Indonesian authorities said Wednesday they had seized five komodo dragons and dozens of other animals being sold on Facebook, as the country battles to clamp down on the illegal wildlife trade.

The vast Southeast Asian archipelago nation's dense tropical rainforests boast some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world and it has for years been a key source and transit point for animal trafficking.

Five smugglers, identified only by their initials, were arrested in Semarang and Surabaya on Java island for allegedly trafficking the komodos -- the world's biggest lizard -- along with bearcats, cockatoos and cassowary birds.

"The suspect VS sold the komodos online through Facebook," East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said in a statement.

The dragons, which can only be found in their natural habitat on a cluster of islands in eastern Indonesia, were sold for between 15 and 20 million rupiah ($1,000-$1,400), Mangera said.

In a separate case, three other people were arrested in East Java over the alleged online sale of otters, leopard cats and pangolin, Mangera said.

If convicted, the smugglers could face up to five years in prison and a 100-million-rupiah fine.

The haul of komodo dragons comes just a day after authorities seized more than 5,000 endangered pig-nosed turtles from smugglers in Indonesia's easternmost province Papua.

The pig-nosed turtle -- which has a distinctive snout-like nose and webbed feet -- is only found in Australia and New Guinea, an island shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and is protected under Indonesian conservation laws.

Indonesia's illegal trade in wildlife along with habitat loss has driven numerous endangered species, from the Sumatran elephant to the orangutan, to the brink of extinction.

Authorities in Bali, a popular holiday island, last week arrested a Russian tourist who attempted to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Indonesia in his suitcase to keep as a pet.

Stranded baby elephants rescued by Thai rangers
Bangkok (AFP) March 30, 2019 - Six baby elephants separated from their parents and trapped in a muddy pit for days have been rescued by park rangers in rural Thailand, officials said Saturday.

Patrolling rangers chanced upon the struggling herd in a national park east of Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon, park superintendent Prawatsart Chantheap told AFP.

Once the rangers realised the calves, aged between one and four years old, could not climb out of the dirty watering hole, some left the forest to bring back digging tools while others stayed overnight to keep watch over the frightened creatures.

"Our team arrived with hoes (on Thursday morning)... and we began to dig around the rim (of the mud pit) to make it less steep," he said.

After three hours of digging to build a makeshift ramp, the mud-covered babies managed to stumble out of the pit one-by-one as the rangers cheered them on.

"Go, go, follow each other!" the rangers yelled in a video recorded by the national parks department. "Go, children, go!"

Prawatsart said the rangers had observed a herd of 30 adult elephants nearby and believed the young calves must have been separated from them.

"We believe they were stuck there for at least two days because after they got out their legs were weak," he said.

Wild elephants are Thailand's national animal and live in the wild in parts of the country but their numbers have dwindled to about 2,700 from a peak of over 100,000 in 1850.

Deforestation and habitat loss has brought them in closer contact with humans in recent decades, and they often clash with villagers and farmers.

Elephants are also poached or domesticated for entertainment and tourism.

Singapore seizes record shipment of pangolin scales
Singapore (AFP) April 4, 2019 - Singaporean authorities made a record seizure of nearly 13 tonnes of pangolin scales worth some $38.7 million, officials said Thursday, calling it the largest such haul globally in recent years.

Government agents found the shipment bound for Vietnam from Nigeria as they were checking a 40-foot container at a customs station on Wednesday, discovering the haul packed in 230 bags.

"This is the largest shipment of pangolin scales seized in a single haul globally in recent years," a government press release read.

Local media reported that some 17,000 pangolins were killed to fill the bags, which were packed in a shipment declared as containing "frozen beef".

The press release added that another 177 kgs (390 pounds) of cut and carved elephant ivory worth about $88,500 were also found alongside the scales.

Authorities across Southeast Asia have been trying to stop the rampant poaching and smuggling of pangolins, the world's most heavily trafficked mammal.

The animals, also known as scaly anteaters, are highly sought after by traditional medicine traders in countries such as China and Vietnam. Their scales, similar in constitution to fingernails, provide zero scientifically proven medicinal benefit.

Under Singaporean law, those found guilty of the illegal import, export or re-export of wildlife can fined up to S$500,000 ($369,375) and jailed up to two years or both.

Spider surprise: Philippines seizes 750 smuggled tarantulas
Manila (AFP) April 3, 2019 - Philippine authorities said Wednesday they cracked open a gift-wrapped package shipped from Poland to discover 757 tarantulas crammed into plastic containers.

The illicit payload found at a mail facility near Manila's airport was the latest seizure in a nation that is a major source and transit point of wildlife trafficking.

Customs thought the package suspicious and after opening it found boxes for cookies, oatmeal and tea. Yet the cartons contained dozens of plastic containers packed with arachnids.

The seized tarantulas -- priced at about $5,700 -- are frequently sold to hobbyists as pets, Arnel Matreo, chief of the Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit of the environment ministry, told AFP.

Matreo said two people who tried to claim the package were detained on charges of violating wildlife protection and customs laws.

Customs officials turned over the tarantulas to the environment ministry's rescue centre, which will take charge of the animals and identify its species.

The seizure comes about a month after authorities said they had seized about 1,500 exotic turtles, some of which were restrained with duct tape, crammed into a passenger's bag at Manila airport.

Vietnam seizes 9 tonnes of suspected ivory from Congo
Hanoi (AFP) March 29, 2019 - Vietnam has seized more than nine tonnes of suspected ivory in a timber shipment from the Republic of Congo, customs officials said Friday, in one of the country's largest illegal wildlife hauls in years.

Though it is illegal to buy and sell ivory in communist Vietnam, lax law enforcement has allowed the illicit trade to flourish on the black market.

The government has vowed to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in the face of mounting international pressure and authorities said the latest bust in central Danang city was the biggest in years.

"A huge 9.1-tonne (20,000-pound) package of goods suspected to be ivory hidden inside timber logs was found and confiscated," according to Hai Quan news site, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam Customs.

The ivory-stuffed timber logs were discovered Tuesday at Danang's main port on a ship from the Republic of Congo in central Africa, it added.

A customs official told AFP "authorities are still inspecting before making a final conclusion" about the substance.

Images on state media showed piles of alleged tusks being weighed by officers in a warehouse after the seizure.

Ivory is used for jewellery, decorative housewares and traditional medicine in Vietnam, which is also a popular transit hub for illegal wildlife destined for elsewhere in Asia, mainly China.

The government has struggled to crack down on the illicit trade as sales have moved online from traditional marketplaces.

Britain's Prince William was in Vietnam in 2016 to host a wildlife conference where he delivered an urgent plea to end trafficking to save critically endangered species.

Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

US zoo to return beloved giant pandas to China
Los Angeles (AFP) March 26, 2019
Two giant pandas that have been a star attraction at the San Diego Zoo for decades will soon be returned home to China, officials announced. Bai Yun, the 27-year-old female giant panda, and her son, six-year-old Xiao Liwu, will be repatriated to their ancestral homeland in late April. "Although we are sad to see these pandas go, we have great hopes for the future," Shawn Dixon, chief operating officer for San Diego Zoo Global, said in a statement issued Monday. "Working with our colleagues in Ch ... read more