During the month of May, a massive investigation into the global illegal wildlife trade took place, involving 92 countries and resulting in the seizure of tens of thousands of wild animals – dead and alive – along with tons of ivory, bush meat and even timber. According to Interpol, these seizures were worth millions of dollars.
This huge crackdown on animal trafficking, known as Operation Thunderstorm, was coordinated internationally and included cooperation from countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, the Middle East and the UK, along with the United States, Canada and Vanuatu.
Interpol reported that these efforts have seen incredible results, with around 1,400 suspects identified within wildlife trafficking circles.
“Operation Thunderstorm has seen significant seizures at a global level, showing how coordinated global operations can maximize impact,” said Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock.
Among the live animals were rescued turtles in Malaysia and parrots in Mexico. Eight tons of pangolin scales were confiscated – the most illegally traded animal on the planet – with four tons of scales discovered in Vietnam on board a ship from Africa.
Add to this the seizures of a mind-boggling 43 tons of illegal bushmeat, including meat from bears, elephants, whales and zebra; 27,000 reptiles; 4,000 birds; 48 live primates; 14 big cats; and seven bear carcasses, including two polar bears. All this in only one month.
Several arrests were made, including two flight attendants in Los Angeles who were attempting to smuggle live turtles into Asia inside their personal baggage.
Before this global investigation kicked off, Interpol gathered intelligence from around the world to identify and target key border points and wildlife parks. Law enforcement officers used sniffer dogs and X-ray scanners to search suspect vehicles.
“By revealing how wildlife trafficking groups use the same routes as criminals involved in other crime areas – often hand in hand with tax evasion, corruption, money laundering and violent crime – Operation Thunderstorm sends a clear message to wildlife criminals that the world’s law enforcement community is homing in on them,” said Stock.
While this incredible global effort saved thousands of animals and prevented the trade of a shocking amount of illegal items, it only goes to highlight the confronting reality of the illegal wildlife trade, which is pushing hundreds of animals towards extinction.
“This operation highlights the vast scale of the barbaric trade that is devastating some of the world’s most endangered wildlife,” said Cath Lawson, chief wildlife advisor for WWF. “This is a global problem that needs global solutions. The focus now needs to be on the illegal wildlife trade conference that’s taking place in London this October, where world leaders must go beyond words and commit to stamping it out before it’s too late.”
What’s New…
NO ANIMAL MUST EVER BE KILLED FOR HUMAN GREED/HUBRIS! DEMAND AN END TO ANY WILDLIFE HUNTING/KILLING WORLD WIDE! PLEASE
COMMENT
Thank you; cruelty needs to be stopped!
I am so happy to know that all your efforts are finally going in the right direction to save what is left of all the wildlife and to be orgnized for the future.
I am so very pleased to know that finally they are making great progress and are aimed in the right direction to make this successful for the animals.
By the way, where are all the bloody men on these comments, few & far between. They start wars, they take, they kill, they rule with an iron fist, they don’t seem to care about much at all. Come on you male ball humping pratts, where are your views & comments????????
Hell Sugar, I couldn’t have said it better. You covered most things in your superb comments !!
Sugar Bouche should be in congress with such a poignant and eloquent analogy of a topic that certainly needs this level of attention, words of wisdom are always needed now more than ever, much respect too our warriors, keep up the good fight!
Thank you all, this is a big start.
WOW! THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED, YOU ALL ROCK!
Man, we are told, was made in the image of God. A man has extended his own longevity, discovered nuclear energy, landed on the moon and developed technology beyond the point of being able to control it. It would seem that the price for all these amazing achievements is a fatal loss of balance between the head and the heart. There is no more powerful or destructive negative energy in the Universe than that of man’s delusional, over the inflated egotistical concept of self-value and self-importance. We have convinced ourselves that human beings are the chosen, the precious living creatures, over and above any known or imagined living beings in the great all that is. We have even invented religions and gods which confirm and support this hypothesis. Our uniquely specialized brain and superior intellect apparently place us in a position of dominion over all we survey. We even have Holly scripture which says so. If this to be true, we have thoughtlessly, disgracefully and to our own detriment, disrespected and defiled our stewardship of this miraculous gift by acting like ignorant, selfish, totally spoiled children. Man rules, divides, conquers, tortures, kills, uses and abuses his environment and all life within it, according to his whims, with an arrogant sense of entitlement clad in a false sense of impunity. In our insatiable lust for and greed for power and profit, we have chosen to forget or ignore the fact, that all sentient beings which shape our existence on this planet live, feel, yearn for and deserve the same quality of life that we ourselves so relentlessly and selfishly strive for even at the expense of others. Human beings dispense pain, agony, misery, and destruction, without any feeling or thought beyond that of self-justification and personal exoneration. We treat Nature and the creatures within it as inanimate objects to be sliced, diced, packed, labeled and used as nothing more than a commodity for our needs, pleasure, and comfort. We chain a dog to the wall of a gallery just to watch it starve to death and call it art. We watch a woman stab and stomp to death a tiny kitten, with the stiletto heel of her shoe and we call it performance art. We skin cats alive because this allegedly makes their skin and fur better and we call ourselves fashion designers. We torture dogs before we kill and eat them because some idiot got the idea that the toxins in adrenalin released during their suffering somehow makes their meat sweeter and tender. We cut the fins off sharks, creatures which have preceded our arrival on this planet by millions of years, throw them back into the water to helplessly drown but we take extreme pride in our short-lived existence and puny five-thousand-year-old cultures and traditions. We condone and take part in so many atrocities against life itself, including our fellow human beings, that it is not possible to list them all here. We pollute our air, poison our water and land, brainlessly chop down our trees, the very lungs of our planet, neglect our pets, we fish and hunt our precious wildlife into extinction, without ever facing the fact that what we do to them we are actually doing to ourselves. When we Homo sapiens deliberately hurt, injure or kill other living beings for sustenance, greed or entertainment, well, that’s all right, after all, we are human, and we are entitled. However, just let a bear, a lion, a tiger, a mountain lion, a wolf, a shark, or any other animal take one of us or our property out of fear or hunger according to their instincts, we find the old adage “sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you” hard to swallow. There is no end to lamentation and whining. The animal must be immediately vilified, seen as a bloodthirsty monster and destroyed as soon as possible. Human beings, so precious, so special, so sensitive. But do we really feel? Human beings, so smart, so intellectual? But do we really think? Because if we did, we would have to ask ourselves; Who the hell do we think we are?
Wow, probably the most thought-provoking, heart-wrenchingly true piece of writing that I have ever read. And how true every single word is………..
You have pointed out a lot of negativity that some humans do to our wildlife. I hope that future actions of these people trying to turn all this abuse around are strong enough to make a difference, but they need people who understand what their intentions are to help them make a difference and save our wildlife.
Well written, Sugar. And in the words of Sue Coe, “If animals believed in God, the Devil would look like a human being.”
What wonderful news that all these countries in collaboration under Operation Thunderstorm have made such a impact in detering the continuation of this inhumane and barbaic practice. Cheers and support for the next step the conference in London!!
GREAT..NEWS………………….keep up the good work. We must all take a stand to save and protect animals before it is too late and some of these species are gone forever.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED …………………..
It would be good to conduct this operation “Thunderstorm” in Russia!
Save all animals from killing and cruelty. Please !
Bravo! Very good job! My respect for the law enforcement from the respective countries. Do it more often guys.
Thank you, God for answering our prayers on this. It is finished as you said.
Operation Thunderstorm is truly needed. But, in addition to that maybe we could educate the people that think certain animals parts have magical properties. Then perhaps there would be less of a market for these animals. Also, educate people about animals in general, how they feel pain, terror, depression, etc. Just a thought.
Dies muss unbedingt verboten werden, sonst haben wir irgendwann Mal keine Wildtiere mehr im Wald!!!!!! LG Simone
YES to operation thunderstorm!!!!
Long overdue.
Oh HALLELUJAH! THIS is long-coming but very welcome FANTASTIC NEWS! Of course we all wish all those that had lost their lives had been saved before they were taken but it is so wonderful that some of the world forces are now working together to STOP ILLEGAL animal or animal parts trafficking! THANK YOU & please keep up the great work! To all you illegal trading low lifes, the world is coming for you now! You can run but you cannot hide for long! You are on your way down!
At last.
Good………..
This is mind boggling. I am glad that Interpol and the countries mentioned have cracked down on these bastards. ?????????
I hope these money mad crooks get the book thrown at them. It’s all me, myself and I.
The earth and the human occupants are in a bad way.
I wish I had the power to fix it. Obviously, I don’t. But there is someone who can —— Revelation 11: 18. The answer to our problems.
In the meantime, we sign petitions and hope the authorities will be decent.
TOTALLY AWESOME !!!! WE ARE THEIR VOICE AND WE MUST STAND TALL FOR THEM !!!