complicity in the ongoing rampant...
SA elephants at risk as Minister ignores international opinion
Every 15 minutes an elephant is butchered for its tusks. That is 100 elephants every day. Nonetheless, the South African Minister of Water and Environment Affairs, Edna Molewa,...
Rhinos: It’s time for Plan B
In public debates about how to save our rhino, those who advocate ending the ban on trading their horns fail to acknowledge (if you'll excuse the metaphor) the elephant in the...
Meeting to decide the future of Africa’s elephants
Against the backdrop of an ever-escalating attack on Africa's wildlife and the particularly alarming increase in ivory poaching, the International Union of Nature Conservation...
Elephants in the firing line
The current plight of Africa's rhino population, as disturbing as it is, pales in comparison to a much less widely reported massacre of more staggering proportions. In 1980 there...