On the Trail - Robin des Bois

Poaching of an elephant
Rangchali River, Golaghat, Assam, India
July 9 th , 2013
The elephant was shot and killed. He was a male
around 25 years old. The poachers had followed
him to the river before they tore off his tusks and
ears. The trunk was found nearby. The violence of
these acts, uncommon for this region, shocked the
local population that dedicate themselves to the
culture of tea and are sometimes face to face with
incursions of elephants. The area is known for being
a natural corridor between the Deopahar forest and
the hills of Karby.
Poaching of a male elephant
Aceh Jaya District, Province of Aceh, Sumatra,
Indonesia
July 13, 2013
According to an old French proverb “when one
wants to drown a dog one says it has rabies”. An
African and Asian proverb could be: “When one
wants to kill an elephant one blames it for massive
destruction”. In Sumatra, a male elephant with a
bad reputation was killed. However, the poachers
did not forget to extract the tusks, 2 treasured souvenirs
which in exchange for a lot of money will
finish at the end of the smuggling chain in another
Asian country. This is the third wild elephant killed
around the Banda Aceh district.
The Sumatran elephant population is estimated to
be less than 500 individuals. They have smaller tusks
than elephants on the Indian continent. Sumatran
elephants are victims of the loss of their natural
habitat caused by deforestation and oil palm plantations.
Deforestation has increased due to reconstruction
works following the December 2004 tsunami.
This incursion of human activities in the last
natural habitat of the Sumatran elephant obviously
causes conflict between humans and elephants.
© Assam Times
Seizure of an elephant tusk
Cooch Behar, Western Bengal, India
July 10 th , 2013
3 people from the state neighbouring Assam were
arrested for possession of an elephant tusk.
© WWF-Indonesia
Eléphant mâle d’Asie © AWF
A man sentenced to a US$ 12,000 fine for the
illegal importation of ivory.
Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand
July 10 th , 2013
In September 2011, 2 ivory objects were intercepted
in their packages coming from the United Kingdom
and Portugal. Authorities discovered other ivory
articles (statues, carved tusks, engraved letters) at
the parcels’ destination, the home of Jiezhen Jian,
a 57 year old retiree of Chinese origin. After previously
defending himself for knowing the value of
ivory, he then admitted he favoured ivory objects
due to their artistic and speculative worth. Over a
period of 10 months, he had bought 299 objects
made from precious materials and resold them in
China over the Internet. This is the first time in New
Zealand that someone has been convicted for illegally
importing ivory.
Seizure of 2 tusks
Loniak, Laikipia County, Kenya
July 15, 2013
The 2 tusks are suspected to be originated from elephant
poaching carried out in the Mugie Conservancy.
4 suspects were arrested in the nearby village
of Loniak. The inhabitants had notified the
police. The accused had in their possession an AK
47, bullets, bows & arrows which were all seized.
2 men arrested for ivory trafficking
Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
July 15 th 2013
The arrest took place after a seizure of 96 elephant
tusks (197 kg) in June. Tusks fell out of a crate accidentally
broken during handling in a logistic company.
The recipient of the 6 tusks crates, named
Wang, turned himself in after a few days claiming to
be only the middleman unaware of the ivory smuggling.
Police considered that Wang, an illiterate farmer,
couldn’t be the organizer of the smuggling and
the investigation lead to the culprit: a man named
Wu, owner of a furniture manufacture in Putian. Wu
was arrested and finally confessed he was the final
buyer of the elephant tusks. He claimed he bought
them for US$ 265,000 although the Chinese customs
estimate the seizure value to US$ 3,2 million
55 On The Trail # 2. Robin des Bois