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  PlanetArk 24 May 07
Southeast Asia Seeks to Crack Down on Animal Trade

Yahoo News 22 May 07
Thousands of pangolins among illegal Asian animal shipments

Channel NewsAsia 21 May 07
ASEAN meets on illegal wildlife trade

JAKARTA: Wildlife officials from Southeast Asia open a four-day meeting Monday in Indonesia aimed at cracking down on the thriving animal smuggling trade.

Officials will discuss how to build stronger links between the 10 ASEAN nations to stop cross-border trafficking in some of the richest and most spectacular wildlife in the world.

"Those involved in illegal trading of species in the region are very organised - which calls for an organised response," said Sagita Arhidani from the ASEAN secretariat.

Officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are also set to be briefed by customs and law enforcement agencies on the latest trends and routes for smuggling within the region.

The multi-million dollar trade continues despite efforts of governments and environmental groups, experts say.

The trade is fuelled in part by strong demand for animal body parts for use in traditional medicines, particularly in China, according to wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic. Animals are also sought as pets and to be made into consumer goods.

Creatures hunted range from bears, Sumatran rhinos, elephants, tigers and sambar deer through to turtles, tortoises, many species of snakes, pangolins and ant-eaters, it says.

The conference is being held in Bogor outside Jakarta. Interpol officers are expected to attend, along with CITES officials, charged with monitoring the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - AFP/yy

Yahoo News 22 May 07
Thousands of pangolins among illegal Asian animal shipments

Thousands of pangolins are being illegally shipped from Southeast Asia to China every month, police warned, as a meeting to crack down on wildlife smuggling started in earnest Tuesday in Indonesia.

"Currently the most popular species are pangolins and star tortoises," Thai police Lieutenant Colonel Thanayod Kengkasikij said.

Thousands of the scaly anteaters were being transported to China for use in traditional medicines, said William Schaedla from the Wildlife Alliance. "We have intelligence that as much as a tonne of the animals are being taken across the Thailand-Laos border alone very month at certain times," he said on the sidelines of the conference.

WWF's Chairul Saleh said the mammals were being transported in false floors in containers as well being hidden under legal cargo such as sacks of rice.

"The biggest demand comes from China. They don't only want the scales but also the meat for consumption," said Saleh from WWF's Indonesia office.

The comments came as wildlife officials from Southeast Asia met in Cisarua outside Jakarta in an attempt to build stronger links to stop cross-border trafficking in some of the richest and most spectacular wildlife in the world.

After informal talks Monday, the conference started Tuesday with officials from the 10 ASEAN nations set to be briefed by law enforcement officials on the latest trafficking trends and intelligence.

Thanayod said increased law enforcement seizures of animals had hiked up their price and demand, making the business more attractive to criminals.

"The increasing value (of the animals) is attracting more criminals," he told AFP on the sidelines of the closed four-day conference. "We're looking for a better relationship between neighbouring countries and to assist each other in sharing information, so we can reduce the amount of animal trafficking," said Thanayod from the Thai police's natural resources and environmental crime division.

"The biggest problem is international trade between borders with neighbouring countries."

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

PlanetArk 24 May 07
Southeast Asia Seeks to Crack Down on Animal Trade

JAKARTA - Southeast Asian nations plan to set up task forces to help fight the illegal animal trade in a region that is home to many endangered species, an Indonesian forestry official said on Wednesday.

Conservation groups welcomed the plan, but said the problem appeared to be getting worse and urgent action was needed.

Police, customs and forestry officials from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting in the Indonesian city of Bogor south of Jakarta to discuss the issue.

"There are ongoing talks about joint investigation efforts, information-sharing mechanisms and the possible use of facilities in certain countries for investigation and enforcement," Agus Joko, an official at the Indonesian foreign ministry, said by telephone.

The meeting was expected to finalise plans to set up inter-agency crime task forces that would eventually be given enforcement powers, he said. "We are working towards joint enforcement but I think we are still a couple years away from that."

Authorities in the region, which is home to some of the last untouched rainforests in the world, have uncovered cases of smuggled animals ranging from endangered orangutans to pangolins and cockatoos.

Orangutans have a price tag of US$50,000 and mostly end up in the homes of collectors in countries where law enforcement in weak such as Cambodia or the Philippines, according to conservationist Hardi Baktiantoro.

The Middle East is currently the top destination for illegal wildlife trade as rich people like to flaunt their wealth and power by keeping endangered animals as pets.

Asep Purnama of Indonesian conservation group ProFauna said that based on monitoring at entry points for animal smugglers in places such as Sumatra and Bali the problem was getting worse.

"The quantity of illegal species traded has gone up, as well the variety of species traded," Purnama said, adding that establishing wildlife crime task forces could help overcome squabbles between different agencies working on the issue.

Another conservation official said he thought the scale of the problem was greatly underestimated. "Any numbers would only show the tip of the iceberg," Khairul Saleh of WWF Indonesia said.
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