A Tree Calls for Help

A new wireless device, called Invisible Tracck, can deter illegal logging by allowing authorities to track illegally cut trees in Brazil. Brazilian authorities will attach this small device onto valuable trees that might be targets for illegal loggers. If and when that tree is cut down and moved, the device will wake up and send a signal to authorities when it comes into…

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Operation Jaguar: Poaching and Human-Wildlife Conflict

From JeffCorwinConnect Citizen Blog: By Laurel NemeApril 8, 2011 Twenty years ago Brazil’s most notorious jaguar hunter, Teodoro Antonio Melo Neto, also known as “Tonho da onça” or “Jaguar Tony,” swore off poaching after logging 600 kills. The foe-turned-jaguar-ally began helping conservation agencies track the elusive cats for their monitoring and research and his dramatic…

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Animal Planet: Busted: Is Brazil’s ‘Jaguar Tony’ a Traitor and Poacher?

Guest Blog for Animal Planet’s “Animals in the News” blog   10/19/2010 Guest blogger Laurel Neme, author of the book Animal Investigators, wildlife conservationist and host of radio show The WildLife, offers insight into how a jaguar poaching ring was recently busted. Twenty years ago Brazil’s most notorious jaguar hunter, Teodoro Antonio Melo Neto, also known as “Tonho da onça”…

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Mongabay.com: Operation Jaguar: Busting a Poaching Ring

From Mongabay.com By Laurel A. Neme, special to mongabay.comOctober 03, 2010 Twenty years ago Brazil’s most notorious jaguar hunter, Teodoro Antonio Melo Neto, also known as “Tonho da onça” or “Jaguar Tony,” swore off poaching after logging 600 kills. The foe turned ally of the jaguar then convinced environmental and research institutes, such as the non-governmental organization…

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Mongabay.com: The Changing Nature of Illegal Logging – and Illegal Logging Investigations – in Brazil’s Amazon

    The changing nature of illegal logging – and illegal logging investigations – in Brazil’s Amazon By Laurel Neme, special to mongabay.com July 08, 2010 Continued from Top officials busted in Amazon logging raids, but political patronage may set them free   Operation Jurupari followed on several previous Brazilian Federal Police investigations into SEMA, including:…

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The WildLife: Brazil’s Illegal Bird Trade, Juliana Machado Ferreira

    Brazilian biologist Juliana Machado Ferreira discusses the illegal wildlife trade in Brazil. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme about the domestic market for pet birds and what role wildlife forensic research can play in helping to expose and stop this trade. She also discusses her genetic research into the DNA of four songbird species and how…

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Brazil Macaw Trafficking Ring Broken Up

Big news broke in mid-March about the largest wildlife trafficking bust in Brazil ever. Jorge Pontes, head of Interpol in Brazil, contacted me about the bust of a huge macaw smuggling ring. On Friday, March 13, 2009, Brazilian Federal Police and Interpol arrested 102 people in 9 states. Interpol issued red notices (wanted) for 6…

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