By Rhishja Larson •
January 15, 2010
The Masvingo regional court has sentenced a member of the Mazhongwe rhino poaching gang to 17 years in prison for killing an endangered rhino.
Justice - at last: Zimbabwe rhino poacher Tichaona Mutyairi has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for killing a rhino and firing on police in October 2009.
After years of letting the killers walk free, could this case finally be the turning point in the war against rhino poaching in Zimbabwe?
By Rhishja Larson •
January 13, 2010
Once the largest importer of illegal rhino horn for use in ceremonial dagger handles, Yemen is no longer considered a driving force in the current rhino poaching crisis.
While demand for illegal rhino horn in Asia surges and threatens to undermine decades of conservation efforts, the market for illegal rhino horn in Yemen has decreased sharply.
By Rhishja Larson •
December 22, 2009
A Chinese court has sentenced a man to 12 years in jail, plus a fine, for killing an endangered Indochinese tiger - which was made into a stew and eaten.
The Mengla county court in Xishuangbanna has sentenced Kang Wannian to 12 years in jail, plus a fine of over $14,642 USD, for killing an endangered Indochinese tiger in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
Kang claimed he did not know the animal he shot was a tiger.
By Rhishja Larson •
December 21, 2009
Two greater one-horned rhinos were found murdered with their horns missing inside India’s Kaziranga National Park - and authorities believe it was the work of poachers posing as park visitors.
Forest guards covering the Agartoli range of Kaziranga National Park have discovered the bodies of a male and female rhino - both with their horns removed.
Officials say the killers simply entered the park posing as visitors.
By Rhishja Larson •
December 15, 2009
After losing about 26 percent of its rhino population to poachers, Zimbabwe now faces expulsion from the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
As a consequence of losing nearly 200 rhinos to rampant poaching over the last three years, Zimbabwe reportedly has six months to comply with CITES - or face expulsion.
By Rhishja Larson •
December 10, 2009
Rhino experts are divided in potential plans to salvage the genes of the world’s last eight Northern white rhinos.
Now believed extinct in the wild, the world’s only surviving Northern white rhinos are currently in captivity in just two locations: ZOO Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic and San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.
By Rhishja Larson •
December 1, 2009
A recent study points out that 95% of illegal African rhino killings since 2006 have occurred in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
A sobering report from the IUCN Species Survival Commission, African and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups, and TRAFFIC says that Africa’s rhino poaching crisis is far from over - and warns that the continued involvement of Chinese and Vietnamese nationals in rhinoceros-related crimes must be addressed by law enforcement in both Africa and Asia.
Only 80 wild elephants are left in Vietnam, according to Vietnam’s state-run newspaper, Lao Dong. Experts at the Vietnam Forest Management Agency workshop, held earlier this week, reported the elephant population in Vietnam is in rapid decline.
By Rhishja Larson •
November 23, 2009
In Nepal’s Bardia National Park, bodyguards are protecting greater one-horned rhinos from poachers.
The rhino bodyguards - riding atop elephants - are making a difference: Since deployment of the program 18 months ago, there have not been any rhinos killed by poachers in Bardia National Park.
By Rhishja Larson •
October 29, 2009
The Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop has reportedly claimed China’s tiger farms supply ‘medicine’ to 60 countries.
A shocking article from Nepal’s Republica says that the Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop claims China “cannot put an end to its tiger farming as medicine produced from tiger parts is supplied to 60 countries”.
By Rhishja Larson •
October 17, 2009
Two frozen tigers have been seized by environmental authorities near Hanoi.
Hanoi police made a horrifying discovery when they stopped a taxi in the central province of Thanh Hoa: The frozen carcasses of two tigers.
