animal trafficking
zooillogix | October 28, 2008As reported in the NY Times and elsewhere, an auction of 108 metric tons of ivory took place today in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The buyers were exclusively from China and Japan. Not surprisingly, this sale has raised the ire of animal welfare groups, such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
You might be surprised to learn however that this was a legal auction sanctioned, and in fact run, by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. So here are the facts:
* All of the ivory sold comes from government…
zooillogix | October 27, 2008So what's worse than buying powdered black rhino horn from a back alley Shenzen apothecary to cure your impotence? Paying too much for black rhino horn at aforementioned back alley apothecary! Luckily, I came upon an interesting table at Havocscope, which provides indexes of black market industries, including animal trafficking. While these metrics are certainly depressing, this sort of information helps conservationists understand the economic challenges they are up against, and plan their strategies accordingly.
The sources for these numbers are listed at Havocscope. As any longterm…
zooillogix | September 6, 2007Help Us Bring Attention to the Organizations, People and Ideas that Make a Difference
Zooillogix brings you bizarre animal news, research and discoveries delivered in an irreverent style representing Benny and my obnoxious sense of humor. However, the site was born from our passion for animals and conservation and one disturbing theme comes up far too often in our posts: animal trafficking, particularly in Southeast Asia. The gruesome animal markets of Thailand and Cambodia, among others, have been well covered by the media. These menageries of suffering are the starting points for illegal…