Information and analysis bulletin on animal poaching and smuggling n°4 / 1st January - 31th March 2014 Contents Introduction Seahorses Sea 3 Here now the 4th edition of « On the Trail », 112 Sea Cucumbers 3 pages, 468 events, 352 information sources. All dials are in the red. On the endangered species Corals 4 market prices are soaring. China and the world Queen Conches and Giant Clams 4 exotic pet trade are weighing heavily. The red- fronted parrot in Congo smuggled by Blue Hel- Fishes 5 mets are sold for 800 US$ on Internet. Rhino horns Glass Eels, More Brittle Than Crystal 9 reach 100,000 US$/kg, leopard skin more than Marine Mammals 12 30,000 US/$. Mumbai golden youth gets high on cobra venom (180,000 US$/l). Isilo, the elephant Japan knocked out in Antarctica 14 who became a symbol of South Africa, is dead. His Marine Turtles 15 2 tusks worth 600,000 US$ have disappeared. Poa- Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles 17 chers were the first to find his body by spotting Snakes 21 the vultures. Suspicion lingers. Daytime rangers become night-time poachers. Prices go wild, the Sauria 24 violence does also. Animals, thieves and rangers Crocodilians 25 fall. Traffickers kill each other like traffickers of a Multi-Species Reptiles 26 drug cartel. Gangs rule, gangrene thrives. This is war. Justice is incoherent. From severe punish- Thousands of animals from ment to set an example to a mere bail, justice endangered species gone up in smoke 29 sometimes goes astray. Traffickers are often very Birds 30 young. Poachers ride BMWs. Killing methods are The ex-American Passenger Pigeon 39 both modern and archaic. Pangolins 41 Good news is rare but good wills are steadfast and Primates 45 countless. Customs manage some grand catches. Vicuñas and Guanacos 50 Inspired by the Koran, the Indonesian Council of Felines 51 Oulemas pronounced a fatwa addressing the 200 million Muslims in the Country according to which Bears 60 poaching and smuggling species endangered of Rhinoceroses 62 extinction is forbidden. The fatwa mentions tigers, Elephants 72 rhinos, elephants, birds, reptiles, and orangutans. Follow up on the Destruction of Illegal Ivory 90 The look on «Mademoiselle Chinoise’s» eyes when she was freed is more good news, that « On the Other Mammals 91 Trail » be on the right track is another. Multi-Species 94 Pense-bêtes 106 A Sea Cucumber Ending 107 1 Carried out by Robin des Bois with the encouragement and financial support of the Fondation Brigitte Bardot, the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux and the Fondation Franz Weber reconnue d’utilité publique 28, rue Vineuse - 75116 Paris Tél : 01 45 05 14 60 www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr CITES* Appendices Appendix I : species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances and under import and export permits. Appendix II : export permit required in order to avoid utilization incompatible with the species survi- val. Import permit if required by national law. Appendix III : species that are protected in at least 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. * Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. 180 Member States. On The Trail # 4. Robin des Bois 2 Seahorses Sea Seizure of 15 kg of seahorses Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are all listed un- March 11, 2014 der Appendix II. The woman escaped while the police searched the bags and got their hands on the sea horses. ASIA EUROPE Seizure of 494 kg of dried seahorses Hong Kong, China Seizure of 54 dried seahorses January 15 and 16, 2014 Paris-Orly Airport, Region of Ile-de-France, The raw salted legal leather hid 50,000 seahorses France from the Pacific Ocean. The stench of one hid the February 28, 2014 odor of the others. The fraud was uncovered 2 days From rice to sea horses: this was the menu the in a row in 2 20 feet maritime containers coming woman planned to cook landing in France coming from Peru, one from Paita, another from Callao. from Dakar. © Hong Kong Customs ©French Customs ©French 4 individuals among the 50,000 Sea Cucumbers See the article “A Sea Cucumber Ending”, page 107. AFRICA © Hong Kong Customs Seizure of a ton of sea cucumbers Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, attached to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands March 29, 2014 While on a surveillance campaign of the maritime domain, the frigate Nivose intercepted 5 Malagasy fishing ships and confiscated cucumbers that were thrown back to sea. A bag of dry seahorses among leather hides AMERICA Seizure of 1500 kg of sea cucumbers of the Isos- tichopus fuscus species (Appendix III in Ecuador) about 7500 individuals Tijuana International Airport, State of southern California, Mexico January 23, 2013 Sea cucumbers benefit from special protection in Mexico. A batch of sea cucumbers came from the port of Ensenada. 50 cases were due to leave for Hong Kong from the Tijuana Airport via Tokyo or Shanghai. Anomalies had been detected in the do- cumentation accompanying the expedition. In May 2013, 898,660 individuals had already been seized in the Ensenada port (cf. « On the Trail » n°1, p. 3). 3 On The Trail # 4. Robin des Bois Corals ASIA Seizure of 30 kg of corals antlers (Acropora for- mosa, Appendix II) and Tubipora musica (Appen- dix II) Kolkata, State of West Bengal, India January 6, 2014 Gopal Shaw imported the corals apparently from Singapore. Value of the smuggling is estimated at RS 5 lakh (8315 US$). © pm107uk Skeleton of Tubipora musica Queen Conches and Giant Clams Tijuana International Airport AMERICA Seizure of 3 tons of sea cucumbers (Isostichopus Seizure of 1852 kg of queen conch (Strombus fuscus, Appendix III in Ecuador) gigas, Appendix II) Colonia Obrera, State of Yucatan, Mexico La Trinité, Department of Martinique, France January 2014 February 19, 2014 The seizure took place in the clandestine ware- The fishing boat was the target of land and mari- house of a family business after a complaint from time customs officers, Maritimes affairs and a an intrigued neighbour who observed many trips helicopter. It was searched on arrival at the Port of small trucks coming and going and was distur- of Cosmi, Trinité. On board were the small Queen bed by continuous smoke and cooking smells. 6 Conches or sea conches clearly below the autho- traffickers were taken into custody. rized size. The Strombus gigas measures twenty cm in length. The females are slightly bigger than the Court appearance for the smuggling 46.5 kg of males. Some specimens can reach 30 cm and weigh brown sea cucumbers (Isostichopus fuscus, Ap- up to 1.5 kg. They are the deep-sea sorters and the pendix III in Ecuador) digesters of detrital sand. They fix and fertilize ma- San Diego, State of United States, United States rine sediments and prepare the ground for benthic March 6, 2014 communities and crustaceans to settle in. They are He pleaded not guilty for the fraudulent import overexploited and captured in 25 territories and into the United States of brown sea cucumbers Caribbean countries. hidden in the spare wheel compartment of his 4x4 Hyundai. There were some for 5000 to 10,000 US $. He risks 5 years of prison and a fine of 20,000 US$. Judgment in June. On the Atlantic Coast, sea cucumber fishing has al- most quintupled in Florida, rising in one year from 14,000 to 54,000 catches. The State is about to limit catches while in the north, off the coast of Canada, in the French waters of the territory of Saint-Pierre- et-Miquelon, sea cucumbers fishing is developed Maillard © J.F. as an alternative to dead cod fishing. On The Trail # 4. Robin des Bois 4 Behind the poacher-fisherman, there was a shady value of the illegal bêche de mer is 55,000 A$. The fishmonger that would receive clients’ orders. A captains will be prosecuted. Indonesian fishermen smuggling network of giant conches coming from in the search of sharks and sea cucumbers regularly Saint-Martin arriving to Martinique via Guadeloupe and illegally visit the Australian waters. has recently been revealed. 1 kg of Queen Conch is sold for 20 € in the markets of Fort-de-France. In the whole Caribbean Ark, supplies are maintained thanks to the exploitations of juveniles. Controls on professional and leisure maritime fishing is a 2014 priority for services of the French State in particular in the perimeter where fishing in banned for cause of Chlordecone, the pesticide used in banana plan- tations whose residue washed away by the tropical rain and cyclones lastingly contaminate the man- groves and the marine environment. © GBRMPA Fishes © Le Marin © Le AMERIQUE Seizure of 970 kg of shark fins (class Elasmo- branchii) San Francisco, State of California, USA EUROPE January 29, 2014 Since July 2013, it is forbidden to detain and sell Seizure of 24 queen conch (Strombus gigas, Ap- shark fins in California. This past January, it was dis- pendix II) covered that Hong East Ocean Sea Food in Emery- Franz Josef Strauss International Airport in Mu- ville was offering shark fin soup on the menu ille- nich, Free State of Bavaria, Germany gally. Investigators found the source of their sharks March 24, 2014 came from, Kwong Yip Inc. The conches were empty. The shells were to be used to decorate a swimming pool. Beyond 3 conches, declaration and importation permits are needed.