JANUARY 2012 NEWS ROUND-UP
A monthly update on press coverage of the international illegal ivory trade.
This month’s seizure figures represent at least 77 dead elephants, bringing the total since this time last year to at least 4,001…*
Early January – South Africa
Police arrest two Chinese nationals in possession of "several tusks and ivory goods". Full report
6th January – West Port, Port Klang, Malaysia
Customs officials seize 494kg of ivory from a shipping container arriving from Cape Town, South Africa. The consignment is in raw tusks, bubble wrapped and packed into boxes, hidden among used tyres and flooring material and declared as matting. Full report
14 January – Cardiff Airport, Wales
The UK Border Agency search the luggage of a Cardiff woman on a passenger flight from Zambia to find 10 carved ivory ornaments and a hippo foot. The passenger is questioned and released. Full report
26 January – Polokwane, South Africa
Police arrest a South African with 4 tusks, 3 rhino horns and illegal firearms. Full report
Elephant poaching news this month includes a report of widespread wildlife poaching in many areas of Zimbabwe, with a large number of animals including 30 elephants found dead in Mana Pools National Park. Another report refers to the poaching of at least 5 elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park in western Thailand, with 2 bodies missing tusks and other organs recovered so far.
* Customs authorities and police agencies can only do so much – seized tusks, carvings, chopsticks and jewellery represent a small percentage of all the illegal ivory estimated to be in trade at any point in time. It has been estimated that in order to supply this amount of ivory, 38,000 elephants - 8 percent of the entire African elephant population - are being killed annually.
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News items referred to here are from external sources and Bloody Ivory cannot be held responsible for their authenticity or for the ongoing functionality of the links provided.
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Watch this space for more news on elephant conservation and the ivory trade in 2012.