Crackdown on illegal tiger trade
Delegates of policing and customs enforcement organisations from 13 nations have agreed to improve cross-border co-operation and tighten controls after a two-day meeting in Bangkok. The seminar, hosted by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) and organised by Interpol, was attended by 26 senior officials from the world's leading criminal justice organisations and delegates from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Delegates also took the opportunity to formally endorse Project Predator, an Interpol-led effort to counter tiger smuggling. The project, which was launched in November 2011, has the stated objectives of:
- Organising collaborative, high-level international efforts to improve political will to tackle the problem of illegal trade in tiger parts.
- Transforming politicians' will to act into tangible support from government departments and agencies.
- Training enforcement officers in the necessary skills.
Also present was Interpol's Executive Director of Police Services, Jean-Michel Louboutin, who observed that "This important seminar has highlighted the environmental crime challenges facing senior law enforcement officers, and the need for enhanced international co-operation. Criminals cannot prosper from abusing our shared national heritage."
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
