The defaunation bulletin Quarterly information and analysis report on animal poaching and smuggling n°26. Events from the 1st July to the 30th September, 2019 Published on April 30, 2020 Original version in French 1 On the Trail n°26. Robin des Bois Carried out by Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) with the support of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, the Franz Weber Foundation and of the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, France reconnue d’utilité publique 28, rue Vineuse - 75116 Paris Tél : 01 45 05 14 60 www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr “On the Trail“, the defaunation magazine, aims to get out of the drip of daily news to draw up every three months an organized and analyzed survey of poaching, smuggling and worldwide market of animal species protected by national laws and international conventions. “ On the Trail “ highlights the new weapons of plunderers, the new modus operandi of smugglers, rumours intended to attract humans consumers of animals and their by-products.“ On the Trail “ gathers and disseminates feedback from institutions, individuals and NGOs that fight against poaching and smuggling. End to end, the “ On the Trail “ are the biological, social, ethnological, police, customs, legal and financial chronicle of poaching and other conflicts between humanity and animality. Previous issues in English http://www.robindesbois.org/en/a-la-trace-bulletin-dinformation-et-danalyses-sur-le-braconnage-et-la-contrebande/ Previous issues in French http://www.robindesbois.org/a-la-trace-bulletin-dinformation-et-danalyses-sur-le-braconnage-et-la-contrebande/ Non Governmental Organization for the Protection of Man and the Environment Since 1985 14 rue de l’Atlas 75019 Paris, France tel : 33 (1) 48.04.09.36 - fax : 33 (1) 48.04.56.41 www.robindesbois.org [email protected] Publication Director : Jacky Bonnemains Editor-in-Chief: Charlotte Nithart Art Directors : Charlotte Nithart and Jacky Bonnemains Coordination : Elodie Crépeau Writing: Jacky Bonnemains and Jean-Pierre Edin Research and assistant editor: Elodie Crépeau, Irene Torres Márquez Léna Mons, Dylan Blandel and Camille Habe Cartography: Dylan Blandel and Charlotte Nithart Cover : Fratercula arctica © Melissa McMasters Translation English edition “On the Trail “: Robin des Bois and Acolad On the Trail n°26. Robin des Bois 2 Contents Judgment and sanction Condemnation, acquittal, fine... On the Front Lines 4 Seahorses and Pipefishes 6 Corals 7 Abalones 8 Human death Clams, Nautilus, Conches ... 11 Guard, ranger, policeman, poacher... by firearm or other Barnacles 12 means. Sea Cucumbers 12 Fishes 14 Poisoning Marine Mammals 17 By chemicals, pesticides and medicines: cyanide, Carbofuran, Various Marine Species 19 Diclofenac, M99 … Marine Turtles 20 Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles 22 Snakes 26 Trapping Poaching by jaw trap, snare ... Sauria 29 Crocodilians 31 Various Reptile Species 32 Amphibians 34 Full moon Moonlight poaching Insects, Arachnids and Annelids 35 Birds 36 Pangolins 48 Pangolins and Elephants 52 Primates 53 CITES Appendices Guanacos and Vicunas 59 Felines 60 Convention on International Trade in Endange- red Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Wolves 71 182 Member States. Bears 72 Appendix I : species threatened with extinction. Rhinoceroses 75 Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances and under Rhinoceroses and Elephants 79 import and export permits. Elephants 80 Appendix II : export permit required in order to Mammoths 97 avoid utilization incompatible with the species Other Mammals 97 survival. Import permit if required by national law. Multi-Species 101 Appendix III : species that are protected in at least Donkeys 113 one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. In the case of trade from a State that included the species in Appendix III, an export permit of that State is required. 3 On the Trail n°26. Robin des Bois On the Front Lines AFRICA BOTSWANA ZIMBABWE August 25, 2019 July 28, 2019 Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Bubye Valley Conservancy, Delta, Botswana Matabeleland South A patrol is alerted by gunfire. A female Province, Zimbabwe rhino is dying. She’s accompanied by a Heavy toll in the hunting calf. The patrol hides and shoots at the 2 reserve since the beginning poachers approaching the crime scene of the year. Six poachers heavily armed. Their bodies are taken to killed, one paralysed.5 the morgue at Maun hospital. For 5 years, a diplomatic conflict has been brewing between Namibia and Botswana. Namibia blames the Botswanan army for shooting poachers on sight in the cross-border area of the Okavango Delta. At ASIA least 40 Namibian nationals are said to have died as a result of the unwritten “shoot to kill” doctrine.1 CAMBODIA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO September 9, 2019 Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh Province, July 17, 2019 Cambodia Near Kahuzi-Biega National Park, The sentencing of Penh, Veha, and South-Kivu and North-Kivu Provinces, Vannith for life imprisonment, 30 years Democratic Republic of the Congo and 2 years in prison, comes for having Intensification of clashes between killed 3 members of an anti-poaching Pygmies and the national park guards (see “On the patrol, Tern Soknai, a ranger, Sek Vathana, Trail” n°25 p.4). A gorilla protection patrol fell into a police officer, and Thol Kna, a member a trap. The Pygmies were armed with machetes, of the Wildlife Conservation Society. bows and arrows. Thirteen guards were wounded. These murders were conducted in the One of the seriously injured guard had the fingers Keo Seima sanctuary on the edge of the of one hand severed. One dead, Lwaboshi Simba, border in Viet Nam. In a dense forest, the and one wounded were deplored in the opposite patrol fell across a group of Vietnamese camp. The measures prohibiting Pygmies from woodcutters (see “On the Trail” no.20 p.121). One entering the park have recently been reinforced to of them known as Chin called to the rescue Penh, prevent clearing and poaching.2 who at the moment of the events was in charge of a Cambodian border post and had made a August 2, 2019 financial arrangement with the Vietnamese loggers Kahuzi-Biega National Park, South- guaranteeing them security and impunity. Penh Kivu Province, Democratic Republic rushed to the scene with his 2 accomplices and an of the Congo AK47. Facing the honesty of the patrol that refused A ranger dead in an attack on a guard to close their eyes and to return the chainsaw and post by a group of Mai-Mai (see “On the Trail” n°2 other equipment to the loggers, he fired on sight p.32, n°12 p.103, n°15 p.111, n°18 p.96, n°21 p.50). and shot down the 3 nature conservationists with The park is home to 13 gorilla families.3 several bursts. 6 August 21, 2019 Garamba National Park, Haut-Uele Province, Democratic Police © National Republic of the Congo. Border with South Sudan. Deadly clash between armed forces and poachers from South Sudan. Seven poachers killed. Three tusks, 180 rounds of ammunition Tern Soknai and several AK47s recovered at the scene.4 On the Trail n°26. Robin des Bois 4 INDIA PHILIPPINES September 28, 2019 September 4, 2019 Orang National Park, Darrang District, El Nido, Palawan Province, Philippines State of Assam, India Bienvinido “Toto” Veguilla Jr.’s patrol was Forest guards and police knew that a on a surveillance mission at the El Nido- group of poachers had entered the park. Taytay forest when they came across They found them around 3:15 a.m. and a gunfight loggers in action. The loggers fled. The patrol seized ensued. In the morning, a patrol discovered a man their abandoned chainsaw, but in the evening they lying wounded along with a .303 rifle, a silencer, were ambushed. The loggers were back. At least 5 5 rounds of ammunition and an axe. The poacher men went after Veguilla and killed him with axes. died while being transported to the hospital. His 3 The rest of the patrol managed to escape. 52-year- or 4 accomplices were able to escape.6 bis old Veguilla’s death is the 18th since 2001 in Palawan province. Illegal land clearing goes hand in hand KAZAKHSTAN with animal poaching. The DENR’s Biodiversity Bureau (DENR-BMB) and the Palawan Council for July 23, 2019 Sustainable Development (PCSD) reckon that the Aqmola Region, Kazakhstan country’s wildlife traffickers make one billion US$ Death of ecoguard Kanych Nourtazinov per year.8 in a car chase across the steppe with an all-terrain vehicle whose occupants were shooting at saigas (Saiga tatarica, Appendix II). The poachers switched targets and fired at the law enforcement vehicle. Mr Nourtazinov’s partner was Mimaropa © Pro shot in the shoulder. He survived. Bienvinido « Toto » Veguilla Jr © Tengrinews EUROPE ROMANIA Kanych Nourtazinov FAMILY AFFAIRS This is the second time since the beginning of September 13, 2019 the year that saiga protectors have died on duty. Iasi, Iasi County, Nord-Est According to the Kazakh wildlife protection service, Development Region, Romania a kilo of saiga horns sells for 150,000 tenges Răducu Gorcioaia, forest ranger, is (395 US$) in Almaty and no less than 1.5 million fatally hit in the head by a 17-year-old boy who was tenges (3,950 US$) in China. The annual demand for busy felling trees with his brother and father in the saiga horns by the Chinese market is estimated at protected Todosoaia forest. Romsilva, the national 8 t per year. On the basis of an average weight per administration in charge of forest management horn of 80 g, the annual harvest from the Russian and protection, says 10 forest rangers have been and Kazakh populations of saiga would be close to assaulted since the beginning of the year.9 100,000 individuals.