https://www.scmp.com/rss/299037/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hong Kong can make a big difference to its international standing by choosing the right issue to champion. It must be a significant global matter, and Hong Kong must be able to make a major difference. There aren’t too many issues where government action would be a big shot in the arm. But there is one that plays to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s strengths, with his background in the disciplinary services. Lee rose through the police ranks because he was smart and honest. Never seeking the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235898/hong-kong-should-lead-crackdown-wildlife-smuggling-and-exotic-pets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235898/hong-kong-should-lead-crackdown-wildlife-smuggling-and-exotic-pets?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Sep 2023 01:30:14 +0000 An 11-year jail sentence for a Vietnam-based wildlife trafficking “kingpin” and his associate has sent other illegal ivory traders packing, with many abandoning their operations into China, according to The Hague-based Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC). Vietnam remains a key wildlife smuggling gateway for elephant ivory and rhino horn moving between Africa and China, but strict Chinese law enforcement is paying off, with a WJC report released on Wednesday showing a decline in the trade. “[We]... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3194118/china-crackdown-ivory-trade-deters-smugglers-hague-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3194118/china-crackdown-ivory-trade-deters-smugglers-hague-report?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Sep 2022 11:00:14 +0000 More than 280 pieces of suspected ivory have been seized from a Hong Kong shop, government officials announced on Thursday. It was the biggest haul of elephant ivory since its possession, importation and re-export was outlawed last year. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, which carried out the raid and seized 284 items at the store in the Yau Tsim Mong district in Kowloon, said it had conducted inspections on Wednesday and given a warning to the shop before officials... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3186965/officials-seize-more-280-pieces-ivory-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3186965/officials-seize-more-280-pieces-ivory-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jul 2022 16:18:05 +0000 China will continue to be a major destination for the global illegal wildlife trade because of its demand for wildlife products, particularly for traditional Chinese medicine, according to The Hague-based Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC). “Whilst continued pressure on the trafficking networks is essential, demand reduction and education are also very important,” a spokeswoman for the non-profit foundation said. The WJC said demand persisted in China despite a crackdown on the trade, including... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3165489/china-will-continue-wildlife-smuggling-centre-while-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3165489/china-will-continue-wildlife-smuggling-centre-while-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Feb 2022 10:00:31 +0000 Nearly a dozen poachers were jailed by an Indonesian court Thursday over the 2020 killing of five critically endangered Sumatran elephants and the illegal trade of their lucrative tusks, as the Southeast Asian archipelago’s battle with wildlife crime continues. Rampant deforestation has reduced the elephants’ habitat and brought them into increasing conflict with humans, while their ivory tusks are prized in the illegal wildlife trade. Authorities found the dead elephants – killed by... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3165008/indonesia-jails-poachers-killing-critically-endangered?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3165008/indonesia-jails-poachers-killing-critically-endangered?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jan 2022 15:17:27 +0000 On December 31, 2021, Hong Kong at last officially banned the sale of elephant ivory. The culmination of a three-year-long process, the ban prohibits its import, re-export and commercial possession, with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) fine. The commercial possession of all ivory except pre-1925 antique ivory is now completely banned. While we celebrate this milestone, we also need to pause to ask a question: is this ban enough to stop illegal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3163125/why-hong-kongs-ivory-ban-not-enough-end-demand-or-save-elephants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3163125/why-hong-kongs-ivory-ban-not-enough-end-demand-or-save-elephants?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jan 2022 01:15:15 +0000 The local trade in ivory has tarnished Hong Kong’s international reputation for decades. A ban on the sale of most ivory products took effect at the start of the new year. It is long-awaited and most welcome. Now, authorities must ensure the prohibition is effectively enforced. It has taken a long time for the restriction to be put in place. There has been an international ban on commercial ivory trading since 1989. China outlawed the domestic trade and processing of ivory on the mainland at the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162139/hong-kong-ivory-ban-needs-be-strictly-enforced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162139/hong-kong-ivory-ban-needs-be-strictly-enforced?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:00:30 +0000 Crackdowns and tough controls have largely kept illegal wildlife trade off China’s e-commerce platforms, but a robust trade in fossilised woolly mammoth ivory could threaten the drive to stamp out demand for elephant products, according to an undercover probe. A four-month investigation by the Hague-based Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) non-profit, published on Wednesday, sought to gauge the level of illegal wildlife trade taking place on major e-commerce platforms in China. A sweeping... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3154702/chinas-ivory-ban-risk-legal-online-trade-woolly-mammoth-tusks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3154702/chinas-ivory-ban-risk-legal-online-trade-woolly-mammoth-tusks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Nov 2021 08:13:08 +0000 Pangolins have clever defence mechanisms. When threatened they curl up into a tight ball – the name pangolin is derived from the Malay word pengguling, meaning “one who rolls up” – the hard scales covering their bodies overlap to create an “armour”. Like skunks, pangolins can spray a noxious fluid from glands near their anuses to keep predators at bay. Sadly these protective tools can’t deter humans, who have poached the anteater-like creatures to near-extinction, the trade fuelled by false... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3130438/hong-kongs-leading-role-global-extinction-crisis-hub-illegal-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3130438/hong-kongs-leading-role-global-extinction-crisis-hub-illegal-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Apr 2021 06:15:13 +0000 Seventeen people have been jailed – including two for life – for running China’s biggest ivory smuggling ring, moving millions of dollars of tusks from West Africa into the mainland’s vast domestic market. Demand for ivory carvings and jewellery among China’s expanding middle class led to a poaching crisis across Africa, and although a 2018 ban on ivory trade in China has improved the situation, a vast black market still exists. A court in the southern city of Guangzhou on Tuesday handed long... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3116034/china-jails-ivory-smuggling-ringleaders-life-landmark-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3116034/china-jails-ivory-smuggling-ringleaders-life-landmark-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:55:02 +0000 Sometime in the middle of 2017, Hong Kong businessman Wong Muk-nam disappeared without a trace. The 62-year-old owned a plastic trading factory in Guangdong, according to a friend who lives in the southern Chinese province but refused to reveal his name. “We were chatting on WeChat, but suddenly he was out of reach,” he recalled. “No responses to messages, phone calls. It was really unusual because he always responded quickly.” Then Wong’s name turned up as a key suspect in an international... https://www.scmp.com/society/illegal-wildlife-traders-avoid-consequences-pangolins-go-extinct/article/3048867?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/illegal-wildlife-traders-avoid-consequences-pangolins-go-extinct/article/3048867?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Feb 2020 10:30:56 +0000 A polygamist’s son I was born in southern Kenya, in 1974, to a pastoralist family. We kept cows, sheep and goats. My father is a polygamist. He has five wives – my mother was the first. Growing up, there were always lots of children to play with. I have so many siblings I can’t tell you how many I have now. Each of the wives had her own house, but the children were free to live in whichever house they wanted. As the wife of a polygamous husband, you must be prepared to take care of the children... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3025865/maasai-warrior-hopes-see-end-chinese-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3025865/maasai-warrior-hopes-see-end-chinese-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Sep 2019 08:45:07 +0000 The regulator of global wildlife trade imposed a near-total ban on sending African elephants captured from the wild to zoos, in a decision hailed by conservationists as “momentous”. Following a heated debate at a meeting of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Geneva on Tuesday, the member countries approved a proposed text after a revision by the European Union included some exceptions to the ban. The decision was met with strong opposition from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3024617/conservationists-hail-momentous-near-total-ban-sending-wild?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3024617/conservationists-hail-momentous-near-total-ban-sending-wild?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2019 17:25:50 +0000 A leading conservation group has warned of surging elephant poaching in parts of Botswana and estimated nearly 400 were killed across the country in 2017 and 2018, according to a report published Thursday, adding to conservation concerns. The Elephants Without Borders research in the scientific journal Current Biology is likely to increase pressure on Botswana, which last month sparked controversy by lifting its ban on hunting saying it would help control a booming population that was damaging... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3014436/grim-warning-report-states-hundreds-elephants-are-being-poached?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3014436/grim-warning-report-states-hundreds-elephants-are-being-poached?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2019 18:45:49 +0000 The illegal slaughter of African elephants to feed Asia’s demand for ivory has decreased by more than half in eight years, but the majestic mammals are still threatened with extinction, researchers warned. In 2011, poachers killed some 40,000 tuskers – about 10 per cent of the continent’s population, according to figures from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), based in Geneva. Last year the kill rate was about four per cent, or 15,000 animals, according to new... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3012234/good-news-elephant-slaughter-down-bad-news-they-still-face?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3012234/good-news-elephant-slaughter-down-bad-news-they-still-face?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 May 2019 04:01:57 +0000 High-value seizures of contraband ivory, rhino horn, tiger parts and pangolin scales frequently make headlines. Many live animals are traded with impunity. Regions in Asia, particularly China and Southeast Asia, are the main points for the demand and supply of many endangered species. Despite national regulations and international commitments related to conservation, illegal wildlife trade continues to be rife in the region. Much of this goes on undetected and so it is difficult to quantify the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3010677/asia-has-tools-end-illegal-wildlife-trade-must-show-greater-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3010677/asia-has-tools-end-illegal-wildlife-trade-must-show-greater-will?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 May 2019 09:00:16 +0000 More than 7 tonnes of ivory were seized in a single raid by customs officials in the eastern province of Anhui in March, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. The record haul, totalling 2,748 elephant tusks, was the biggest ivory seizure handled by customs officials in recent years, the General Administration of Customs told a news conference on Monday. Twenty-six suspected members of an international trafficking ring were arrested by the authorities on March 30 as part of a coordinated... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3006261/chinese-customs-officers-seize-more-7-tonnes-ivory-record-haul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3006261/chinese-customs-officers-seize-more-7-tonnes-ivory-record-haul?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2019 12:30:11 +0000 Vietnam has seized more than nine tonnes of suspected ivory in a timber shipment from the Republic of Congo, customs officials said on Friday, in one of the country’s largest illegal wildlife hauls in years. Though it is illegal to buy and sell ivory in communist Vietnam, lax law enforcement has allowed the illicit trade to flourish on the black market. The government has vowed to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in the face of mounting international pressure and authorities said the latest... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3003815/vietnam-seizes-9-tonnes-ivory-congo-authorities-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3003815/vietnam-seizes-9-tonnes-ivory-congo-authorities-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2019 06:20:05 +0000 Countries around the world continue to take steps towards banning the trade in ivory. However, while governments promote how green they are, many seem reluctant to take strong steps to protect wildlife and some in southern Africa seem to be going backwards. The UK enacted one of the world’s toughest laws last December banning the ivory trade, and while the bureaucrats in Brussels donate millions each year to protect African wildlife, they can’t manage to enact a ban in the trade of ivory within... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003459/if-uk-and-japan-can-do-it-hong-kong-has-no-excuse-not-ramp-checks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003459/if-uk-and-japan-can-do-it-hong-kong-has-no-excuse-not-ramp-checks?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Mar 2019 03:00:13 +0000 Hong Kong customs seized HK$130 million (US$16.7 million) worth of items in an almost month-long effort to tackle cross-border smuggling ahead of and during the Lunar New Year. During a 27 day operation, which started on January 14 and ended on February 9, customs arrested 1,203 people in connection with about 1,300 smuggling cases. Goods from suspected endangered species, including pangolin scales, ivory tusks and products, red sandalwood logs, orchids and controlled shark fins, with an... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2185753/hong-kong-customs-seize-hk130-million-worth-smuggled?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2185753/hong-kong-customs-seize-hk130-million-worth-smuggled?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Feb 2019 16:15:30 +0000 I refer to the article, “Time to get tough on wildlife trafficking” (February 1). I would like to reiterate that the Hong Kong SAR government is committed to the protection of endangered species. Hong Kong regulates the trade in endangered species under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap 586), which is the local legislation that gives effect to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). To combat the illegal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2185239/hong-kongs-new-higher-penalties-strike-harder-illegal-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2185239/hong-kongs-new-higher-penalties-strike-harder-illegal-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Feb 2019 00:15:30 +0000 Hong Kong appears to be doing a good job in honouring its obligation as a signatory to the international treaty of wildlife protection, as reflected in the regular seizures of imported endangered animals and their products. Regrettably, the interceptions are not always followed by prosecution and punishment. Ineffective legislation and insufficient international cooperation on this front mean many smugglers can profit from illegal trading without punishment. It is disappointing to hear that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2184731/wildlife-smugglers-must-face-justice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2184731/wildlife-smugglers-must-face-justice?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Feb 2019 12:53:41 +0000 The article “Despair as ivory smugglers evade law” (January 28) tells us how the syndicate behind Hong Kong’s largest ivory seizure in 30 years is still at large after the case hit a legal dead end. The Hong Kong government should follow the government on the mainland in taking active steps to tackle the problem. Elephants are the largest land animal on earth, helping to maintain the ecosystem of forests and prairies in Africa, fostering the growth of different flora and fauna. Just so that a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2184047/ivory-chopsticks-are-not-worth-lives-elephants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2184047/ivory-chopsticks-are-not-worth-lives-elephants?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jan 2019 19:14:56 +0000 Investigations into Hong Kong’s largest ivory seizure in 30 years have failed to produce a single prosecution, meaning the syndicate behind the smuggling operation is still at large, the customs department has confirmed. That failure, along with a long-standing low prosecution rate for wildlife smuggling, has sparked concerns from experts, who called on Hong Kong authorities to put more money into investigations and make the offence a more serious crime with stiffer penalties. Confirmation that... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2183820/wildlife-smugglers-still-large-after-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2183820/wildlife-smugglers-still-large-after-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Jan 2019 01:03:16 +0000 Hong Kong customs is facing mounting pressure to step up prosecutions in the illegal wildlife trade, with a recent report finding the city has become a hub for such activities as cases occur almost daily on average. The rising trend has been underestimated but it has contributed to extinction crises of species worldwide, according to ADM Capital Foundation, which co-published the study. CEO Lisa Genasci said: “Our research indicates Hong Kong has become a hub for organised wildlife smugglers,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2183040/customs-urged-step-prosecutions-illegal-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2183040/customs-urged-step-prosecutions-illegal-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Jan 2019 12:05:38 +0000 Crouching near a wooden shed in his snowy backyard, Prokopy Nogovitsyn lifts up a grey tarpaulin and takes out a vertebra the size of a saucer – part of a mammoth skeleton. “Some friends found this in the north and wanted to sell it,” says Nogovitsyn, who lives in a village in the northern Siberian region of Yakutia. “But it lacks tusks, so nobody wanted it.” Mammoth bones are widespread in Yakutia, an enormous region bordering the Arctic Ocean covered by permafrost, which acts as a giant... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2180646/chinese-demand-prehistoric-tusks-fuels-mammoth-rush?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2180646/chinese-demand-prehistoric-tusks-fuels-mammoth-rush?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jan 2019 03:55:37 +0000 Following our recent Hong Kong Elephant Week – where we, in partnership with the African Wildlife Foundation, brought people from the front line of conservation in Africa to Hong Kong to help us educate people here about the issues facing wildlife on the brink of extinction – we were horrified to see the announcement that Bonhams was to conduct a sale of 21 lots of rhino horn. Various NGOs and individuals moved swiftly to condemn this and it was heartening to learn on Friday that Bonhams had... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2175003/sothebys-christies-and-bonhams-have-done-it-its-time-all-auction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2175003/sothebys-christies-and-bonhams-have-done-it-its-time-all-auction?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Nov 2018 20:33:26 +0000 On October 29, the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a circular on “strictly regulating activities involving the sale and use of rhino and tiger products”, thus lifting the 1993 ban on the medicinal use of these products. Just as the world was still absorbing the shock, the Chinese authorities announced on November 12 that the issuance of the detailed regulations for implementing the circular had been postponed. It is hard to know at this point what went into the latest postponement... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2173219/chinas-tug-war-over-tiger-and-rhino-protection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2173219/chinas-tug-war-over-tiger-and-rhino-protection?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2018 03:45:30 +0000 James Mwenda is in Hong Kong this week to deliver a message for a dead friend, fulfilling a promise in the process. On March 19, the game warden at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy bid farewell to Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, who was put down aged 45 (90 in rhino years) after a long illness. All that is left of the subspecies are two females – Najin and her daughter Fatu, Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter. It seems that IVF is the species’ only hope. “His death is the catalyst for my... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2172489/african-witnesses-illegal-wildlife-trade-tell-its-devastating-impact-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2172489/african-witnesses-illegal-wildlife-trade-tell-its-devastating-impact-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Nov 2018 22:00:30 +0000 We read with horror and dismay the decision taken by China to lift the ban on the use of rhino horn and tiger bones for use in medicine (“China reverses 25-year ban on trade and use of rhino horns and tiger bones”, October 30). Rhino horn is basically made up of keratin, the same material that our hair and nails are made of, as are animal hooves. Those who support the use of animal parts for medicine, especially endangered species, will say that there is special healing power that comes from... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2171050/china-banned-ivory-what-made-it-give-rhino-horn-and-tiger-bones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2171050/china-banned-ivory-what-made-it-give-rhino-horn-and-tiger-bones?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Nov 2018 23:34:16 +0000 A Hong Kong-based charity says educating the city’s youth could be key to reducing demand for ivory from endangered African elephants. Even though Kenya is more than 8,000km away, conservation group The Elephant Foundation (TEF) is gearing up for a tour of Hong Kong schools. “Seventy per cent of people we talk to don’t understand that an elephant has to die for people to get its ivory,” TEF’s co-founder Colin Dawson says. “The minute people understand the elephant has to die, they don’t want... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2168107/educating-hong-kong-youth-key-stopping-ivory-trade-elephant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2168107/educating-hong-kong-youth-key-stopping-ivory-trade-elephant?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Oct 2018 08:02:31 +0000 Melania Trump was seen feeding baby elephants on Friday as she visited a national park in Kenya to highlight conservation efforts. The US first lady also went on a quick safari. She is on her first visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady. During the Friday trip the first lady laughed after one of the baby elephants made a sudden move and she momentarily lost her footing. She fed formula to two of the elephants raised at Nairobi National Park and reached out... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2167219/melania-mission-us-first-lady-feeds-baby-elephants-her-kenya-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2167219/melania-mission-us-first-lady-feeds-baby-elephants-her-kenya-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Oct 2018 11:01:15 +0000 In August, the launch of an online accessory store in Singapore called Ivory Lane sparked immense outrage in the country. The website featured a range of jewellery it claimed was made from vintage ivory. This spurred an outburst of anger from netizens, who inundated its Facebook page with hundreds of enraged comments that the business was supporting the poaching and slaughter of elephants. Just a few days later, the World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore revealed that Ivory Lane was a publicity... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2164640/wwf-exposes-loophole-singapore-ivory-trade-laws-allows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2164640/wwf-exposes-loophole-singapore-ivory-trade-laws-allows?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:45:15 +0000 DNA tests on smuggled elephant tusks have identified three major ivory cartels in Africa and are helping investigators bolster the criminal cases against some of the most dangerous traffickers, researchers said Wednesday. Around 40,000 African elephants are killed every year for their tusks, which are illegally traded as part of a multibillion-dollar industry that extends from Africa to Asia and beyond. Traffickers conceal their ivory in shipping containers – but inspectors peer inside just one... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2164975/who-slaughtering-africas-elephants-dna-study-identifies-three?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2164975/who-slaughtering-africas-elephants-dna-study-identifies-three?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Sep 2018 04:33:12 +0000 The shutdown of mainland China’s domestic ivory market last year may be shifting more of the trade across the border to Hong Kong where a citywide ban is to come into effect in three years, according to a study. The mismatch in timing of the two bans may be inadvertently widening the window for illegal trading and smuggling, fuelling the poaching of elephants in Africa, researchers suggested. Beijing implemented a nationwide ban on the ivory trade last year but Hong Kong has opted to phase out... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2162757/delay-full-ban-ivory-trade-hong-kong-could?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2162757/delay-full-ban-ivory-trade-hong-kong-could?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Sep 2018 23:03:30 +0000 Po Ping, the plump hero of DreamWorks’s hugely popular Kung Fu Panda franchise, has joined the global fight animal poaching and the illegal trade in animal parts as an ambassador for the conversation organisation WildAid. San Francisco-based WildAid, along with other conservation organisations, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), warn that certain animal species are in danger of becoming extinct if the killing of them does not stop soon. WildAid’s campaign featuring Po aim to reach... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2159154/kung-fu-pandas-po-joins-fight-save-wild-animals-extinction-alongside-likes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2159154/kung-fu-pandas-po-joins-fight-save-wild-animals-extinction-alongside-likes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Aug 2018 10:17:24 +0000 In the remote tundra and boreal forests of northern Russia, droves of explorers ply the rivers on speedboats, often carrying little more than makeshift water pumps, provisions to survive for a few days, and weapons to scare off wild bears. They hope to unearth a treasure that has been lying beneath the frozen ground for thousands of years, and – like gold diggers in the Wild West – they are lured by tales of fortunes made in a single day. Mammoth skeleton auctioned for more than half a million... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2154599/russian-mammoth-ivory-hunt-grows-face-elephant-tusk-ban-can-it-help-save?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2154599/russian-mammoth-ivory-hunt-grows-face-elephant-tusk-ban-can-it-help-save?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Jul 2018 11:16:37 +0000 More than HK$2.7 million (US$344,000) worth of ivory has been seized by Hong Kong customs officers near the city’s boundary with mainland China, in a joint operation with their counterparts north of the border. The raid followed an investigation by mainland authorities into a suspected ivory-smuggling syndicate, a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department said on Tuesday. Mainland officers first acted on their probe on June 25 by seizing 47kg of suspected ivory and arresting six... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2153656/hk27-million-worth-ivory-seized-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2153656/hk27-million-worth-ivory-seized-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Jul 2018 23:31:40 +0000 A man was arrested at Hong Kong airport on Sunday for trying to smuggle HK$620,000 (US$79,000) worth of rhino horn pieces into the city. The 3.1kg of suspected endangered rhino horn was discovered in the 21-year-old man’s checked luggage. The man, who officials said was from Africa, had arrived from Beira, Mozambique via Johannesburg, South Africa, and Doha, Qatar. “During customs clearance, the batch of suspected rhino horn cut pieces was found inside a black plastic bag in his check-in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2151253/man-arrested-hong-kong-airport-hk620000-worth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2151253/man-arrested-hong-kong-airport-hk620000-worth?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Jun 2018 05:30:45 +0000 I refer to the recent seizure by Hong Kong customs officers of smuggled rhino horn and ivory, as well as dried shark fin and seahorse. I believe everyone accepts that Hong Kong is a transit point for illegal wildlife trade. And the fact that, on May 1, penalties for offences under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, Cap 586, were increased to a maximum fine of HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) and imprisonment for 10 years suggests that the government accepts this... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2150220/are-hong-kong-courts-taking-illegal-wildlife-trade-seriously-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2150220/are-hong-kong-courts-taking-illegal-wildlife-trade-seriously-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Jun 2018 12:00:47 +0000 A traveller from South Africa was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday with 5.9kg of suspected rhino horn and 410 grams of suspected ivory that together had an estimated street value of HK$1.2 million (US$153,000). The 40-year-old man was intercepted when he arrived in the city from Johannesburg on Wednesday morning. “During customs clearance, the batch of suspected rhino horn and suspected worked ivory were found concealed inside three food-packing boxes in his check-in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2149472/hk12-million-suspected-rhino-horn-and-ivory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2149472/hk12-million-suspected-rhino-horn-and-ivory?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jun 2018 04:15:30 +0000 It is just after 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon and a trio of Project Rhino team members are kicking back in the lounge adjacent to their operations room. The armchairs and sofa are covered in camouflage fabric – even here, there’s no forgetting that a war is raging in KwaZulu-Natal: a war on the rhino­ceros, funded by Chinese demand for the animal’s horn, which is worth more on the black market than its weight in gold.  Suspected rhino horns worth HK$500,000 seized at Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2147778/saving-rhinos-africas-fight-against-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2147778/saving-rhinos-africas-fight-against-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 May 2018 09:15:15 +0000 An emerging online market for elephant skin in China is threatening the survival of the creatures in neighbouring Myanmar as poaching intensifies to meet demand, conservationists warned on Tuesday. Myanmar has watched with alarm as the number of slain elephants found in the country’s forests rises each year, with many blaming the trade in the mammal’s hide. The biggest market for the products is in China, where the tough skin is ground up and used to treat stomach or human skin ailments, or sold... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2143125/no-elephant-safe-chinas-online-market-animals-skin-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2143125/no-elephant-safe-chinas-online-market-animals-skin-has?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Apr 2018 09:30:59 +0000 A Chinese man has been sentenced to a year in a Dutch jail for smuggling five rhino horns and four other horn objects worth about €500,000 (US$613,000) in his luggage. The man was caught by customs officials at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in December, as he transited from South Africa to the Chinese city of Shanghai. He was sentenced on Friday. “The Amsterdam court has sentenced a 30-year-old man of Chinese nationality to 12 months in prison for smuggling rhino horns and falsifying a visa,” the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2140672/chinese-man-who-smuggled-five-rhino-horns-through-netherlands-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2140672/chinese-man-who-smuggled-five-rhino-horns-through-netherlands-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Apr 2018 16:01:37 +0000 Zimbabwean police are investigating former ruler Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace, accused of smuggling ivory worth millions to underground foreign markets including China, a state-owned weekly reported Sunday. The Sunday Mail said investigators from the parks and wildlife authority handed documents to police showing that the former first lady “spirited large consignments of ivory to China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States among other destinations”. Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2138829/former-mugabes-wife-grace-being-investigated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2138829/former-mugabes-wife-grace-being-investigated?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Mar 2018 11:30:15 +0000 Chinese basketball great Yao Ming and Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan are among the celebrities taking part in global conservation organisation WildAid’s latest campaign to end the illegal trade in wildlife. Called “Partnership for the Wild”, the campaign – launched on March 14 in Africa, the US and Asia – aims to raise awareness and cut consumer demand for illicit products such as elephant ivory, rhino horn and shark fin soup. Shark fin still on most Hong Kong restaurant menus for Lunar... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2137101/jackie-chan-yao-ming-back-ad-campaign-against-illegal-wildlife-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2137101/jackie-chan-yao-ming-back-ad-campaign-against-illegal-wildlife-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Mar 2018 03:44:57 +0000 Former Cathay Pacific captain Paul McIntosh has been fundraising to support wildlife conservation in Africa since the 1980s. Now he is calling on travellers from Hong Kong and beyond to donate their extra miles to the protection of some of Africa’s most endangered species, at Kenya’s Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. “There are 10 million Asia Miles members,” he says. “And nobody spends all of their miles. You spend some of it on an upgrade and then you’ve got some left over, and these miles get... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2135471/why-travellers-should-donate-asia-miles-fight-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2135471/why-travellers-should-donate-asia-miles-fight-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Mar 2018 23:45:15 +0000 The beleaguered northern white rhinoceros moved closer to extinction this week after conservationists announced the health of the only surviving male of the species was deteriorating. The rhino, named Sudan, made headlines last year after it was dubbed “The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World” on the dating app Tinder, as part of a campaign to spread awareness about rhinos and raise money to help protect them. But now Sudan’s days appear to be numbered. He was “starting to show signs of ailing”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2135549/last-male-northern-white-rhino-sudan-falls-ill-species-edges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2135549/last-male-northern-white-rhino-sudan-falls-ill-species-edges?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Mar 2018 07:46:12 +0000 Get your head around this: Japanese scientists in baldness breakthrough Polished pates and thinning thatches may one day be a thing of the past, thanks to Japanese scientists who have developed a way to grow hair follicles at a record rate. Their study used two kinds of cells placed in silicone containers to cultivate “hair follicle germs” – the sources of the tiny organs that grow and sustain hair. Led by professor Junji Fukuda at the Yokohama National University, the team managed to cultivate... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/asia-buzz/article/2132745/asia-3-minutes-good-week-bald-men-japan-and-menstrual-man-india?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/asia-buzz/article/2132745/asia-3-minutes-good-week-bald-men-japan-and-menstrual-man-india?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Feb 2018 12:51:59 +0000 Conjecture surrounds the murder of a renowned conservation investigator whose work persuaded governments around the world – including China’s – to crack down on illegal ivory trading. Esmond Bradley Martin, famed for uncovering illegal global trafficking of ivory and rhino horn, was stabbed to death over the weekend at his home in Kenya, the latest in a series of killings of high-profile environmental activists around the world. Police told local media the case was believed to be a robbery,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2132110/his-work-persuaded-china-ban-ivory-trading-now-he-has-been-found?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2132110/his-work-persuaded-china-ban-ivory-trading-now-he-has-been-found?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Feb 2018 10:45:15 +0000