WWF - Illegal wildlife trade threatens elephants, rhinos and tigers

African Development Bank meeting to explore wildlife crime impacts and solutions

2013-05-25

During its annual meetings next week, the African Development Bank will host a panel discussion on the threat posed by illicit wildlife trafficking to sustainable economic development in the continent.

Bank President Donald Kaberuka, Gabon President Ali Bongo and WWF International Director General Jim Leape will discuss the wide-reaching impacts of illegal wildlife trade, which has evolved recently into a sophisticated transnational criminal activity worth billions of dollars each year.

The event is scheduled to take place at the Marrakesh gathering on Thursday, 30 May, 2013 at 7:00 PM. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore with panelists actions including increased law enforcement, greater customs controls, and strengthened criminal justice.

Africa's elephants and rhinos are under record assult in formerly secure protected areas, which are vital to many countries' economies. Demand for ivory and rhino horn has increased significantly over the past few years in step with the growth of economies of Asia, which is the primary consumer destination for the illegal products.

Learn more about illicit wildlife trafficking by clicking here.

งานประชุมในพระราชูปภัมป์เพื่อรับมือกับการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่า

2013-05-21

ลอนดอน – วันนี้ (21 พฤษภาคม) สมเด็จเจ้าฟ้าชายชาร์ลส์ มกุฏราชกุมารแห่งราชวงศ์อังกฤษทรงเป็นเจ้าภาพการประชุม พร้อมด้วยคณะรัฐบาลสหราชอาณาจักร เพื่อเรียกร้องให้มีมาตรการขั้นสูงสุด เพื่อหยุดยั้งการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่า ซึ่งเป็นการค้าที่ไม่เพียงส่งผลคุกคามต่อธรรมชาติเท่านั้น แต่ยังส่งผลต่อความมั่นคงของประเทศ และของภูมิภาคอีกด้วย ซึ่ง WWF ขอน้อมรับโครงการริเริ่มที่มีเป้าหมายเพื่อตอกย้ำประเด็นนี้ในประเด็นการเมืองระหว่างประเทศ ด้วยความยินดี ในฐานะที่สมเด็จเจ้าฟ้าชายชาร์ลส์ ทรงเป็นประธานWWF-UK ทรงแสดงออกถึงความสนใจด้านการอนุรักษ์ที่สอดคล้องกันในหลายๆด้าน ซึ่งรวมไปถึงความปราถนาของพระองค์ ให้ยุติการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่า

เดวิด นุสบาม หัวหน้าคณะบริหารWWF-UK กล่าวถึงงานในครั้งนี้ว่า
"การลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่าสุ่มเสี่ยงจะทำให้ความพยายามในการอนุรักษ์ที่ทำกันมาหลายทศวรรษต้องล้มเหลว และทำให้สัตว์สายพันธุ์ที่เป็นสัญลักษณ์และมีความสำคัญทางนิเวศน์ เสี่ยงจะสูญพันธุ์ การค้ามูลค่าหลายพันล้านปอนด์นี้ ยังเป็นตัวกระตุ้นอาชญากรรมในรูปแบบอื่น และส่งผลกระทบเลวร้ายต่อประชาชนบางกลุ่มที่ยากจนที่สุดในโลก

"การลักลอบล่าและค้าสัตว์ป่าเพิ่มสูงเป็นประวัติการณ์ เราหวังว่าการประชุมในครั้งนี้ จะเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของโครงการริเริ่มสำคัญ เพื่อต่อสู้กับการค้าแห่งหายนะและความตายนี้"

เมื่อปีที่แล้ว มีแรด 668 ตัว ถูกสังหารในแอฟริกาใต้ ซึ่งมากเป็นประวัติการณ์ และนับตั้งแต่ปี 2556 เป็นต้นมา มีแรดตายไปเกือบ 300 ตัวแล้ว และเมื่อต้นเดือนนี้ มีช้างอย่างน้อย 26 ตัว ถูกสังหารหมู่ในพื้นที่ป่ามรดกโลก ในสาธารณรัฐแอฟริกากลาง หลังมีกลุ่มลักลอบล่าสัตว์ติดอาวุธปืนไรเฟิลคาลาชนิคอฟ เข้าไปในดาซังกา ไบ เขตอาศัยพิเศษของช้างซึ่งคนท้องถิ่นทราบกันว่าเป็น "หมู่บ้านช้าง"

การประชุมครั้งนี้ จะมีการวางกรอบการทำงานสำหรับการประชุมในระดับผู้นำรัฐที่จะมีขึ้นในช่วงฤดูใบไม้ร่วง ที่รัฐบาลสหราชอาณาจักรจะเป็นเจ้าภาพ ท่ามกลางความหวังว่ารัฐบาลประเทศต่างๆ ที่เข้าร่วมการประชุมในช่วงฤดูใบไม้ร่วง จะมีมาตรการที่จะช่วยลดความต้องการสัตว์ที่ใกล้จะสูญพันธุ์ และผลิตภัณฑ์ที่เกี่ยวข้อง, ปรับปรุงการบังคับใช้กฏหมายและความยุติธรรมทางอาญาในระดับโลก ต่อเครือข่ายองค์กรที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการลอบค้าสัตว์ป่า ไปจนถึงการให้ความช่วยเหลือชุมชนห่างไกลในการการหาทางเลือกเพื่อเลี้ยงชีพในระยะยาว แทนการค้าสัตว์ป่า โอเวน ปีเตอร์สัน รัฐมนตรีสิ่งแวดล้อมกล่าว

"เป็นการง่ายเกินไปที่จะคิดว่า การสูญพันธุ์ของสัตว์นั้นเป็นเรื่องที่ผ่านไปแล้ว ทั้งที่มันเป็นปัญหาสำคัญในทุกวันนี้ นี่เป็นเหตุผลที่ทำให้ผมรู้สึกยินดีเป็นอย่างยิ่ง ที่ได้รับพระกรุณาธิคุณจากเจ้าชายแห่งเวลส์ให้เป็นประธานร่วมในการประชุมว่าด้วยการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่านี่เป็นโอกาสดียิ่งที่จะหยิบยกปัญหานี้สู่ระดับสูงสุดระหว่างประเทศการร่วมมือกันจะช่วยทำให้เราลดความต้องการทั่วโลกที่มีต่อสัตว์ป่าที่ใกล้สูญพันธุ์และผลิตภัณฑ์ที่เกี่ยวข้อง และช่วยเหลือชุมชนต่างๆหาทางเลือกทางรอดอื่น แทนการค้าสัตว์ป่า"
ระหว่างเตรียมการประชุม WWF พร้อมด้วยพันธมิตรอื่นๆ ได้ร่วมทำงานกับหน่วยงานความยั่งยืนระหว่างประเทศของสมเด็จเจ้าฟ้าชายชาร์ลส์ และกรมสิ่งแวดล้อม อาหารและชนบท หรือ Defra เพื่อแบ่งปันความรู้ ความเชี่ยวชาญด้านการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่าหายาก และความเป็นไปได้ในการแก้ไขวิกฤตอาชญากรรมต่อสัตว์ป่าระดับโลกในปัจจุบัน

ในช่วงฤดูร้อนปี 2555 WWF และ TRAFFIC เปิดตัวแคมเปญการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่าระดับโลก เพื่อยกระดับปัญหาการลักลอบค้าสัตว์ป่าให้เป็นอาชญากรรมขั้นร้ายแรง และเพื่อกระตุ้นรัฐบาลและสถาบันระหว่างประเทศอื่นๆ ให้แก้ไขปัญหานี้ เป็นต้น

สามารถหาข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมได้ที่wwf.org.uk/endwildlifecrime ส่วนแฮทช์แท็กทวิตเตอร์อย่างเป็นทางการของงานที่จะมีขึ้นในวันที่ 21 พฤษภาคม 2556 คือ#endwildlifecrime

WWF campaigner co-authors wildlife crime editorial

2013-05-20

WWF campaigner Wendy Elliott co-authored an editorial entitled Wildlife crime poses unique challenges to protected areas for the IUCN journal PARKS.

This summary was filed by WWF volunteer Shirley Muthu

Wildlife crime is now a multi-billion dollar industry involving well organized and violent criminal syndicates that target the most valuable wildlife species in protected areas around the world. It is the fifth largest international criminal activity after narcotics, counterfeiting, and illicit trafficking of humans and oil. Problems are escalating fast, in terms of both the scale of poaching and the sophistication of the methods used.

Protected areas are the most significant remaining habitats for the most valuable species of wildlife and are now under threat of delivering effective conservation. There is an urgent need for long-term changes in the management of such areas with more emphasis on patrolling and law enforcement, supported by a strengthening of the judiciary system. Increased efforts to address corruption and improve enforcement along the rest of the trade chain coupled with strategies to reduce consumer demand, are also paramount.

The professionalization of wildlife crime

Subsistence poaching has been overtaken by commercial theft of valuable wildlife products such as ivory and rhino horn to supply the huge markets in Asia. Poaching gangs are better equipped, heavily armed and technologically astute. Protected area managers, rangers and their families face the threat of intimidation, attack and death by ruthless poachers who exploit inadequate patrolling and weak law enforcement. The amount of money involved has made the trade increasingly sophisticated, more violent and more susceptible to corruption, even from professionals within the system. Government concern is mounting over the implications for security, sustainable development and natural resources, and the impact on global health of unregulated movement of animal parts.

Implications for protected area management

The rising criminality associated with wildlife trading jeopardizes a consensus approach to management that works only when there is a broad agreement on values and aims, and where the system is closed to outsiders and free of violations to the agreements. Enforcement needs to be elevated much higher up on the list of management priorities towards performance based accountability. It is critical that adaptive tactical patrolling techniques are implemented with strong law enforcement monitoring systems that are location-specific and supplemented by informant networks. Sophisticated technology such as unmanned aerial patrol vehicles to facilitate patrolling and DNA profiling to track origin of traded animals, coupled with methodologies used to combat other serious crimes, need to be employed.

International responses

There are signs that the global community is now recognizing the scale of the threat facing wildlife and its implications for human society. Formation of the International Consortium for Combating Wildlife Crime and the increasing engagement of non-environmental forums mark a new determination to bring the full array of enforcement measures against illicit trafficking. Governments are starting to be held accountable for wildlife crime and, most critically, high level politicians are increasingly acknowledging it as serious even though comprehensive action plans have yet to be addressed. On a practical level, penalties for wildlife trafficking are improving and on-ground responses to large scale poaching threats have increased significantly in some areas.

To date, the unique role of protected areas has received less attention. Urgent steps are needed to bring protected area agencies more centrally into strategic discussions concerning trade control; without their support – and without greater support from them in turn – these efforts are likely to be wasted.

At least 26 elephants massacred in World Heritage site

2013-05-10

Yaoundé, Cameroon - At least 26 elephants were massacred in the Dzanga Bai World Heritage Site in the Central African Republic, after 17 individuals armed with Kalashnikov rifles on Monday entered this unique elephant habitat, known locally as the "village of elephants".

WWF sources on Thursday said they had counted at least 26 elephant carcasses in and around the Bai, a large clearing where between 50 and 200 elephants congregate every day to drink nutrients present in the sands.

Four of the elephants were calves, the sources said, adding that local villagers had started taking meat from the carcasses.

Since the poachers arrived no elephants have been seen at the Bai, which was described as an "elephant mortuary" the sources added.

Although the 17 armed individuals, who presented themselves as part of the country's transitional government forces, have left the area, WWF and other conservation partners fear the killing could continue unless the area is properly secured.

The Central African Republic has been rocked by violence and chaos since the beginning of the year, and WWF and other conservation organizations left the field office next to the Bai in April for security reasons.

Jim Leape, WWF International Director General, said: "The killing has started. The Central African Republic must act immediately to secure this unique World Heritage site.

"The brutal violence we are witnessing in Dzanga Bai threatens to destroy one of the world's great natural treasures, and to jeopardise the future of the people who live there.

"The international community must also act to assist the Central African Republic to restore peace and order in this country to safeguard its population and its natural heritage.

"WWF also asks Cameroon and the Republic of Congo to assist the Central African Republic in preserving this World Heritage Site, which not only encompasses the Bai, but also includes large neighbouring areas of these two countries.

"The events in Dzanga Bai are a vivid reminder of the existential threat faced by forest elephants in Central Africa. Populations of this species have plummeted 62 per cent over the past ten years.

"The unfolding tragedy in Dzanga Bai must also spur the governments of China and Thailand to shut down the illegal ivory markets in their countries that are fueling this illicit trade."

Alert: Poachers enter unique elephant habitat

2013-05-07

Poachers have entered one of Africa's most unique elephant habitats on Monday, threatening to cause one of the biggest elephant massacres in the region since poachers killed at least 300 elephants for their ivory in Cameroon's Bouba N'Djida National Park in February 2012.

According to WWF sources, a group of 17 armed individuals on Monday entered the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and headed for the Dzanga Bai, locally known as the "village of elephants", a large clearing where between 50 and 200 elephants congregate every day to drink mineral salts present in the sands.

Two WWF-supported local researchers said that three members of this group armed with Kalashnikov rifles approached them in the forest on Monday, asking for food and directions to the viewing tower at the Dzanga Bai, which is used by scientists and tourists to observe elephants. After giving a false lead, these sources immediately ran away and heard gunshots coming from the Bai on their way into hiding.

Also on Monday, two ecoguards said they saw they saw armed individuals on the Dzanga Bai observation platform shooting in the direction of elephants. While going into hiding, these sources said they saw the vehicle which had transported the 17 gunmen parked at the entrance of the park.

WWF calls on the international community to help restore peace and order in the Central African Republic, which has been rocked by violence and chaos since the beginning of the year, and to help preserve this unique World Heritage Site.

Jim Leape, WWF International Director General, said:

"Unless swift and decisive action is taken, it appears highly likely that poachers will take advantage of the chaos and instability of the country to slaughter the elephants living in this unique World Heritage Site.

"Wildlife crime is not only a consequence of instability, but a cause. It fuels violence in the region, in a vicious circle that undermines the stability of these countries and their economic development..

"Central African Republic has to immediately follow through on its promise of two weeks ago to mobilise troops to end poaching in the region. WWF also calls on the international community to immediately provide assistance to Central African Republic in restoring peace and order in the country, and to preserve its unique natural heritage.

"We also urge Cameroon and Republic of Congo to provide support to the Central African Republic in preserving this World Heritage Site, which not only encompasses the Bai, but also includes large neighbouring areas of these two countries.

"Finally, ivory consumer country governments, and notably China and Thailand, must redouble their efforts to end demand – the root cause of the extermination of elephants across Africa."

Twenty wildlife criminals arrested in Cameroon

2013-04-30

Yokadouma, South-East Cameroun

Cameroonian authorities arrested 20 suspected wildlife criminals and confiscated 45 guns during a ten-day operation that targeted elephant poachers in the southeast of the country. Thirty-nine forest rangers, backed by 25 soldiers of the country's rapid intervention battalion carried out the operation which lasted from April 15 to 26, 2013.

Of those arrested, two suspects caught with an AK47 will stand trial in a military tribunal. The local justice department formally charged 18 other suspects, seven of whom were remanded to custody while the remaining 11 were released on bail. During the operation, rangers also seized two ivory tusks, as well as gorilla, chimp and elephant meat.

Clashes

During the operations, a suspect, who threatened to fire at rangers, was shot in the leg. Another, who attempted to harm an eco-guard with a machete, was wounded in the left arm.

Djogo Toumouksala, East Regional Delegate for the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife for the east region of Cameroon, told WWF the objectives of the operation were largely attained.

"With the seizure of 45 arms, 337 ammunitions, 10 chainsaws and more than 3000 wire cables, we have inflicted a heavy blow on wildlife criminals," he said.

"Their ability to wreak havoc on elephants and other species has been curtailed."

"Though this region is rich in wildlife, it is constantly menaced by the proliferation of arms," Tomouksala added, promising more such operations in the future.

Arms circulation

The operation comes at the backdrop of armed conflict in neighboring Central African Republic. Conservationists fear a rise in the circulation of war arms in the southeast of Cameroon putting elephants and people in danger.

"If there is one lesson this operation has taught us, it is that poachers are well armed and do not hesitate to shoot at ecoguards," said Gilles Etoga, WWF Project Manager for Boumba-Bek and Nki National Parks, in the area where the operations were held.

"We do not have a full measure of the degree of wildlife carnage in southeast Cameroon – the forests here are some of the most inaccessible areas on earth outside of Antarctica."

"But our information leads us to believe that poaching is a serious – and constant – problem in the region."

Although precise numbers of surviving individuals are difficult to come by, elephant poaching began increasing dramatically in 2008 – tracking a worldwide increase in ivory prices. However, a recent study shows that poachers, who increasingly use automatic weapons such as AK47s, have decimated 62 percent of the Congo Basin's forest elephants in the past ten years.

Wildlife criminals need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law

Alain Ononino, who heads WWF's wildlife law enforcement program in Cameroon, urged local authorities to follow-up on these arrests by ensuring that those proven guilty will be punished for their crimes.

"This is an opportunity for Cameron to show the whole world and all those involved in elephant poaching and illegal wildlife trade that it is serious about stamping out this activity," he said.

"Under Cameroonian law, whoever is caught in possession of live or dead protected species – including its parts – is considered to have killed this animal and can thus be punished by up to three years in prison."

"Cameroon's judicial authorities should prosecute all these suspects to the full extent of the law," Ononino concluded.

UN recognizes severity of wildlife crimes

2013-04-26

Governments meeting to discuss responses to global crime waves are urging countries to impose strict penalties for the trafficking wildlife products like elephant ivory and rhino horn. Members of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Friday passed a resolution encouraging UN member states "to make illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora a serious crime" and to ensure organized criminal groups are prosecuted.

Under UN rules, serious crimes should receive sentences of up to four years in prison or more. In many instances wildlife smugglers are released after paying fines significantly lower than the value of the illegal goods.

"Today the commissioners took a critical step forward by recognizing the serious, transnational and organized nature of wildlife and forest crime. These crimes are not only putting the survival of endangered species in peril, but are also threatening security and sustainable economic development," said Wendy Elliott, leader of WWF's campaign against wildlife crime. "We urge governments worldwide to use every tool available to combat these crimes, which are also taking human lives."

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN

During the crime commission meeting, governments identified links between the illegal trade in wildlife and timber products and other transnational organized crimes such as drug and arms running, human trafficking, money laundering and terrorism. The wildlife trafficking resolution was put forward by the United States and Peru.

Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told journalists, "Wildlife and forest crimes must be treated as serious crimes with minimum punishments of four years or more so that full force of deterrence can be used against criminals. The harder task, however, will be to curb the demand."

The poaching of elephants and rhinos has reached record levels across Africa, but increased law enforcement effectiveness is also needed throughout the trade chain and in consumer countries like China, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Up to 30,000 elephants are killed each year for their ivory tusks. In poaching epicentre Central Africa, governments will meet next week to address the ongoing security crisis, which is exacerbated by the proliferation of heavily-armed poachers.

"We are seeing that the killing of wildlife is increasingly connected to horrific violence against the rangers and community-members standing between these criminals and their targets. It is long overdue for the punishments to fit the crimes in these cases," Elliott said.

Governments also agreed to a proposal from Norway to address crimes at sea that impact upon the environment, including fisheries crimes. Illegal fishing undermines efforts by governments and responsible fishers to sustainably manage fisheries. It also threatens livelihoods, food security and sustainable development, and costs the global economy US $23 billion annually.

Field reports indicate slaughter of elephants, conservation staff evacuated

2013-04-25

WWF and WCS have received alarming reports from their field operations that elephants are being slaughtered in the violence-ridden Central African Republic (CAR), where new powers in place struggle to gain control over the situation. The conservation organizations are issuing today a joint call for immediate action.

Due to the violence and chaos in the area, the exact number of elephants slaughtered is not known, however initial reports indicate it may be extensive. WWF has confirmed information that forest elephants are being poached near the Dzanga-Sangha protected areas, a World Heritage Site. Elephant meat is reportedly being openly sold in local markets and available in nearby villages. The security situation is preventing park staff from searching the dense forest for elephant carcasses.

The two organizations, WWF and WCS that have worked in CAR since the 1980s, are calling on the Central African Republic and its neighbors to immediately increase security in the region to protect the area's people and elephants. Governments are meeting next week at an extraordinary meeting to discuss ways to stop the poaching that has plagued the region. Up to 30,000 elephants are killed in Africa each year for their ivory tusks, which are in demand in Asia.

The following statements have been issued by WWF and WCS:

Jim Leape, WWF Director General said:

"The elephant poaching crisis – driven by insatiable ivory demand – is so severe that no area is safe, not even the World Heritage Site Dzanga-Sangha where both WWF and WCS have now worked for the conservation of elephants for decades. Heroic rangers are standing firm in the face of immense danger, but they alone cannot safeguard the special species and places the world treasures. When meeting next week, Central African governments must urgently join forces against this criminal activity that is also threatening the stability and economic development of their countries. I encourage them in the strongest terms to take a stand against wildlife crime and together declare that poaching and illicit trafficking will not be tolerated."

Cristian Samper, WCS President and CEO said:

"Together, WCS and WWF, are calling on the Central African Republic government to immediately increase security in the region to protect these elephants from poachers and is asking other regional governments to provide assistance to stop the killing. Our staffs have been forced to evacuate in the chaos. I recently visited CAR and saw first-hand that without a full-time conservation presence in the region, these elephants are in jeopardy from poachers. WCS and our partners will continue to work tirelessly to protect elephants across their range."

WWF has worked in Dzanga-Sangha for 30 years and supports protected area management, gorilla research, law enforcement and tourism development. WCS has been in the area for than 20 years, in charge of monitoring and research of the elephants of Dzanga Bai, a forest clearing containing a mineral-rich watering hole. In addition, WCS works immediately across the border in the Republic of Congo to protect the same population of elephants there where the government is working to ensure their additional security on that side of the border.

Orphaned rhino struggles to survive after mother killed

2013-04-05

An Indian rhino calf that lost its mother to poachers is clinging to life with the help of conservationists, according to WWF staff assisting with its care. The two week old male is in critical condition after its mother was gunned down by poachers Tuesday and her horn chopped off.

The shocking incident is the latest in a surge of poaching plaguing India's Assam province where 16 greater one-horned rhinos have been killed already this year.

A team of frontline staff from WWF, the government and partner organizations joined community members to search Manas National Park for the orphan after the carcass of its mother was discovered earlier this week. The group was determined to prevent the calf's death imminent from starvation, which would surely occur without the nourishment of its mother's milk.

The dehydrated and traumatized calf was located, captured and brought to a safe location for urgent veterinary care. Images of the confused newborn show it cowering in the corner of a store room where it is being held temporarily.

"It was a challenge getting hold of the calf as it was very scared but thankfully it is fine and doing well now," said WWF's Deba Dutta who was part of the rescue team.

However, the calf's survival is not assured. The animals are highly dependent on their mothers for the first few years of life. Work will soon begin on a special fenced enclosure, or boma, for the calf so that it can be raised by rehabilitation experts. It is possible, but challenging, to successfully reintroduce rhinos to the wild.

Rhinos across their Asian and African ranges are being decimated at record rates by poachers and criminal traffickers. Killing has surged in recent years just as rhino horn has become a prized commodity in Viet Nam where it is marketed as miracle cure for everything from cancer to hangovers. Viet Nam has done little to crackdown on the illegal trade or curb demand by dispelling such rumours, which have no medical basis.

Opportunistic criminals are now targeting rhinos reintroduced into India's Manas National Park by WWF and its Indian Rhino Vision 2020 partners. Four of the 18 rhinos moved there have been killed for their horns.

"In Manas National Park itself, monitoring, patrolling, intelligence and protection regimes need to be strengthened and implemented on ground in a time-bound, verifiable and accountable manner," said Dr. Dipankar Ghose, Director of WWF-India's Species and Landscapes Programme.

WWF strongly condemns the rhino killings and renews its call to source, transit and consumer countries to increase protection and law enforcement.

Take action to stop wildlife crime. Join WWF's campaign.

An elephant's tale

2013-04-01

By Simon Reeve, TV presenter & WWF-UK ambassador.

The longer scientists study elephants, the more we realise how special they are. These are creatures that live for around 65 years. Females teach younger elephants about the geography and food of their world, and how to raise young. Elephants display many of the emotions we associate with humans: for example, they love, play and empathise with each other.

Elephants can also smell the bones of a dead friend or relative, and will mourn them with sounds too low for humans to even hear. New discoveries concerning elephant behaviour are made all the time. Scientists now think elephants can sense the movement of other herds (particularly those fleeing danger) up to 13 miles away, by detecting sonic vibrations through their feet.

Even claims elephants destroy vegetation are not entirely accurate. Yes, they eat a lot and have a habit of knocking over trees and uprooting bushes. But by snapping the trees, ellies allow sunlight to hit the ground, allowing grasslands to flourish that are crucial for herbivores such as zebra and wildebeest, which in turn provide food for the big cats.

One of my most memorable encounters with these grand giants was in Botswana. I'd met up with soldiers from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), which has caught, arrested or shot dozens of poachers around the spectacular Okavango Delta and across the country. But poachers are still active. Just days before I arrived, the last two white rhinos in neighbouring Zambia's Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) National Park were shot by poachers travelling on speedboats. The gunmen are often former soldiers or guerrilla fighters and carry Kalashnikov assault rifles. They don't think twice about shooting guards or soldiers, let alone elephants. Between 1979 and 1990 at least 600,000 elephants (half the African population) were slaughtered. The commercial trade was banned in 1989, but ivory is still being smuggled to China to be used in jewellery and medicines, and to the Middle East to make handles for ceremonial daggers. A few weeks before I visited, 13 elephants had been killed in northern Botswana for their tusks.

At the regional army base, an hour outside the Botswanan town of Maun, gateway to the Okavango Delta, Captain Solomon Mamadi gathered supplies for a journey into the delta to check on an army anti-poaching patrol. There was anger at the latest elephant shootings. "The order has come down from on high. We must hunt down the poachers and kill them," he said. I climbed into the back of a dark green army Land Rover with the captain, and his driver took us towards the buffalo fence marking the boundary of the Okavango Delta. It's a line stopping buffalo from spreading disease. But it's also a clear demarcation between a world of cattle and goats on one side and true wildlife on the other.

We crossed into the delta and the world began to change. We passed nervous giraffes with legs so gangly they appeared to flee in slow motion. Another two hours of driving along impossibly bumpy tracks brought us to bushes concealing 10 silent soldiers, invisible in their green jungle camouflage uniforms. Aged 25 to 35 and loaded with assault rifles, knives, GPSs, field radios, binoculars and dozens of magazines for their guns, they were a potent force. Many African armies suffer from poor discipline, ancient equipment and corruption. By contrast, BDF soldiers are well trained and well disciplined.

The men reported no contact with poachers. So the captain decided to show me what his soldiers were protecting. We headed into the bush on foot with the squad, and went hunting for elephants, walking slowly behind an expert tracker at the front, a young lance corporal with keen sight and a sharp mind.

"He'll find them," said the captain confidently. "He reads the ground, the bushes, even the air."

Within 10 minutes the 'corp' found a dry grass stalk that had been broken by an elephant within the previous hour. The stalk had snapped under a giant foot — still just a shadow in the hard dust. The corp could tell the age of the tracks by how long a spider had taken to rebuild his web in a damaged bush, or termites had spent repairing a trodden mound. My brain needed a retune to understand this world. For the corp it came naturally and immediately. There were three elephants, and he had their trail.

The corporal pushed us forward, talking quickly about his hatred of the gunmen shooting "our wildlife". He led our squad through the sweltering bush for half an hour. Then we heard our targets before we could see them: three young adult bull elephants, fresh from a swim, were ripping at the undergrowth in search of food.

We approached quietly from downwind, but wary elephants can easily sense a squad of soldiers and a film crew. Two of them peeled away and headed deeper into the bush, leaving the biggest, bolshiest elephant staring at me, staring at him.

"Don't make any sudden moves," the captain warned. "You don't want to annoy him. If he charges, run in a zigzag and hide behind some thick scrub."

Run in a zigzag? Hide? Where? The elephant flapped his ears, swung his trunk and glared at us.

Fortunately, hunger won over indignation. The bull was standing next to a tall ivory nut palm. At the top were bunches of seed-bearing fruit, so hard they've long been used to make buttons. Elephants love them.

The bull squared up to the tree and then repeatedly headbutted the trunk, shaking and pushing it violently. I could feel the ground moving under my feet. Fruit started to rain down. It bounced off his head, trunk and back, but he kept shaking. After 30 seconds the earthquake stopped, checked we weren't planning to steal his meal, and began to graze, reaching down with his trunk and popping fruit into his mouth.

The captain and I looked on with wonder. Solomon beamed the smile of a man eyeing his children at play. His men were watching for poachers from the undergrowth and here was one of their charges. Solomon turned to me.

"I've seen them many, many times, but they still fill me with wonder," he said quietly. "Now, Simon, you can see why we're under their spell."

Central Africa to mobilize up to 1,000 soldiers to save its elephants

2013-03-26

Yaoundé, Cameroon - Central African states on Saturday said they would mobilize up to 1,000 soldiers and law-enforcement officials to immediately start joint military operations to protect the region's last remaining savanna elephants, threatened by Sudanese poachers on a killing spree in the region.

"We recommend the mobilization of all defense and security forces in the affected countries" to stop these poachers, eight of the ten members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) said in a joint statement at the end of a three-day emergency anti-poaching ministerial conference held in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, on March 21-23.

The high-level conference was held to stop what ECCAS said are about 300 heavily armed Sudanese poachers on horseback on the prowl for elephants in the savannas of Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad.

On the night of March 14-15, in southern Chad, these poachers killed at least 89 elephants in one night. Since the beginning of the year, they also slaughtered at least thirty elephants in the Central African Republic. They are believed to be responsible for the 300 elephants killed in Cameroon's Bouba N'Djida National Park in early 2012, forcing the country to mobilize 600 elite soldiers to defend the country's borders from these poachers.

Although precise figures are difficult to come by, savanna elephant populations in, for example, the Central African Republic - the country with historically the highest numbers of savanna elephants in the region – are believed to have plummeted from around 80,000 thirty years ago to a few hundred today.

The emergency plan, estimated to cost around 1.8 million euros, calls for the use of aerial support, land vehicles, the purchase of satellite phones, the establishment of a joint military command including real-time information sharing and analysis systems, as well as for sending a diplomatic mission to Sudan and South Sudan – where the poachers are believed to originate from.

Although the statement said ECCAS states would fund these operations themselves, they called on the international community to "mobilize and make available complementary funds" to sustain these efforts now and in the future.

"This is fantastic news. ECCAS and its member states deserve to be congratulated for their determination to once and for all stop these elephant killers," said Bas Huijbregts, head of the Central African strand of WWF's campaign against illegal wildlife trade.

"Now, it is up to demand countries – principally China and Thailand – to show that they have as much courage and determination as these Central African countries," he said.

In the statement, the ECCAS states congratulated Thailand for its March 3 decision to ban its legal domestic ivory trade, and urged it to implement this decision.

Ivory consumers "need to be sensitized to the consequences" of their demand for ivory, the statement said, adding that "destination countries (should) adopt measures to reduce ivory demand."

Finally, the statement added that ECCAS states should work towards modifying national legislations so that poaching and ivory trade become offences "equivalent to other transnational crimes", such as drug and small arms trafficking.

After the declaration, the United States ambassador to Cameroon, Robert Jackson, said he was "pleased with the meeting. The plan is a good one."

"But execution is now critical. I am, however, concerned that there is no mention of corruption in the statement, because it contributes directly to the poaching and trafficking problem," he said.

Nicolas Berlanga Martinez, the EU mission's head of cooperation also congratulated ECCAS for its initiative, saying that "the measures adopted seem sufficiently ambitious to respond to the urgency of the situation, and I will remain attentive, along with other partners, of the implementation of this emergency plan."

"I also salute the proposal to reinforce collaboration between the different ministries responsible for countering poaching and illegal wildlife trade, and would also urge these authorities to ensure a proper coordination of donations from its partners," he added.

In the statement, the ECCAS states reaffirmed their commitment to protect its elephants, which they said "belong to the natural universal heritage of humanity".

"The international community stands by Central Africa," Huijbregts, of WWF, said.

"Now the region is in the world's spotlight," he concluded.

WWF is campaigning for greater protection of threatened species such as rhinos, tigers and elephants. In order to save endangered animals, source, transit and demand countries must all improve law enforcement, customs controls and judicial systems. WWF is also urging governments in consumer countries to undertake demand reduction efforts to curb the use of endangered species products.

Better protection for elephants, rhinos and more from UN treaty

2013-03-25

A look at WWF's successes at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species for our priority species from apes to turtles. Click the headlines for full articles.

Ban on ivory trade pledged by Thai PM

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pledged at the opening of CITES to end ivory trade in Thailand, seizing a key opportunity to stem global wildlife trafficking. She said Thailand would take steps to end ivory trade – the first time the Thai government has said this publicly. Her statement came after the call of nearly 1.5 million WWF and Avaaz supporters.

"As a next step we will forward amending the national legislation with the goal of putting an end on ivory trade and to be in line with international norms," Prime Minster Shinawatra said. "This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand's wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa."

"We're thrilled to hear that Prime Minister Shinawatra took this opportunity to seize the global spotlight and pledge to end ivory trade in her country. But the fight to stop wildlife crime and shut down Thailand's ivory markets is not over. Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues," said Carlos Drews head of WWF's delegation to CITES.

Thai Buddhist leaders pray for poached elephants, call for end to ivory use

Revered Thai Buddhist leaders held the first-ever Buddhist merit-making ceremony to pray for the tens of thousands of elephants poached annually. They also called on their congregations and other temples to reject the use and trade of ivory.

"Having prestigious leaders from the Buddhist community in Thailand lead this ceremony here, which is usually practiced for a family member who has passed away, emphasizes that we are all interdependent and part of one great web of life," said Phansiri Winichagoon, country director of WWF-Thailand.

Historic vote protects sharks and manta rays at CITES

A historic vote occurred at CITES to regulate trade of five species of sharks and two of manta ray. Science prevailed over politics and this decision will put a major dent in the uncontrolled trade in shark meat and fins, which is rapidly destroying populations of these precious animals to feed the growing demand for luxury goods.

"These timely decisions to have trade in sharks and manta rays regulated by CITES show that governments can muster the political will to keep our oceans healthy, securing food and other benefits for generations to come – and we hope to see similar action in the future to protect other commercially exploited and threatened marine species, both at the national and international level." said Carlos Drews head of WWF's delegation to CITES.

Large numbers of threatened reef fish still traded

One of WWF`s footprint species the humphead wrasse, a tropical reef fish, is still suffering from illegal and unreported international trade despite being listed by CITES. Discussions held by governments meeting in Bangkok, Thailand outlined a number of ways to help curb this problem and maintain protection of this threatened fish.

"Regulating the trade throughout Asia aims to protect humphead wrasse from overfishing and encourages sustainable fishing which will ensure a future for this species." said Dr Colman O Criodain, WWF`s Policy Analyst, International Wildlife Trade.

Rhinos offered more protection by governments

CITES governments made a clear choice to offer more protection to rhinos by agreeing on timelines that will help two of the worst offenders in the rhino horn trade, Viet Nam and Mozambique, clean up their act.
The challenge now is to ensure that Viet Nam and Mozambique make progress on their CITES commitments within the agreed time frame to avoid trade sanctions in the summer of 2014.

"This is a big step forward for the protection of rhinos, a prehistoric animal that are being butchered for their horns at alarming rates to feed demand primarily in Viet Nam," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's delegation at CITES.

Governments fall short on immediate efforts to curb illegal ivory trade at wildlife trade meeting

Governments at CITES opted against immediate trade sanctions against several countries that have repeatedly failed to tackle the trade in ivory. Despite an early discussion on potential trade sanctions against countries failing to regulate their ivory markets, governments did not enact those rules against offenders.

"We're disappointed by the lack of urgency from governments to speed up the sanctions process against countries that have failed to act for years to curb the illegal ivory trade in their countries, while the slaughter of thousands of elephants continues in Africa," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's CITES delegation.

World`s valuable timbers protected against illegal trade

Precious ebony and rosewood timbers have secured protection by CITES in recognition of possible extinction due to illegal logging and the significant increased demand in international trade. Both kinds of timber are exported for use in making musical instruments, furniture and decorative items, such as chess pieces, due to their unusual heartwood.

"This is a good decision by the governments of CITES and we hope that this will ensure the future of these precious trees" said Dr Colman O Criodain, WWF`s Policy Analyst, International Wildlife Trade.

Guinea sanctioned for illicit wildlife trade, including great apes

Governments at CITES have decided to suspend trade in listed species with Guinea. The West African country has been reported to issue fraudulent permits for a number of animals, including great apes.

The sanctions prevent Guinea from importing and exporting all the 35,000 species listed by CITES. They have been sanctioned due to concerns over the issuance of invalid CITES permits, which facilitated illegal trade for protected species. Great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas, among other species, have been exported from Guinea, reaching foreign markets, especially in Asia.

Rare turtle sets Japanese precedent

Japan is asking the world's governments to help protect the Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle, a rare turtle found on only three small islands in the Okinawa group.

The appearance of the species in the pet trade outside Japan strongly suggests illegal activity is taking place. Governments at CITES chose to accept the Japanese listing proposal, which will see this unique turtle gain better protection against illegal international trade.

"The proposal to list the Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle is a small but significant step for Japan," said Kahoru Kanari, Senior Programme Officer with TRAFFIC and an author of the report. "

Apes swing into CITES

Governments at CITES agreed to develop a comprehensive reporting mechanism on the illegal killing and trade of great apes.

WWF believes that the real number of apes killed and traded is double or even triple this figure, due to the larger, more influential and significant bushmeat trade, which needs greater attention. Especially in Central Africa, ape meat is still a sought after commodity for mid-high level socio-political functions.

"CITES has shown it can take strong measures to tackle international trade in great apes, for example by agreeing CITES trade sanctions for Guinea last week partly due to illegal ape trade," said Wendy Elliott, from the WWF Illegal Wildlife Trade Campaign.

Worst offenders in ivory trade held to account

Governments mandated China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania and Viet Nam, considered the worst offenders in failing to properly regulate the ivory trade in their countries, to implement timebound plans to deal with the problem and report back on their progress or face possible trade restrictions.

Under CITES rules, failure by those countries to take action would lead to a compliance process potentially leading to sanctions. The treaty allows CITES member states to recommend that parties stop trading with non-compliant countries in the 35,000 species covered under the convention, from orchids to crocodile skins.

"After years of inaction, governments today put those countries doing little or nothing to regulate the ivory trade on watch, a move that will help stem the unfettered slaughter of thousands of African elephants. The gains made to better protect species here in Bangkok are a major milestone." said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's CITES delegation.

A weekend of elephants – and of seeing the effect of policy

2013-03-25

By Heather Sohl

Sometimes when people think policy, they think boring – talking about document wording, and who's saying what on which issues. For me it's exciting – there's a rush when a delegate repeats on the floor what you've said in the lunch break – and highly important, because without the right policies in place you can't hope to achieve everything you want to out in the field.

This weekend, I took the opportunity to go into the field where WWF works in Kuiburi National Park, Thailand. The weekend is supposed to be a time for relaxing during the full-on two weeks of the CITES CoP (or for more working groups for the unlucky few), but I couldn't turn this down. So I set my alarm early, but thankfully traded my smart shoes and blackberry for walking shoes and binoculars.

My colleagues and I joined a patrol of army soldiers, rangers and special forces that were going out for three days straight – we only joined them for about 90 minutes though! Their job is to protect the elephants from poachers seeking ivory, and in the last year alone they've caught 12 poachers.

The patrol carried large, heavy backpacks with everything they needed for three days in the jungle. Yet they still walked faster than us, and probably only stopped so frequently because of the 'tourists'! I certainly wouldn't want to be a poacher bumping into them.

WWF helps bring together the different government departments to collaborate in the fight against the poachers. Border officers are also there to help guard the porous border with Myanmar. We help set up effective monitoring, and provide most of the equipment for the patrol (hence the panda logo on the backpack).

We were lucky enough to see almost 30 wild Asian elephants the day before. It was intoxicating to look at the beauty of these huge animals, with such majesty in their movements and such strong family units.

When we saw the 'tusker' ahead of us on the road it was truly distressing to think a poacher would cold-heartedly look at such an experience as an opportunity for profit. We were just in awe.

It seemed a long way from the air conditioned conference rooms to the hot, sweaty jungle. The agreements made on elephants at the CoP help improve national wildlife laws, enhance enforcement, increase penalties, and enact demand reduction strategies.

If the governments are really committed (and we're still pushing for that compliance!), this will help to give those elephants a better future than ending up as ivory carvings.

Poachers kill at least 89 elephants in Chad

2013-03-19

Yaoundé, Cameroon - At least 89 elephants were killed by poachers last week in Chad, according to local officials, in one of the region's worst poaching incidents since the massacre of over 300 elephants in Cameroon's Bouba N'Djida National Park in February 2012.

According to Chadian government authorities, at least 89 elephants were killed on the night of March 14 – 15 near the town of Ganba in southern Chad.

Among those killed were 33 pregnant females and 15 calves.

The poachers, which rode on horseback, numbered around 50 and spoke Arabic, the officials said, adding that the Chadian army had been dispatched to stop these criminals.

"This tragedy shows once again the existential threat faced by Central Africa's elephants," according to Bas Huijbregts, Head of the Central Africa strand of WWF's campaign against illegal wildlife trade.

"This incident in Chad highlights the need for a regional approach to fight poachers, one that needs to be implemented on the ground as urgently as possible to stop these poachers," Huijbregts said.

The governments of Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad will be meeting in Yaoundé this week to develop a regional anti-poaching strategy.

"We urge governments to start putting in place this plan as early as next week, to safeguard the region's last elephants and rid it of this poaching threat once and for all," Huijbregts said.

"At its root, though, it is ending demand for ivory in countries like Thailand and China which will ensure the survival of Central Africa's elephants," Huijbregts added.

This month's Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which closed last week, saw decisions from world governments to start taking action against countries doing little or nothing to stop the illegal ivory and rhino horn trades.

Governments mandated China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania and Viet Nam – the countries of highest concern in terms of their failure to clamp down on large-scale illegal ivory trade - to submit time-bound plans to deal with the problem in two months, and make progress before the next CITES meeting in summer of 2014.

Governments start to rein in ivory and rhino horn trade, give sharks and timbers better protection at wildlife trade meeting

2013-03-14

Bangkok, Thailand - A critical wildlife trade meeting closed Thursday with decisions from world governments to regulate the international trade in several species of sharks and timber, and to start taking action against countries doing little or nothing to stop the illegal ivory and rhino horn trades.

Countries, on the final day of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), capped the historic two-week meeting by deciding for the first time to initiate a process requiring countries most implicated in illicit ivory trade to clamp down on smuggling.

Governments mandated China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania and Viet Nam – the countries of highest concern in terms of their failure to clamp down on large-scale illegal ivory trade - to submit time-bound plans to deal with the problem in two months, and make progress before the next CITES meeting in summer of 2014.

Under CITES rules, failure by those countries to take action could lead to a compliance process potentially resulting in sanctions being initiated. The treaty allows CITES to issue a recommendation that governments taking part in the treaty stop trading with non-compliant countries in the 35,000 species covered under the convention, from orchids to crocodile skins.

"After years of inaction, governments today put those countries failing to regulate the ivory trade on watch, a move that will help stem the unfettered slaughter of thousands of African elephants," said Carlos Drews, WWF's head of delegation at CITES. "The gains made to better protect species here in Bangkok are a major milestone."

"But the fight to stop wildlife crime is not over," Drews said. "These countries will now be held accountable to these pledges, and must step up the urgency in dealing with the global poaching crisis that is ravaging our wildlife."

The decisions to better regulate the ivory trade this week came after Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on the opening day of the meeting announced she would shut down her country's ivory markets. The prime minister's pledge came after more than 1.5 million people signed petitions by WWF, Avaaz, and actor and conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio asking her to end the trading of ivory in Thailand.

Governments also extended better protection to threatened rhinos by pledging to work against organized crime syndicates that are smuggling rhino horn through the black market by increasing penalties. In addition, countries adopted a plan to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products like rhino horn, which is believed wrongly to be a miracle cure in Viet Nam.

Nearly 700 South African rhinos were killed by poachers last year, and nearly 150 have died thus far in 2013. Up to 30,000 elephants are lost to poaching every year.

Governments also reaffirmed the stronger protections for three species of hammerhead sharks, in addition to porbeagle sharks, oceanic whitetips, and two species of manta rays. The sharks and manta rays were listed on CITES Appendix II, seeking to regulate their international trade at sustainable levels.

"This is an historic moment, where science has prevailed over politics, as sharks and manta rays are being obliterated from our oceans," Drews said. "This decision will put a major dent in the uncontrolled trade in shark meat and fins, which is rapidly destroying populations of these precious animals to feed the growing demand for luxury goods."

"These timely decisions to have trade in sharks and manta rays regulated by CITES show that governments can muster the political will to keep our oceans healthy, securing food and other benefits for generations to come – and we hope to see similar action in the future to protect other commercially exploited and threatened marine species, both at the national and international level," Drews said.

Negotiators also voted to ramp up trade regulations for several species of rosewood and ebony, which have been subjects of dangerous levels of illegal logging leading to deforestation, especially in Madagascar.

Governments fall short on immediate efforts to curb illegal ivory trade at wildlife trade meeting

2013-03-12

Bangkok, Thailand - World governments at the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) on Tuesday opted against immediate trade sanctions against several countries that have repeatedly failed to tackle the trade in ivory.

"We're disappointed by the lack of urgency from governments to speed up the sanctions process against countries that have failed to act for years to curb the illegal ivory trade in their countries, while the slaughter of thousands of elephants continues in Africa," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's CITES delegation.

"However we will be watching to see that CITES holds these governments to account in the coming year."

Despite an early discussion in CITES on potential trade sanctions against countries failing to regulate their ivory markets, governments did not enact those rules against offenders including Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda.

Governments instead directed those countries to identify actions and deadlines to ensure progress in controlling illegal ivory trade before summer 2014, with the potential threat that they could face trade sanctions then if there was no significant improvement in the situation. The nine countries were given just over a year to show improvements in their performance.

"Governments have been aware for years about the lack of compliance by several countries. Forest elephants in Central Africa are declining rapidly and running out of time," Drews said. "We hope governments will speed up compliance measures against countries flouting restrictions on the ivory trade."

The worst offenders, including top demand countries China and Thailand, the host country for the meeting, as well as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam, are expected to be discussed in a separate session on Thursday.

"We hope that governments will take a stronger stance against these countries considered the biggest problems when it comes to the illegal ivory trade, and that should include much more urgency than we saw today," Drews said.

Under treaty rules, CITES member states can recommend that parties stop trading with non-compliant countries in the 35,000 species covered under the convention, from orchids to crocodile skins.

Tuesday's decisions came as poaching of elephants has reached crisis levels. Up to 30,000 elephants are slaughtered every year to feed the illegal ivory trade. The ivory trade has been regulated under CITES since the early 1970s.

There were, however, several other measures adopted by governments to help curb the illegal ivory trade, including:

The creation of an Ivory Enforcement Task Force, which will allow for better law enforcement collaboration between countries
Better DNA-based forensic techniques to identify the origin of confiscated ivory
An acknowledgement of the need for demand reduction campaigns on ivory

For further information please contact:
Ian Morrison, ian.morrison@wwfus.org, +1 202 372 6373, +66 90 414 3853
Chris Chaplin, cchaplin@wwf.sg, +65 9826 3802

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Additional CITES media materials are available at www.panda.org/citesmedia . For updates from the conference follow us on Twitter @WWF_media.

WWF statement on rhinos at CITES

2013-03-12

Carlos Drews, head of WWF's delegation at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) issued the following statement today in response to decisions from world governments to offer better protection for rhinos:

"Governments today made a clear choice at CITES to offer more protection to rhinos by agreeing on timelines that will help two of the worst offenders in the rhino horn trade, Viet Nam and Mozambique, clean up their act.

"This is a big step forward for the protection of rhinos, a prehistoric animal that are being butchered for their horns at alarming rates to feed demand primarily in Viet Nam.

"A record 668 South African rhinos were killed by poachers last year, and close to 150 have died so far in 2013 - we're already moving at a pace that could see even more rhinos killed for their horns than last year.

"The challenge now is to ensure that Viet Nam and Mozambique make progress on their CITES commitments within the agreed time frame to avoid trade sanctions in the summer of 2014."

Viet Nam is the main destination for rhino horn and is now required to implement a strategy to reduce demand in the country and ensure horn traffickers are prosecuted and strongly punished.

Today's success also means that Mozambique, a major transit country for rhino horn, must strengthen legislation and enforcement to reduce trade flows exiting the African continent. It is currently only a misdemeanour to smuggle rhino horns through Mozambique. The country shares a border with South Africa's Kruger National Park, home to most of the world's rhinos and also the epicentre of illegal killing.

Rhino poaching has hit record highs and is currently exacerbated by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks. There is also a marked increase in consumption in Vietnam, fuelled by claims that rhino horn cures cancer and hangovers.

Thai Buddhist leaders pray for poached elephants, call for end to ivory use

2013-03-09

Bangkok, Thailand – As world governments meet here to discuss global wildlife trade, revered Thai Buddhist leaders today held the first-ever Buddhist merit-making ceremony to pray for the tens of thousands of elephants poached annually. They also called on their congregations and other temples to reject the use and trade of ivory.

A large percentage of Thailand's ivory is bought by foreign tourists, but there is significant demand among devout Buddhists for ivory carved into images of the Buddha, amulets, and other objects of worship.

Leading the merit-making ceremony were Ajahn Jayasaro, a forest monk and Buddhist teacher; Phra Maha Jerm Suvaco of the Maha Chula Buddhist University; Mae Chee Sansanee, founder and director of Sathira-Dhammasathan Center; and Phra Paisal Visalo, abbot of Wat Pasukato. Each offered teachings on conservation and the role of Buddhists in saving elephants from wildlife crime.

"We are honored to come together with the Buddhist leadership of Thailand, on this auspicious occasion of making merit for African elephants – the first ever for elephants," said Dekila Chungyalpa, director of the Sacred Earth program for WWF. "Because faith leaders are speaking up about environmental sustainability being consistent with religious values, we are now seeing a new movement of faith-based conservation all over the world."

Supported by WWF, the event at Wat That Thong in downtown Bangkok sought to educate the deeply religious Thai public on the link between ivory and wildlife crime, and encourage the leadership of Buddhist temples and congregations to discontinue the use and trade of ivory.

Thailand is the world's largest unregulated ivory market and a major sink for ivory poached from Africa. In opening the current meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) here on 3 March, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced a shutdown of the country's ivory market though gave no timeline.

The event also featured a giant chalk drawing of an elephant designed by artist Remko van Schaik with messages in English and Thai saying "I am not a trinket" and "Ivory belongs to elephants." Attendees took photos with the elephant artwork and also wrote prayers for poached elephants and hung them from trees in the courtyard of the temple.

"Having prestigious leaders from the Buddhist community in Thailand lead this ceremony here, which is usually practiced for a family member who has passed away, emphasizes that we are all interdependent and part of one great web of life," said Phansiri Winichagoon, country director of WWF-Thailand.

Monks, members of the Thai public, government representatives, and delegates from the ongoing CITES attended the ceremony.

The CITES trade talks continue through 13 March. Conservation groups are calling on the 178 countries in attendance to take action by the end of the meeting against countries failing to comply with their international commitments to stop unregulated ivory trade. Tens of thousands of elephants are poached in Africa every year to feed world demand for ivory.

For more information contact:

Ua-phan Chamnan-ua, uchamnanua@wwf.panda.org +66 81 928 2426

Carmen Arufe, carufe@wwf.es +34 638603884

The images telling the story of wildlife trade

2013-03-04

by WWF photographer James Morgan

If I had to chose a favourite image from the series, it would probably be this one (above). The tiger cub is one of 16 that was found packed into crates in the back of a smuggler's truck crossing the border from Thailand into Laos. The cub is surrounded by a veterinary team from Bangkok who are taking its blood in order to trace its DNA. I asked the chief veterinary surgeon if he had ever taken blood from a tiger cub before. "No, but it's sort of like a kitten' he told me.

In many ways the tiger cub did look like a kitten, but on another level the two animals couldn't be more different. One of nature's most beautiful and efficient predators, the product of thousands of years of evolution sitting cross-legged like Buddha as a confused and concerned group of humans try to pries answers out of it. It speaks to me of the wider relationship we have with the natural world, how we objectify it, make it an unwitting party to our affairs and invent barriers to help ourselves believe that we are separate from it.

It's always hard to know whether you're being objective about a photograph's merit. It's so easy for the experience surrounding the image, the series of moments leading up to it, to sway your judgment. Once we heard that these tiger cubs had been found we tried to get permission from the Thai authorities to photograph the cubs and were denied. In the end we decided to take a risk and drive 9 hours to the place they were being held to see if we could wing it. By chance, we arrived just after the police chief had left and just as the veterinary team were beginning to take blood samples. The fixer I was working with never slept facing west which apparently guaranteed us good luck for the entire trip. She was also very kind and respectful to everyone we came across which I think was just as likely to have been the source of our good fortune. Either way, it would have been a very different 9 hour drive back to Bangkok without these images.

I do try to retain copyright to my images, having my name at the bottom of them ensures I can pay my bills every month, but the reality is that all my images are collaborations, most obviously with the people who appear in them. This image is of eco ranger Mba Ndong Marius holding seized Ivory in front of a line of confiscated weapons in a small town called Oyem in the north east of Gabon.

This image is interesting as it's actually a scene I created. When we first raised the idea of photographing confiscated ivory and weapons at the police station in Oyem, it was all piled up outside a drab looking building and didn't make for an arresting photograph. So we moved everything across the street to a building with a bit more texture and colour. Then we bought in Mba Ndong Marius to hold the elephant tusks and add some perspective and another focal point. And then, by chance, we came across two ladies wearing clothes that echoed the colour palette of the scene who kindly stood in the window finishing off the image.

One of the things that has always captivated me about photography is its troubled relationship with truth. I think originally this connection stemmed from a need to differentiate itself from painting. Painting was art, photography was a way to document, to record, to create timeless sealed packets of truth. And whilst that relationship has been challenged recently with digital post production, that link still exists and it's something I'm very attached to and conscious of when I'm working.

So why not just take the photograph of the ivory sitting outside the police station where it was when I arrived? In recent years news gathering has changed enormously, millions of images are now uploaded every day, often only seconds after they're taken. But does this proliferation of images bring us any closer to understanding the world? Or inspire us to action? Personally I'm much more concerned with eliciting the truth of a situation than I am with feverishly documenting the facts. There are endless statistics about ivory online, but my interests lie elsewhere. It's the internal lives of the people I meet that fascinate me. My role is to talk to people and help them tell their stories in a way that they're unable to themselves. The space photojournalism occupies at the intersection of art and reportage; being entirely embedded in fact but also uniquely positioned to transcend it, is what I believe gives photojournalism its power as a medium and makes it such a valuable tool for NGOs and campaigning organisations.

Shortly after taking the photograph of Mba Ndong Marius with the seized ivory, it was all piled up on a truck to be transported to the capital Libreville. I was piled into the back of the truck on top of the ivory and we drove ten hours through the night, arriving in Libreville just before dawn. All night, trucks had been arriving from all over the country bringing huge quantities of contraband elephant tusks and weapons. When we arrived WWF and other organisations were busy counting it all by torch light.

This image was taken an hour after Gabon's president Ali Bongo Ondimba had set the entire stockpile alight at a ceremony which took place later that morning. I've chosen it here as it serves as a strong end point to the series of images. When these images have appeared in magazines and newspapers this image is often used as a closer. I think the shape of the flames works as a sort of visual punctuation and for Gabon the move was, on some levels at least, conclusive and irreversible. But of course, the whole notion of an end point to wildlife crime is misleading, and in all honesty this photograph scares me. And I do wonder if the aesthetics of it slightly hide the horror of what it's actually depicting; because wildlife crime continues and the battle is far from over. Gabon has taken a strong stance and hopefully other African nations will follow suit. But without real pressure on the demand countries this will not be resolved.

James Morgan is an award winning photojournalist and filmmaker. The majority of his work is focused around providing supplementary narratives to environmental and human rights policy. His images have led campaigns for WWF, the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Refugee Agency. www.jamesmorganphotography.co.uk, Facebook, Twitter.

Thai prime minister announces end to ivory trade

2013-03-03

Bangkok, Thailand – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today pledged to end ivory trade in Thailand, seizing a key opportunity to stem global wildlife trafficking. Her statement came after the call of nearly 1.5 million WWF and Avaaz supporters.

Prime Minister Shinawatra said at the opening of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok that Thailand would take steps to end ivory trade – the first time the Thai government has said this publicly.

"As a next step we will forward amending the national legislation with the goal of putting an end on ivory trade and to be in line with international norms," Prime Minster Shinawatra said. "This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand's wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa."

Ending ivory trade in Thailand – currently the world's largest unregulated ivory market – will go a long way in stemming a global poaching crisis that is leading to the slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants each year and fuelling a global criminal trade in animal parts.

"We're thrilled to hear that Prime Minister Shinawatra took this opportunity to seize the global spotlight and pledge to end ivory trade in her country. But the fight to stop wildlife crime and shut down Thailand's ivory markets is not over. Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues," said Carlos Drews head of WWF's delegation to CITES.

Thailand is currently the largest illegal ivory market behind China. Officials have certified 67 authorized ivory vendors. However, market surveys have found ivory in more than 250 shops. Much of this ivory is purchased by foreign tourists.

The prime minister's decision comes as WWF and TRAFFIC continue asking CITES governments to sanction countries fuelling the global illegal wildlife trade. Poaching has escalated to crisis levels in recent years, and is a major threat to iconic species such as elephants, rhinos and tigers.

Thailand, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo have failed repeatedly to address their rampant domestic ivory markets despite CITES rules that outlaw the unregulated sale of ivory. Under treaty rules, CITES member states can recommend that parties stop trading with non-compliant countries in the 35,000 species covered under the convention, from timbers to crocodile skins.

-ENDS-

Note: this version corrects a quote by PM Shinawatra that was improperly attributed.

For further information:

Ian Morrison, ian.morrison@wwfus.org, (US) +1 202 372 6373, (Bangkok) +66 904 143 853

Alona Rivord, arivord@wwfint.org, (Swiss) +41 79 959 1963, (Bangkok) +66 904 141 826