National Geographic: How World’s Largest Legal Ivory Market Fuels Demand for Illegal Ivory

New report shows that limited oversight of Hong Kong’s ivory traders allows laundering of illegal ivory through legal markets.   By Laurel Neme, for National Geographic PUBLISHED October 22, 2015   A new report by WildAid, an international nongovernmental organization that aims to eliminate illegal wildlife trade, together with undercover video by independent investigators provided to WildAid and WWF-Hong Kong,…

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National Geographic: Ripple Effect: Saving Elephants One Kid at a Time

      Children’s voices can be extremely powerful—a fact readily apparent on a recent Sunday when more than 325 people—most of them children—participated in Vermont’s first kid-driven Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. The event was initiated by 12-year-old Taegen Yardley, who organized a network of youngsters from across the state. Student “champions” at more than…

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National Geographic: Elephant Killings in Chad’s Signature Park Cause Alarm

    After three years of zero poaching in Zakouma National Park, killing of two female elephants shows no population is safe. By Laurel Neme, for National Geographic PUBLISHED September 01, 2015 A routine aerial surveillance flight over the western part of Chad’s Zakouma National Park has uncovered the deaths of two female elephants and their calves…

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National Geographic: Ethiopia Burns Entire 6.1-Ton Ivory Stockpile

  Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on March 20, 2015       ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – At a ceremony today in the capital, Ethiopia burned its entire 6.1-ton ivory stockpile. The event was held at the Gulele Botanical Garden, close to the headquarters of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), where the ivory had been stored.…

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National Geographic: Will Mobilization of Military Forces Stop Elephant Poaching in Cameroon

  Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on February 14, 2015      Ten elephant carcasses discovered in mid-January in and around Cameroon’s Bouba Ndjida National Park are raising fears that poachers may again be targeting the park. But information remains sketchy. According to the Cameroon Tribune, a government newspaper, the military made several patrols following reports of gunfire…

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National Geographic: In Hong Kong, Kids Take Action to Stop the Illegal Ivory Trade

      Schoolchildren are working together to raise awareness of the toll of the illegal ivory trade.  Photograph by Katrina Shute Laurel Neme for National Geographic Published April 24, 2014 Part of our weekly “In Focus” series—stepping back, looking closer. Hong Kong schoolchildren are transforming attitudes about elephant ivory through small actions that are having…

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National Geographic: Elephant Foster Mom: A Conversation with Daphne Sheldrick

  Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on December 6, 2013         Orphaned elephants “can be fine one day and dead the next,” says Daphne Sheldrick, a Kenyan conservationist and expert in animal husbandry. She knows. To date, she has fostered over 250 calves, first in partnership with her husband, David Sheldrick, founding warden…

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National Geographic: Ivory Mandala: A Fitting Memorial from the U.S. Ivory Crush

    Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on November 13, 2013     Tomorrow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will use an industrial rock crusher to destroy its six-ton stockpile of confiscated elephant ivory. The event is both a demonstration of the U.S.’s commitment to stop ivory trafficking and its belief that the legal ivory…

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