Wildlife Trade
National Geographic: Three-Year Timeline of Ivory Milestones in Hong Kong and Mainland China
For years, the Hong Kong’s government rejected eliminating its huge retail ivory market, and mainland China has shown itself to be more forward thinking. Yet recent events—including evidence showing that Hong Kong’s ivory traders use the legal market as a conduit for illegal ivory, public protests against the trade, and moves in mainland…
Read MoreHuffington Post: How Legal Markets Fuel Ivory Smuggling in Hong Kong
Posted: 10/27/2015 Hong Kong’s legal ivory market fuels ivory smuggling and elephant poaching says 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, the report, Illusion of Control, released Oct 23 in Hong Kong, reveals that ivory traders…
Read MoreNational 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,…
Read MoreHuffington Post: Saving Elephants One Kid at a Time
Posted: 10/16/2015 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. The event was initiated by 12-year-old Taegen Yardley, who organized a network ofstudent “champions” at more than a dozen elementary and middle schools across…
Read MoreNational 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…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Undercover Video Confirms Hong Kong’s Retail Market Is “Front” for Smuggled Ivory
September 25, 2015 By Laurel Neme and Maraya Cornell Hong Kong’s retail ivory market acts as both a cover for smuggled ivory and an incentive. A new report, The Hard Truth, released September 7 by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)–Hong Kong, reveals how fundamental flaws in the existing regulatory system help fuel the…
Read MoreNational Geographic: East African Smugglers Push Ivory Out of the Continent
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on September 18, 2015 Elephant poaching and ivory trafficking in East Africa is driven not only by foreign consumers but also by African nationals who actively “push” ivory to these markets. A recent report, Pushing Ivory Out of Africa: A Criminal Intelligence of Elephant Poaching and Ivory Trafficking in East Africa,…
Read MoreNational 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…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Wildlife forensics unmask poachers and traffickers
Mongabay WildTech 10th July 2015 / Laurel Neme When border agents seize two tons of smuggled ivory, how do they tell where it’s from? When meat on sale in Southeast Asia is suspected to be from a tiger, how can the police prove it? And when blood in a hunter’s truck is thought to come from a poached…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Two Nations Show Good News, Bad News for Africa’s Elephants
Visits to Gabon and Tanzania show the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that commitment from the top makes all the difference. By Laurel Neme, National Geographic PUBLISHED June 28, 2015 Gabon and Tanzania are both high-stakes countries for elephants and other endangered species, but…
Read MoreNational Geographic: To Stem Thriving Online U.S. Ivory Market, Stronger Laws and Enforcement Needed, Says Author of New Report
First posted on 2015-05-18 To Stem Thriving Online U.S. Ivory Market, Stronger Laws and Enforcement Needed, Says Author of New Report Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on May 8, 2015 Images: Craigslist.org via “Elephant vs. Mouse” report by IFAW and 96elephants.org In a new report, Elephant vs. Mouse, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)…
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