Posts Tagged ‘Africa’
Elephant musings and articles
Elephants are getting more and more attention. From Obama’s call for action to Hillary Clinton today announcing her focus on them. The more I learn about these fascinating creatures, the more I want to know. But I admit that the more I know, the more disheartened I am by the poaching crisis currently going on.…
Read MorePoaching incident and rapid response in Botswana
You know it’s bad when….I find it extremely hard to believe that poaching has extended to Botswana, where I spent almost a couple years doing my dissertation research. During the week of May 17th, 5 elephants were found killed with trunks and tusks cut off (likely with a power saw). They were ambushed on a…
Read MoreNational Geographic: A Powerful Weapon Against Ivory Smugglers: DNA Testing
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on May 23, 2013 Hong Kong Customs seized 113 ivory tusks in a cargo shipment at Hong Kong International Airport on April 30 this year. Officers detected the ivory when they X-rayed a consignment labeled “spare parts” being shipped from Burundi, Africa to Singapore via Hong Kong. DNA analysis…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Chaos and Confusion Following Elephant Poaching in a Central African World Heritage Site
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on May 13, 2013 As poachers fired on forest elephants inside the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, a World Heritage Site in the Central African Republic (CAR), the impotence of foreign governments and non-governmental organizations in preventing the slaughter of wildlife amid political chaos was, once again, revealed. Earlier this week, the World…
Read MoreFilming of Mad Max sequel wreaks havoc on Namibia’s desert ecosystem
The Namib desert is a remarkable but fragile ecosystem, containing many endemic species. One of these is the desert plant Welwitschia mirabilis, one of the longest lived organisms on the planet,with a lifespan of 500 to 1500 years. In 2012, areas of the Dorob and Namib Naukluft National Parks were utilized as…
Read MoreIt’s been a busy 2013 for Kenya Wildlife Service
On March 26, a Chinese man (Tian Yi) admitted smuggling 439 pieces of ivory from Democratic Republic of Congo to Hong Kong via Nairobi. He was caught at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on March 10, 2013 while in transit from DRC to Hong Kong. According to the Kenya Wildlife Service, the contraband…
Read MoreAnother paltry fine for ivory smuggling
On March 26, a Chinese man (Tian Yi) admitted smuggling 439 pieces of ivory from Democratic Republic of Congo to Hong Kong via Nairobi. He was caught at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on March 10, 2013 while in transit from DRC to Hong Kong. According to the Kenya Wildlife Service, the contraband…
Read MoreNational Geographic: New Promises Follow Elephant Slaughter in Chad and Cameroon
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on March 27, 2013 In the aftermath of the largest elephant poaching episode thus far in 2013, Central African governments met to coordinate and adopt an emergency plan to combat the killings. But is it too little, too late? On March 14-15, at…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Elephant and Rhino issues to be debated at CITES 16th Conference of Parties
By Laurel Neme, special to mongabay.comMarch 04, 2013 Part 2 of 3PART 1: Overview | PART 2: Reflections of CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon When the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meets from March 3-14 in Bangkok for its 16th Conference of Parties (CoP16), elephants and rhinos will be at the…
Read MoreThe WildLife: A Lifetime with Elephants, Iain Douglas-Hamilton
At age 23, Iain Douglas-Hamilton pioneered the first in-depth scientific study of elephant social behavior in Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park. During the 1970s he investigated the status of elephants throughout Africa and was the first to alert the world to the ivory poaching holocaust. He and his wife have co-authored two award-winning books…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Poachers Capitalize on Chaos in Central Africa
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on February 5, 2013 Poachers are capitalizing on the disarray in the Central African Republic (CAR) and appear to be moving freely in a search of elephants. Late last year several columns of Sudanese poachers, up to 200 well-armed men, were spotted traveling across northern CAR toward…
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