South Asia’s First Integrated Wildlife Law Enforcement Strategy to be Developed in India — TRAFFIC

by Shubhobroto Ghosh 

New Delhi: Senior delegates from various enforcement and intelligence agencies of the eight South Asian countries plus China, Russia, and Myanmar will meet next week to develop a cross cutting operational strategy to curb the growing menace of illegal wildlife trade in the region.

The Integrated Investigative Capacity Development and Operational Planning Meeting in New Delhi, India, taking place from 1-5 July 2013 is a critical step to mobilize co-ordinated action against wildlife crime by the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN). The event is being led by INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Programme and the Government of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, with additional technical support from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and TRAFFIC.

Illegal wildlife trade is perceived to be a high profit and low risk activity and has grown to become the fifth largest illegal global trade after narcotics, counterfeiting, human trafficking and oil trafficking. Besides driving many endangered species towards extinction, illegal wildlife trade strengthens criminal networks, undermines national security, and poses increasing risks to global health. Since illegal wildlife trade extends beyond national borders, a regional strategy and international co-operation are needed to address its growing influence.

Against this background, this specialized capacity development and operation planning meeting will aim to identify regional priorities in wildlife law enforcement, implement a common approach for regional operations and bridge communication gaps between agencies at the national and regional levels. This meeting will also help to strengthen SAWEN as an institution by connecting focal points and specialists with other national colleagues and government representatives. The initiative will help enhance enforcement capacity for the conservation of wild tigers and other Asian big cats, linking up with INTERPOL’s Project Predator. The capacity development and subsequent operational planning will allow participants to guide the international community with targeted regional strategies for information strategies and effective investigations.

At least three officials from each of the South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) representing one or more enforcement agencies, including the police, wildlife departments, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, INTERPOL National Central Bureaus, environmental agencies, SAWEN focal points and Customs agencies are expected to attend the meeting as well as delegates from China and Russia.

Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC in India said: “TRAFFIC is very excited about this meeting and hopeful that concrete plans for combating wildlife crime will emerge from it – the inputs from INTERPOL and India’s CBI, along with other experts, will play a critical role in assisting SAWEN to realize its full potential as a best-practice law enforcement network.”

The meeting will largely focus on capacity development of tools for the support of investigative operations, intelligence-led best practices such as controlled deliveries, questioning wildlife smugglers, risk management and ethics and professionalism in building wildlife cases.

“The meeting is crucial for SAWEN since one of its main mandates is to bring together the eight South Asian countries for fighting wildlife crime. A concentrated global response in the form of a well committed and focused operational plan by the countries and SAWEN is necessary to stop illegal wildlife trade” said Dr Niraj.

Generous financial support from both the US Department of State and USAID is acknowledged in making this landmark training event possible.

For more information, please contact Shubhobroto Ghosh at +91-9310480645/011-41504786. You can also visit our websites — Traffic and Traffic India.

About TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC was established in 1976 and since then it has developed a considerable international reputation for helping to identify and address conservation challenges linked to trade in wild animals and plants. In India, TRAFFIC carries out research and provides analysis, support and encouragement to efforts aimed at ensuring that wildlife trade is not a threat to conservation of nature in India. TRAFFIC in India works as a programme division of WWF–India, the largest conservation organization in India. TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of WWF and IUCN.

About the author

Shubhobroto Ghosh
The author is Senior Programme Officer, TRAFFIC India.

Source: http://www.conservationindia.org/news/traffic-india

200 protected birds seized in raids

By Express News Service - HYDERABAD 13th May 2013

Law forbids hunting, selling or breeding of the national bird.
It is also illegal to pet any bird, reptile, mammal or amphibian
listed in the schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act.| EPS

As many as 200 Partridges were seized on Sunday by the anti-poaching squad which raided two places in Rangareddy district and Nalgonda town. Partridge, commonly known as Kanda Pitta in Telugu, is a protected bird. The seized birds were being sold in open market.

“We raided Kalanagar village in Hayathnagar mandal of Rangareddy district and a place in Nalgonda town where these protected birds were being sold for around Rs 50 each. People eat these birds,” said SK Baba Khadir Vali, deputy range officer, anti-poaching squad. The birds, according to him will be handed over to Nehru Zoological Park.

As many as five persons were arrested under section 9 and 39 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, in this connection. The raids were conducted a day after a similar operation to rescue peacocks in the city.

The owner of the pet shop, whose house in the old city was raided to rescue 12 peacocks, is out of town.

According to officials, he was breeding peacocks in the cellar of his house.

Law forbids hunting, selling or breeding of the national bird. It is also illegal to pet any bird, reptile, mammal or amphibian listed in the schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act.

“Petting of scheduled birds is quite common in the city. In most cases, it is lack of awareness among the public. However, some pet shop owners commit the offence knowingly for monetary gain,” said an official.

Source: http://newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/200-protected-birds-seized-in-raids/2013/05/13/article1587705.ece

Tiger bones seized in MP, six arrested

P Naveen, TNN May 12, 2013
BHOPAL: At a time when Gujarat is at loggerheads with Madhya Pradesh over translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir sanctuary citing worries about their safety from poachers, here comes a fresh evidence of poaching and trading of wildlife articles by those living around the protected areas.

Six poachers have been arrested with over 2.5 kg skeletal remains of a tiger, including a portion of its upper jaw and deer antlers from villages located within the buffer zone of Kanha National Park - home for nearly 60 tigers.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-12/bhopal/39202982_1_gir-sanctuary-six-poachers-asiatic-lions

Two smugglers arrested, leopard skin recovered

Dehradun, May 10 (PTI) 
Two alleged smugglers were arrested and three leopard skin recovered from them in Shyampur area of Haridwar district, police said here.

On a tip-off, police found the skin from the smugglers during a checking operation in Teerchapull yesterday, they said.

Police have booked the two accused under the Forest Protection Act and investigations are on.

Source: http://www.ptinews.com/news/3622969_Two-smugglers-arrested--leopard-skin-recovered

Uproar over China tiger abuse

AFP
A Chinese tiger park has sought to quell public anger after images of holidaymakers sitting astride a strapped-down cub prompted outrage online, state media said on Tuesday.

Pictures taken at a Siberian tiger park in northwest China's Jilin province showed visitors posing for photos while sitting on top of a tiger cub tied to a wooden table. Video footage has also emerged from another animal park in Zhejiang province in the east, showing a tiger strapped to a bench while a man sat on top of it, bouncing up and down and slapping the tiger's head.

The incidents provoked outrage on China's popular social networking site Sina Weibo. “Humans gradually evolve into beasts,” one user said.

Authorities at the Jilin Park said the abused cub was not among the animals it cares for, according to the Global Times, insisting that it belonged instead to an animal troupe that the park hired to stage performances for visitors.

The park said it had terminated its contract with the troupe and penalised its director 5,000 yuan over the incident, the report said.

China’s cold northeast is home to the rare Siberian tiger, of which only 450 remain in the wild, according to the WWF.

The WWF warned in 2010 that the tiger faced extinction in the wild in China after having been devastated by poaching and the destruction of its natural habitat.

China has no laws specifically against cruelty to animals and endangered species are sometimes kept as trophy pets and the country is widely considered a key destination for the global illegal wildlife trade.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/uproar-over-china-tiger-abuse/article4693990.ece

Kaziranga: Two forest guards injured in poachers' attack

Hemanta Kumar Nath | India Blooms News Service
Guwahati, May 5 (IBNS): Two forest guards were injured in attack by suspected poachers in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Sunday evening, officials said.

The jawans of Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) were attacked by suspected poachers near Kathalchang forest camp under Burhapahar forest range office inside the park.

“The jawans were attacked by the suspected poachers by using sophisticated weapons inside the world heritage site, when they were vigil inside the park,” an official of KNP said.

The injured forest guards were admitted to Nagaon Bhogeswari Phukanoni civil hospital.

Top officials of park authority and forest department had rushed to the area and launched serach operation to nab the attackers.

Poachers killed at least 19 one horned rhinoceros in Kaziranga in past four months.

To protect wild animals inside and outside the park, the Assam forest department had deployed 300 jawans of AFPF and recently test drive a drone in Kaziranga.

2329 rhinos were found in the national park in recent rhino census report.

Source: http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/2013/newsDetails060513c.php

​Seized parrots point to thriving wildlife trade

Vijay Singh, TNN | Apr 29, 2013
NAVI MUMBAI: Stunned by the latest seizure of nearly 300 parrots which were to be sold by a Crawford Market trader in Ganeshpuri Bhiwandi taluka, on Saturday, animal rights activists and the police say that this points to a well-organized wildlife trade racket.

"On Saturday, we caught a Mumbai trader, S Ibrahim and his assistant, Samir Khan, who were trying to sell 298 parrots. Our animal activist had posed as a dummy customer at Crawford Market to buy parrots a few days ago,'' said Chetan Sharma of People For Animal (PFA).

He added that despite short notice, the trader managed to arrange for nearly 300 parrots, even though the birds are a protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. "It points to a well oiled, illegal animal trade. The police are questioning the arrested duo over the racket,'' said Sharma.

Deputy commissioner of police, (Ganeshpuri), Srinivas Ghadge said of the 298 parrots rescued, 14 had died possibly because of being confined in tiny cages.

Vimrasagar Maharajsahab of the animal rights group Ahimsa Sangh said, "It is a cruel and illegal trade. Baby parrots are somehow stolen from forests in northern India, and smuggled into Mumbai to be sold as 'pets', even though they are a protected wildlife species.''

Earlier, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), a national umbrella body of animal protection groups, had urged the Mumbai police and the Brihanhumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ban the sale of birds and animals at Crawford Market in south Mumbai.

"According to data with the ministry of environment and forests, 8,000 birds have been rescued in Crawford Market in the last 20 years. Many wild and exotic species are also traded here,'' said an FIAPO member.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Seized-parrots-point-to-thriving-wildlife-trade/articleshow/19774404.cms

Animal, bird snares found at Ettimadai

They were meant to capture rabbits and peacocks

• Environmentalists alerted forest officials who took steps to remove the snares
• Many snares had fur on them, indicating that they had been used several times

Endangering wildlife:
Members of Environment Conservation Group found
a number of animal and bird snares at Ettimadai in
Coimbatore district recently. -Photo: Special Arrangement

Hundreds of snares meant for catching animals and birds were uncovered at Ettimadai forest area in the district on Saturday by Environment Conversation Group (ECG), an organisation working in wildlife protection.

The forest officials were alerted and Forest Rangers removed the snares.

According to the ECG president R. Mohammed Saleem, the snares were meant to capture both small animals such as porcupine and rabbits and larges ones such as gaur, sambar deer and leopard. Birds such as peacock also tend to get caught in these traps.

He said that similar devices were found in the same area about two months ago. While only small animals were targeted in earlier attempt, this time the poachers were targeting larger animals also.

“The repeated seizure shows that the poachers have been poaching wild animals unhindered for quite some time in this area. A lot of these snares had fur on them indicating that they had been used several times. ”

Mr. Saleem said that animals tend to venture to the outskirts of the forest in search of food and water, which was being exploited by poachers. “The lack of forest staff is a great boon for the poachers. If this trend continues, we would just see bare rocks in our forest devoid of trees and animals,” he added.

Other members in the ECG that undertook the trip include H. Hasan, Lakshmi Narayanan and Mohan. They made periodical trips to various forest areas.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/animal-bird-snares-found-at-ettimadai/article4662275.ece

3 smugglers held, 5 tiger skins recovered

TNN | Feb 21, 2013
LUCKNOW: The network of wildlife poachers seems to have penetrated into the city and is trying to reach the international market via Nepal. The special operations group and district police caught a murder accused and two more smugglers in possession of five tiger hides from Chinhat area on Wednesday. The police also recovered a porcupine from the smugglers.

The trio had got hold of the hides from a Maharashtra-based poacher and was in the middle of finding a prospective buyer, when the police intercepted them. The three smugglers have been identified as Vishal alias Sahil-the murder accused and Rajmal and Rajan, both residents of Barabanki. A resident of Dewa Road, Vishal had been accused of a murder that took place at Matiyari in 2007.

"The trio was in possession of five tiger hides and porcupine (an endangered species), when they were held by the police. We are trying to find out who was interested in dealing with the trio and suspect that the hides were to be smuggled to international market via Nepal," said J Ravinder Goud, senior superintendent of police, Lucknow.

According the police, the trio had bought the tiger hides from a man identified as Vijay. The trio had been in the business of wildlife smuggling and trafficking for past several years and had developed contacts across several states in the country. From preliminary investigations, it was found that the recovered hides have been smuggled from Maharashtra's Aurangabad district to the city. "The cost price of a single hide is Rs 50,000, while the selling price ranges between Rs 4 and 5 lakh," told Brijlal Verma, the sub-inspector of the team that nabbed the trio from a shanty located off Faizabad Road.

The police have pressed various charges under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 against the trio and have sent them to jail. "We had information of some groups, which were active in smuggling of endangered animals, skins, hides, bones, body parts etc in the city. Following continuous surveillance and help of informers, a notorious group had been held," said a police official.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/3-smugglers-held-5-tiger-skins-recovered/articleshow/18602036.cms

'Package deals' on internet for tockay geckos

GUWAHATI: Online shopping has acquired a whole new dimension thanks to illegal trading in the rare tockay gecko lizard. Now, interested buyers can purchase the Asian lizard, coveted for its reported medicinal properties, in 'bulk' on the internet and also secure 'package deals' for specimen of the protected species.

The demand of this reptile with sticky feet has shot up so much that illegal traders of geckos in the region are now expanding their business through the internet. Some gecko suppliers are even taking bulk orders through social networking sites and offering 'package deals'.

The city police have rescued at least four gecko lizards in recent times. These lizards were handed over to the Assam state zoo here. "We have arrested at least 12 illegal gecko traders from several areas of the city in the last couple of months. They are mostly from Manipur and Nagaland. They bring samples of geckos from their home states to show buyers from outside the state and even the country. Many agents working for markets in New Zealand too come here to pick up their supply of geckos. Most of these agents contact each other via the internet," said a senior police officer here.

At a time when the illegal trade in rhino horns is causing the pachyderm's population in the state to dwindle, wildlife criminals serving the medicine markets of Asia are now targeting the tokay gecko.

The demand for tokay gecko, a nocturnal Asian lizard growing up to 40cm in length and easily identified by its orange-spotted, blue-grey skin and unmistakable vocalization, is very high. The local name of the lizard is 'keko shap'.

Myths about the medicinal value of these creatures abound in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, resulting in their high demand. However, wildlife experts say there is nothing to the claims. "The reason behind the high demand for this lizard is that many believe its reddish, spotted meat cures HIV/AIDS and even cancer. A gecko in good health, measuring between 12 and 14 inches and weighing around 200-250gm is sold at around Rs 8 to 20 lakh," a senior forest official said.

Wildlife activist Firoz Ahmed said, "We have been trying to tell people these geckos have no medicinal value. Rather, the reptile has tremendous ecological value. Some communities in countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan believe that the gecko meat can heal deadly diseases like cancer and HIV."

The police officer added that the hunt for geckos in the hills of Tezpur in Sonitpur district and adjoining areas of Arunachal Pradesh has taken alarming proportions.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Package-deals-on-internet-for-tockay-geckos/articleshow/19640840.cms

How elephants see the world

ANI | April 20, 2013

Washington: 12 to 14 year old students from East Side Middle School in New York City are attempting to put an end to the elephant crisis, which is at an all time high with more and more demand for ivory taking more and more lives.

Think Elephants International, a not-for-profit organization striving to promote elephant conservation through scientific research, education programming and international collaborations, today announced its latest study, "Visual Cues Given by Humans are Not Sufficient for Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus) to Find Hidden Food." 

Designed in collaboration with and co-authored by students from East Side Middle School, the study revealed that elephants are not able to recognize visual cues provided by humans, although they are more responsive to vocal commands.

These findings may directly impact protocols for future efforts to conserve elephants, which are in danger of extinction in this century due to increased poaching and human/elephant conflict.

The publication of this paper is the climax of a three-year endeavor to create a comprehensive middle school curriculum that educates and engages young people directly in elephant and other wildlife conservation.

The study was carried out at Think Elephants' field site in northern Thailand, and students participated via webcam conversation and direct web-links to the elephant camp.

According to Joshua Plotnik, PhD, founder and CEO of Think Elephants, "if elephants are not primarily using sight to navigate their natural environment, human-elephant conflict mitigation techniques must consider what elephants' main sensory modalities are and how elephants think so that they might be attracted or deterred effectively as a situation requires. The loss of natural habitat, poaching for ivory, and human-elephant conflict are serious threats to the sustainability of elephants in the wild. Put simply, we will be without elephants, and many other species in the wild, in less than 50 years if the world does not act."

The Think Elephants study tested whether captive elephants, wild animals in relatively close contact with humans, could follow visual, social cues (pointing and gazing) to find food hidden in one of two buckets.

The elephants failed at this task, but were able to follow vocal commands telling them which bucket contained the food.

These results suggest that elephants may navigate their physical world in ways that primates and dogs do not.

Based on the results of this study, Dr. Plotnik suggests further attention to research on elephant behavior and an increase in educational programming are needed, particularly in Asia where the market for ivory is so strong.

The study has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/how-elephants-see-the-world_843388.html

Dawood ‘aide’ gets jail for 1998 wildlife crimes

Aniruddha Ghosal, TNN | Apr 19, 2013
NEW DELHI: Romesh Sharma, a suspected aide of Dawood Ibrahim, was convicted of illegal possession of tiger and leopard skins and sentenced to three years imprisonment by the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate (special acts) in Delhi. He has also been fined Rs 1 lakh.

The conviction came for a case which dates back to 1998 when the Delhi police, on raiding his south Delhi residence found a tiger skin, a leopard skin and a cheetal skin. At the time of the inspection which was headed by wildlife inspector VB Dasan, the accused failed to produce any documents supporting the possession of the wildlife articles. Dasan was complainant in the case.

Romesh Sharma was found guilty under Section 49 (Purchase of captive animal by a person other than a licensee) and Section 49B (Prohibition of dealings in trophies, animal articles, etc. derived from scheduled animals) read with Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Dawood-aide-gets-jail-for-1998-wildlife-crimes/articleshow/19624658.cms

An eye on the Hangul

AHMED ALI FAYYAZ, The Hindu  | April 14, 2013

Gathering: This sub-specie of the European red deer is endangered. Photo: Rashid Naqash

A first-ever satellite telemetry tracking of Hanguls in Kashmir’s Dachigam National Park to study the deer’s behaviour and the reasons behind its falling numbers

The Dachigam National Park, habitat of the majestic Hangul, near Srinagar is these days in for an activity never witnessed in the Valley. Technology has ultimately changed what Harwan’s legendary wildlife guard Qasim Wani did for decades before his death at the age of 100 with his empty hands and naked eyes: studying the behaviour of the dreaded Himalayan black bear, leopard, shy musk deer and Hangul.

The multi-terrain expanse of 141 sq km, spread over the plains, dense forest and barren hills from the picturesque Zabarvan range to the high-altitude ridges of Tral, is under the radar to track the Hangul alone. The other inmates in this landscape are musk deer, leopard, Himalayan grey langur, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan brown bear, hill fox, Himalayan weasel, yellow-throated marten, long-tailed marmot and otter.

Hangul, or cervus ellaphus hanglu, a sub-specie of the European red deer known to be existing only in Kashmir, has been for the first time chemically captured and fitted with a state-of-the-art satellite collar by a dedicated team of 30-odd officials and experts from the State government’s Department of Wildlife Protection, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST) and the Dehra Dun-based Wildlife Institute of India [WII]. It is a Rs. 40 lakh research initiative and is being supported by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).

“It was literally an uphill task,” says Dr. Parag Nigam, wildlife health management scientist at WII, “to habituate and chemically capture the animal. It took us three months before we hit success on March 16.” Never before had the Hangul been captured and fitted with a satellite collar, Dr. Nigam claimed. He narrated how arduously one of these fastest running big deer had been lured into the Oak Patch of the national park, habituated for weeks and finally immobilised with a remote drug delivery system, called the syringe projector or a ‘dot gun’. It was hit from a distance of 30 metres by Dr. Nigam.

Candid shot: A Hangul in Dachigam National Park.
Photo: Rashid Naqash

The only Asiatic survivor of the red deer, Hangul, has been declared (the locally) critically engendered wildlife specie in the Red List of The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 1996. It has similar categorisation in the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which has India as a signatory. It has been incorporated in Schedule-1 of both the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as well as the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978.

A.K. Singh, Chief Wildlife Warden of Jammu and Kashmir, puts Hangul’s population at 175 in March 2009 and 218 in March 2011. The department conducts a census every two years with technical support from WII. Findings of a recent census are still under formulation. The 1989 census puts the number of Hangul at 900, indicating its fall towards the verge of extinction in the last 23 years of the armed insurgency and counterterrorism in Kashmir. However, some people like the retired Range Officer Mohammad Ashraf Mir insist that the numbers should be higher as armed poaching came down to zero due to thick concentration of security forces.

The leopard alone had been the killer since 1990, many residents at Harwan and Moolnar villages believe. According to them, the only incident of armed poaching in last several years happened in January 2013 when six poachers were found to have killed a male Hangul. They were accordingly booked and arrested. In the pre-militancy era, organised gangs of local hunters used to fell scores of the deer every year. The male is killed mainly for its 11 to 16 pointed majestic antler that fetches the hunter Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh in international market.

As the census team is said to have spotted antlers at several places — an evidence of the presence of the male — at several places, some like Assistant Project Officer of Wildlife Trust of India, Mansoor Nabi, believe that the numbers may be higher this year. “Not necessarily,” says Mr. Singh though, with a word of caution. “Let us wait for the findings.”

Conservator of Forest Farooq Gilani, formerly Kashmir’s Regional Wildlife Warden, believes that over-grazing of cattle and wild fires in Upper Dachigam and existence of infrastructure of 12 government departments in Lower Dachigam could be a major factor behind the dwindling population of Hangul. Biotic interference, according to him, could be the bigger killer than the poacher and the predator.

Principal investigator and Dr. Nigam’s partner, Dr. Khursheed, who works as the scientist in-charge of the Centre for Mountain Wildlife Science at SKUAST told The Hindu that four of the animals were being captured and fitted with the satellite collars under the Hangul research project. He sounded confident that three more would be seized soon. Black bear and some other animals have been previously tracked through a Global Positioning System and VHF/UHF-fitted ground tracking system.

“Radio collars have been used recently here on black bear and leopard but the satellite telemetry and Global Positioning System on Hangul is in operation for the first time. This will enable us access critical data through a dedicated satellite channel and particular software to observe the animal’s behaviour and activity, including hibernation, mating, conceiving and delivery besides mortality and the ground temperature on a 24x7 basis for two years of the unit’s battery life.”

Germany-based Vectronics Aerospace, which has provided four satellite collars at Rs 2.70 lakh each, has equipped the units with multi-function sensors and implants. These are hooked to the European Iridium satellite which in turn processes and supplies data to the German firm. A particular amount is charged for each downloading of the data, normally with frequency of three hours.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/an-eye-on-the-hangul/article4614448.ece

Elephant poached in Buxa, poison pellet in chest

TNN | Apr 8, 2013
KOLKATA: A full-grown tusker was poached in North Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve late on Saturday. This is the second such incident in the forest in a span of little over a month.

Forest guards recovered the carcass of the 25-year-old elephant from the South Raidhak range, with its tusks missing. BTR field director R P Saini said a poison-coated pellet, fired from a country-made gun, pierced through its chest. "Probably, gangs from the northeast are involved in the poaching," he added.

Chief wildlife warden N C Bahuguna, who has left for the spot, said that such pellets are used to shoo away elephants when they come close to human settlements. "Since a poison-coated pellet has been found, chances of poaching are definitely strong. Further details can only be given after a proper inquiry," he said.

On February 28, an elephant was killed in a similar manner in the Panibari range of Buxa forest.

In June, last year, some miscreants took out the tusks of a jumbo after it succumbed to its ailments at the Khuttimari forest in North Bengal. The tusks were later recovered from a water body near Khuklung forest village, about 1.5 kilometres from the spot where the tusker was found dead.

The tusks were kept in a container and drowned in a waterbody, so that the department officials could not find it. While one tusk weighed around 23 kilos, the other was 20 kilos heavy.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Elephant-poached-in-Buxa-poison-pellet-in-chest/articleshow/19436200.cms

Wanted poacher caught with 60 live birds

Express news service : Ahmedabad, Tue Apr 09 2013
Forest officials at Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary have caught a poacher and his associate red-handed with 60 live birds (their wings and legs broken) after four failed attempts over the past three months.

Khadar Imas (42) and his associate Mohammed (28) were caught by forest staff near Ranagadh village inside the state's largest protected wetland Sunday night.

The duo, residents of Jambu village in Limbdi taluka, were on a motorcycle and had with them 56 coots, two ducks and two teals in sacks, according to Dr K Sasikumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Nalsarovar Wildlife Division, Sanand.

They were interrogated through the night and charged with cognisable offences under the Wildlife Protection Act when they were produced before a Limbdi court on Monday, which granted the department a seven-day remand.

"We had long suspected Imas of poaching and trading birds from the sanctuary and have been tracking him for three months. There were at least four close encounters but he escaped each time. We finally caught him Sunday night inside the sanctuary," said Sasikumar.

The officer said the apprehended man is suspected to have been involved in such wildlife trade for more than a decade, and that his close relative is suspected to have also been in the illegal trade but was never caught.

"Initial interrogation has revealed Imas was selling these birds to locals as well as to some people in Ahmedabad for consumption. We will get more details after further questioning," he said.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wanted-poacher-caught-with-60-live-birds/1099697/

2013 In The Indian Wild

JAY MAZOOMDAAR | 2013-03-23

A red alert from the ministry, a damning report at Bangkok and our killing fields

THE NATIONAL Tiger Conservation Authority sounded a countrywide red alert against poaching last week. On 7 March, a report released at the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species meet in Bangkok extrapolated figures from global seizures to claim more than 100 cases of tiger poaching every year since 2000.

Most of these pelts and bones originate from India, home to more than half of the world’s wild tigers. Leopards are a bigger victim with an estimated 200 poached annually and a large number falling prey to man-animal conflict. Seizures, carcasses and lynch mobs often make headlines, but rarely present the scale of the slaughter that continues despite international attention and domestic initiatives. Barely 10 weeks into 2013, consider the numbers India’s killing fields have to offer this year:

JAN-FEB Uttarakhand Police recover 22 leopard skins and arrest 14 people in different operations.

JAN-MARCH 13 rhinos poached in Assam. Railway tracks claim six elephants.

6 JANUARY Tiger poached on the outskirts of Pench in Maharashtra.

11, 12 JANUARY Raids in Nepal lead to seizures of seven tiger skins and 53 kg of tiger bones, including 140 canines that amount to 35 tigers. Many believe the consignments were from Uttarakhand.

12 JANUARY A problem tigress shot dead near Navegaon in Maharashtra.

13 JANUARY A leopard trapped for the third time in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony.

17 JANUARY A tiger carcass found in the buffer of Pench in Madhya Pradesh.

21 JANUARY A leopard trapped at a village near Palamu, Jharkhand.

24 JANUARY Leopard caught in a cable wire trap near Shiroda in Goa.

27 JANUARY Man arrested for electrocuting a leopard near Panna in MP.

28 JANUARY A sloth bear killed on NH-6 near Navegaon. The same day, a leopard was found dead in Gujarat’s Junagadh.

29 JANUARY Two arrested with wild boar meat from Panna. The same day, a leopard trapped near Siliguri, West Bengal.

2 FEBRUARY Two poachers held with leopard and deer hides in Similipal, Odisha.

4 FEBRUARY Two held with a leopard pelt, two bear gall bladders and a leopard cat pelt near Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand.

7 FEBRUARY Tiger found poisoned in Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand.

9 FEBRUARY Villagers hang leopard from a tree in Dibrugarh, Assam.

11 FEBRUARY An elephant carcass, probably poached, found in Saranda, Jharkhand.

13 FEBRUARY 15 freshwater turtles recovered from a smuggler in Chandigarh.

15 FEBRUARY Leopard poisoned near Haldwani in Uttarakhand. A dead lioness dumped inside a walled well in Gujarat’s Amreli district.

20 FEBRUARY Four persons, including family members of forest guards, arrested for killing four leopards inside Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

21 FEBRUARY Three men held with five tiger pelts and a porcupine from Chinhat, Uttar Pradesh. Another held in Mumbai with a leopard skin.

23 FEBRUARY About 30 kg of pangolin scales seized from three men in Uttarakhand.

25 FEBRUARY A leopard trapped in Karnataka’s Hassan district.

26 FEBRUARY Ailing leopard cub dies near Nagpur as a range officer let his family pose with the animal for hours before allowing any medical help. A leopard found dead inside Kanha Tiger Reserve.

27 FEBRUARY Villagers lynch a leopard in Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir.

3 MARCH Two poachers arrested while cooking a leopard cub they hunted near Kumbhalgarh sanctuary in Rajasthan.

4 MARCH Four held for poaching a tiger in Melghat.

6 MARCH Female leopard, fifth since 2011, was knocked dead on NH-6 near Nagzira sanctuary. A leopard was captured in a village near Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.

9 MARCH Man held at Mumbai airport with 97 turtles.

11 MARCH Tiger found dead with signs of bleeding from the nose and the rectum in Sunderbans.

Yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg, because for every killing on this laundry list, at least five went unnoticed. For all the alerts and reports, there is little investment in building a workforce trained to investigate, prosecute and, most importantly, gather field intelligence. If laws and guns alone could save the wild, this count would have been different after four decades of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and a ban on hunting.

jaymazoomdaar@gmail.com

(Published in Tehelka Magazine, Volume 10 Issue 12, Dated 23 March 2013)
Source: http://tehelka.com/2013-in-the-indian-wild/

Thai Turtle Smuggler Caught With 14 Percent Of An Extremely Rare Species

Michael Kelley

Thai authorities arrested two smugglers who were trying to sneak 54 extremely rare Ploughshare Tortoises into the country, the wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic reports.

Ploughshare Tortoises are among the rarest species on earth, with a dwindling population of about 400 in northwestern Madagascar.

The smugglers — a 38-year-old Thai man and a 25-year-old woman who had flown from Madagascar to Suvarnabhumi International Airport — also had 21 Radiated Tortoises, which are also critically endangered.

Earlier this year the Thai man was arrested on a different wildlife smuggling charge.

The tortoises can command high prices in the animal black market in South East Asia.

Earlier the same day, authorities at the airport found 300 Indian Star Tortoises and 10 Black Pond Turtles when they inspected an unclaimed bag. Traffic notes that the Indian Star Tortoise is heavily traded as an exotic pet despite it being illegal to ship the species from its habitat in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/turtle-smuggler-caught-with-rare-species-2013-3

Over 8,000 captive baby tortoises die

P. OPPILI

Reptiles were seized at airport on Tuesday, housed at private vet clinic

• 9,000 baby red-eared slider tortoises were seized by Chennai airport officials on Tuesday
• The passenger who was carrying them had got them in China, and flown in to Chennai from Kuala Lumpur
• They had been stacked one on top of the other, in three cartons
• Of the 9,000, less than 800 are currently alive
• Each baby tortoise was about three inches in size
• The tortoises get their name from the distinctive red patch of skin around their ears
• They are semi-aquatic reptiles, and very popular as pets
• They can live for up to 30 years

Two days after the seizure of 9,000 baby tortoises by customs officials at the airport, shocked animal welfare activists have found that fewer than 800 have survived.

Airport officials had seized the tortoises from a passenger who had come in from Kuala Lumpur, and was attempting to exit through the green channel. Activists said the red-eared slider tortoises, which were just a few days old, were stacked one on top of another and packed into three cartons, with no provisions for aeration or food.

The tortoises had been bought by a city resident, who deals in the wholesale trade of pets.

The tortoises were handed over to State wildlife authorities, who later housed them a private veterinary clinic in Guindy. Even at the time of their being handed over, 1,500 died, and the wildlife authorities only received 7,500 live tortoises.

Activists said they were surprised by the authorities’ move to house the surviving tortoises at the private clinic, instead of taking them government’s quarantine centre in Medavakkam, as per government norms.

At the private clinic, the tortoises were kept in tubs, with each tub containing more than 300 tortoises, they said.

They pointed out that this was not the first time such a huge number of red-eared slider tortoises have been brought to Chennai.

A similar consignment arrived here about a year ago, and then too, the tortoises had been taken to the same private clinic in Guindy instead of to the quarantine centre.

Allowing the import of exotic animals to be reared as pets will lead to problems for endemic or native species. Moreover, pet owners become afraid once the tortoises grow older, an activist said.

When they find it difficult to find a suitable home for their pets, many owners end up abandoning them on the roads, he added.

Noted conservationist Shekar Dattatri said: “This seizure has revealed the extent of the illegal trade in this and other non-native species that are smuggled into the country. Many people buy these turtles to keep them as pets, or because they believe that keeping one brings good luck. What they probably do not realise is that for every turtle that survives the journey to India, hundreds die in the tightly-packed containers in which they are smuggled. I appeal to people not to buy exotic species like these turtles, as it encourages a very cruel trade.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/over-8000-captive-baby-tortoises-die/article4559180.ece

Reduced to Skin and Bones: Revisited

An updated analysis of tiger seizures from 12 tiger range countries (2000-2012)

In 2010, TRAFFIC produced Reduced to Skin and Bones: An Analysis of Tiger Seizures from 11 Tiger Range Countries (2000-2010) (Verheij, 2010). The purpose of the present report is to provide an updated situational analysis of the current illegal Tiger Pantherea tigris trade picture and to gain an improved understanding of one of the greatest threats to the Tiger's survival. This report also aims ot illustrate the need, use, practicability and direction that can be gained from the central collation and analysis of seizure data. Its conclusions outline the need for Tiger range and consumer countries to agree on and adhere to a standardized format for sharing and reporting data on poaching and illegal trade.

Download Report - http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/542/files/original/traffic_species_mammals73.pdf

Source: http://worldwildlife.org/publications/reduced-to-skin-and-bones-revisited

Governments boost support for sharks, elephants

BANGKOK: A major meeting on the plight of endangered species wrapped up on Thursday with a victory for shark conservationists and increased pressure on countries to curb rampant illegal trade in ivory.

The illegal ivory trade was at the top of the agenda with
eight nations accused of failing to do enough to
tackle the problem.

In what was hailed as a "historic day" for the world's oldest predator, protection for the oceanic whitetip shark, the porbeagle, three types of hammerhead and the manta ray won final approval by the 178-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

On the final day of more than a week of talks in the Thai capital Bangkok, Japan along with China and other nations that support shark fishing lost an 11th-hour bid to overturn the landmark deal.

"Shark populations are in freefall, but have been thrown a lifeline today - CITES has finally listened to the scientists," said Glenn Sant of wildlife trade protection group Traffic.

Rather than a complete ban, countries will be required to regulate trade by issuing export permits to ensure the sustainability of sharks in the wild, otherwise they could face sanctions by members of CITES, a global treaty that protects some 35,000 species.

The United States hailed the agreement as a "historic moment in shark and ray conservation".

In total, more than 300 threatened species won increased protection at the meeting, including dozens of types of turtles and timber.

The illegal ivory trade was at the top of the agenda with eight nations accused of failing to do enough to tackle the problem.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as transit countries Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and top markets China and Thailand were identified as making insufficient efforts to curb the trade.

But they avoided sanctions after submitting -- or pledging to submit -- draft action plans that must be finalised by May, with the possibility that sanctions would be revisited if they do not make progress by July 2014.

Under the convention, member states can halt trading with offender countries in the 35,000 species covered by the convention.

CITES General Secretary John Scanlon said such measures were a "last resort" and should only be imposed "where there's a clear failure to comply and no intention to comply".

"We have not got to that point in my view. At this point we actually have states that are engaged," he said.

Wildlife group WWF welcomed the increased pressure on the eight countries.

"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 WWF's Carlos Drews.

The eight nations defended themselves in the face of the accusations, which led media to dub them the "Gang of Eight".

"We are not denying that we have an active seaport and an active airport, and that we have challenges," said Kenyan delegate Patrick Omondi.

"We should not be lumped together as a Gang of Eight. Transit and source countries have unique challenges," he said. "We feel the focus should be on the demand side."

Illicit trade in ivory has doubled since 2007 and more than tripled over the past 15 years, according to wildlife groups, which estimate that only about 420,000 to 650,000 elephants remain in Africa.

Conservationists fear that 2012 was an even deadlier year than 2011, when an estimated 25,000 African elephants were killed.

In an effort to better track the illicit commerce, CITES members adopted new measures under which countries making large seizures of illegal ivory will be required to conduct DNA tests to determine their origin.

Scanlon rejected suggestions that the action had fallen short of expectations.

"We've seen an unprecedented level of international cooperation," he said, comparing the fight against ivory trade to the battle against trafficking in drugs, arms and people.

"Wildlife crime is in the same league as these sorts of crimes. You've got serious transnational organised criminals involved in this -- they are hard to crack. We haven't cracked them in any area," he said.

Rhinos were also a hot topic at the meeting, with Vietnam and Mozambique urged to do more to fight the illegal trade, which saw some 668 rhinos slaughtered in 2012.

But a US-led push for a ban on international trade in polar bears was rejected amid fears it would distract from the bigger threat of global warming.

The proposal had divided conservationists, who agree that the main risk to the world's largest carnivorous land animal comes from habitat loss but differ over whether international trade also puts the bears at risk of extinction.

The next CITES meeting will be held in South Africa in 2016.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Governments-boost-support-for-sharks-elephants/articleshow/18972688.cms