ZimConservation

A UN body rejected Monday proposals by Zambia and Tanzania to reopen trade in ivory that experts say would have worsened a surge in illegal trafficking driven by Asian-based organised crime. After a tense debate, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting in Doha, voted down Tanzania’s request to sell 80.5 tonnes of stockpiled ivory to Japan and China. Zambia later withdrew its own bid for a one-off sale of 21.7 tonnes worth several million US dollars. Efforts by both countries to downlist wild populations of the intelligent mammals to a lower level of protection were also slapped down in separate votes. Read more: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/un-wildlife-body-rejects-bids-to-reopen-ivory-trade-20100323-qrio.html

The UN’s wildlife trade organisation has turned down Tanzania’s and Zambia’s requests to sell ivory, amid concern about elephant poaching. The countries asked the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting to permit one-off sales from government stockpiles. The ivory trade was banned in 1989, but two sales have since been granted to nations showing effective conservation. Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8580245.stm

HARARE – Zimbabwe is among 18 countries being investigated for complicity in a racket involving the illegal trade in traditional medicines containing protected wildlife products, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) that is coordinating the probe has announced. Interpol said last week that the operation – codenamed Operation Tram – saw national wildlife enforcement authorities, police, customs and specialised units from countries across five continents working together to combat illegal trade in traditional medicines made from animal parts. Read more: http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=5851

IN 1989 the signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) agreed to ban the ivory trade, and banned it has remained. Except, that is, for when CITES chooses to allow it—as it has done now and then since 1997, when specific countries have some well-sourced ivory to get rid of. Most recently, in 2008, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were allowed to make such sales to China and Japan. Now, as the triennial CITES meeting gets under way in Doha, both Tanzania and Zambia say they want to do something similar. Those in favour of such sales (most notably, the countries which seek to make them) say they allow countries to benefit from having elephants, and help to finance elephant conservation and protection. Those against them (some conservation charities and some academics in the field) argue that any sale of ivory will lead to an increase in poaching by stimulating demand, and that little of the money raised actually goes to elephants. Read more: http://www.economist.com/world/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15712922

Harare — A SMALL disabled baby crocodile the size of an adult lizard crawls into a pond of water, its sluggish body struggling to keep up with the fast pace of other able-bodied reptiles. The baby crocodile, now three-months-old, was born with multiple disabilities on its spine caused by improper handling of its egg when it was taken from the Runde River sandbank in Chiredzi. Its head is attached to its left leg and its spine is horribly twisted but it has the right to live like any other crocodile. Its sex has not yet been determined and is among a bask of 318 baby crocodiles being bred at a farm named after the country’s first female Vice President Cde Joice Mujuru. After years of observing that sand has declared a sharp contest with water and continues to choke the Runde River, gagging the crocodile population, villagers came together to find a conservation solution. Read more: http://allafrica.com/stories/201003160055.html

They were called the ivory wars. In the 1980s, at least 700,000 elephants, and possibly as many as 1 million, were slaughtered throughout Africa, killed by hunters and poachers for their ivory tusks, which would be made into jewelry. The substance was so valuable it was known as “white gold,” and international organized-crime arose around the trade, adding human carnage to the animal toll. Poachers would often kill baby elephants, even though they possessed tiny tusks, in order to draw out grieving mothers who would be murdered in turn. “The slaughter of elephants on the ground in Africa was just terrible,” says Paul Todd, program manager at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1971610,00.html

The illegal ivory trade is flourishing in two African countries seeking to relax restraints on sales of elephant tusks, UK-based investigators claimed. Tanzania and Zambia have submitted proposals to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which meets later this week in Qatar, to downlist elephants from the highest level of protection. Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/warning-over-ivory-trade-restraints-14717434.html

Recent petitions from several African nations to ‘downlist’ the conservation status of elephants should be denied because no adequate monitoring of the impact of ivory sales or enforcement of the ivory trade exists, according to recommendations published today by an international group of researchers including UBC zoologist Rene Beyers. In 2008, a one-off sale of stockpiled ivory from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe was brokered by the European Union in exchange for a nine-year moratorium on future sales from those nations. Tanzania and Zambia are currently petitioning the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to downlist the conservation status of their elephants, which would enable the two nations to sell existing stockpiles generated by the legal culling of herds. More online at EurekAlert…

WWF believes that the release of six alleged rhino poachers in Zimbabwe highlights the need to reform poaching law enforcement at the upcoming 15th meeting of CITES. The men were arrested in Bubye Valley Conservancy, which is home to Zimbabwe’s largest remaining rhino population, but after appearing in court on numerous charges including illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of a rhino horn they were released on bail. More online at goallover.org…

March 2009. An INTERPOL operation targeting the illegal trade in traditional medicines containing protected wildlife products has resulted in a series of arrests worldwide and the seizure of thousands of illegal medicines worth more than $15 million. National wildlife enforcement authorities, police, customs and specialized units from 18 countries across five continents worked together as part of Operation Tram which ran throughout February. During the month-long operation, investigations into individuals and companies as well as inspections of premises such as seaports and wholesalers revealed a large amount of medicines either containing or marketing the use of illegal ingredients such as tiger, bear and rhinoceros. More online at Wildlife Extra News…

The reign of terror of a troop of baboons at the busy Beit Bridge border post in Limpopo may soon be a thing of the past – that is if customs officials and the Public Servants Association (PSA) have their way. The baboons, which live on the walkway underneath the bridge over the Limpopo River that marks the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe, have become expert thieves, terrorising not only customs officials but also pedestrians, motorists and truckers. More online at IOL…

RHINOS, among the world’s most endangered and iconic animals, are being farmed on Chinese wildlife reserves in order to harvest their horns, a report by international conservation monitors has suggested. The monitors have found that China has imported 141 live white rhino from South Africa since 2000, far more than is needed for tourism purposes. They have also gathered evidence that the aim of the purchases is to set up rhino farms. More online at Times Online…

Harare — SIX suspected poachers were arrested in Gokwe while nine elephant tusks and two .303 rifles with 40 rounds of ammunition were recovered. Tafadzwa Chibaya (24), Charles Kagutsa (29), Godfrey Muzvidzwa (29), Godfrey Pepukai (27), Michael Joboringo (34) and Nelphas Dura (43) were yesterday still in police custody assisting with investigations. The suspects were arrested by detectives from the CID Border Control Unit and the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority following a tip-off. More online at allAfrica.com…

Government should extend the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire) concept to the mining sector to enable communities to benefit directly from minerals in their areas, said an official. Presenting oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association official Mr Mutuso Dhliwayo said people in mining areas should benefit in the same way those with wildlife were doing. “The distribution of resources the country gets through mining should be anchored by the Campfire principles that advocate for community-based natural resources management,” he said. More online at The Herald…

Gland, Switzerland – The release of six alleged rhino poachers from custody two weeks before a meeting of the largest wildlife trade convention is emblematic of the chronic lack of political will to enact enforcement efforts required to save this endangered species. A Zimbabwean court last week granted bail to six men arrested at Bubye Valley Conservancy, home to Zimbabwe’s largest remaining rhino population, in connection with rhino poaching. Charges included illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of a rhino horn. The incident, part of a surge in rhino poaching in Zimbabwe and South Africa, is made worse by a lack of enforcement support in Zimbabwe in particular. More online at WWF International…