(IN): Cyber bazaar is spelling doom for wildlife, or is it?

[Guest guest]

ITS JUST ANOTHER RED HERRING...

Reporting like this drives me nuts: Cyber bazaar is spelling doom for

wildlife - Radhika Bordia, Supriya Sharma -

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080064596 & ch=9/9/2

008%207:07:00%20AM

 

So here is another ³Don¹t Open That Email, It Will Wipe Out Your Computer on

Jan 1, 2009² scam, but in this case, the animals are getting dragged in.

All of the activity described in the article was done previously with

telephones, fax machines, newspapers, BBS systems, trade fairs, and other

low-tech means. In addition, just because we have high-speed internet

access globally, that does not change the fact that you have to physically

ship a protected 900lb tiger from one country to another. So who is

searching for this obvious infraction of the law? The IFAW found 146 species

of rare birds for sale using Google. Why don¹t they find 146 species of

real birds and prevent them from being stuffed? We know there is a

flourishing market, so why are orgs wasting their time in cubicles surfing

the net for proof of just that? The press should press them to get out

there and catch the bad guys - instead of watching porn between short

sessions of e-enforcement.

 

If anything, this ³cyber bazaar² should be ²spelling the doom² of the

illegal wildlife trade - if it¹s true that all business is now being

conducted via the internet. The US Department of Homeland Security would be

knocking on your door within 48 hours if you were online and seriously

plotting the capturing, stuffing, and exporting of Sara Palin to China to be

ground up as a fertility drug for $70,000 USD. There really is very little

privacy on the Internet.

 

But the point is that clandestine business deals, shipments of illegal

goods, and transfers of drug/arms/rhino horn money is going on between

dealers and buyers regardless of the means of communication...they would be

using a telegraph if that was all that was available. So these meaningless

attempts at journalism only act to distract readers from the real problems.

The real story should read something like this:

 

³[insert the name of ur favourite large wildlife INGO here] has begun a new

hunt to detect the EXTENT of illegal wildlife trade that MAY exist on the

Internet, thereby wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and

software upgrades, yet they have stopped very little of the actual trade

during this quarter.²

 

And I can say this with experience to back that claim. As an ex-IT

professional that worked for numerous INGOs and Bilateral organizations, I

have seen the waste and misdirection of funds and resources on red herring

chases just like this one. Is it done maliciously, is it mismanagement, or

just plain ignorance/arrogance one might want to ask if one were a true

reporter. From my experience, its the latter in most cases, but that would

depend on the organization under scrutiny. Development workers, when

confronted with decades of overwhelming problems and endless amounts of

cubicle work to deal with, tend to shut down and look for an easy way out.

Installing new internet servers and software applications and shiny new

laptops to sit in front of and Google is just one of the easy ways out.

Let¹s hope some journalists have the guts to expose some waste, and thus

perhaps get these orgs back to the task of shutting down the trade or doing

whatever it is these large orgs are supposed to be doing. Someone could

start by finding that 900lb tiger in the cargo hold of that 747, the one

with the obviously forged papers downloaded from the internet. He can¹t be

that hard to spot.

 

Jigs

Advisor,

AnimalNepal

 

 

 

On 9/9/08 10:49 AM, " AZAM SIDDIQUI " <azam24x7 wrote:

 

>

>

>

> Link:

> http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080064596 & ch=9/9/200

> 8%207:07:00%20AM

> *

> Cyber bazaar is spelling doom for wildlife

> * Radhika Bordia, Supriya Sharma

> Monday, September 08, 2008, (New Delhi)

>

> International Fund for Animal Welfare has begun a new hunt to detect the

> extent of illegal wildlife trade that may exist on the Internet.

>

> What the world wide web throws up in just a week is shocking: Over 9,000

> live wild animals, stuffed specimen and animal products -- illegally up for

> sale.

>

> Peter Pueschel, Director, IFAW (Wild Trade Programme), says: ''Our

> investigations have shown that there are the most endangered species and

> their products are being offered on the worldwide in the highest valued

> markets in the North America, Europe or Far East Asia. For somebody living

> in a wildlife rich country like India can easily offer illegal wildlife

> products in a rich consumer country like north America or Europe.''

>

> In one search, in one language, English, IFAW found 146 live species with

> price tags on them. Some most rare are:

>

> Siberian Tiger: $70,000

>

> Lion: Price on request

>

> **Gorilla in London: 4,500

>

> Peregrine falcon in Taxidermy: 170

>

> It sets the alarm bells ringing.

>

> Here's a flourishing wildlife market, spinning out of control on

> international buying and selling websites.

>

> Rare turtles, snakes, crocodiles both live and skins

>

> A big market for rare birds that can be stuffed

>

> A niche market for ultra-expensive items like giant ivories,

> Rhinofootstools, and stuffed polar

> bears.

>

> And thousands of ivory tusks of Asian and African Elephants -- that's the

> biggest online trade in wildlife.

>

> Thousands of rare animals are being killed for artifacts, rare collections,

> jewellery and medicines. And so many live animals are being sold outside

> their natural habitat. The trade in illegal wildlife has become the third

> largest black market surpassed only by drugs and arms.

>

> Bittu Sehegal, Editor, Sanctuary Magazine, says: ''The key issue for me

> right now is the trade in wildlife, the trade in narcotics, and the trade in

> arms. There is a revolving door. To pay for wildlife, they could be using

> drugs. To pay for drugs, they could be using wildlife. It could be tiger

> bone, it could be skins, it could be anything.''

>

> For years, B K Sharma has been trying to decipher and crack these

> connections. A noted cop from Orissa, he has seen the transition of the

> poacher into an e-poacher.

>

> B K Sharma, Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, says: ''The buyer

> and the seller -- their identities are protected. And the second one is the

> transaction speed. Somebody sitting in Tokyo can sell a product to a buyer

> in Los Angeles by a click of the mouse.''

>

> This is a cross-country trade. So, what is banned in one country may not be

> so in others.

>

> And the obligation to prove legality of a product is not the onus of the

> seller.

>

> Peter Pueschel, Director, IFAW (Wild Trade Programme), explains: ''Our

> experience shows that many criminals easily falsify these documents and

> nobody can assess at the copy on the Internet whether it's true or it's

> false.''

>

> The United States, West European countries and Far East have become the

> biggest buyers. The United States accounts for 70% of the world's illegal

> wildlife trade. Africa, central Asia, and Caribbean are emerging as largest

> sellers.

>

> Proposed laws to crush internet trade in wildlife are far away from global

> approval even as cyber wildlife bazaar is open 24 hours a day.