Posted
on 15 November 2012 | A Russian man convicted
of killing an endangered Amur tiger has
been sentenced to 14 months disciplinary
labour and required to pay a fine of US$
18,500. The perpetrator’s hunting rights
have also revoked and his firearm confiscated.
During the course of
the trial investigators were able to prove
that the killing was intentional, not self-defence
as the man purported. Forensic evidence
demonstrated that the man was a long distance
from the tiger when the initial shots were
fired and that the animal tried to flee
and hide from the hunter.
The man pursued the
wounded tiger, which made a final feeble
attempt to defend itself before the fatal
shot was fired at close range. The hunter
sustained a scratch on his face and a broken
finger. If not weakened, such a blow would
have caused much more severe injuries.
WWF staff-members are
greatly saddened by the death of the tiger,
with which they were familiar with from
years of conservation work in the area.
“We have met this male
when doing annual winter tiger monitoring.
It was never regarded as a conflict tiger,”
said Pavel Fomenko, biodiversity conservation
program coordinator at WWF-Russia’s Amur
branch. “Examination of its dead body proved
that the tiger was satiated and well-nourished.
And a healthy and well-fed tiger never attacks
a human if it is not wounded or threatened.”
Dr Sergei Aramilev,
species program coordinator says: “I’m glad
that a guilty verdict for tiger killers
in Russia is becoming the norm. The principle
of unavoidability of punishment works. This
is the third guilty verdict in the past
three years. For comparison, in the period
since the collapse of the USSR to 2009 only
one guilty verdict was imposed. All the
rest of the poachers managed to evade responsibility
that time.”
There are only an estimated
3.200 tigers remaining in the wild. They
are being hunted for their pelts, bones
and other parts that are prized as ornaments
and used in traditional medicine. WWF and
partner TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network, are campaigning for greater protection
for tigers and stronger penalties for poachers
and traffickers. We are also calling on
consumer countries of tiger products, such
as China, to undertake widespread demand
reduction campaigns to discourage the use
of endangered species products.
+ More
Poaching still biggest
threat to recovery of world’s tiger populations
Posted on 23 November
2012 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Serious
gaps in protection are leaving tigers exposed
to poachers, a new WWF study says, but this
could be reversed if more investments are
made in staff, equipment, and training programs
for rangers that are working to protect
the scattered populations of the endangered
species in the wild.
WWF released the findings
today to mark the 2nd anniversary of the
historic St. Petersburg Tiger Summit, a
high-level meeting hosted by the Russian
Government and World Bank that saw 13 tiger
range governments pledge to double wild
tiger numbers from the current 3,200 to
6,000 plus by 2022 (TX2).
Covering 135 critical
areas within the 12 landscapes where WWF
currently supports tiger conservation, the
survey found many of the sites remain poorly
managed and under-resourced and therefore
remain highly vulnerable to poachers.
“Poaching continues
to be the single-most immediate threat to
the survival of the tiger in the wild and
also the greatest barrier to achieving the
TX2 goal,” said Mike Baltzer, leader of
WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative. “If we don't
work as fast as possible towards ending
poaching in these places then we cannot
trust that these last remaining populations
of tigers, and their prey, are safe for
longer term recovery of this endangered
species.”
The survey also shows
that the same sites are in danger of becoming
“paper parks”, i.e.
parks that are legally protected but are
not being actively managed and protected
on the ground.
Although 90% of the
sites surveyed are legally protected, less
than half have protection-specific management
plans (with the exception of Russia). Across
South and Southeast Asia only 12% of sites
had the full number of planned staff in
place and over 50% were not trained or equipped
to an adequate level.
"The report shows
that while important government commitments
have been made, and much action has been
accelerated, we are still far from what
is needed to establish the very basics of
tiger recovery,” Baltzer added.
Moving forward: six
ways to increase tiger numbers
The survey examined
six key elements related to effective management
and protection against poaching: legal protection
status, protection management, effective
patrolling, intelligence networks, arrests
and prosecutions as well as training and
resources for field staff.
Investments in these
areas are needed to not only achieve Zero
Poaching, but to demonstrate to that the
commitments made at the Summit are being
actively pursued and are evident in the
increased efforts to protect tigers. WWF
is committed to Zero Poaching and will use
the survey results to help identify gaps
for future investments.
Global Tiger Recovery
Program and Cards4Tigers
The 2010 Tiger Summit,
governments also endorsed the Global Tiger
Recovery Programme, an amalgamation of national
tiger conservation actions and global targets
towards meeting the TX2 goal. As a follow-up
to the Tiger Summit, government officials
met during the 2nd Asian Ministerial Conference
on Tiger Conservation conducted in Bhutan
in October 2012, where they committed to
taking immediate and specific action over
the next year to strengthen protection.
Since the Tiger Summit,
WWF has been working with governments, NGOs
and private partners to find ways to improve
the effectiveness of ranger patrols through
the development of law enforcement monitoring
systems across Asia, training teams and
key stakeholders in the latest methods in
patrolling, prevention and conservation.
WWF is presently supporting protection field
staff and rangers through the Tigers Alive
Initiative's "Cards4Tigers"
+ More
Imagine a world without
tigers...
Posted on 26 November
2012 | By Jim Leape, Director General of
WWF International
Imagine a world without tigers. A world
without rhinos and elephants. A world where
these incredible animals are consigned to
history like dinosaurs and dodos. It would
be a poor world indeed – but this scenario
is not impossible.
Poaching and illegal
wildlife trade pose the greatest threats
to some of the Earth’s most charismatic,
valuable and ecologically important species.
Recent months have seen a dramatic upsurge
in poaching and illegal trade of high-value
wildlife products. Over 570 rhinos have
been killed just this year in South Africa.
Tens of thousands of elephants are killed
annually for their ivory. There are as few
as 3,200 tigers now left in the wild.
And most of this booty
is hauled to Asia – for status symbols,
tourist trinkets, or supposed medicinal
cures.
Illegal wildlife trade
also leads directly to human injury and
death. It is estimated that well over 1,000
wildlife park rangers have been killed by
commercial poachers and armed militia groups
in the last 10 years alone. The number of
poachers killed is unknown but likely to
be much higher. Yet the criminal syndicates
at the heart of this trade are rarely caught,
and even more rarely prosecuted.
The rangers on the front
line of this fight are the protectors of
iconic species. Protectors of animals that
take our breath away with their beauty,
their power and their dignity – that form
a vital part of the vast and complex web
of life to which we all belong. They represent
our natural heritage and a valuable resource
for governments and communities, and without
them we would be poor indeed.
WWF was founded on the
desire to give such incredible animals a
chance at survival – for their own sake,
and for the sake of life itself. There is
so much that hangs on the survival of tigers
and rhinos – economies and societies are
inextricably linked to them.
But there is hope that
we can save them from this poaching and
trade crisis – and two recent encounters
have given me fresh cause to be optimistic
that humanity can and will tackle this ugly
problem.
Last month WWF awarded
its highest honour, the Duke of Edinburgh
Conservation Medal, to 36-year-old Israeli
wildlife crime whistleblower and activist,
Ofir Drori, recognising his vision and courage
in shedding light on this issue and bringing
perpetrators to justice.
When you hear Ofir speak,
you cannot help but be deeply touched by
the fire in his eyes, by his conviction
and passion. Ofir risks his life in his
efforts to take down the leaders of the
syndicates that are making vast profits
from this destabilising organised crime.
Seven months after Ofir’s arrival in Central
Africa, the small group of local activist
volunteers that he established, called The
Last Great Ape Organization (LAGA), brought
about the first ever wildlife prosecution
for the whole of West and Central Africa.
Today, LAGA’s work with the Government of
Cameroon has put more than 450 traffickers
behind bars.
And it is not just dedicated
activists like Ofir who are recognising
the severity of the problem. In our work
with Donald Kaberuka, President of the African
Development Bank, I've been struck by his
fierce determination to galvanize action
on illegal wildlife trade. Formerly finance
minister in Rwanda, he knows first-hand
that the heavily armed bands of poachers
who are massacring elephants and rhinos
across the continent are a threat not just
to wildlife but to national economies and
national security. Illegal wildlife trade
is destabilising societies and jeopardising
the reputations of African countries as
good places to invest and do business.
In Asia, too, the severity
of the problem is being recognised at the
highest level. A declaration from the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in September
expressed concern about “the escalating
illicit trafficking in endangered and protected
wildlife” and its “economic, social, security,
and environmental consequences in our economies”.
The region’s leaders committed “to strengthen
our efforts to combat illegal trade in wildlife”.
Everyone – be they activists
or businesspeople, tourists or presidents,
can play a part in their own spheres of
influence in putting a stop to wildlife
poaching and illegal trade. I ask you to
do so. We’ve seen too much already – and
it could soon be too late.
