Search results

The three were arrested in Lagos in July 2021 following the interception by Nigerian Customs agents of 196 sacks of pangolin scales weighing 7,137.40kg, one sack of pangolin claws weighing 4.60kg and 29 sacks of elephant tusks weighing 870.4kg.

The non-profit called on Nigerians to protect Nigeria's endangered species while urging the federal government to pass the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill as the world marks Endangered Species Day, an annual event to celebrate and take action to protect threatened and endangered species. Nigeria is home to numerous wild animals such as pangolins, lions, chimpanzees, elephants, gorillas, vultures, manatees, and parrots.

The Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill - prepared by the Nigerian Ministry of Environment and jointly sponsored by Johnson Oghuma, Chair of the House Environment Committee, and Sam Onuigbo – would make Nigeria compliant with international conventions on endangered species, organised crime and corruption while increasing investigative powers to include financial enquiries and intelligence-led operations.

The Nigeria Customs Service, in collaboration with Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), has intercepted 397.5 Kilogramme of pangolin scales and arrested 8 suspects in connection with the seizure.

Our investigation into pangolin trade from Uganda to China exposes serious legal loopholes.

Despite being 20 times smaller and having much lower rainfall, Richtersveld has more plant species than the country's famous Kruger national park. It is, says Van Wyk, "the most important succulent laboratory in the world". But it is this variety of rare succulents that draws the poachers. Many Richtersveld species are so specialised that they grow only in one valley or on one mountain slope. In extreme cases an entire species can be confined to an area smaller than a football pitch, so a poacher could render a species extinct in a morning.

Rhino populations are being hammered by poachers, steeping Africa in blood and pushing the species ever-closer to extinction to satisfy the demand for rhino horn in Vietnam and other countries - a demand largely based on the myth of the non-existent medicinal properties of rhino horn. For the record, rhino horn is entirely composed of keratin, also the chief component in hair, nails and animal hooves; you’ve as much chance of curing cancer by biting your nails as you have by drinking powdered rhino horn.