Operation Skynet: Forest Police crack-down on illegal wildlife trade in Beijing

Beijing, China, May 2013—Around 200 kg of ivory products were seized last month in Beijing’s markets as part of a strategic crack-down on illegal wildlife trade in China.

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Nailing the rhino horn trade in Viet Nam

Vietnam,10 May 2013 - In support of TRAFFIC and WWF’s campaign to tackle the illegal trade of rhino horn to and within Viet Nam, a Public Service Announcement (PSA) has been developed that will run on State-owned television channels and cinemas in Viet Nam, and will be prominently displayed on local and international social media platforms.

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NGO call for action to save the elephants of Central Africa

F Langenkamp2@WWF CARPOBrazzaville, Republic of Congo, 26 April 2013 - A recent study  shows forest elephant populations in the Congo Basin fell by almost two-thirds - or 62% -over the past decade as a result of extensive ivory poaching.

Without action, it is likely that the elephant, the largest land mammal on earth, will follow in the footsteps of the rhinoceroses in Central Africa, which have been hunted to extinction for their horns.

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Japan and Russia increase penalties for wildlife crimes

19th April 2013—Japan’s announcement that it intends to raise the penalties for those convicted of wildlife trafficking from one to five years in jail came just after Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a law to parliament that would make smuggling of endangered species a criminal offence, meaning those convicted would spend time behind bars.

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Ad campaign aims to reduce Vietnamese demand for rhino horn

Ha Noi, Viet Nam 18th April, 2013—Vietnamese citizens are being encouraged to stop buying or consuming rhino horn through a series of advertisements developed by WWF and TRAFFIC as part of their campaign against Illegal Wildlife Trade.

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AIDS cure rumours short-lived: Tokay Geckos mainly traded for traditional medicine, finds new study

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11th April 2013—A new TRAFFIC report finds that millions of Tokay Geckos are being harvested from the wild to supply the traditional medicine (TM) trade in East Asia. At the same time, the trade in Tokay Geckos for Novel Medicinal Claims (NMCs), including as a supposed cure for AIDS, has declined markedly.

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VACANCY: Wildlife-TRAPS Project Leader

TRAFFIC is seeking a Project Leader for the USAID-funded ‘Wildlife Trafficking, Response, Assessment, Priority Setting’ (Wildlife-TRAPS) initiative.

Wildlife TRAPS is likely to focus on achieving a high impact with a tightly focused group of species products (i.e. including ivory and rhino horn) traded between Central and East & Southern Africa and East and South-East Asia.

The position will be based in Pretoria, South Africa

Closing date for applications: 3rd May 2013

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South-East Asia nations discuss integration of plant conservation targets into national policies

Singapore, 2013—Participants from countries across South-East Asia plus China met last month in Singapore to develop or update national and regional plant conservation targets consistent with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).

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Marine turtle trade highlighted as Hainan launches Year of Aquatic Wildlife Conservation 2013

in Chinese

Hainan, China, April 2013—In support of Hainan Province’s annual initiative on aquatic wildlife conservation, TRAFFIC has urged stakeholders to continue their efforts to prevent illegal trade in marine turtles and other aquatic species.

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