By Christinah Motlhabane, The Voice A sense of remorse and a convincing mitigation statement have saved a convicted ivory dealer from a lengthy jail term as he got off lightly with a reduced sentence. Poul Garirayi would have been condemned to a mandatory 10-year...
Heathrow teams up with Microsoft to combat wildlife traffickers
By Air Cargo News Heathrow Airport has teamed up with Microsoft to trial the world’s first artificial intelligence system to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. ‘Project SEEKER’ detects animal trafficking in cargo and baggage passing through the airport by scanning...
Kaza-Wide Aerial Survey of Elephants Launched
By Donald Matthys, Namibia Economist The partner states of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe last week launched the first-ever coordinated aerial survey of elephants in Windhoek. Speaking at...
Delhi zoo explores getting a mate — or a ticket home — for its lone African elephant
By Abhinaya Harigovind - The Indian Express Shankar is also only one of the two African elephants housed in zoos in India, the second being another male at the Mysuru Zoo. Shankar, a 27-year-old African elephant, is the only one of its kind at the Delhi Zoo. Having...
Gabon is last bastion of endangered African forest elephants
By Farai Mutsaka - The Washington Post PONGARA NATIONAL PARK, Gabon — Loss of habitat and poaching have made African forest elephants a critically endangered species. Yet the dense forests of sparsely populated Gabon in the Congo River Basin remain a “last...
South Africa: Two suspects arrested in posh Zimbali Eco Estate for dealing in elephant tusks
By Thobeka Ngema, The Independent Online DURBAN: Two suspects were arrested in the posh Zimbali Eco Estate, on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, for dealing in elephant tusks. Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said on Tuesday Hawks members from Port...
Report Warns of China’s Traditional Medicine Expansion in Africa
By David Klein, OCCRP The traditional Chinese medicine industry has long been one of the major drivers of poaching and the illegal wildlife trade in Africa, but according to a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency, its markets are getting closer and...
South Africa: Environmentalists and hunters slam government over proposals for the trophy hunting of elephants, leopards and rhinos
By Don Pinnock - Daily Maverick Proposals to licence the hunting of 150 elephants, 10 black rhinos and 10 leopards have raised objections from environmental NGOs who slammed the environment department (DFFE) for expecting public comment on the basis of a two-page...
Côte d’Ivoire braces to save what’s left of its single-digit forest cover
By Mongabay he Côte d’Ivoire government says it will work to pretect its remaining forests, following a national inventory that shows the country’s forest cover has declined to less than 9%.Forests are under pressure from expanding agriculture, including extensive...
Endangered elephants of Gabon lumber into a debate over climate change, conservation and agriculture
By Geoffrey York, Globe & Mail For years, Laure Mekamne was besieged by forest elephants. She banged on steel barrels to drive them away. She lit fires. She moved her vegetable crops to a more easily guarded plot behind her village house. Nothing worked. “Whenever...