National Geographic: A Mysterious Rhino Horn Heist in Vermont

Photo credit: Mark Biercevicz Photo credit: Mark Biercevicz Mystery surrounds the theft of a rhinoceros horn from a natural history collection in the University of Vermont, in Burlington. Nobody knows its origins, or exactly when or why it was stolen. Its absence was first noted on April 27. It could have been taken as a…

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National Geographic: Justice for Rhinos–When Will it Come?

Nothing prepared me for the venom in his eyes. While not directed at me, nobody in the courtroom could escape the anger seeping from his pores. Through a twist of fate, I was in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a province on the eastern coast of South Africa, on September 19, the day the trial of a suspected…

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National Geographic: Hong Kong Starts Countdown to Ivory Trade Ban (2)

First posted on 2016-06-27     Wildlife Watch Hong Kong Starts Countdown to Ivory Trade Ban Hong Kong’s five-year plan for closing its ivory market will eliminate a legal loophole exploited by smugglers. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED June 27, 2016 Chinese police stand guard over ivory that was seized from a boat arriving from Hong Kong in March.…

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National Geographic: Hong Kong Starts Countdown to Ivory Trade Ban

  Hong Kong’s five-year plan for closing its ivory market will eliminate a legal loophole exploited by smugglers. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED June 27, 2016   Today Hong Kong has taken a major step forward in phasing out its ivory trade. The government submitted its proposed plan to the Legislative Council, which began debating the details. This is a…

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National Geographic: Petition Seeks Ban on Trade in Fake Rhino Horn

Exclusive: NGOs express concerns that cultured rhino horn undercuts existing law and imperils wild rhinos. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED Wed Feb 10, 2016 Trade in bioengineered rhino horn shouldn’t be allowed. That’s the contention behind a petition filed today with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the Center for Biological Diversity, a U.S.-based group that uses science and…

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National Geographic: One Country Will Destroy Its Ivory—and Pray for Elephants

    Sri Lanka also becomes the world’s first country to apologize that elephants are being killed for their ivory. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED Mon Jan 25 12:04:00 EST 2016 During the past several years, I’ve watched country after country destroy their stockpiles of confiscated elephant ivory, preventing that ivory from somehow slipping back into the black market and…

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National Geographic: One Country Will Destroy Its Ivory—and Pray for Elephants (2)

  One Country Will Destroy Its Ivory—and Pray for Elephants Sri Lanka also becomes the world’s first country to apologize that elephants are being killed for their ivory. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED Mon Jan 25 12:04:00 EST 2016 During the past several years, I’ve watched country after country destroy their stockpiles of confiscated elephant ivory, preventing that ivory from…

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National Geographic: Elephants Win as Hong Kong’s Leader Says It Will Ban Ivory Trade

Shutting down the world’s largest legal ivory market would be a conservation milestone. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED January 14, 2016 Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, announced plans to ban the domestic ivory trade during his 2016 Policy Address. The annual speech lays out the year’s policy agenda. In the middle of the two-hour monologue, between statements on…

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