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Tag: rhino

  • “Operation Crash” Takes Down Black Rhino Horn Salesmen

    A federal grand jury in Los Vegas today issued indictments for two men accused of selling black rhinoceros horns in the U.S. The men were caught in a sting that was part of “Operation Crash,” a nationwide investigation into the rhino horn trade led by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Servie and the Justice Department.

    Edward N. Levine and Lumsden W. Quan, both residents of California, have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act and one count of violating the Lacey Act, the 1900 law that created criminal penalties for the sale of illegal plants and wildlife in the U.S.

    Levine and Quan are alleged to have sold two black rhino horns via email and telephone conversations. The buyer was an undercover law enforcement agent who negotiated the sale of the horns for $55,000. The sale took place in a Las Vegas hotel room on March 18, 2004 and the men were arrested later that day.

    The black rhinoceros, once widely seen throughout Africa, is now one of the most endangered species of rhinoceros. According to the International Rhino Foundation the African population of black rhinos was only 4,240 as of 2008. The Justice Department estimates that black rhino populations have decline by more that 90% since 1970, much of it due to the rhino horn trade. The trade of black rhino horn is regulated by the 1976 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora treaty.

    This indictment is yet another wildlife-related case that the Justice Department has taken on during 2014.

    In January a Queens, New York fish importer was convicted of smuggling nearly 40,000 piranhas into the U.S. and selling them to fish retailers for around $37,000.

    In February a New Jersey man was convicted of smuggling 33 narwhal tusks worth an estimated $2.5 million from Canada. The man faces up to 20 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $250,000.

    Image via Yathin S Krishnappa/Wikimedia Commons

  • Rhino Hunt Permit A Controversial Poaching Solution

    Rhino Hunt Permit A Controversial Poaching Solution

    The effort to save endangered species from poachers seems to have taken a bizarre turn where the black rhino is concerned. The Dallas Safari Club is reportedly planning to auction a permit for hunting a black rhino in Namibia. The hunt would allow for the killing of a lone post-breeding bull.

    Club executive director Ben Carter says that the move to auction such a permit is in fact meant to help the endangered rhino species.

    “These bulls no longer contribute to the growth of the population and are in a lot of ways detrimental to the growth of the population because black rhinos are very aggressive and territorial. In many cases, they will kill younger, non-breeding bulls and have been known to kill calves and cows.”

    He also says that allowing the hunt permit to be sold will raise money that could help ensure the survival of the black rhino species. The hunting club hopes the auctioned ticket will fetch as much as $1,000,000 to be put towards the preservation of the animal.

    Despite the intentions of the Dallas Safari Club, certain animal rights groups take issue with the method in which the preservation money is earned. For instance, Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, says his organization opposes any form of hunting of animals regardless of the reasons.

    “Killing an animal as a head-hunting exercise is archaic and inhumane. We can’t just cherry-pick the perfect set of facts to justify this gambit.”

    There are also reports of death threats from animal rights activists over the hunt, causing the Dallas Safari Club to contact the FBI to investigate.

    Namibia has been successful at preserving the country’s tiny population of black rhino through controlled hunting and conservation efforts.

    There hadn’t been much trouble for the black rhino until about 2010, when a Vietnamese official’s relative was said to have been cured of cancer by a medicine that featured the horn of the animal. Despite a lack of medical evidence to substantiate the claim, poaching of the animal skyrocketed.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Camera Traps Capture Elusive Sumatran Rhino

    The World Wildlife Fund announced earlier today that an elusive Sumatran rhinoceros has been caught on camera in the jungles of East Kalimantan, a province of Indonesia. The Borneo subspecies was thought to be extinct in the area, and the WWF-Indonesia states, “the team is delighted to have secured the first known visual evidence of the Sumatran rhino in Kalimantan.”

    Sumatran rhinos are critically endangered, with only six populations existing in the wild – four in Sumatra, one in Borneo, and one in the Malay Peninsula. They’re difficult to count, because they’re a solitary species and are scattered across a wide range, but their numbers are estimated to be less than 275. The decline of the Sumatran rhinoceros is due primarily to poaching for their horns, which go for up to $30,000 a kilo on the black market. The horns are greatly valued in Chinese traditional medicine.

    Wildlife conservation teams first found rhino-esque footprints while trekking through the jungle to survey orangutan populations in East Kalimantan. This prompted WWF-Indonesia officials to install sixteen camera traps in the West Kutai district. After three months, the officials got their first footage of a two-horned rhino. The animal can be seen wallowing in the mud in the video above.

    At the Asian Rhino Range States Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday, in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said, “this physical evidence is very important, as it forms the basis to develop and implement more comprehensive conservation efforts for the Indonesian rhinoceros. This finding represents the hard work of many parties, and will hopefully contribute to achieving Indonesia’s target of 3 percent annual rhino population growth.”

    WWF-Indonesia conservation director Nazir Foead added, “WWF calls on all parties, in Indonesia and around the world, to immediately join the efforts to conserve the Indonesian rhinoceros.”.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Vietnam WWF: Country Ranks the Worst for Rhino Poaching

    Vietnam, according to the WWF, ranks among the worst countries in Asia when it comes to protecting endangered species. The World Wildlife Federation, which is based out of Switzerland, has found that the country is a hot-spot destination for those looking to sell rhino horns trafficked from South Africa. 448 rhinos were killed in 2011 alone, with an additional 262 already murdered this year. Several Vietnamese have been arrested for their crimes, including a handful of diplomats. Sadly, it doesn’t appear this trend will end anytime soon.

    “It is time for Vietnam to face the fact that its illegal consumption of rhino horn is driving the widespread poaching of endangered rhinos in Africa, and that it must crack down on the illegal rhino horn trade. Vietnam should review its penalties and immediately curtail retail markets, including Internet advertising for horn,” explained Elisabeth McLellan, Global Species Programm manager at WWF.

    The WWF released a report detailing 23 countries thought to be heavily involved in the illegal trade of endangered animals. According to the Brookings Institute, which is based out of Washington D.C., such practices are thought to bring in between $8 billion and $10 billion per year throughout Southeast Asia. With that much money tied into the black market, getting countries to crack down on such practices will be harder than most realize.

    Of course, Vietnam isn’t the only country in the region guilty of not cracking down on people who make a living from butchering endangered animals. China came in at a close second, with Thailand trailing not too far behind.

    “In Thailand, illegal African ivory is being openly sold in up-scale boutiques that cater to unsuspecting tourists. Governments will be taking up this troubling issue this week,” McLellan said. “So far Thailand has not responded adequately to concerns and, with the amount of ivory of uncertain origin in circulation, the only credible option at this stage is a ban on ivory trade.”

    There is a bit of a silver lining to this depressing story. Both India and Nepal received positive marks from the WWF, the latter of which celebrated an entire year without a reported case of rhino poaching. The country attributes this accomplishment to a new wave of anti-poaching laws.