Rhinos are falling to poachers at the rate of two to three per week in some areas as Asian demand for their horns escalates, according to a report to the 58th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Standing Committee this week in Geneva.

Photo of white rhino poached for horn by Martin harvey/WWF-Canon

Poachers in Africa and Asia are killing an ever increasing number of rhinos to meet a growing demand for horns believed in some countries to have medicinal value, says the briefing to the international wildlife trade regulation body by WWF, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and their affiliated wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

An estimated three rhinos were illegally killed each month in all of Africa from 2000-05, out of a population of around 18,000, the groups said in a news statement today. "In contrast, 12 rhinoceroses now are being poached each month in South Africa and Zimbabwe alone."

"Illegal rhino horn trade to destinations in Asia is driving the killing, with growing evidence of involvement of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai nationals in the illegal procurement and transport of rhino horn out of Africa," the briefing states.

NGS photo of knives made with rhino horn on sale in Yemen by Steve Raymer

Rhino poaching is also a problem in Asia. About 10 rhinos have been poached in India and at least seven in Nepal since January alone--out of a combined population of only 2,400 endangered rhinos.

"Rhinos are in a desperate situation ...This is the worst rhino poaching we have seen in many years and it is critical for governments to stand up and take action."

"Rhinos are in a desperate situation," said Susan Lieberman, director of the Species Programme, WWF-International. "This is the worst rhino poaching we have seen in many years and it is critical for governments to stand up and take action to stop this deadly threat to rhinos worldwide.

"It is time to crack down on organized criminal elements responsible for this trade, and to vastly increase assistance to range countries in their enforcement efforts."

Almost all rhino species are listed in CITES (the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in Appendix I, which means that any international trade of any rhino parts for commercial purposes is illegal.

"Increased demand for rhino horn, alongside a lack of law enforcement, a low level of prosecutions for poachers who are actually arrested and increasingly daring attempts by poachers and thieves to obtain the horn is proving to be too much for rhinos and some populations are seriously declining," said Steven Broad, executive director of TRAFFIC.

NGS photo of slices of rhino horn sold in Japan as aphrodisiacs by Steve Raymer.

The situation is particularly dire in Zimbabwe where such problems are threatening the success of more than a decade's work of bringing rhino populations back to healthy levels, the briefing said.

"For example, earlier this week a park ranger arrested with overwhelming evidence against him for having killed three rhinos in the Chipinge Safari Area, was acquitted without any satisfactory explanation for the verdict.

"Similarly, in September 2008, a gang of four Zimbabwean poachers who admitted to killing 18 rhinos were also freed in a failed judiciary process."

Firm International Action

The briefing concludes that governments need "an accurate and up-to-date picture of the status, conservation and trade in African and Asian rhinoceroses, as well as the factors driving the consumption of rhinoceros horn, so that firm international action can be taken to arrest this immediate threat to rhinoceros populations worldwide."

"Rhino populations in both Africa and Asia are being seriously threatened by poaching and illegal trade," said Jane Smart, director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group. "IUCN and its African and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups are working hard to gather data and information on rhinos so that CITES parties can make informed decisions and ensure that rhinos are still here for generations to come."

NGS photo of live rhinos in Africa by Robert Sisson

The 58th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee is being held in Geneva from July 6 -10 . This issue will be further discussed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, which will be held in Doha, Qatar March 13-25, 2010.

CITES is an international agreement between 175 governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

The largest illegal ivory market in Asia--much of it poached from elephants in Africa--continues to thrive in Thailand, according to the latest market surveys by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. 
 

Photo of ivory Buddhas by Daniel Stiles/TRAFFIC

The organization also raises concerns that legal provisions in Thailand governing trade in domesticated elephants are providing cover for illegal trade in wild-caught, highly-endangered Asian elephants from both Thailand and neighboring Myanmar.

TRAFFIC, a partnership of WWF and IUCN, oversees a global monitoring program, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

CITES is an international agreement between governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Thailand Signed Treaty Regulating Willdife Trade

Thailand is one of 175 countries that is party to the agreement.

But surveys documented more than 26,000 worked ivory products for sale in local Thailand markets, "with many more retail outlets dealing in ivory products than were observed during market surveys carried out in 2001," the network TRAFFIC in a statement.

"Market surveys found 50 more retail outlets offering ivory items in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in 2008 than the previous year. However, overall there was less worked ivory openly on sale than in 2001," the report noted.

"Thailand has consistently been identified as one of the world's top five countries most heavily implicated in the illicit ivory trade, but shows little sign of addressing outstanding issues," said Tom Milliken, of TRAFFIC.

"Thailand needs to reassess its policy for controlling its local ivory markets as currently it is not implementing international requirements to the ongoing detriment of both African and Asian Elephant populations," Milliken said.

"Since 2004, the Thai government has only reported two ivory seizure cases totaling 1.2 tonnes of raw ivory."

Bangkok is the Hub

Thailand's capital, Bangkok, a major tourist destination, has emerged as the main hub for illegal ivory activities, accounting for over 70 percent of the retail outlets in Thailand offering ivory items for sale, TRAFFIC said.

The report includes new information on ivory workshops--eight in Uthai Thani, one each in Chai Nat and Payuha Kiri, and three in Bangkok--"between them employing dozens of carvers in the production of ivory jewelry, belt buckles and knife-handles."

Photo of ivory factory in Uthai Thani by Danile Stiles/TRAFFIC

Much of the ivory being worked is illegally imported from Africa, TRAFFIC said.

"Some workshop owners boasted close ties with European knife makers, while others reported sending ivory, steel and silver items to the U.S. for sale in gun shops."

"The Thai Government needs to crack down on this serious illegal activity and stop allowing people to abuse the law," said Colman O'Criodain, WWF International's analyst on wildlife trade issues.

"A good first step would be to put in place a comprehensive registration system for all ivory in trade and for live elephants."

"Traders [are] buying wild-caught elephant calves for use in Bangkok as 'beggars.'"

The study also uncovered reports of traders buying wild-caught elephant calves for use in Bangkok as "beggars" on the streets in major tourist centres, or selling them to elephant camps and entertainment parks, TRAFFIC said.

"Hundreds of live elephants are known to have been illegally imported from Myanmar in recent years, to be sold to elephant trekking companies catering to adventure tourism in Thailand.

"The capture of wild elephants has been banned in Thailand since the 1970s, but such trade usually goes undetected because domesticated elephants do not have to be registered legally until they are eight years of age." 

The study also found that over a quarter of all live elephant exports from Thailand between 1980 and 2005 could have been illegal due to incomplete and inaccurate declarations made on the documentation required under CITES.

"There must be greater scrutiny of the live elephant trade if enforcement efforts are to have any impact at all," said Chris R. Shepherd, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia's Acting Director.

"Thailand and Myanmar should work together, and with urgency, to address cross-border trade problems," he added.

More about the ivory wars >>

NGS photo by Jodi Cobb

Smithsonian's National Zoo photo by Lisa Ware

An endangered clouded leopard at the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Conservation & Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia, gave birth to a genetically valuable litter of two cubs today. They are the first such births at the special breeding facility in 16 years.

"Staff has been on pregnancy watch of the two-and-a-half year-old clouded leopard 'Jao Chu' (JOW-chew) for five days. She gave birth to the litter early Tuesday morning," said a zoo news release.

This is Jao Chu's first litter. She and the cubs' father, two-and-a-half year-old "Hannibal," were born in Thailand in a collaborative research program with the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand. The pairing of Jao Chu and Hannibal and the resultant offspring infuses precious genes into the captive population of clouded leopards.

The cubs' sex will not be known until the first veterinary exam, the zoo said. They are being hand raised by zoo staff to increase their chances of survival.

"Due to deforestation and hunting, clouded leopards are vulnerable to extinction. National Zoo scientist Dr. JoGayle Howard and colleagues are aggressively working toward saving this species from decline," the statement added.

Smithsonian's National Zoo photo by Lisa Ware

The Zoo has been working with clouded leopards at the Conservation & Research Center since 1978, with the goal of creating a genetically diverse population. In the past 30 years, more than 70 clouded leopards have been born at the Zoo's research facility in Virginia, with the last litter born in 1993.

Breeding clouded leopards in captivity has been a challenge, primarily due to male aggression, decreased breeding activity between paired animals, and high cub mortality, the zoo said.

In 2002, the National Zoo in collaboration with the Nashville Zoo and the Clouded Leopard Species Survival Plan created the Thailand Clouded Leopard Consortium -- the largest population of confiscated clouded leopards in Southeast Asia.

The species survival plan oversees clouded leopard populations in zoos worldwide, and makes breeding recommendations for potential pairs based on the genetics of each cat.

(Watch a National Geographic video about this breeding progam below.)

Smithsonian's National Zoo photo by Lisa Ware

To date, the Thailand Clouded Leopard Consortium has produced 32 surviving cubs. The National Zoo's program at the Front Royal facility is the only one of its kind combining breeding with scientific research.

"For example, scientists still do not know why male clouded leopards attack their possible mates," the zoo said. "but several graduate students at the National Zoo are studying the males' behavior -- one student plans to test anti-anxiety drugs used in humans and domestic cats in an attempt to suppress male aggression."

Clouded leopard breeding video by National Geographic

Howard and colleagues have learned how to reduce the risk of fatal attacks by hand-rearing cubs for socialization and also introducing males to their mates when they are six months old, allowing the pair to grow up together. "Hannibal and Jao Chu, the only compatible pair of clouded leopards at CRC, are proof that these techniques work," the zoo said in its statement.

Little is known about clouded leopards. They are cats native to Southeast Asia and parts of China in a habitat that ranges from dense tropical evergreen forests to drier forests if there is suitable prey.

They are the smallest of the big cats, weighing 30 to 50 pounds and measuring about five feet long. Their short legs, large paws, and long tail (accounts for half their length) help them balance on small branches, and their flexible ankles allow them to run down trees headfirst.