Latest news with #wildlifetrade
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Man who led illegal duck hunting trips to B.C. pleads guilty in U.S., faces $175K fine
A Washington state resident and his company have admitted in U.S. court to illegally leading duck hunting trips into British Columbia, where he was not allowed to operate as a guide. Branden Trager and his company Mayhem Services LLC now face a recommended total of US$175,000 in fines for related crimes they also admitted committing. The Brush Prairie, Wash., resident and the company pleaded guilty Monday in a U.S. court to violating the Lacey Act, a U.S. federal law that prohibits the trade and transport of wildlife taken in violation of domestic or foreign law. 'In pleading guilty, Trager admitted he and Mayhem Services violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) during a January 2023 hunting trip in western Washington and then transported the taken birds in violation of the Lacey Act,' the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release Tuesday. 'Trager also acknowledged that in 2022 he brought hunters into British Columbia, Canada, where he guided waterfowl hunting trips targeting the harlequin duck. He could not operate as a hunting guide under Canadian law.' According to the department, the harlequin duck ranges from Alaska to California and is prized by hunters as a trophy and as part of a challenge to hunt 41 species of North American waterfowl. Washington state closed harlequin hunting for the 2022-23 season, but limited hunting remained open in B.C., the department said. The plea agreements filed in court recommend fines of $100,000 for Trager and $75,000 for his company. A sentencing in the matter is scheduled for Oct. 16. When it first announced the charges in January, the department alleged Trager had not only violated the MBTA and the Lacey Act, but also conspired with an unnamed, B.C.-based taxidermist to send the birds back to the United States. The latest release from the Department of Justice makes no mention of the conspiracy charge, suggesting that it may have been dropped. CTV News has reached out to the department for more information on what happened to that allegation. This story will be updated if a response is received. According to the department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement led the investigation, with help from the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Homeland Security Investigations.
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Big cat owners hide their animals amid Pakistani crackdown
The smell hanging in the air is the first sign there's something unusual about the farmhouse on the outskirts of one of Pakistan's largest cities, inside, the cause becomes clear: the property is home to 26 lions, tigers and cubs – and belongs to rain, he says, has turned the ground into the animals are "happy here", he insists. "When they see us, they come over, they eat... they're not aggressive."Almost instantly, one of the lions roars."That one is aggressive, it's his nature," Fayyaz says. Fayyaz loves big cats. From this facility – thought to be the largest of its kind in private hands nationwide – the 38-year-old has sold cubs and breeding pairs for the last 10 years. He is widely considered to be one of the biggest lion dealers in decades these animals – lions, tigers, pumas, cheetahs and jaguars – have been a sign of power, status and even political fealty in the country. The tiger, for example, is a symbol of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. More recently, with the dawn of short video social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, there's been a surge in ownership, with lions now sometimes even brought along to wedding in the wake of a pet lion escaping and attacking a woman and her two children as they walked down the street in Lahore, the government has launched a crackdown – one which is already impacting people like Fayyaz. Among the new rules, owners must pay a one-time registration fee of 50,000 Pakistani rupees ($176; £129) per animal and farms are to keep a maximum of 10 big cats from no more than two species. The sites must also be open to the public for new laws could result in a fine of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees and, for the worst offenders, up to seven years in another property on the outskirts of Lahore, five lion cubs – their coats muddied – pace around a cage."But where are the parents?" a wildlife official asks there are several empty cages. Wildlife officials are here after receiving a tip-off that a man was holding lions and cubs without a licence, and was breeding them for sale illegally. By the time they arrived, the owner was missing, leaving his caretaker holding the bag."I was only hired two weeks ago," he complains, as he was placed in the back of a truck and taken away for questioning. The officials suspect the owner may have taken the cubs' parents away and hidden rescued cubs have now been transferred to a public zoo in Lahore, and isolated for medical in a country where big cats have been sold for decades, officials worry the raids are barely scratching the surface. They believe there are in fact hundreds, if not thousands, of undeclared big cats in the state of Punjab alone."This is going to take at least six months," Mubeen Ellahi, the director general of Wildlife & Parks, tells the BBC. He expects 30-40% of the lions in Punjab will not be voluntarily is also another complication. Mubeen explains inbreeding has become a common practice in Pakistan, and some big cats may have to be euthanised. "They have a lot of health problems. We are still considering the policy," he added. He pointed to another incident in December last year, when another lion escaped in Lahore, and was then shot and at Fayyaz's property, he is considering what to do official told the BBC they're dissatisfied with the size of the cages, and that the farm needs to convert itself into a zoo. Fayyaz now has three months to animal rights groups believe more needs to be done for these animals."We've been calling for sanctuaries, not zoos," Altamush Saeed told the BBC. He wants more transparency of the conditions inside the zoos, and for the government to properly address the problem of privately owning big cats."We need a systematic solution, not stopgaps."Additional reporting by Usman Zahid and Malik Mudassir
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Officials uncover shocking scale of smuggling ring driving species to brink: 'Substantial and lucrative'
Officials uncover shocking scale of smuggling ring driving species to brink: 'Substantial and lucrative' Despite the European Union's ban on the export of critically endangered European glass eels in 2010, the animals are still being illegally trafficked in record numbers and face a high risk of extinction. What's happening? As Mongabay reported, European eels have been a hot commodity in the illegal wildlife trade since the 1990s, particularly in East Asia, when Japan's native eel populations began declining. Because of concerns about the eels being overexploited, they were listed under Appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in 2007, which restricts their trade by requiring export permits. The following year, European eels were classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, reflecting a 97% decline in their population since 1980, as reported in a separate Mongabay article. However, due to complex criminal networks spanning Europe and Asia, which even involve biologists, chemists, and veterinarians to ensure the animals survive their arduous journey, it's becoming increasingly difficult to catch smugglers. And since European glass eels can't be bred in captivity, per the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, aquaculture farms that raise them to produce the traditional Japanese dish unagi must import wild-caught juveniles, making smuggling the animals a highly profitable endeavor. According to a 2025 Europol assessment of serious organized crime, profits generated by the smuggling of glass eels are estimated at 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in high-demand years. "The trafficking of glass eels remains one of the most substantial and lucrative illegal trades of protected species across the globe," the law enforcement agency wrote in the report. Ignasi Sanahuja, a physiology professor at the University of Barcelona and lead author of a study on the environmental consequences of the European eel trade, told Mongabay that if more efforts aren't made to stop smugglers, the animals and the ecosystems they inhabit could face major risks. "Disruptions at any stage — especially through overharvesting of glass eels — can collapse the entire population structure," Sanahuja told the news outlet. "Continued unregulated trade exacerbates this decline, threatening not only the species but also the ecological balance of the habitats they occupy." Why is the trafficking of European eels concerning? The illegal wildlife trade hurts economies because it reduces tax revenue for local communities and governments and threatens the livelihoods of traditional fishermen, farmers, and eel processors who have relied on sustainable eel fishing for centuries, particularly in Atlantic coastal communities, per Wired. Not to mention, trafficking the eels disrupts marine and freshwater ecosystems, as they act as both predators and prey, helping to regulate populations of other species and maintain biodiversity. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. "The illegal or excessive harvest of glass eels strips away a critical life stage," Sanahuja said. "That disrupts their ecological role — leading to a cascade of effects like overpopulation of aquatic insects, reduced food for eel predators, and weakened ecosystem resilience." Even when eels are rescued and released back into their native habitats, they put wild populations at risk of contracting bacterial infections because of their reduced immunity. And if the European eels happen to escape from aquaculture farms in Asia, they could outcompete native species for resources and contribute to ecosystem collapse in other areas as well. What's being done to protect them? Louisa Musing, the senior program officer for the organization TRAFFIC in Europe, told Mongabay that the huge scale of the trade demands coordinated efforts from multiple agencies across the EU and stronger legislation to prevent smuggling. But even though authorities are cracking down on wildlife crimes associated with the eels, experts say public awareness campaigns and reintroduction programs are also necessary to help the species rebound. Individuals can help by learning more about wildlife trafficking, reporting suspicious activity to anti-trafficking hotlines, and donating to nonprofits such as the World Wildlife Fund that are working to end the illegal wildlife trade. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NOSTALGIA: A look at Cumbria's love of nature on Global Tiger Day
FOR this Nostalgia edition we wanted to take a look at Global Tiger Day. An annual celebration to raise awareness for the plight of tigers and the urgent need for tiger conservation. Tigers are a critically endangered species whose numbers are affected by the illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss and climate change. Wild tiger populations have declined by around 95% since the beginning of the 20th century. There's now estimated to be around 3,900 wild tigers. Each tiger has a unique set of stripes – like a fingerprint – and this helps us identify individuals in the wild. Since the beginning of the 20th century, wild tiger populations have declined by around 95%. Sadly, there are more tigers in captivity in the US than are left in the wild. The tiger is officially classed as endangered by the IUCN. These photos show how people in Cumbria have shown their love of tigers over the years.
