10 January 2013 | Rhino
poaching statistics released today by the
South African government reveal that a record
668 rhinos were killed across the country
in 2012, an increase of nearly 50 per cent
from the 448 rhinos lost to poachers in
2011. An additional five rhinos have been
killed since the beginning of this year.
A majority of the rhino
deaths, 425, occurred in Kruger National
Park, South Africa’s premier safari destination.
Poaching incidents in Kruger rose sharply
from 252 in 2011.
Arrests of suspected
poachers and smugglers also increased in
2012, with 267 people now facing rhino-related
charges. In November, a Thai man was sentenced
to a record 40 years in prison for conspiring
to smuggle rhino horns to Asia.
A recent TRAFFIC report
found that rhino horns are believed to have
medicinal properties and are seen as highly
desirable status symbols in some Asian countries,
notably Viet Nam. The increased value of
rhino horn has enticed well-organized, well-financed
and highly-mobile criminal groups to become
involved in rhino poaching.
“Viet Nam must curtail
the nation’s rhino horn habit, which is
fuelling a poaching crisis in South Africa,”
said Sabri Zain, TRAFFIC’s Director of Advocacy.
“Rhinos are being illegally
killed, their horns hacked off and the animals
left to bleed to death, all for the frivolous
use of their horns as a hangover cure.”
In December, Viet Nam
and South Africa signed an agreement aimed
at bolstering law enforcement and tackling
illegal wildlife trade including rhino horn
trafficking. The agreement paves the way
for improved intelligence information sharing
and joint efforts by the two nations to
crack down on the criminal syndicates behind
the smuggling networks.
“Whilst we commend South
Africa and Viet Nam for signing a Memorandum
of Understanding regarding biodiversity
conservation, we now need to see a joint
Rhino Plan of Action being implemented,
leading to more of these rhino horn seizures,”
said Dr Jo Shaw, WWF-SA’s Rhino Co-ordinator.
“There is also an urgent need to work closely
with countries which are transit routes
for illicit rhino horn, specifically Mozambique.”
Two Vietnamese men were
detained in separate incidents earlier this
month in Viet Nam and Thailand for smuggling
rhino horns, which were believed to have
been exported from Mozambique.
Both Mozambique and
Viet Nam have been given failing grades
by WWF’s Wildlife Crime Scorecard for failing
to enforce laws meant to protect rhinos.
The study also outlines important actions
needed by South Africa, such as ensuring
those arrested for rhino crimes are prosecuted
and punished.
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New report confirms
‘major surge’ in ivory smuggling in 2011
03 January 2013 | Illegal
trade in ivory is at its highest levels
in nearly two decades, and 2011 witnessed
a ‘major surge’, according to a report released
by the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES).
The findings, largely
based on ivory seizure information submitted
by governments, will be presented and discussed
at the 16th meeting of the Conference of
the Parties to CITES (CoP16) to be held
in Bangkok, Thailand from 3 to 14 March
2013.
The report analyses
data from the Elephant Trade Information
System (ETIS) managed by TRAFFIC on behalf
of the CITES member States. ETIS is the
world’s largest database of elephant product
seizure records, with more than 18,300 cases,
representing law enforcement actions in
89 countries and territories since 1989.
Analysis of ETIS confirms
2011 as the worst year on record for ivory
seizures, with the period 2009-2011 including
three of the top four years in which the
largest quantities of ivory were seized
worldwide.
In 2011 alone, there
were 17 large-scale ivory seizures—more
than double the highest previous figure
of eight, in 2009, and totalling an estimated
26.4 tonnes of ivory. Complete figures are
not yet available for 2012.
The report indicates
that, following a period of relative stability
from 1998 onwards, the global illegal trade
in ivory began increasing from 2008 onwards,
surging sharply in each successive year
and reaching record levels in 2011.
“The remarkable surge
in recent years reflects the increasing
involvement of organized crime syndicates
in the illegal ivory trade,” said Tom Milliken,
TRAFFIC’s ivory trade expert, manager of
ETIS and lead author of the report to CITES.
“Right now, criminals
are lining their pockets while Africa’s
elephants are paying the ultimate price.”
Large-scale ivory seizures,
those involving at least 800 kg of ivory
in a single transaction, typically indicate
the participation of organized crime. The
ETIS data suggest that these crime syndicates
have become stronger within Africa and more
active over the last decade.
Commenting on the critical
situation currently facing the African’s
elephants, the CITES Secretary-General,
Mr John E. Scanlon, said: “We need to enhance
our collective efforts across range, transit
and consumer States to reverse the current
disturbing trends in elephant poaching and
ivory smuggling. While being essential,
enforcement efforts to stop wildlife crime
must not just result in seizures – they
must result in prosecutions, convictions
and strong penalties to stop the flow of
contraband. The whole ‘enforcement chain’
must work together.”
According to the report:
“Thailand and China are the most important
end-use markets driving illegal ivory trade,”
with the ETIS analysis indicating that illegal
trade volumes destined for China are three
times greater than those heading to Thailand.
Most raw ivory consignments are heading
to these two destinations and nationals
of both countries are heavily involved in
the procurement of ivory throughout the
African continent.
Trade patterns have
shifted to Indian Ocean seaports. With unprecedented
frequency, large-scale ivory shipments have
either been seized in Kenya and the United
Republic of Tanzania or exited Africa through
ports in those countries, which have rapidly
emerged as the two most prominent countries
connecting African ivory with Asian demand.
South Africa is also a country of concern
for large flows of ivory, according to the
ETIS report.
Ivory traffickers appear
to be targeting Malaysia, along with the
Philippines, Hong Kong SAR and Viet Nam,
as key transit points along the smuggling
chain. The sheer quantity of cargo moving
through their major seaports makes detection
of concealed ivory a severe enforcement
challenge, while the identity of containers
originating in Africa can be changed so
that their onward shipment within Asia is
less likely to attract attention, says the
report.
A CITES report earlier
this year revealed that tens of thousands
of African elephants are being poached annually
for their ivory.
The critical situation
demonstrates the urgent need to implement
and monitor the African Elephant Action
Plan, created by all African elephant range
states under the auspices of CITES in 2010.
TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and
IUCN.
