Coming back to Uganda has been a surreal experience. I fell in love with the country and its people after spending four months here in 2012 for my primatology research. In my experience Ugandan’s are generally bubbly, happy and helpful. So far after 2 days in the country this memory has been reaffirmed. The biggest […]
November 7, 2013
Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m not someone who minces their words. I like to think I’m not flat-out inappropriate but I do tell it as it is. Something I think the staff at the United Nations were not fully prepared for. As I headed into the compound yesterday morning I was greeted […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
June 14, 2014
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