The illegal trade in endangered species is increasing in Indonesia. From the AFP (via Google News): The illegal trade in endangered primates is increasing in Indonesia’s East Java province as traders market the animals in public, a conservation expert said Wednesday. Primates such as slow lorises and Javanese langurs can be bought on the street in Malang, according [...]

The bones, skin, and claws of tigers are openly being sold in Burma. From the AFP (via Google News): Skins, claws and bones from at least 1,158 tigers and other protected big cats have been spotted in open markets in Myanmar during surveys conducted over the last 18 years, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report. More [...]

South Africa will sell elephant ivory to China and Japan despite international concern. From the AP (via Google News): It said that more than 20,000 elephants a year are killed illegally in Africa and Asia for the ivory black market, with Chinese nationals implicated in illegal ivory seizures in more than 20 African nations. Five years ago, the [...]

An Asian Elephant has completed rehab after becoming addicted to heroin giving by wildlife traders.  From the BBC: The four-year-old animal, called Xiguang, received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage, state media said. It was illegally captured by traders in 2005 in south-west China. When police arrested the traders and freed the elephant, it [...]

The 121 tons is the equivalent of the tusks from 11,000 elephants.  Source: “Round the horn,” The Economist, July 19, 2008, pg. 68.

German Customs Officials are starting to use dogs specially trained to identify plants and wildlife in an attempt to stamp out smuggling. From the AP (via MSNBC): Getting any living thing but yourself past border police at Frankfurt Airport just got tougher. Amy, a German shepherd, and Uno, a Labrador retriever, have joined the team at one of [...]

Louisiana is set to become the last state in America to ban cockfighting. From the AP (via Google News): On Friday, Louisiana will become the last state to outlaw the rooster fights, a move that cockfighting enthusiasts say marks the end of a rich rural tradition. “The culture, the custom of the Cajun people, it’s gone,” said Chris [...]

Due to logging and trafficking, almost half of the world’s primates are at risk of extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. From the Guardian: The two biggest threats faced by primates are habitat destruction through logging and hunting for bushmeat and the illegal wildlife trade. “We’ve raised concerns for years about primates being [...]

Price of ivory has increased from $200 a kilo in 2004 to $850 to $900 in 2008. Source: The Economist, “Call of the wild,” March 8, 2008, pg. 85.

In the early 1970s, the global rhino population stood at 75,000. In 2008, it stood around 11,000. Source: The Economist, “Call of the wild”, March 8, 2008, pg. 86.