Nicola Okes and Gabriel Sipos, TRAFFICFirst published on TNRC (Tackling Natural Resource Corruption) The rhino horn trade represents one of the four largest illegal wildlife trade flows (UNODC 2020) by value. Although the drivers and uses of rhino horn differ across user groups and market destinations (e.g., medicinal use or status-conferring prestige products), the overall Read more >
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CORRUPTION NEWS
With so many lucrative avenues for criminals to choose from nowadays, the fact that international wildlife crime (IWT) and the smuggling of wildlife products continues to increase is a measure of the vast sums of money to be made from this illegal practice. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for example, which it spelled out in its 2020 World Wildlife Crime Report, “the Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Image: Wilson Lau, TRAFFIC A humble marine mollusc, Haliotis midae, has been the inadvertent cause of one of South Africa’s biggest poaching/smuggling challenges. The largest abalone in South Africa, it is known locally as perlemoen, from the Dutch meaning ‘mother of pearl’. Occurring naturally along the South African coastline, perlemoen is nothing more than a Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
A new study titled Convergence of wildlife crime with other forms of organised crime, released in May 2021 by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), sheds light on this phenomenon of crime convergence, which has been noticed more and more over the last two decades. The report shows that criminal networks are dealing in wildlife Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Consider this statement: “Bribes can make up to 10% of the wholesale value of ivory in Asia.” And given that according to an investigation by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), raw ivory currently commands a price of between US$597/kg and $689/kg, on the Asian market – down from a mind-boggling high of $2 100/kg in Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Image: Flickr/gmacfadyen Corruption is an enabler of wildlife, forest and fisheries crime. There are no surprises in that statement, as many will be aware that corruption occurs at every stage of the wildlife trafficking supply chain – and it’s a big reason for the continued prevalence of wildlife trafficking routes and networks. There are also Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Corruption is playing a role in the killing and trading of endangered species, especially primates. But concerted and collaborative efforts will go a long way towards wiping out these crimes. Primatologist Marilyn A. Norconk, emeritus professor at the Kent State University in Ohio, wrote an article for The Conversation last week to illustrate how people, Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Veterinarian Mark Jones, currently programmes manager for wildlife at the UK’s Born Free Foundation, says that corruption is a huge threat to the safety of our fauna, as it facilitates the illegal trade in animal parts, especially sought-after items such as elephant ivory and rhino horns. This letter, written by him, was published in Daily Read more >
