On the Trail - Robin des Bois

agents. The first discovery resulted from the intuition
of the customs officers and their curiosity faced
with an unusual cargo for Hong Kong, soya beans,
especially when coming from the Côte d’Ivoire. The
value is estimated at US$ 1.5 million. The 3 x 20 foot
containers had been routed through Malaysia. It’s
the third seizure of ivory in Hong Kong in 3 months.
Some very long tusks possibly came from old stock.
The origin of the tusks is unknown. In 1980 there
were 4,000 elephants in Côte d’Ivoire, and today
there are no more than 800.
© Bruno Congar, Robin des Bois
Seizure of 10 elephant tusks (78 kg)
Zhanjiang, Province of Guangdong, China
September 4, 2013
The vehicle seemed quite respectable. On the
passenger seat was a woman with a baby. Everything
was fine except that at the rear there was
ivory packed in plastic bags. The same flying customs
squad has seized in recent months 49 varans
and 718 Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis,
Appendix I). In the wild, only a few thousand individuals
of this species are probably left.
Poaching of an elephant
Samburu National Reserve, Samburu County,
Kenya
5 th September 2013
Facebook: another elephant killed yesterday in
Samburu, butchered and its tusks removed!!!
Poaching of an elephant
Nyakweri Forest, Nyanza Province, Kenya
8 th September 2013
On the fringes of the forest, a young female elephant
was riddled with bullets, 13 from the right
side. Her tusks had disappeared.
© David Wong
Poaching of elephants
Mount Peko National Park, Region of Guémon,
Côte d’Ivoire
Mid-September 2013
We are Manchester City supporters. One of its
players, Yaya Touré, who comes from the Côte
d’Ivoire is involved in the fight against elephant
poaching. “We must unite our efforts to put in place
effective measures across Africa and across the
world. Weighty words but still too isolated when
the last Côte d’Ivoire elephants in the Mont Peko
National Park are subject to night time attacks from
poachers of indeterminate origin.
Far removed from the usual information on the
conflicts between poachers and elephants, the villagers
are worried. “There are 3 left; they meet at
night to drink in a clearing”.
Man sentenced to pay a fine of US$ 3,000 with
an 11 month suspended jail sentence
Plano, State of Texas, the United States of America
10 th September 2013
Mr Wan, based in the United States near Dallas, had
tried to send 2 carved and sculpted ivory objects by
post to 2 Chinese contacts. The goods were declared
as wood carvings. The packages did not foil the
suspicions of investigators specialised in the trafficking
of wild animals.
Seizure of 189 tusks (769kg)
Hong Kong, China
14 th and 19 th September 2013
Raw and carved tusks were found by Hong Kong
customs authorities in 3 different containers and
container vessels. The sender also used 3 shipping
Yaya Touré wearing the strip of the Côte d’Ivoire
national football team «the Elephants» © The Nation
65 On The Trail # 2. Robin des Bois