3 Addressing Demand: Seizures and Policy Responses
Animal Welfare Institute, ‘Elephant Slaughter Escalates as Illegal Ivory Market Thrives’, Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly, Vol. 62, No. 1 (2013)
Summary: According to AWI, more ivory is being smuggled out of Africa than at any other time since the 1989 CITES trade ban. This is mainly to feed Asian demand. INTERPOL has recognized the involvement of transnational organized crime groups in the ivory trade – notably armed groups such as the LRA, al Shabaab, and the Janjaweed and Abu Tira of Sudan. According to the article, an African poacher can receive $80 for one kilogram of ivory, which sells for $1,800 per kilogram in Thailand wholesale, while the ivory’s street value can reach up to $60,000 for 10 kilograms (2013).93 The article shines a spotlight on elephant poaching in Tanzania, after abortive attempts by the government to legalize the sale of 101 tonnes of stockpiled ivory to Asian buyers in 2013. It notes the increasing American interest in tackling poaching in Africa, but highlights a lack of analysis of the rising demand from Asia, and of linked criminal activities such as moneylaundering and weapons proliferation. Key words: East Asia demand, INTERPOL, Tanzania, al Shabaab, Janjaweed, Abu Tira, linked criminal activities
Environmental Investigation Agency, ‘A Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse: How Tiger Criminals give China the Run-Around’ (2009)
Summary: In 2009, the EIA investigated the illegal trade in Asian big cats in China. Targeting retail premises across China, traders revealed trafficking routes and methods of concealment. Traders were aware of the scarcity of wild tigers; this fact was seen as an opportunity to increase profits. In this report, The EIA recommends that China must establish a ‘specialised multienforcement unit’94 that is able to investigate criminal networks engaged in wildlife trafficking and trade, and that a permanent ban in all trade in all parts and derivatives of tigers and other Asian big cats must be implemented and enforced.95 Key words: Asian big cats, tigers, China, regulating tiger trade, enforcement
93 AAWI, ‘Elephant Slaughter Escalates as Illegal Ivory Market Thrives’, p. 7. 94 EIA, ‘A Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse’, p. 2. 95 Ibid.
