Green Options

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.

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.

Despite the growing list of suspicious coincidences, a Chinese official has denied links between increased elephant killings in Kenya and a nearby influx of Chinese workers.

Recently, an increasing series of unfortunate events have suggested that Chinese workers in Kenya could be linked to a rise in elephant killings near these work sites. But according to an article in China Daily, there is no connection.

Customs officials in Brunei discovered 4,150 marine turtle eggs - the contents of about 30 - 40 nests - in the largest turtle egg seizure so far this year.

Acting on a tip from the public, it was reported that customs officials at the Kuala Lurah Control Post were able to confiscate 4,150 illegal turtle eggs hidden beneath boxes of dried shrimp in a vehicle attempting to enter the country.

Three species of marine turtles - Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, and Green - nest in the area. Hawksbill Turtles lay about 140 eggs per nest, Olive Ridleys about 105, and Green Turtle nests contain about 100 eggs.

The lucrative black market in turtle eggs is so pervasive that turtle eggs can reportedly be ordered in advance among illegal traders. The eggs apparently change hands after traders and buyers identify each other with clandestine hand signals, sometimes in public places, such as the busy Kota Kinabalu market.

If you’ve ever been to Texas, you know there’s no shortage of deer. They’re everywhere. But apparently that’s not enough for the elite hunting resorts that artificially maintain a herd of white-tailed deer through breeding farms and stock auctions - they can’t keep up the demand for big bucks due to trophy hunting desires.

But the big deer are expensive and hard to come by from the 1,100 licensed deer breeders inside the state of Texas, thus spawning a massive illegal trade of large antlered bucks from farms in northern states like Michigan. The illegal trade is putting the health of the Texas deer population at risk, all because people feel the need to shoot bigger deer.

More than fifteen thousand people have taken part in a mass protest in southern India, against the extension of a new reserve to protect tigers facing a very real threat of extinction.

The last count revealed that the number of Indian tigers has plummeted from around 40,000 at the beginning of last century to an all time low of just 1,411, largely due to dwindling habitats and the activities of poachers. Despite these depressing statistics, residents of India’s Chennai region are firmly against any further safeguards, fearing that they will lose their homes if an extension to the Mudumalai Wildlife sanctuary is given the green light.