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.

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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”.

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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.

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Kenyan and Ethiopian authorities have seized over 1,200 kilograms (2,600 pounds) of ivory - representing the killing of about 100 elephants.

Raids in the main airports of Kenya and Nairobi have netted two shipments of bloodstained tusks headed for Thailand. While the final destination is not known at the moment, these shipments may be part of the growing link between China and elephant poaching.

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40 pangolins - including baby pangolins - have been rescued by Malaysian authorities.

A four-day stakeout by Malaysian special forces along the Sungai Sarang Buaya resulted in the rescue of about 40 pangolins - and the arrest of a smuggler.

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A shocking discovery by forest guards in the Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve exposes a family business built on killing tigers.

Learning from grandma is usually a good thing. But not this time: An eight-year-old boy and his grandmother were arrested after laying a steel trap to kill a tiger.

The pair was caught adjacent to the Indo-Nepal border, in the Manguraha jungle area.

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A gun battle broke out between forest officials and poachers in Kaziranga National Park after the killing of a tiger, rhino, and elephant.

In the span of just a few days, poachers managed to kill a tiger, rhino, and elephant in India’s Kaziranga National Park. Despite an exchange of bullets between forest officials and poachers, the poachers escaped.

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A 14-month old endangered Amur tiger has been released into the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve.

After six months of care and rehabilitation, a critically endangered Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) has been returned to the wild in the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve.

The orphaned tiger was found in March, weak and emaciated at just 17 kg, when it showed up in the village of Avangard.

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One of the poachers involved in the recent killing of a critically endangered Sumatran tiger inside Jambi’s Rimbo Zoo has been arrested.

Last month, when Sheila the tiger was poisoned and then skinned inside her enclosure, authorities feared the incident was a horrifying new development in the illegal trade in tiger skin and body parts.

Tragically, they were correct: Now that one of the men who killed Sheila has been arrested, police questioning has revealed that the murder was financed by a Palembang “businessman.”

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Authorities fear that the killing of Sheila the tiger at Jambi’s Rimbo Zoo is a shocking new development in the illegal wildlife trade. The tiger’s skin, along with body parts in demand for traditional Asian “remedies”, were taken from the tiger’s enclosure.

Officials noted that even the tiger’s blood had been collected.

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Conservation experts estimate that the Vietnamese appetite for wildlife is responsible for increasing the country’s endangered species list from 300 to nearly 1,000 animals.

Fortunately, Vietnamese conservationists are stepping in before the country’s vulnerable species are “eaten to extinction.”

And for the first time ever, Vietnam’s Central Committee for Communication and Education (CCCE) held a conference entitled “Protecting Wild Animals to Contribute to the Sustainable Preservation of Natural Resources in Vietnam” at the Ninh Binh Province’s Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve. The event called for enforcement of strict measures against the country’s illegal animal trade, and discussed ways to protect wildlife and sustainably preserve natural resources in the country.

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In yet another shocking example of the large-scale illegal wildlife trade throughout Asia, the frozen carcass of a baby tiger was found in the trunk of a taxi cab on its way to a buyer in Hanoi.

It was reported that two men were arrested for attempting to transport the baby tiger carcass - along with the bones of at least two tigers - and that the “case showed the possibility of larger-scale tiger trafficking in the country.” The baby tiger was between four and five months old.

Driven by the demand in long-standing illegal wildlife markets throughout Asia, the tiger population in Vietnam is nearly gone. It is estimated that fewer than 200 tigers remain in the Truong Son Mountain Range.

Tigers are often hunted by locals living in poverty in Truong Son areas. In major cities, where illegal wildlife trade is active, tiger parts, meat, skin, and bones command high prices.

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Yesterday MSNBC and CNN picked up a story about the discovery of illegal wildlife trafficking activity on a boat traveling from Peru to Chile. The topic seems to be of great interest to Americans if mainstream media sources choose to run these kinds of stories.

Estimates vary, but the general consensus is that internationally, the illegal wildlife trade ranks at least second or third in its volume and profitability, only behind the trade of drugs and guns. It’s thought to be a billion dollar industry annually in the U.S. alone. The World Wildlife Federation says its “the second-biggest threat to species after habitat destruction.”

So why is the crime punished in the United States in such a puny way?

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I find that zoos tend to reliably provoke more thoughts in my mind than other places that can also stimulate me to think, like aquariums, museums, shopping malls, movie theaters, and parks. Before I started writing this article, in my nerdy social scientist way I dug through numerous scientific papers about topics such as whether or not people learn anything when they visit zoos, what attitudes people tend to have about zoos in general, and studies about how animals living in zoos might be negatively affected by us going to see them (especially those of us with more interest in animals). After reading and seeking more knowledge, I was only left with more questions.

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Several days ago, I read a story about how Peru’s butterfly exports had increased 43% from January-April of this year. These are the butterflies that are pinned into glass frames for sale as gifts and souvenirs. I wondered if all of these butterflies included those that are exported illegally and those that are endangered. Questions of this kind were on my mind as just several days earlier my family had passed by a street vendor who sold animals illegally.

One of the animals was a baby monkey, caged and frightened. We live in the highlands region of Peru, so the monkey was far from its former home in the rainforest. My wife, who in the past worked as a biologist throughout Peru, told me that she thought this was an endangered monkey. As we walked home, I wished I had brought my camera. This I thought, is a story that needs to be pursued.

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