THA BAK, Laos — He was up there somewhere, at the top of the hill, the man Karl Ammann had come to see. It would soon be night. The forest was all shadows and sounds. Ammann...
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...
Has rhino poaching decreased, or are we running out of rhinos?
A strategic report on poaching just released by the Department of Environmental Affairs shows that fewer rhinos but more elephants are being killed. Of concern,...
Dodgy skeleton traders and lion slaughterhouses exposed in damning report
The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has increased South Africa’s lion bone export quota from 800 to 1,500 a year, despite being aware that some skeletons are being...
Born Free Foundation: SA support for lion bones trade is damaging its image
The Department of Environmental Affairs has been slammed for allowing canned lion hunting and the export of lion bones without evidence that it has any scientific or conservation...
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....