Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 it is really a disgusting story.our precious wildlife had fallen to the greed of Poachers and smugglers in wildlife.The recent example is of tigers from protected Sanctuaryu areas.This all is due to negligience of Concerned authorities and lack of awareness. Sandeep On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 Ghosh wrote : >http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1427351.htm >Black market animal trade threatens endangered species PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY >The World Today - Monday, 1 August , 2005 12:26:00 >Reporter: Tanya Nolan >ELEANOR HALL: Researchers who have been tracking illegal sales of wildlife in South East Asia for almost a decade are warning today that the lucrative black market trade is expanding unchecked, and that it's likely to force many endangered species to extinction. > >In a book to be launched in Sydney today, Australian and Asian-based conservationists set out the findings of their seven-year long research project, which reveals that the trade in endangered animals is often conducted with the assistance of governments, and is usually closely linked to arms trading and drug running. > >The international police organisation Interpol has valued the illegal trade in animals at more than $US 6 billion a year, and describes it as one of the fastest growing areas of international crime, as Tanya Nolan reports. > >TANYA NOLAN: The unsuspecting rhinoceros makes its nightly trek through the familiar territory of the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, near Assam in northeast India. This creature of habit, with its poor eyesight, fails to notice the wire strung across its path which sends 11 kilowatts through its body, electrocuting it. > >It's a sanctuary in name only - the 8 square kilometre area with 24-hour security patrols has the largest single concentration of Indian one-horned rhino in the world. > >But with fewer than 3,000 left in the wild, and with horn fetching up to $US 25,000 per 500 grams on the black market, Sydney-based photographer and conservationist Adam Oswell says the temptation is too great. > >ADAM OSWELL: It's surrounded by very large communities of desperately poor people. There's millions of dollars worth of rhino horn in that small area, so it's constantly got pressure on it. There are people going in almost daily trying to poach animals and get the horn out. > >That'll go through to a middleman, somewhere in the local village nearby, and then that'll probably go to another middleman in Dimapur, or somewhere near the Burmese border, and it'll eventually find its way through Burma or India, into China, and then through to either Hong Kong, Taiwan or Japan, or Singapore, or any of the other large Chinese community in Asia. > >TANYA NOLAN: The trade in rhinoceros is the most secretive, profitable and dangerous of all endangered species bought and sold on the international black market. > >Adam Oswell and author Ben Davies found the scale of the trade hard to ignore - from the fish markets of Tokyo, where a stuffed polar bear was on display with a price tag of $US 11,000, to the bustling markets of China, where just about any species can be bought as a supposed tonic for any ailment. > >But there is also a market for private collections which are expanding across Europe and in America, the largest consumer of exotic pets in the world. > >Adam Oswell says off-duty military and police officers are often involved in trafficking, aided by corrupt politicians. > >ADAM OSWELL: In countries where people don't make a lot of money, they're not concerned about killing animals, they just want to feed their family and make money. As far as government officials and influential people being involved, I mean, there's a lot of money in it. They have the power to do it and get away with it, so they do. > >TANYA NOLAN: The Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that 95 per cent of the world's population of tigers has been wiped out over the last 100 years. With all its parts, an adult tiger can fetch up to $US 60,000 on the black market. > >But the society's director in Thailand, Dr Anak Patanavibool, who is trying to get accurate numbers of the tiger populations in the country's huge protected forests, says it's the poaching of smaller prey that is posing the biggest threat to the animal > >ANAK PATANAVIBOOL: I think that's quite serious. That's why in many national park or protected areas, like wildlife sanctuaries, it's becoming in the situation we call empty forest, we don't have large preys for tigers and the tiger becomes extinct. So that's happening in many protected areas in Thailand. > >TANYA NOLAN: The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that more than 40 per cent of all animal populations in South East Asia will be lost forever by the end of this century. > >While some countries like China, India and Thailand have been sporadically cracking down on visible signs of the trade, conservationist Adam Oswell says there's little political will to stamp it out. > >James Compton, the Kuala Lumpur-based director of the group Traffic, which monitors the wildlife trade, sees the very real potential for the trade to occur legally and sustainably. > >He says the convention on the international trade in endangered species or CITES offers the right forum for the trade to be regulated, but agrees sovereign nations need to be stronger on enforcement > >JAMES COMPTOM: It gives countries legal access to international markets, and I'm talking here about species that are listed on Appendix II of the convention, which is essentially a management listing where you have every exporting country having to go through the process of what's called a non-detriment finding, so that they measure the impact of the trade on the wild populations to see that it doesn't have a negative impact, and then they can regulate their trade. > >And then each importing country has to request an export permit from the producer country before allowing the import into the consumer market. > >TANYA NOLAN: All agree that if policing of the trade is not improved, many dozens of endangered species are destined to join the growing list of those already extinct. > >ELEANOR HALL: Tanya Nolan reporting. > >And that book on the wildlife trade out today is called Black Market: Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia, and it's by Ben Davies and Adam Oswell. > > Black Market >Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia Global Crime Syndicates Profit from a New Contraband > >view larger image Ben Davies >Adam Oswell >(Producer) Adam Oswell > >$24.95 (CAN $35.95) >ISBN: 1-932771-22-0 >176 pages | size: 10 x 9 3 /4 inches >Paper with flaps >Full-color illustrations >Celestial Arts | Mandala >June 2005 > > > > > From rhino horn, shark fin, bear claw, and monkey brain to countless other poached species used for medicine, trophies, and aphrodisiacs, a sinister black market is ravaging the world’s wildlife heritage. Featuring more than 100 astonishing photographs, BLACK MARKET chronicles this grisly trade and the impassioned battle against it. Using hard-earned information from conservation organizations and enforcement agencies, the book uncovers searing truths about the multibillion-dollar underground industry that drives wildlife depletion. Following in the footsteps of celebrity advocates Jackie Chan, Ang Lee, Michelle Yeoh, and Angelina Jolie, BLACK MARKET demands awareness and action to stop the wholesale massacre of Asia’s once abundant wildlife before it is too late. > > >A photojournalistic account of the unscrupulous, multibillion-dollar black market trading of endangered species. > > >Features more than 100 full-color photographs. > > >“If we can stop people [from ] buying endangered species products ....we can save these animals so that they will continue to survive in their natural habitat.” >—Jackie Chan > >Author BEN DAVIES is a Bangkok-based journalist whose work has appeared in a wide range of distinguished publications and media including the International Herald Tribune, London Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. His books include Laos: A Journey Beyond the Mekong, Isaan: Forgotten Provinces of Thailand, and Pangasinan: A Journey Through the Philippines. > > >Producer ADAM OSWELL is a Sydney-based photographer and producer of media products focusing mainly on conservation issues within the Asian region. He has worked for The South China Morning Post, TIME Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WildAid and WWF International. > > >Producer ADAM OSWELL is a Sydney-based photographer and producer of media products focusing mainly on conservation issues within the Asian region. He has worked for The South China Morning Post, TIME Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WildAid and WWF International. > >On the Trail of the Wildlife Traffickers >The Irrawaddy News Magazine - Burma - 4/30/2005 >By: Ben Davies > >The gruesome trade in endangered species. > >Extracts from 'Black Market—Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia' by Ben Davies, photos by Patrick Brown. Produced by Adam Oswell. Published by Earth Aware Editions, a division of Palace Press International. > >On a cliff overlooking the southwest plains of Cambodia, there is a bullet-ridden casino. Built in the 1920s, the French hill resort at Bokor was once a popular summer retreat for wealthy colonials. For almost two decades it became the scene of ferocious battles between the Khmer Rouge and government forces. But these days, a different war is raging around its dank, crumbling walls. > >It's night time and six heavily armed men make their way through the nearby forest using only the light of the moon. Carrying automatic weapons, they tread carefully, stopping to check for animal tracks or to listen for sounds of human activity. Up ahead they see a movement. One man raises his hand to signal and the others melt on either side of the track, guns at the ready. Ek Phirun, the 29-year-old head of the unit shouts a command. A spotlight blazes out, freezing the figure of a poacher. > >Surrounded and outgunned, the man drops the sack that he is carrying and surrenders without a struggle, his eyes bulging with fear. > >Today the catch is small. A hog badger that will sell for less than US $20 in the local markets. But like so many species in Cambodia it is endangered, with a price tag that could increase manyfold by the time it is transported further afield. The poacher is taken away for questioning and later released with a warning. An off-duty soldier, he was simply foraging for wild animals to feed his family. > >Months earlier, two elephants—one male and one female—were machine-gunned to death not far from Bokor in the remote Cardamom Mountains. The poachers hacked off the tusks, trunks and bull's penis with machetes. They then placed snares around the carcasses, which are used as bait for catching tigers. Normally the poachers return at weekly intervals to check the traps in the hope of catching a tiger—an animal that is worth more dead than alive. This time, they stayed away, probably tipped off by local forestry officials who had been sent to arrest them. > >When the killing is over, the most valuable wildlife is transported under the cover of darkness to a cluster of nearby towns and villages. There, local dealers temporarily warehouse it before they sell it to regional traders in the capital Phnom Penh. It will eventually be smuggled over Cambodia's poorly policed borders into neighboring countries concealed in trucks, hidden in boats or hauled over narrow trails by local porters. The bones and parts will be used for traditional Chinese medicine, a practice that dates back three thousand years and is popular throughout East and Southeast Asia. The meat will be eaten as a tonic, an aphrodisiac or an expensive local delicacy, while the skins will be sent as trophies to wealthy collectors in Asia and the West. > >Like the illegal trade in drugs, it is demand from buyers around the world that fuels this grisly trade. As neighboring countries have exhausted their own valuable natural resources, the price for Cambodia's last populations of tigers, elephants, and bears has soared to levels undreamed of even a decade ago. Killing a tiger can earn a poacher up to US $500 if he is lucky. When the average annual salary is less than half that amount, it's not hard to see why poor local people become killers. For them, it's a question of survival. But the real money is made exporting and trafficking the wild animals. Sold in dingy back-street alleyways in China or anonymous hotel rooms in the West, the value of a dead tiger including its skin, bones and penis could be US $50,000, netting huge profits for the gangs who increasingly control the black market trade in endangered species. > > " We can't stop the illegal wildlife trade, but we can make it more difficult, " says Mark Bowman, an Australian military advisor for WildAid, one of several international conservation organizations that are helping to fund and train local rangers in a last ditch attempt to save Southeast Asia's rapidly vanishing wildlife. > >As demand for wild animals has grown in far off places, new supply routes have opened up in Asia. Favored now are countries like Burma, India and Indonesia, where the inhabitants are poor and valuable wildlife still easy to come by. All it takes is a few local contacts, a friend in the import/export business and the liberal dispensation of cash and almost anything is possible. " Smugglers identify the loose links of the chain, " says Steve Galster, a wildlife investigator who has worked undercover in many of the world's toughest locations. " In this business, it's all about moving shipments with the minimum cost and the lowest risk. " > >And despite the best efforts of Galster and his colleagues, the supply routes are growing bigger and more sophisticated by the day. In late 2003, Chinese police manning a checkpoint in southwest Tibet stopped a vehicle suspected of transporting illegal wildlife from India. Inside, they discovered 1,393 animal skins, including 581 leopard skins and 31 Bengali tiger skins. It was the single biggest haul since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, with a total street value in excess of US $1.2 million. Three Tibetans were arrested. The Indian handlers, organizers and poachers managed to escape. > >Had they not been stopped, the skins would have doubtless ended up in the sprawling mansions of wealthy buyers in China and the West—the same ones who are contributing to the extinction of some of the world's rarest species. " What we are discovering is just the tip of the iceberg, " says Julian Newman, a wildlife investigator at the Environmental Investigation Agency in London. " With high prices and low risks, the skin trade is spiraling out of control. " > >In late 2004, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature published the findings of its own survey into wildlife populations. The results show that no fewer than 4,388 species of mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian are under threat due to unsustainable hunting, loss of animal habitat and relentless growth of the human population. Some, like the South China Tiger (estimated population 50) or the Javanese rhino (estimated population 60) are so rare that it would take almost nothing to push them over the edge. > >But as populations of large mammals disappear, so poachers turn to smaller and smaller species to make their money. When these are gone, they search for common birds and reptiles. Without stricter laws and better enforcement, the forests will eventually be emptied of all living creatures. " It's like the canary in a coal mine, " says Hunter Wieler, a former big game hunter turned conservationist who works in Cambodia. " Each species extinction is a warning. If the warning is continuously ignored it is only a matter of time before a catastrophe happens. " > >Back on the rugged slopes of Bokor National Park, it's late afternoon and the rangers are already preparing their spartan rations for another five-day patrol, this time to the remote northern reaches of the wildlife sanctuary. Ek and his men can take heart from the 1,500-odd poachers that have been intercepted in recent times and the hundreds of animals that have been released back into the wild. They are also the first to admit that unless more is done, some of the world's rarest species will become extinct. > >But times may be changing. Bored of empty government rhetoric and bureaucratic indifference, a new generation of conservationists is taking action into their own hands. Spearheaded by groups like WildAid and the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, they are carrying out their own undercover operations to identify major wildlife traffickers. They are funding programs to improve training and law enforcement at a local level. And through public awareness campaigns, they are putting pressure on Western governments to impose stricter penalties on wildlife criminals. > >It's a crusade which is already bringing hope to parts of Asia. In neighboring Thailand, a handful of former poachers have been persuaded to take up alternative means of employment such as growing mushrooms and organic vegetables or working as park rangers. Villagers are learning about the long term value of conservation and its potential to attract tourists who will pay money to see animals in the wild. The argument goes that if the local people are given an interest in protecting the animals and their habitat, then poaching could become a thing of the past. > >And assistance is also coming from unexpected quarters. High profile celebrities like Jackie Chan and Angelina Jolie are lending their support to conservation projects. Chan recently appeared in several television commercials calling for an end to the slaughter and trade in endangered animals. His message was beamed into as many as 50 million homes in Asia. > >It's only a small step. But it is one that is vital if the world is to halt the plunder before it is too late. " It will take time to stop the hunting, " says Prawing Klinkai, a former poacher who machine-gunned to death more than 70 elephants before switching sides to become a tracker. " When people are poor and hungry they will try to make money in whatever way they can. But now the children are growing up with a new awareness of conservation and a better education than when I was young. " > >That may not come soon enough to save all the endangered animals in Southeast Asia. For the rangers of Bokor, however, it provides a ray of hope that one day the battle can be won. > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 As I said that unless something very drastic is taken up especially all the large animals will disappear first. I call upon the large groups with inlfuence, genuineness and the resources to get into the field work of protection in coordination with the active groups and the authorities to have an impact. Let's do it please. Pradeep Kumar Nath. Sandeep kumar jain <jeevdaya wrote: it is really a disgusting story.our precious wildlife had fallen to the greed of Poachers and smugglers in wildlife.The recent example is of tigers from protected Sanctuaryu areas.This all is due to negligience of Concerned authorities and lack of awareness. Sandeep On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 wrote : >http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1427351.htm >Black market animal trade threatens endangered species PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY >The World Today - Monday, 1 August , 2005 12:26:00 >Reporter: Tanya Nolan >ELEANOR HALL: Researchers who have been tracking illegal sales of wildlife in South East Asia for almost a decade are warning today that the lucrative black market trade is expanding unchecked, and that it's likely to force many endangered species to extinction. > >In a book to be launched in Sydney today, Australian and Asian-based conservationists set out the findings of their seven-year long research project, which reveals that the trade in endangered animals is often conducted with the assistance of governments, and is usually closely linked to arms trading and drug running. > >The international police organisation Interpol has valued the illegal trade in animals at more than $US 6 billion a year, and describes it as one of the fastest growing areas of international crime, as Tanya Nolan reports. > >TANYA NOLAN: The unsuspecting rhinoceros makes its nightly trek through the familiar territory of the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, near Assam in northeast India. This creature of habit, with its poor eyesight, fails to notice the wire strung across its path which sends 11 kilowatts through its body, electrocuting it. > >It's a sanctuary in name only - the 8 square kilometre area with 24-hour security patrols has the largest single concentration of Indian one-horned rhino in the world. > >But with fewer than 3,000 left in the wild, and with horn fetching up to $US 25,000 per 500 grams on the black market, Sydney-based photographer and conservationist Adam Oswell says the temptation is too great. > >ADAM OSWELL: It's surrounded by very large communities of desperately poor people. There's millions of dollars worth of rhino horn in that small area, so it's constantly got pressure on it. There are people going in almost daily trying to poach animals and get the horn out. > >That'll go through to a middleman, somewhere in the local village nearby, and then that'll probably go to another middleman in Dimapur, or somewhere near the Burmese border, and it'll eventually find its way through Burma or India, into China, and then through to either Hong Kong, Taiwan or Japan, or Singapore, or any of the other large Chinese community in Asia. > >TANYA NOLAN: The trade in rhinoceros is the most secretive, profitable and dangerous of all endangered species bought and sold on the international black market. > >Adam Oswell and author Ben Davies found the scale of the trade hard to ignore - from the fish markets of Tokyo, where a stuffed polar bear was on display with a price tag of $US 11,000, to the bustling markets of China, where just about any species can be bought as a supposed tonic for any ailment. > >But there is also a market for private collections which are expanding across Europe and in America, the largest consumer of exotic pets in the world. > >Adam Oswell says off-duty military and police officers are often involved in trafficking, aided by corrupt politicians. > >ADAM OSWELL: In countries where people don't make a lot of money, they're not concerned about killing animals, they just want to feed their family and make money. As far as government officials and influential people being involved, I mean, there's a lot of money in it. They have the power to do it and get away with it, so they do. > >TANYA NOLAN: The Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that 95 per cent of the world's population of tigers has been wiped out over the last 100 years. With all its parts, an adult tiger can fetch up to $US 60,000 on the black market. > >But the society's director in Thailand, Dr Anak Patanavibool, who is trying to get accurate numbers of the tiger populations in the country's huge protected forests, says it's the poaching of smaller prey that is posing the biggest threat to the animal > >ANAK PATANAVIBOOL: I think that's quite serious. That's why in many national park or protected areas, like wildlife sanctuaries, it's becoming in the situation we call empty forest, we don't have large preys for tigers and the tiger becomes extinct. So that's happening in many protected areas in Thailand. > >TANYA NOLAN: The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that more than 40 per cent of all animal populations in South East Asia will be lost forever by the end of this century. > >While some countries like China, India and Thailand have been sporadically cracking down on visible signs of the trade, conservationist Adam Oswell says there's little political will to stamp it out. > >James Compton, the Kuala Lumpur-based director of the group Traffic, which monitors the wildlife trade, sees the very real potential for the trade to occur legally and sustainably. > >He says the convention on the international trade in endangered species or CITES offers the right forum for the trade to be regulated, but agrees sovereign nations need to be stronger on enforcement > >JAMES COMPTOM: It gives countries legal access to international markets, and I'm talking here about species that are listed on Appendix II of the convention, which is essentially a management listing where you have every exporting country having to go through the process of what's called a non-detriment finding, so that they measure the impact of the trade on the wild populations to see that it doesn't have a negative impact, and then they can regulate their trade. > >And then each importing country has to request an export permit from the producer country before allowing the import into the consumer market. > >TANYA NOLAN: All agree that if policing of the trade is not improved, many dozens of endangered species are destined to join the growing list of those already extinct. > >ELEANOR HALL: Tanya Nolan reporting. > >And that book on the wildlife trade out today is called Black Market: Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia, and it's by Ben Davies and Adam Oswell. > > Black Market >Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia Global Crime Syndicates Profit from a New Contraband > >view larger image Ben Davies >Adam Oswell >(Producer) Adam Oswell > >$24.95 (CAN $35.95) >ISBN: 1-932771-22-0 >176 pages | size: 10 x 9 3 /4 inches >Paper with flaps >Full-color illustrations >Celestial Arts | Mandala >June 2005 > > > > > From rhino horn, shark fin, bear claw, and monkey brain to countless other poached species used for medicine, trophies, and aphrodisiacs, a sinister black market is ravaging the world’s wildlife heritage. Featuring more than 100 astonishing photographs, BLACK MARKET chronicles this grisly trade and the impassioned battle against it. Using hard-earned information from conservation organizations and enforcement agencies, the book uncovers searing truths about the multibillion-dollar underground industry that drives wildlife depletion. Following in the footsteps of celebrity advocates Jackie Chan, Ang Lee, Michelle Yeoh, and Angelina Jolie, BLACK MARKET demands awareness and action to stop the wholesale massacre of Asia’s once abundant wildlife before it is too late. > > >A photojournalistic account of the unscrupulous, multibillion-dollar black market trading of endangered species. > > >Features more than 100 full-color photographs. > > >“If we can stop people [from ] buying endangered species products ....we can save these animals so that they will continue to survive in their natural habitat.” >—Jackie Chan > >Author BEN DAVIES is a Bangkok-based journalist whose work has appeared in a wide range of distinguished publications and media including the International Herald Tribune, London Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. His books include Laos: A Journey Beyond the Mekong, Isaan: Forgotten Provinces of Thailand, and Pangasinan: A Journey Through the Philippines. > > >Producer ADAM OSWELL is a Sydney-based photographer and producer of media products focusing mainly on conservation issues within the Asian region. He has worked for The South China Morning Post, TIME Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WildAid and WWF International. > > >Producer ADAM OSWELL is a Sydney-based photographer and producer of media products focusing mainly on conservation issues within the Asian region. He has worked for The South China Morning Post, TIME Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WildAid and WWF International. > >On the Trail of the Wildlife Traffickers >The Irrawaddy News Magazine - Burma - 4/30/2005 >By: Ben Davies > >The gruesome trade in endangered species. > >Extracts from 'Black Market—Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia' by Ben Davies, photos by Patrick Brown. Produced by Adam Oswell. Published by Earth Aware Editions, a division of Palace Press International. > >On a cliff overlooking the southwest plains of Cambodia, there is a bullet-ridden casino. Built in the 1920s, the French hill resort at Bokor was once a popular summer retreat for wealthy colonials. For almost two decades it became the scene of ferocious battles between the Khmer Rouge and government forces. But these days, a different war is raging around its dank, crumbling walls. > >It's night time and six heavily armed men make their way through the nearby forest using only the light of the moon. Carrying automatic weapons, they tread carefully, stopping to check for animal tracks or to listen for sounds of human activity. Up ahead they see a movement. One man raises his hand to signal and the others melt on either side of the track, guns at the ready. Ek Phirun, the 29-year-old head of the unit shouts a command. A spotlight blazes out, freezing the figure of a poacher. > >Surrounded and outgunned, the man drops the sack that he is carrying and surrenders without a struggle, his eyes bulging with fear. > >Today the catch is small. A hog badger that will sell for less than US $20 in the local markets. But like so many species in Cambodia it is endangered, with a price tag that could increase manyfold by the time it is transported further afield. The poacher is taken away for questioning and later released with a warning. An off-duty soldier, he was simply foraging for wild animals to feed his family. > >Months earlier, two elephants—one male and one female—were machine-gunned to death not far from Bokor in the remote Cardamom Mountains. The poachers hacked off the tusks, trunks and bull's penis with machetes. They then placed snares around the carcasses, which are used as bait for catching tigers. Normally the poachers return at weekly intervals to check the traps in the hope of catching a tiger—an animal that is worth more dead than alive. This time, they stayed away, probably tipped off by local forestry officials who had been sent to arrest them. > >When the killing is over, the most valuable wildlife is transported under the cover of darkness to a cluster of nearby towns and villages. There, local dealers temporarily warehouse it before they sell it to regional traders in the capital Phnom Penh. It will eventually be smuggled over Cambodia's poorly policed borders into neighboring countries concealed in trucks, hidden in boats or hauled over narrow trails by local porters. The bones and parts will be used for traditional Chinese medicine, a practice that dates back three thousand years and is popular throughout East and Southeast Asia. The meat will be eaten as a tonic, an aphrodisiac or an expensive local delicacy, while the skins will be sent as trophies to wealthy collectors in Asia and the West. > >Like the illegal trade in drugs, it is demand from buyers around the world that fuels this grisly trade. As neighboring countries have exhausted their own valuable natural resources, the price for Cambodia's last populations of tigers, elephants, and bears has soared to levels undreamed of even a decade ago. Killing a tiger can earn a poacher up to US $500 if he is lucky. When the average annual salary is less than half that amount, it's not hard to see why poor local people become killers. For them, it's a question of survival. But the real money is made exporting and trafficking the wild animals. Sold in dingy back-street alleyways in China or anonymous hotel rooms in the West, the value of a dead tiger including its skin, bones and penis could be US $50,000, netting huge profits for the gangs who increasingly control the black market trade in endangered species. > > " We can't stop the illegal wildlife trade, but we can make it more difficult, " says Mark Bowman, an Australian military advisor for WildAid, one of several international conservation organizations that are helping to fund and train local rangers in a last ditch attempt to save Southeast Asia's rapidly vanishing wildlife. > >As demand for wild animals has grown in far off places, new supply routes have opened up in Asia. Favored now are countries like Burma, India and Indonesia, where the inhabitants are poor and valuable wildlife still easy to come by. All it takes is a few local contacts, a friend in the import/export business and the liberal dispensation of cash and almost anything is possible. " Smugglers identify the loose links of the chain, " says Steve Galster, a wildlife investigator who has worked undercover in many of the world's toughest locations. " In this business, it's all about moving shipments with the minimum cost and the lowest risk. " > >And despite the best efforts of Galster and his colleagues, the supply routes are growing bigger and more sophisticated by the day. In late 2003, Chinese police manning a checkpoint in southwest Tibet stopped a vehicle suspected of transporting illegal wildlife from India. Inside, they discovered 1,393 animal skins, including 581 leopard skins and 31 Bengali tiger skins. It was the single biggest haul since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, with a total street value in excess of US $1.2 million. Three Tibetans were arrested. The Indian handlers, organizers and poachers managed to escape. > >Had they not been stopped, the skins would have doubtless ended up in the sprawling mansions of wealthy buyers in China and the West—the same ones who are contributing to the extinction of some of the world's rarest species. " What we are discovering is just the tip of the iceberg, " says Julian Newman, a wildlife investigator at the Environmental Investigation Agency in London. " With high prices and low risks, the skin trade is spiraling out of control. " > >In late 2004, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature published the findings of its own survey into wildlife populations. The results show that no fewer than 4,388 species of mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian are under threat due to unsustainable hunting, loss of animal habitat and relentless growth of the human population. Some, like the South China Tiger (estimated population 50) or the Javanese rhino (estimated population 60) are so rare that it would take almost nothing to push them over the edge. > >But as populations of large mammals disappear, so poachers turn to smaller and smaller species to make their money. When these are gone, they search for common birds and reptiles. Without stricter laws and better enforcement, the forests will eventually be emptied of all living creatures. " It's like the canary in a coal mine, " says Hunter Wieler, a former big game hunter turned conservationist who works in Cambodia. " Each species extinction is a warning. If the warning is continuously ignored it is only a matter of time before a catastrophe happens. " > >Back on the rugged slopes of Bokor National Park, it's late afternoon and the rangers are already preparing their spartan rations for another five-day patrol, this time to the remote northern reaches of the wildlife sanctuary. Ek and his men can take heart from the 1,500-odd poachers that have been intercepted in recent times and the hundreds of animals that have been released back into the wild. They are also the first to admit that unless more is done, some of the world's rarest species will become extinct. > >But times may be changing. Bored of empty government rhetoric and bureaucratic indifference, a new generation of conservationists is taking action into their own hands. Spearheaded by groups like WildAid and the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, they are carrying out their own undercover operations to identify major wildlife traffickers. They are funding programs to improve training and law enforcement at a local level. And through public awareness campaigns, they are putting pressure on Western governments to impose stricter penalties on wildlife criminals. > >It's a crusade which is already bringing hope to parts of Asia. In neighboring Thailand, a handful of former poachers have been persuaded to take up alternative means of employment such as growing mushrooms and organic vegetables or working as park rangers. Villagers are learning about the long term value of conservation and its potential to attract tourists who will pay money to see animals in the wild. The argument goes that if the local people are given an interest in protecting the animals and their habitat, then poaching could become a thing of the past. > >And assistance is also coming from unexpected quarters. High profile celebrities like Jackie Chan and Angelina Jolie are lending their support to conservation projects. Chan recently appeared in several television commercials calling for an end to the slaughter and trade in endangered animals. His message was beamed into as many as 50 million homes in Asia. > >It's only a small step. But it is one that is vital if the world is to halt the plunder before it is too late. " It will take time to stop the hunting, " says Prawing Klinkai, a former poacher who machine-gunned to death more than 70 elephants before switching sides to become a tracker. " When people are poor and hungry they will try to make money in whatever way they can. But now the children are growing up with a new awareness of conservation and a better education than when I was young. " > >That may not come soon enough to save all the endangered animals in Southeast Asia. For the rangers of Bokor, however, it provides a ray of hope that one day the battle can be won. > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Protection is what all the animal groups can try to do, but unless you can cut off the DEMAND for wild animals and wild animal parts, there will always be someone willing to SUPPLY them, whether it is corrupt wildlife bureaucrats or impoverished tribal poachers. When it comes to the wildlife trade, all roads lead to China, in particular to the markets of south China, mainly Guangdong. Until the Chinese authorities are willing to make it illegal to sell wildlife for human consumption and close the markets, what future is there for any wild creatures in Asia? So far, to the best of my knowledge, the only NGO actively campaigning against the consumption of wildlife (and dogs and cats) within China is the Animals Asia Foundation. IFAW has a Beijing office, but I do not believe they have taken a position against the consumption of wildlife unless it involves endangered species. If I am wrong about this, I will be happy to be corrected. Kim Bartlett >As I said that unless something very drastic is taken up especially >all the large animals will disappear first. >I call upon the large groups with inlfuence, genuineness and the >resources to get into the field work of protection in coordination >with the active groups and the authorities to have an impact. >Let's do it please. >Pradeep Kumar Nath. > >Sandeep kumar jain <jeevdaya wrote: > it is really a disgusting story.our precious wildlife had fallen to >the greed of Poachers and smugglers in wildlife.The recent example >is of tigers from protected Sanctuaryu areas.This all is due to >negligience of Concerned authorities and lack of awareness. >Sandeep > > >On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 wrote : >>http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1427351.htm >>Black market animal trade threatens endangered species PRINT >>FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY >>The World Today - Monday, 1 August , 2005 12:26:00 >>Reporter: Tanya Nolan > >ELEANOR HALL: Researchers who have been tracking illegal sales of >wildlife in South East Asia for almost a decade are warning today >that the lucrative black market trade is expanding unchecked, and >that it's likely to force many endangered species to extinction. -- Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A. CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish language subsections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Dear colleagues, Whereas there can be no doubt that China is a major consumer of wildlife products and animals, I would beg to differ on the notion that 'When it comes to the wildlife trade, all roads lead to China'. I would like to remind everyone that the world's number one consumer of natural resources is USA and not China(Ref: THE FUTURE OF LIFE by Edward Wilson, STUPID WHITE MEN by Michael Moore). All wildlife trade routes definitely do not lead to China since there are more tigers in USA in captivity than any other country(Ref: the Patrick Brown and Alan Green interviews). The Chinese are not responsible for creating MacDonalds to wipe out rainforests all over the world to fatten cattle for beef burgers. The Chinese were not responsible for dropping napalm bombs in Vietnam to destroy forests and endangered species, the Americans were. Pointing fingers to one country and saying 'They are responsible' does not help the animals or humans. No one is absolved of guilt on the issue of animal mistreatment anywhere. Best wishes and kind regards, Yours sincerely, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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