This is me in Sri Lanka’s Kaudulla National Park in May this year. The sight of 80 wild Asia elephants literally brought tears to my eyes. I’ll never forget those few hours for as long as I live. Their sheer size and number was overwhelming. I was quite literally gobsmacked, a small feat for someone […]
November 5, 2013
The security to get into the United Nations compound is tight. Understandable given September’s terrorist attack. I arrived this morning to find I was not on the list. A heavy sigh by me and a raised eyebrow by the armed guard didn’t speed up the process. So I smiled sweetly and produced my passport. After […]
October 30, 2013
I recently listened to an interview on the radio by two conservation activists talking about the state of wildlife trafficking globally. It made depressing listening. High on the agenda was the issue of ivory and the butchery that’s involved in removing tusks from elephants. One of the interviewees said to the presenter, “imagine having your […]
November 7, 2012
The extraction of Guinea’s large mineral wealth by China is being used as a smoke screen for the illegal trafficking of great apes from the continent say UN conservationists. As China continues to push its economic development, precious resources in some of the most remote corners of Guinea are being pumped out of the country […]
August 21, 2011
Yesterday I was deployed to Birmingham to report on how West Midlands Police faced gun fire from a masked-gang of 30 youths during an organised attack in the area of Aston earlier this month. The chief constable I interviewed, told me he believed this group, which had four handguns, had every intention of injuring or […]
February 1, 2011
Over the weekend a meeting held by conservationists from the UK and America took place at Chester Zoo. The event organised by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) North-West group, highlighted growing concerns that the number of endangered species being smuggled out of Africa, in particular primates, are being trafficked by international criminal gangs already involved […]
January 20, 2011
If you had asked me two years ago where Gabon was, I probably would have struggled to pin point its exact whereabouts in Africa on a map. Now, it’s a different story and I know only too well where this West African nation lies and sadly today, it’s made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. […]
December 30, 2010
Each year more than a quarter of a million smuggled animals are seized by Brazil’s special police task force. The fight against this illegal trade is one, the authorities say, they are winning. According to the special environmental police battalion, it has cut the traffic in exotic animals onto the market by 80 per cent compared […]
August 19, 2014
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