Posts Tagged ‘National Geographic’
National Geographic: London Summit Intensifies Battle Against Wildlife Crime
World leaders pledge new commitment to fighting the illegal animal trade. Laurel Neme for National Geographic Published February 12, 2014 Bringing together heads of state and government ministers from 50 countries, Thursday’s high-level summit on illegal wildlife trade may represent a turning point in the fight against wildlife crime. The London summit—hosted by the…
Read MoreNational Geographic: New WildLeaks Website Invites Whistle-Blowers on Wildlife Crime
WildLeaks gives whistle-blowers a way to anonymously finger wildlife criminals. Laurel Neme for National Geographic Published February 10, 2014 Wildlife trafficking crimes often go undetected and unchallenged, even though they threaten many endangered species, including elephants, rhinos, and pangolins. Similarly, trade in illegally logged timber continues unabated, destroying forests and wildlife habitat.…
Read MoreNational 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…
Read MoreNational 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…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Al Shabaab and the Human Toll of the Illegal Ivory Trade
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on October 3, 2013 By Laurel Neme, Andrea Crosta, and Nir Kalron As the bloody stain from Al Shabaab’s attack in Nairobi spreads, we grieve not only for those who died or were injured, and their families and friends, but also for the many innocents…
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 MoreNational Geographic: Did Polar Bears Really Lose at CITES?
Posted by Laurel Neme in Polar Bear Watch on March 29, 2013 Delegates at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 16th Conference of Parties held in Bangkok in March rejected a proposal to ban international trade in polar bears and their parts. The decision caused a stir because polar bears face a precarious future. While some…
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 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…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Elephants in Cameroon and Chad face Imminent Threat
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on December 5, 2012 Gangs of heavily armed elephant poachers have crossed the Central African Republic (CAR) from Sudan and are reported to be close to the southern Chad and northern Cameroon borders. Several columns of Sudanese poachers, comprising between 150 to 200 men riding on…
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