wildlife trade news reports, seizures, policy, development, conservation

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15th January 2020 – A reality show participant who made news last year in Malaysia for keeping a Sun Bear cub in her apartment has escaped jail time, leaving court today with a small fine for illegal possession of a species totally protected by law. Zarith Sofia Mohammad Yasin was fined a total MYR27,000 (USD6,623) after pleading guilty to two offences under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.  read full story >

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 21st October 2019 – The illegal trade in bear parts for traditional medicine persists in Malaysia with a higher percentage of shops selling products claiming to contain some form of bear bile now, compared to four years ago. read full story >

Update (8th May 2019):  Tran Van Sang was issued with fines amounting to MYR850,000 (USD204,718) which was not given out by the Kuala Kangar Sessions Court at the time of his conviction in March. The fines were handed down by the Taiping High Court on 25th April, following a judicial review of the case.  Tran received a MYR150,000 (USD 36,126) fine for each of three illegal tiger-part posession charges under Section 68(2)(c) of Malaysia's Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.  He also received a MYR100,000 (USD 24, 084) fine on each of four charges for illegal posession of clouded leopard and leopard parts under the same section of the law. Tran will have to serve an additional 17 months in prison if he fails to pay the fines. This is possibly the highest total fines issued to any offender under the law since it came into force.  Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 13th March 2019 – two Vietnamese nationals have been jailed and fined for illegal possession of several parts of threatened wildlife, including tiger, leopard, and Sun Bear parts, in two separate court cases in Malaysia this week. read full story >

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 10th August 2018—Indonesia has slapped a stiff sentence on a wildlife trader caught with a freezer full of wildlife parts which included 64 bear paws. The move sends a strong signal to wildlife criminals targeting Sun Bears Helarctos malayanus for their products. read full story >

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26th April 2018—A study of Lao PDR’s bear farms suggests that foreign business ventures and tourism may be propping up the bear bile industry in the Economic Zone on the country’s border with China where bear farming facilities have tripled in size between 2012 and 2017, finds a new TRAFFIC study published in Global Ecology and Conservation.  read full story >

Bangkok, Thailand, 9 February 2017—A recent discovery of a dozen Tigers at a property in eastern Thailand serves as a reminder that Tiger farming is still a threat to Southeast Asia’s wild Tigers and an enforcement challenge for the region’s authorities. read full story >

Bangkok, Thailand, 2nd November 2017—Tigers, elephants, bears and pangolins are four of the most widely traded species in the Golden Triangle—the border area where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar connect—according to a new report.   read full story >

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11th September 2017—Global experts have begun the development of a conservation plan for the world’s smallest bear, the Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus. This plan marks the first to be initiated for any bear species in the world. read full story >

Hanoi, Viet Nam, 17th November 2016—TRAFFIC’s research finds the illegal market for bears, bear parts and derivatives in Viet Nam is still strong, with only a moderate decline in open availability following the introduction of legislation to ban their sale in 2006.   read full story >

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 25th October 2016—A bear cub rescue in Malaysia this week and other recent bear-related seizures in Southeast Asia underscore the severe and continued threat illegal trade poses to bears in the region. read full story >

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3rd March 2016—Malaysians are turning Facebook into a wildlife marketplace, driving a roaring and often illegal trade in iconic and threatened animals, according to a new report from TRAFFIC. read full story >

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 29th May 2015—A new TRAFFIC study has found that the illegal trade in bear bile and gall bladder for traditional medicine is open and widespread across Malaysia and is potentially a serious threat to wild bears.  read full story >