Illegal wildlife trade

China arrests two Mongolians for smuggling snow leopard skins

May 2, 2010 China

Good to see Chinese authorities clamping down on the illegal snow leopard parts trade. A news story this week reports Chinese police arrested two Mongolian citizens after finding two snow leopard skins and a snow leopard skull hidden inside their jeep at a border checkpoint, state media said Tuesday.Police in the remote Alxa League of [...]

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Former Kyrgyz President had private zoo with snow leopard cubs

April 29, 2010 Endangered species

Update on yesterdays story about the snow leopard cubs in an illegal private zoo in Kyrgyzstan. BBC News confirms the property belonged to former President Bakiyev. “A pair of snow leopards and two bear cubs were among the exotic animals found in the private zoo of ousted Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. A golden eagle, two [...]

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Snow leopard cubs in illegal home zoo in Kyrgyzstan

April 28, 2010 Illegal wildlife trade

News just in is that investigators in Kyrgyzstan, which recently had a change of government, says that a relative of the deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev had a private zoo in a house. The animal collection unfortunately includes many animals from the IUCN Endangered Species List including two snow leopard cubs. Officials are trying to protect [...]

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Good news from UN meeting on illegal wildlife trade

April 12, 2010 Endangered species

We can be cautiously optimistic about news from Doha in Qatar where the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been meeting. Seems an agreement has been reached on wildlife trade which could mean that trading in illegal tiger parts will be treated as seriously as dealing in arms and drug trafficking. [...]

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Sad end

March 8, 2010 Afghanistan

As humans we’re always looking for the positive in a story. We have to look pretty deep to get a positive from this horrible story from Afghanistan this week. Some conservationists are saying it shows that local Afghans are more protective of snow leopards now – lets hope so. But the sad death of this [...]

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what to do if you see illegal snow leopard fur etc for sale

December 4, 2009 Illegal wildlife trade

The Snow Leopard Trust blog has just posted some really good information on what people can do if they see anyone trying to sell snow leopard furs etc. It may happen that you see this in your travels or even in your travels around the internet. It can be confusing but check these really useful [...]

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China still trading illegal snow leopard skins

October 28, 2009 China

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) recently conducted undercover investigations into the illegal big cat skin and bone trade in China and found it easy to get tiger, snow leopard and other leopard skins. ‘China has really run out of excuses. They tell us they are doing their best, but we have been warning them about [...]

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Kyrgyz anti-poaching unit gets tough

May 23, 2009 Illegal wildlife trade

The “Gruppa Bars”, an anti-poaching unit was set up to save snow leopards in the Kyrgyz Republic 10 years ago with the help of funding from the German conservation agency NABU. Gruppa Bars means ‘snow leopard’ in Kyrgyz. The team has far-reaching powers and is equipped with weapons. They have the power to arrest suspects [...]

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