Governments commit to action on poaching crisis

Posted on February, 11 2014

Forty-six countries made a commitment to take “decisive and urgent action” at the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in February.

The strongly-worded London Declaration aims to strengthen law enforcement, reduce consumer demand and support sustainable livelihoods for communities that live alongside wildlife. Countries that suffer from poaching, major transit points for trafficked goods and countries where illegal wildlife products are sold were among those that signed. Trafficking devastates species populations, but also takes the lives of rangers, impedes economic development and destabilises society by driving corruption and strengthening organized criminal networks. The current poaching epidemic impacts iconic species including elephants, rhinos and tigers.

Original article posted: 11.12.13 Updated: 17.04.14

Smuggled Tiger Cub One of 16 tigers cubs seized from smugglers on Friday (26 Oct). A vetinarary team from the wildlife forensic unit take blood samples to trace the DNA. Chaiyaphum, Thailand. The tiger cubs were being smuggled across the border from Thailand into Laos two-per crate in the back of a truck. The cubs were very probably reared in an illegal tiger farm in Thailand and destined for China.