The Wire

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (or CITES) is currently being held in Thailand where trade rules are being discussed governing some of the world’s most charismatic, exploited and economically valuable wildlife species. On Monday a global ban on hunting rare black rhinos was lifted to allow African trophy hunters the opportunity to kill 5 of these beasts a year – much to the chagrin of some conservationists who say the black rhino is still in danger. While on Tuesday Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra proposed an Interpol-style agency for South-East Asia to take on the region’s multi-billion dollar illegal wildlife trade. Thailand has been strongly criticised in the past for failing to crack down on smuggling with claims that it was an “exotic supermarket” of wildlife products. But turning now to Australia, in mid-September — on two occasions in 24 hours — travellers at Brisbane airport were caught trying to smuggle wildlife into Australia. The men wore “body-packing” vests underneath their clothing, containing birds eggs and cigarette packets full of baby snakes. Just over a week later, Australian Customs conducted a series of raids across four states. The sting operation disrupted a smuggling syndicate in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Ed Giles spoke to Robert Viles, the Director of Investigations for Customs in New South Wales, and Nicholas Phoon from Traffic, the joint wildlife trade monitoring programme of the World Wide Fund For Nature and The World Conservation Union.

Traffic
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species