Hybridisation on Chinese fish farms poses a risk for wild sturgeon
China is now the world’s largest producer of farmed sturgeon, but rampant hybridisation in pursuit of high yields of meat and caviar may...
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Jan 26, 20236 min read
Trade in Napoleon wrasse continues in Mainland China despite the ban
Napoleon wrasse are an iconic species of fish that inhabit the waters around the coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. A...
Nov 23, 20223 min read
Multiple seizures of live ants, beetles and scorpions announced by China's customs
Chinese customs have recently been posting on their social media channels numerous notices of seizures of live insects and arachnids. The...
Oct 19, 20224 min read
Release of invasive species made criminal offence in China - Hong Kong urgently needs similar law
Invasive species are making headlines in China. In August, an alligator gar, a large predatory fish, was discovered in a lake in the city...
Feb 18, 20225 min read
Jaguar tooth trade – a victimless crime?
In March 2015, a 42 year old businessman Li Jianyuan was stopped by the customs in Beijing Capital Airport. Li arrived from Paris, but...
Jan 11, 20223 min read
Large quantities of saiga horn exported from Ukraine after a breeding facility is launched
Attempts to establish breeding populations of saiga in zoos have been largely unsuccessful. However, Ukraine’s Askania-Nova Biosphere...
Jan 7, 20225 min read
Saiga from Vietnam – smuggling of saiga horn into mainland China
The demand for saiga horn in traditional medicine has been driving the surge in saiga poaching in Kazakhstan where most of world’s saiga...
Jan 4, 20226 min read
Kazakhstan’s wildlife rangers are paying with their lives for Asian demand for saiga horn
Saiga antelope is a survivor from the era of mammoths and cave lions. Enormous herds once migrated across the Eurasian grasslands that...
Dec 18, 20214 min read
Wildlife smuggler sentenced to 11 years in Brazil, charged with involvement in organised crime
Kirill Kravchenko, a notorious Russian wildlife smuggler, has been recently sentenced in Brazil to 11 years imprisonment and a fine of...
Oct 8, 20214 min read
Zoo in China releases a wild-caught snow leopard after a public outcry
On the 5th of September, 2021, herders in Dorbod Banner in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China spotted a snow leopard wandering on...
Sep 9, 20215 min read
New Zealand geckos smuggled into Russia are now bred for profit
Found nowhere else on Earth, New Zealand geckos are amongst the reptiles most sought after by collectors. All of New Zealand’s gecko...
Aug 13, 20218 min read
How do traffickers ship ivory and pangolin scales from the Congo into Vietnam and China?
In July 2019, a record seizure of wildlife products by Singapore authorities - almost 10 tonnes of elephant ivory and 12 tonnes of...
Aug 9, 20216 min read
Illegal trade in Madagascar rosewood continues - Hong Kong a key hub
Rosewood is the most trafficked wildlife commodity per weight in the world. It comes from trees of the genus Dalbergia, and has long been...
Aug 5, 20213 min read
Turtles painted with cartoon characters no longer sold on-line after condemnation by Chinese public
China, as yet, has no law against cruelty to animals, despite calls for the introduction of such laws from the country’s animal rights...
Jul 29, 20213 min read
Dried seahorses and totoaba bladders smuggled from Vietnam seized by Chinese police
Chinese media reported two large seizures of dried seahorses and one of totoaba fish bladders in Guangxi Autonomous Region. The...
Jul 26, 20213 min read
Seller of endangered tarantulas gets 2 years in jail in China
In China, keepers and traders of exotic pets are feeling the crackdown on wildlife crime in the country. Selling, buying and keeping...
Jul 20, 20215 min read
China's craze for snapping turtles
Millions are imported from the USA to feed the demand of a vast pet turtle market where wild-caught turtles command higher prices and...
Jul 6, 20216 min read
Controversy erupts in China over the decision to move 14 Yangtze porpoises to ocean parks
Fourteen critically endangered wild Yangtze finless porpoises were recently captured in China’s protected areas and relocated to two...
Jun 22, 20214 min read
Environmental crime crackdown in China - harvesters of midge larvae fined
Court in Anhui Province fined six people 66,400 yuan (about 10,300 US dollars) for harvesting bloodworms – aquatic larvae of non-biting...
Jun 12, 20213 min read
Two Tonnes of rosewood seized by Chinese customs
The Chinese media have recently reported a seizure of two tonnes of rosewood at Shuikou customs in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from...
The SVIS Initiative Blog
Latest news on wildlife trade, crime and conservation
in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Asia Pacific
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