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Breaking News! Thai Authorities Remove 5 Tigers From Infamous Tiger Temple

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The first five of 147 tigers have been removed from the infamous Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi by the Department of National Parks, according to Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.  This development sends a clear message to the rest of the world that the Thai government is serious about protecting its tigers, which sets an essential precedent.

                      

"The exploitation, illegal trade and torture is going to stop," the foundation said in a post. 

The controversial, but popular tourist temple, which brings $3 million dollars annually due to tourists visiting to play and take selfies with the animals, has long been accused of abusing and exploiting their tigers.

Last week, National Geographic magazine stated that it had uncovered evidence that the infamous temple was trafficking the tigers and selling them on the black market.

The tigers were tranquilized and transported to government-operated animal reserves in Ratchaburi, according to the Bangkok Post. 

Although this seems promising, there are also rumors abound that the government has agreed to only remove 70 tigers, while the remaining 77 will be taken to a new zoo currently under construction. The logistics will need to be determined as far as the tigers’ path to freedom.

Past efforts to retrieve animals from the temple literally took an army. In April 2015, a team of 400, made up of department staff, soldiers, and police acted together to retrieve several moon bears kept without permits from the temple. More than 100 monks and staff blocked the entrance, which led the team to resort to hoisting the animals out with a crane.

If there is no similar resistance, 5-10 of the 140 tigers could be rescued and transported out of the temple per day. The hope is that they will then be housed in a true sanctuary.

Despite overwhelming evidence against the Tiger Temple, thousands of tourists continue to line up for selfies, which fuels the illegal tiger trade.

Sources: One Green Planet

Coconut Bangkok

Photo: Coconut Bangkok

Huffington Post

See more at: World Animal News

BREAKING: South Africa Bans Leopard Trophy Hunting

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The wholesale jerseys China Department cheap mlb jerseys of cheap jerseys Environmental Sports Affairs As has On effectively banned leopard trophy hunting throughout South Africa after it set provincial leopard trophy hunting quotas at zero for 2016.

The number of leopards in the country is unknown, and an urgent alert was sent that trophy hunting posed a high risk to the survival of the species.

Under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), South Africa may allocate 150 leopard trophy export permits annually. A warning appeared in the Government Gazette last year that stated that if the guidelines weren’t adhered to, quotas would be set to zero for 2016.

Guy Balme of the environmental NGO Panthera: ‘We just don’t know how leopards are faring in South Africa. They’re secretive, mainly nocturnal, solitary and range over huge areas. Counting them requires intensive research using expensive technology such as camera traps, which can only be deployed over small areas, far smaller than the areas in which hunting quotas are determined. It seems prudent that hunting should only continue once the appropriate measures are in place. Only then can we be confident that the practice is sustainable and not putting additional pressure on leopard populations already under a great deal of strain from other threats.”

The DEA stated that hunting would likely have a detrimental effect on the species’ survival.

The research authority found that leopards had a low reproductive rate, a fragmented distribution, an uncertain population trend, and that illegal harvesting in particular was not very well controlled as the rate of monitoring was low as only between 5% and 15% of leopard habitat was strictly protected.

The trophy ban will be in effect throughout this year. The scientific authority will then review the situation and will develop norms and standards for the management and monitoring of leopard hunting throughout the country.

Source: AfricaGeographic.com

See more at: World Animal News