WildlifeDirect calls on Tokyo to ban ivory trade
As we mark this year's World Elephant Day, WildlifeDirect calls on the Tokyo Government to ban ivory trade and declare it an ivory free international city ahead of the Olympics Games.
As we mark this year's World Elephant Day, WildlifeDirect calls on the Tokyo Government to ban ivory trade and declare it an ivory free international city ahead of the Olympics Games.
A Tanzanian court has sentenced Yang Fen Glan popularly known as ‘Ivory Queen’ to 15 years in jail. The 69 year old Chinese national, was charged along with two Tanzanians with offenses of unlawful dealing in collecting, selling and transporting more than 706 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 1889 kilograms in 2014.
WildlifeDirect announces the release of a new report showcasing the state of wildlife crime cases in Kenya. WildlifeDirect has been monitoring wildlife crime cases in Kenyan courts since 2008. Through Eyes in the Courtroom project; we provide the only nation-wide publicly available review of Kenya’s wildlife law enforcement response.
A High Court Judge set free a convicted ivory trafficker, Feisal Ali Mohammed, who was serving a 20 year sentence and a penalty fine of 20 million shillings (USD 200,000). Feisal had already served two years of his sentence after being found guilty of trafficking in 2,152 kilograms of elephant ivory before the High Court reversed his conviction and sentence.
There are three Kenyans on INTERPOL’s worlds’ most wanted criminal list. They are not terrorists with ties to Al Shabaab or ISIS, neither are they drug traffickers. They are not even human traffickers or illegal arms dealers. They are all elephant ivory traffickers.
Today the Kenyan Criminal Justice system failed. Feisal Mohamed Ali who was convicted of trafficking in illegal elephant tusks today walks free. In July 2016, Feisal was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and fined of 20 million shillings for trafficking in 2,152 kilograms of elephant ivory. Feisal’s case began in December 2014 after he apprehended in Tanzania through an INTERPOL led swoop. At this time Feisal was the most wanted ivory trafficker in the world with Interpol giving a red notice against him.
Call on Japan to Ban Ivory Trade By: Trish Sewe WildlifeDirect recently became aware of the scale of laundering of illegal ivory in the ivory markets of Japan through its contact with the Japanese NGO Tears of the African Elephant. We have joined forces with other conservation organizations in Africa and Japan to take the opportunity provided by the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) conference happening here in Nairobi, Kenya to publish a joint appeal to Japan to ban all trade in ivory trade, following the lead [...]
Notorious Kenyan Ivory Trafficker Jailed for 20 Years and Fined USD 200,000 By: Trish Sewe On Friday, a Mombasa law court sentenced Feisal Mohamed Ali to 20 years in jail after finding him guilty of illegal possession of ivory worth 44 million shillings (US $440,000). The court also imposed a fine of 20 million shillings. This landmark ruling by the Kenyan court is the end of a long story that began with the seizure of 2 tonnes of ivory at Fuji Motors car yard in Mombasa in June 2014. Read [...]
Calling the World to help save African Elephants By: Trish Sewe WildlifeDirect supports the African Elephant Coalition (AEC) in the call to the world to help save African elephants. As an organization that has been in the forefront calling for a total ban on all ivory trade, WildlifeDirect urges other African countries not represented at the meeting held in Montreux, Switzerland from 24 to 26 June 2016 to join AEC in this call to save the our iconic species that are in danger of extinction if nothing is done. [...]
Mayes and Mactavish score sensational Safari Rally podium By: Trish Sewe Safari guide and wildlife photographer Geoff Mayes and Scottish born Jamie Mactavish successfully guided their SPV class V8 rally raid car to a top twenty overall position and third in class on the just finished KCB Safari Rally. This years event saw crews face two and a half challenging days in the Great Rift Valley over terrain more suited to a Dakar event than a flat out motor rally. Attrition was high as cars succumbed to rocks, ruts, [...]