Abstract
The chapter focuses on crimes against wildlife as illustrated by ivory trade in China and its wildlife law in an attempt to identify some of the problems in the current legal protection regime for wildlife. It argues that wildlife crime is a serious crime, and transnational wildlife crime is a growing menace to the animal and human world and requires international actions. Despite the legal framework and laws at the international and domestic levels in many countries including China, African elephants, rhinos and other endangered wildlife are facing extinction due to the growing demand and trade for such animal products in Asia and the ineffective protection system. A fundamental change of attitude and conception in wildlife protection is required, that is, wildlife and animals in general need to be protected irrespective of their species and wildlife must not be seen as resources for human exploitation as illustrated by China’s ivory case. A more practical and immediate urgent measure is a comprehensive ban of all trade of ivory products in China and elsewhere. Wildlife are victims of human crimes and deserve our protection, and the definition of crimes against wildlife needs to be expanded to include harms done to them either legally or illegally in order to safeguard and enhance animal rights and interests in our increasingly globalized world.
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Notes
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/opinion/the-poaching-of-elephants-and-rhinos.html?ref=elephants;http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/world/africa/to-save-wildlife-and-tourism-kenyans-take-up-arms.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/world/africa/ruthless-smuggling-rings-put-rhinos-in-the-cross-hairs.html; see alsohttp://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/a-searing-look-at-ties-between-africas-wars-and-the-ivory-trade/
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District Attorney, New York County media release, 12 July 2012
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The U.S. Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3371–3378) makes it a federal violation to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any fish, wildlife or plants, taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any State.
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It was reported that South African authorities currently issue permits to what it terms ‘bona fide’ hunters for trophy hunting. The SA Department for Environmental Affairs says ‘a hunting client may only hunt one White Rhinoceros within a specific calendar year.’
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www.zoutnet.co.za/details/17-08-2012/21_years_in_jail_for_two_rhino_poachers/14483, 17 August 2012; www. newsday.co.zw/article/2012-06-29-poachers-jailed-17-years, 29 June 2012
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For instance, see the SFA notice on inclusion of markings of products made from tiger and leopard skin, and medicinal tablets containing Tibetan antelope horns and pangolin body parts and various products containing body parts of CITES listed snakes for legal trading purposes: http://www.forestry.gov.cn/portal/main/govfile/13/govfile_1102.html; see also http://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA_Table-of-relevant-laws-and-notifications-in-China_Feb-25-2013.pdf
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See a report on the failure of the sale http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/ 2013/05/30/china-ivory-prosecution-a-success-exposes-fundamental-failure/Bryan Christy in A Voice for Elephants on May 30, 2013. See also http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/elephants-201108
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For instance, in July 2012, the CITES Management Authority of China in its submission on the control of trade in ivory in China to a CITES standing committee meeting in Geneva http://www.cites.org/eng/com/sc/62/inf/E62i-08.pdf
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Similarly, China also has very tough law enforcement for crimes relating to panda killing, and the death penalty was also applied in some instances in the recent past before capital punishment was taken out of the criminal law for such crimes. It has served as a strong deterrent and has worked for pandas. For discussions of the tough law regarding panda protection in China, see Cao (2015).
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Cao, D. (2016). Wildlife Crimes and Legal Protection of Wildlife in China. In: Cao, D., White, S. (eds) Animal Law and Welfare - International Perspectives. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 53. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26818-7_12
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