Where Are They Now? Updates On 9 International Wildlife Conservation Posts
4. Kenya Fears Link Between Elephant Killings and Chinese Construction Projects
Summary:
The Kenya Wildlife Service suspects it is more than a coincidence that a large number of elephant killings have occurred in areas where Chinese crews have recently arrived for massive construction projects.
Update:
Despite the growing list of suspicious “coincidences”, it is no surprise that the Chinese government officially denied links to elephant poaching in Kenya. Major media outlets did the same by syndicating one article that referred to poaching in the title, but leaving the information about China out of the content altogether.
Later, most sources altered the title of the article and removed the word “poaching” – although a search will reveal the original title in some of the syndicated pages.
The response by China appears to be a little more than the flexing of newly-acquired PR muscles, which the country quickly attempted to develop during the Uighur riots earlier this year. There is more at China Denies Links to Elephant Poaching in Kenya
5. Tiger Killed, Skinned Inside Indonesian Zoo
Summary:
Sheila the tiger was poisoned and then skinned in her enclosure at Jambi’s Rimbo Zoo in Indonesia.
Wildlife authorities fear this crime is a shocking new development in the illegal wildlife trade: The tiger’s skin, along with body parts in demand for traditional Asian “remedies”, were taken from the tiger’s enclosure.
Update:
There has been one arrest in the Indonesian zoo tiger killing. Sadly, it appears that this is only one link in a chain of an organized effort to meet the demands of China’s flourishing illegal trade in tiger skin and body parts.
6. Tiger Poaching Scandal? Goa Forest Official Says Remains ‘Not a Tiger’
Summary:
Suspicion is growing around the investigation of a Goa tiger poaching incident earlier this year which allegedly involved an employee of the home guard department – and now it appears a senior forest official is trying to cover it up.
Chief Conservator of Forests Goa, Shashi Kumar, claims that the Wildlife Institute of India’s investigation shows the slaughtered animal was “not a tiger.” Such a claim is dubious, especially considering eyewitness accounts and published photographs of physical evidence at the location where the tiger was killed.
Update:
It looks like Kumar has changed his tune once again, according to a Thaindian News report on the “official flip flop”:
After initially claiming that a “preliminary” forensic report had ruled out poaching of a tiger in a Goa wildlife sanctuary, the state’s top forest official has now said that he has not seen the forensic report yet. Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Shashi Kumar now maintains that he had made the statement only on the basis of a letter faxed to him by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Oh, really?
