If this doesn’t make you angry nothing will. In the past six years seizures in Hong Kong of illegal ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn have equated to the deaths of 3,000 elephants, 96,000 pangolins and 51 rhinoceros. This is from a University of Hong Kong report published earlier this year.
In Geneva this week a conference attracting more than 180 countries is going on addressing the plight of endangered species. In researching this, we found the shocking university report.
Hong Kong’s premiere university said, “Hong Kong’s illegal wildlife trade is contributing to the global extinction crisis. Every year millions of live animals and plants are illegally trafficked into and through Hong Kong by transnational companies and crime syndicates.” Over the past decade the diversity of endangered species imported into Hong Kong has increased by 57 per cent. The value of the trade has risen by 1600 per cent.
A group of NGO officials, academics and animal welfare activists meets regularly in Hong Kong. It is called The Hong Kong Wildlife Trade Working Group and has published a 200-page report, “Trading in Extinction: The Dark Side of Hong Kong’s Wildlife Trade”.
The city has a central role in global wildlife trafficking and the extent and nature of the associated criminality, the report said. Associate Law Professor Amanda Whitford said wildlife crime in Hong Kong remains under-policed and under-investigated. Wildlife smuggling is not regarded as organised and serious crime, under Hong Kong law. The Organised and Serious Crime Ordinance Cap 455 needs to be strengthened.
In Geneva this week delegates are talking about the Sixth Mass Extinction. More than one million species are at risk, a United Nations report said in May. The illegal wildlife trade — much of it funnelling through Hong Kong — is estimated at as much as US$20 billion a year, placing it fourth behind drugs, human trafficking and weapons. What criminal traffickers are not killing off habitat loss is threatening. Giraffes, rhinos, elephants, pangolins, sharks, tortoises and frogs are among the endangered species. Matt Collis, head of the IFAW delegation, said many species are so decimated they are at a tipping point for survival.
Thousands of conservationists and policymakers are meeting in Switzerland now. They are evaluating regulations and species protection listings under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This regulates trade in over 35,000 species of animals and plants. It has mechanisms for cracking down on illegal trafficking and for sanctions against countries that break the rules.
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