Wildlife Conservation News for 31 Aug 2017

Under pressure: the story behind China's ivory ban

For years Chinese government officials were followed around the world, at every meeting, by a single issue: the scores of dead elephants across Africa, and the international community that blamed China for this “ivory “holocaust”.

Even the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, could not escape lectures on poached elephants and the evils of China’s legal domestic ivory trade from foreign leaders. For years, China deflected the criticism with claims of a long cultural heritage and incremental policies, such as a ban on ivory carving imports two years ago.

And then in June 2016, then president Barack Obama fulfilled a promise made during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, and imposed a near total ban on domestic ivory sales. China followed suit, and officials shut 67 carving workshops and retail stores in March 2017, with another 105 set to close by the end of the year. It was an astonishing U-turn – a far bigger step than campaigners had dared to hope for.

So how did this come about? In many ways, the country’s swiftly implemented ivory ban is a textbook case of international pressure effectively extractingconcessions for a country that often bucks global norms.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2gleJUk

Source: The Guardian

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Chinese poachers caught off Galapagos Islands with thousands of endangered sharks sentenced to prison

Twenty Chinese crewmembers have been sentenced to jail and handed a $5.9m (£4.6m) fine for illegally fishing off the Galapagos Islands, where they were caught by Ecuadorean officials with 6,600 sharks aboard.

The Chinese-flagged ship Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 was apprehended with 300 tonnes of of near-extinct or endangered species, including hammerhead sharks.

Pictures from the Environment Ministry of Ecuador show the sharks with their fins removed. Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in China.

Judge Alexandra Arroyo announced the captain of the ship will serve four years in jail.

Full story at http://ind.pn/2es3PiE

Source: Independent

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**To catch a (wildlife) criminal **

A small round sample of smuggled ivory is put in a zip-locked plastic bag. Although the piece is the size of a bead, it is hard and must be hammered many times before being broken into little pieces. The...

The test is conducted at the Wildlife Forensic Science Unit of the Wildlife Conservation Office, operated under the auspices of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).

The lab is known as the first DNA forensics unit for wildlife animals in Thailand.

The person who has driven the project since 2009 is Kanita Ouitavon, 47, chief of the Wildlife Forensic Science Unit. She saw the need of the DNP to have its own forensic lab in order to complete the department's...

Full story at http://bit.ly/2glffSz

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com

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Kenya to increase number of wildlife crime prosecutors to win the battle against poaching

Kenya has announced plans significantly to increase the number of specialist prosecutors its wildlife service can call on to go after poachers in court.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) currently has two prosecutors covering the whole country, where poaching and trafficking of elephant ivory and rhino horn has increased with rising Asian demand.

That number could jump to as many as 14, after conservation organisation Space for Giants worked with Kenya’s national prosecution service to identify potential new recruits, and train them up. Space for Giants’ patron is Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of The Independent.

KWS’s acting director general, Julius Kimani, and Max Graham, CEO of Space for Giants, have signed an agreement in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, to widen cooperation including further training and mentoring of these new prosecutors.

Full story at http://ind.pn/2gl2WFw

Source: Independent

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Now, a policy to involve farmers in wildlife conservation

In an effort to avoid man-animal conflicts in areas/lands adjacent to protected forests and tiger reserves/elephant corridors, the State government has proposed to bring out the Karnataka Forest Policy on Private Conservancies in which land owners/institutions can voluntarily donate their land for enlarging wildlife habitat.

The policy, which was cleared by the Department of Forest and Environment headed by B. Ramanath Rai, encourages land owners living close to the protected areas and corridors for establishing private conservancies by changing the land use from the present practice of agriculture/plantation crops to “silvi-pasture system”, which can be termed as private forests.

The State has 35 sanctuaries/national park/reserve/corridors spreading over 9,58,6.107 sq km. Reserve forest forms 15.48 % of the total geographical area of the State and over a dozen of animals and human beings are killed in the State owing to man-animal conflicts.

As a replacement for income from agriculture/plantation/horticulture practices, the landowners opting for declaring their lands under private conservancies will be allowed to take up eco-tourism activities.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2gl4QpV

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

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Endangered species of turtle captured on camera laying eggs in a national park

This video shows the incredible moment an endangered turtle was seen laying eggs in a national park.

The Hawksbill turtle was seen laying her offspring near to a sandy beach at East Coast Park in the city state of Singapore.

The situation was monitored by staff to ensure the conditions were perfect.

Hawksbill turtles usually lay at night and can produce up to 200 eggs at any one time.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2gl4Rdt

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk

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Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)