Welcome to the Latest News and Archives for May 2007

31/5/07 Debate over a proposed 20-year ivory trade ban has split African countries between those who want to protect the beloved elephant and others who say elephant populations have grown at an unsustainable rate.

31/5/07 Kenya Wildlife Service rangers head of operations, Josiah Achoki, second from right, and his rangers look on tusks recovered from ten poached elephants in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya, in this March 4, 2002, photo released by International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, Tuesday June 29, 2004.

30/5/07 Law enforcement officials increasingly are relying on traditional forensic methods to solve crimes where an animal is the victim, perpetrator or witness.

30/5/07 International commercial trade of elephants, whales, tigers and sharks to be voted on at CITES Meeting. More than 2,500 government representatives from 171 countries will converge in The Hague, Netherlands from June 3-15, 2007 for the 14th meeting of parties to the United Nations-backed Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

30/5/07 Gujarat government has decided to form a 10-member monthly monitoring committee (MMC) comprising police and forest department officials.

30/5/07 A performance artist says he will eat a corgi live on a London radio show in protest at a hunt led by Prince Philip. Mark McGowan says the meal is a protest at the alleged mistreatment of a fox which was shot during the hunt on the Queen's Sandringham estate in January.

29/5/07 Traders in the Indian-held portion of Kashmir handed over truckloads of animal skins and fur garments to wildlife officials. The skins belonged to tigers, leopards, snow leopards and other rare animals.

29/5/07 A plan to farm tigers for their body parts is troubling wildlife groups. TIGERS, under threat in every single country where they roam, now face an alarming new peril – rekindled trading of their body parts

29/5/07 South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe are heading for a bitter showdown with other African nations over their support for a relaxation in the ivory trade despite elephant poaching across the continent reaching its highest levels since 1989.

29/5/07 International wildlife experts have located hundreds of wild elephants on a treeless island in the swamps of south Sudan, where they apparently avoided unchecked hunting during more than 20 years of war.

28/5/07 Wolf and donkey live peacefully i same cage In a shocking story out of Albania, a donkey and wolf are living together in a tiny enclosure in a zoo in Tirana.  The donkey was put into the cage almost two weeks ago as dinner for the wolf, but the two have since become close companions

28/5/07 More than a dozen lions have died - mainly due to increased poaching - in the last two months in Gir National Park.

27/5/07 Britain has a longer history of systematic wildlife persecution than any other nation in Europe. It started with the first neolithic farmers and, by the time the Romans left, our ancestors had wiped out lynx, aurochs and bear.

27/5/07 Endangered, hunted, smuggled and now abandoned, 5 000 of the world's rarest animals have been found drifting in a deserted boat near the coast of China.

27/5/07 Issuing guidelines for the safety of tigers in Ranthambore national park, the Rajasthan High Court Friday said senior forest officials should be accountable for poaching incidents and all vehicles should keep a minimum distance from the wildlife.

27/5/07 NEW DELHI: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is finally going to see the light of day. Government has finalised the proposal and it should be notified before the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) meeting takes place in the first week of June.

27/5/07 The anti-poaching squad set up at the initiative of NGO Tiger Research And Conservation Trust to jointly patrol selected areas around Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is bearing fruits.

27/5/07 A 14-month undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led to charges being filed against a Texas man on Wednesday, three Oregon men on Monday and seven Southern California men earlier this month.

27/5/07 A dog owner has been jailed for nine months and banned from keeping any animals for life after admitting torturing his 10-month-old dog. Abishai Hayes from London was convicted of stabbing and seriously injuring the dog, a male collie-cross called Warrier, and failing to seek immediate veterinary treatment. 

26/5/07 Please sign the online petition the Silent Killer in the Countryside. You can help save thousands of badgers.

26/5/07 Terming the dwindling tiger population in the country 'alarming and a national crisis', experts Thursday demanded a separate wildlife protection cadre on the lines of the Rapid Action Force.

26/5/07 A full-grown leopard was found dead inside the Phulbari-Patan tea estate area in Siliguri Tuesday. It presumably died from poisoning as no external injury marks were found on its body, said forest department officials.

25/5/07 Efforts to protect endangered African elephants from the threat of extinction are being undermined by a burgeoning ivory smuggling network run by Asian crime gangs and by a "rampant trade" in illegal ivory on auction Web sites such as eBay, according to two new reports.

25/5/07 The League wants to know a lot more about the suffering caused by snares. We have launched a new website aimed at vet and wildlife protection groups: snaringsurvey.org.uk

25/5/07 The wildlife experts and conservationists have said that the early results from a tiger census indicate that the population of the endangered big cats is drastically lower than previously assumed, and that the situation is grave. "The situation is very grave.

24/5/07 Two Riverside County men are among seven people charged for allegedly beating and shooting Peregrine falcons and hawks to death because they wanted to protect pigeons used in flying competitions, federal prosecutors.

23/5/07 Dog owners are being urged to beware when out walking their pets after a dog was snared on a footpath in woods near Dereham, Norfolk

22/5/07 Two huntsmen "blatantly" transgressed the law by leading a hunt on National Trust land, a court has heard. 

21/5/07 Wildlife officials from Southeast Asia open a four-day meeting Monday in Indonesia aimed at cracking down on the thriving animal smuggling trade.

20/5/07 The National Anti Snaring Campaign has had a upgrade to there web site the new site is much better than the old one.

20/5/07 HELP RESCUE CAGED MOON BEARS Please sign this petition to be sent to the Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean Governments. Thousands of Moon Bears across China and Vietnam are imprisoned in cages no bigger than their own bodies enduring the agony of different bile extraction methods. Their suffering may continue for 20 years.

20/5/07 Three Kenyan rangers and four poachers died during an overnight shootout in the remote south-east, the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) said on Saturday.

20/5/07A Toronto wildlife artist who used parts of protected animals in some of his artworks was put on probation for one year and fined $10,000 by a federal judge in Buffalo.

19/5/07 Foot Locker, Inc., a worldwide company with more than 4,000 stores, has agreed to go completely fur-free in the wake of an ongoing fur labeling and advertising scandal in the fashion industry All so view the video.

19/5/07 The League Against Cruel Sports will be in court next week bringing its second private prosecution under the Hunting Act 2004.

19/5/07 EBay is the Internet’s single biggest shop window.  And as this report indicates, national websites run by eBay are being used as one of the main channels through which illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products is conducted over the Internet. 

19/5/07 IFAW Unveils African Ambassador For The Ivory Trade Ban Campaign. 

19/5/07 caught in the act: The monkey which was seized by game wardens yesterday. TWENTY animals, including a monkey and two macaws, were seized yesterday and two suspects were held by customs officials, after they boarded a boat from Guyana reportedly headed for Dominica.

19/5/07 India has said that they did not support lifting of China tiger trade ban, as this would in the long run endanger our already dwindling tiger population

18/5/07 The West Nile Virus is taking a worse-than-expected toll on some favorite birds in North America such as robins and chickadees, U.S. researchers said.

18/5/07 Wai Ho Gin, also known as Bobby Gin, and Umesh Kishore Tekani, nicknamed Mexx, a suspected accomplice in Singapore, earned more than $70,000 smuggling more than 120 protected and endangered radiated and Indian star tortoises to U.S. collectors, according to court papers.

17/5/07 Welcome to the latest edition of the ACE e-newsletter issue 97.

17/5/07 The tiger has again topped the list of the WWF's 10 most threatened species. Already endangered its situation could be worsened by China's attempt to have the worldwide ban on tiger products lifted.

17/5/07 A 20-year-old man is accused of killing a burrowing owl, a protect species, with a paint ball gun. Gerrit Richelson is officially charged with illegal taking of a burrowing owl

17/5/07 Brian Keith Monta, 42, received a sentence of 100 days in jail and was ordered to pay $14,300 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to 20 misdemeanor poaching charges. He also was banned from hunting and trapping for 10 years.

17/5/07 Sophisticated smuggling syndicates are driving a soaring trade in illegal ivory from Africa to Asia, according to a new report.

17/5/07 The Indian wing of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) today urged the Centre not to succumb into Chinese pressure of lifting a ban on trading tiger parts. The conservation group said that any such move would wipe out the endangered cats from the country.

17/5/07 Florida Man Found Guilty Of Shooting Threatened Species.  A Highlands County man has been convicted of shooting and killing a 95-pound black bear.

16/5/07 A rescued leopard cub, at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), India, with milk on its face. The cub was rescued from severe flooding in Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India.

15/5/07 Illegal ivory trading flourishes on the Internet because online auction sites do too little to enforce laws aimed at protecting endangered wildlife, a wildlife advocacy group says.

15/5/07 A Montana man has been cited for mistakenly killing a grizzly bear north of Ovando, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks

14/5/07 A recovery plan for the mainland moose calls for more research before the province takes new steps to save the endangered species.

13/5/07 After rampant rhino poaching in the Kaziranga National Park, primates are now falling prey to poachers in Asom. Some unidentified miscreants shot dead and carried away a capped langoor from the Gibbon Wildlife Sancturay in Jorhat district, besides injuring another on May 5.

13/5/07 A wildlife expert is calling for the county to eliminate the area’s "cat colonies" - outdoor safe areas where felines run free - saying they are responsible for killing songbirds.

12/5/07 The Maltese government has closed the spring bird hunting season early amid threatened legal action by the European Commission, which says the hunt violates EU rules on protecting wildlife.

12/5/07 An Indian state housing the world’s only natural habitat for the rare Asiatic lion is refusing to relocate the big cats despite calls from conservationists who say it is the only way to save the species.

12/5/07 Wildlife smugglers are using Peninsular Malaysia as a transit point to transport pangolins, freshwater turtles, monitor lizards and snakes worth millions of ringgit by land to China, where these animals are in high demand as exotic food.

11/5/07 Illegal ivory imports have soared in the past decade, as Chinese-run smuggling rings expand their reach in Africa, according to a report published Thursday.

11/5/07 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sent the remains of a "wolf-like canine" to its national forensics laboratory in Oregon to determine what killed the animal and whether it was an endangered Mexican gray wolf.

11/5/07 A spate of poaching incidents around the country from Kaziranga to Gir forests in Gujarat coming to light, NDTV and sanctuary Asia have started a campaign called poaching the future.

10/5/07 The Irish Council Against Blood Sports congratulates the Green Party for being the only party to pledge an end to blood sports in their election manifesto.

10/5/07 A coalition of animal protection and conservation groups, as well as the Phoenix Zoo, wants the Bush administration to rescind a federal policy that allows for the trapping, capture and killing of Mexican gray wolves in Southwestern states, including Arizona.

9/5/07 Those who favour hunting wildlife for sport obviously did not get an opportunity to read the September 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine that had Africa as its main point of focus.

9/5/07 There are disturbing reports of an increase in poaching in some national parks and conservancies in the country.

9/5/07 Bears in mountain communities have killed two family dogs in recent days, the result of cold weather depleting food supplies and development encroaching on wildlife.

8/5/07 Update Bear Cubs Move Outside This update is provided by Mila Danilova from IFAW's Russian Office and follows a previous post about the same bears: Russian Bear Cubs: Growing Up Together.

8/5/07 Richard Leakey has battled to save Africa's wildlife from poaching, war and neglect. But the veteran conservationist is more worried than he's ever been. "I think climate change may be the biggest threat we've ever seen," he said.

8/5/07 The meddling could strengthen the arguments of Forest Guardians and other groups that are asking a federal judge to order the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a second look at protecting the prairie dog.

7/5/07 The state government has recently granted foresters immunity to use weapons against perpetrators of wildlife crime. But still forest guards are wary of using the facility, saying requisite amendments need to be made in law. india.

7/5/07 Hundreds of Alaskan wolves were spared during the recent aerial wolf-kill program because a lack of snow and rising gas costs hampered state hunters

6/5/07 Zimbabwe has lost about 40 black rhinos to poachers who have killed the animals in some government parks and conservancies over the past three years, a state daily said Saturday

6/5/07 The row between deer hunt campaigners on Exmoor escalated yesterday following claims and counter claims over the welfare of deer at a sanctuary in Somerset

5/5/07  Poaching for Bin Laden. In the jungles of India, local animal trappers have a new breed of client: Islamic militants using the trade in rare wildlife to raise funds for their cause. According to India's security services, police, intelligence analysts, local traders and forestry officials, Islamic militants affiliated to al-Qaida are sponsoring poaching in the reserve for profit.

5/5/07 A family cat, which had been missing for five days, was finally found wrapped in a snare and hardly able to move. He was discovered in the garden of his owners, the Reddy family who live in Mansfield, Nottingham area of the United Kingdom.

5/5/07 A sixth-grader stabbed to death a mother duck and two ducklings that had nested near a school, distressing the other children and alarming officials who said the boy needs mental health treatment.

4/5/07 Boost for campaign to stop ruddy duck slaughter. The National campaign organisation Animal Aid, which has fought plans to cull the UK’s ruddy duck population for the past ten years, is delighted by Wigan Council’s announcement that it is suspending a local cull and urges DEFRA to reconsider its policy on the ruddy duck.

4/5/07 Ivory Trade Makes Congressional Agenda. The fate of the world’s elephants was today the focus of a key congressional hearing, highlighting international efforts to protect elephants from a growing illegal trade in their ivory and calls to allow for the legal trade in elephant ivory.

4/5/07 Three tiger habitats in Chhattisgarh have been brought under Project Tiger by the central government which will provide extra funds for conservation of the big cats that are fast disappearing in India.

4/5/07 A swan is recovering at an RSPCA wildlife centre after being found with a fishing hook embedded in its neck, seven air weapon pellets in its body and lead in its stomach

3/5/07 The state government appears to have finally realised the importance of involving people staying in villages near Gir sanctuary to build up a strong intelligence network, in the wake of several incidents of lion poaching in the recent past.

3/5/07 The hunt is being widened for an alien invader that is preying on native wildlife. Efforts are continuing to wipe out American mink on Lewis and Harris, but the net is to be widened to tackle the animals' progress on Mull and Iona.

3/5/07 Fianna Fail has declared that the party is "committed" to the continuation of coursing in Ireland. Responding to an ICABS appeal to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, a spokesperson disappointingly defended the blood sport, claiming that the muzzling of greyhounds results in less hares being killed

2/5/07 Police have appealed for information after a buzzard was shot dead in Aberdeenshire.

2/5/07 Seventeen Asiatic Lions have died in Gir sanctuary in Gujarat in the past four months, eight of them due to poaching. The government has decided to shift other members of the endangered species to a forest reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

1/5/07 West Midlands Police together with the RSPCA special operations unit have carried out a number of raids in Birmingham. The raids took place in Handsworth and Lozells following information involving organised dog fighting in the area.

1/5/07 Malta's spring bird hunt is in full swing for what could be the last time before the country is taken to court accused of violating the EU Birds Directive.

1/5/07 Hunting fanatics have mounted a dirty tricks campaign against the League Against Cruel Sports seeking to blacken the League’s name and shame the organisation.

1/5/07 A gamekeeper faces the prospect of being the first in Scotland to be sent to prison for a series of wildlife crime offences. George Aitken put live pigeons in cages and also laced the carcasses of pheasants with deadly poisons in a way likely to cause injury to birds of prey.

1/5/07 Rajasthan, under fire for the massive poaching of its tigers, plans to improve the big cat s safety with radio collars as well as a joint forest department-police cell.

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Undercover investigations form a vital part of the League's overall campaigning strategy to abolish blood sports and tackle wildlife crime. Without these investigations, MPs, the media, League members, supporters and the wider public would not be aware of the nature and scale of wildlife persecution.

If you have any information you think may be of value to League investigators, e-mail in confidence investigations@league.uk.com or write to Investigations Unit, League Against Cruel Sports, 83-87 Union Street, London, SE1 1SG.

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