How Hong Kong can put a freeze on illegal shark fin trade.
Hong Kong is at the epicentre of the global trade in shark fin, contributing to a more than 40% of the world’s shark fin imports annually. The unsustainable demand for shark fin soup remains a primary driver for the overfishing of sharks and rays on a global sale. Between 2014 - 2019, Hong Kong Customs made 59 shark fin seizures totalling 12,238kg, with 28 cases in 2019. Only 5 cases were prosecuted in that period.
However, no wildlife traffickers have ever been prosecuted in Hong Kong for money laundering related offences and no syndicates indicted for wildlife smuggling, although the city is a wildlife trading hub. The government has continued to fail to recognise wildlife crimes as specified offences under the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap 455). Doing so would would provide greater investigatory powers in order to combat Hong Kong’s increasingly serious wildlife trafficking problem.
Courtesy of Christopher Jay.
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How the pandemic is affecting Nara Park deer.
Japan’s famed Nara deer have been considered national treasures for decades. But the recent pandemic has led to a drastic decrease in tourists visiting Nara Park, which has meant that the deer have not only had to revert to their normal food source instead of the nutrient packed rice crackers, but are now roaming further away from the park in search of something similar.
Courtesy of Daphne Ng.
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HS2 may be guilty of wildlife crime by felling trees illegally.
Lawyers have warned High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd might be felling trees illegally, after an ecology report found evidence of the Western barbastelle, one of the UK’s rarest bat species, in an area of ancient woodland being cleared for the high-speed rail line.
Courtesy of Arial Ng.
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NSW Court delivers landmark ruling for pet owners.
The New South Wales Court of Appeal has ruled that an attempt by one of Sydney’s most famous apartment buildings to ban animal was a breach of the law. The ruling means no apartment building in the state of New South Wales will be able to enforce blanket bans on pets.
Courtesy of Marco Poon.
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The Cost of a Covid-19 Vaccine: The Lives of 500,000 sharks.
Shark’s produce a natural compound called squalene in their liver to help regulate their buoyancy. Sharks that live in deeper water tend to have more oil in their livers. An estimate by the conservation group Shark Allies has suggested that as many as 500,000 sharks may be harvested in order to create enough COVID-19 vaccines to distribute globally, if synthetic alternatives to squalene are not created.
Courtesy of Christopher Jay.
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Tasmania devils reintroduced into Australian wild.
Tasmanian devils have been reintroduced into the wild in mainland Australia for the first time in 3,000 years. The reintroduction has been described as “an incredible example of how to re-wild our planet, bringing back the natural systems to the benefit of all life on Earth.”
Courtesy of Marco Poon.
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Cyanobacteria may be to blame for 300 elephant deaths.
Alarms have been raised over the death of more than 300 African elephants in Botswana over the past several months. The mass deaths between May and June this year have been located near the country’s Okavango Delta, home to approximately 10% of the country’s 130,000 elephants.
Courtesy of Nicole Liang.
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Porcupines face a new poaching threat.
An article published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation has identified a new threat to old-world porcupines, a demand for their bezoars - congealed balls of indigestible matter left behind in a porcupine’s digestive tract.
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France to ban use of wild animals in circuses and marine parks.
France has announced a gradual ban on using wild animals in travelling circuses as part of new rules set to take effect in coming years. The new measures will also ban the keeping and breeding of dolphins and killer whales in captivity in France’s three marine parks and raising mink on fur farms.
Courtesy of Zoe M McCoy.
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4,000 animals found dead in Chinese logistics depot.
About 4,000 dogs, cats, rabbits and other animas have been found dead at a logistics hub in Luhoe, Henan province, after being stranded there for nearly a week. Many of these animals had been purchased online and packaged in delivery boxes, bound for onward consignment through to other parts of China.
Courtesy of Nicole Liang.
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Save a Dog’s Life - Adopt, Don’t Shop.
Adopt, Don’t Shop. It’s a phrase that we’ve heard all too often. But despite this animal welfare truism, there is still an insatiable demand for dogs from breeders or puppy mills, rather than choosing to rescuing one from an animal shelters.
Our latest blog looks into the licensing and codes of practice in Hong Kong relating to both animal traders and dog breeders as well as the squalid conditions many pet store animals find themselves living in. We also consider the difference between adopting a dog from a pet shelter and buying one from a pet store.
Courtesy of Daphne Ng.
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Two arrested in HK dognapping case.
A couple has been arrested in Hong Kong after an eight month old poodle named Coffee went missing, believed to be the victim of a dognapping by the couple who reportedly demanded a ransom of HK$40,000 from the owner.
Courtesy of Amelia Wang.
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One tonne of pangolin scales seized in biggest haul of year.
The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department have made the year’s biggest seizure of pangolin scales, finding 1000 kg of the contraband (estimated to have come from 50,000 pangolins) along with 13kg of dried snake gall bladders in a shipping container from Indonesia.
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US Aquarium faces lawsuit for the importation of five beluga whales.
An animal rights group is suing in federal court to stop a Connecticut aquarium from acquiring five more beluga whales for research, saying they would be harmed by the trip from Canada and being torn from long term relationships with others of their species.
Courtesy of Marco Poon.
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The Case for Launching Statutory Pet Trust in Hong Kong.
Pet owners provide constant love, care and affection to their animals. But does this positive welfare have to stop after the death of the owner? Unfortunately, with an ever growing reluctance from family members to take on such a responsibility, there has been an increase in pets being discarded and abandoned on the streets.
However, and as the author of this article has considered, will the formation of a statutory pet trust in Hong Kong be able to solve this worrisome issue? Learn about the legal, practical and conceptual difficulties that face the initiation of a statutory pet trust in Hong Kong, as well as the local and international legal precedents that would support its establishment.
Courtesy of Jeremy H.Y. Lam
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No charges laid despite repeated suffering and death of cats.
The Hong Kong Police have decided not to bring criminal charges against a couple who had adopted and fostered cats for the HK Saving Cat and Dog Association (“HKSCDA”), despite evidence that many of the cats suffered serious injuries whilst in their care, and the unfortunate deaths of others.
Courtesy of Jaime Lam and Amelia Wang.
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Federal Court grants final injunction to protect habitats from logging
On 27 May 2020, the Federal Court of Australia issued final injunctions to protect 66 forest areas, homes to the threatened Greater Gilder and critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, from logging by the State’s logging agent VicForests.
This is the first time the Federal Court has granted a final injunction to prevent logging of a threatened wildlife habitat and the first time Victoria’s logging industry - the largest in Australia - has been held to account for its devastating impacts on endangered wildlife.
Courtesy of Alicia So.
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Illegal shark fin traders charged in the US.
US Federal authorities have charged 12 people and seized nearly $8 million in cash, jewels and precious metals after disrupting a criminal enterprise that dealt drugs and sold illegally harvested shark fins to buyers overseas, including Hong Kong.
Courtesy of Arial Ng.
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NZ halts export after boat carrying 5,800 live cattle capsizes.
New Zealand has suspended the export of live cattle after a ship that left its shores with 43 crew members and nearly 6,000 cows capsized in the East China Sea. This incident has since raised questions about the safety and ethics of transporting livestock by sea.
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Dog seen struggling in open boot of moving vehicle.
A viral video has emerged showing a dog struggling to poke its head out of the boot of a moving vehicle, which had been left half opened and loosely secured by a piece of rope. A man has since been arrested on grounds of suspected animal cruelty.
Courtesy of Amelia Wang.
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