CHINA has destroyed more than six tonnes of illegal ivory, in a move welcomed as an important signal the country backs action to stop elephant poaching.
China has destroyed six tonnes of illegal ivory in a move to stop elephant poaching. Source: AAP
The ivory, which is sought-after in China for making ornaments, was seized from the illegal trade and has been crushed into powder by the Chinese government.
Conservationists say China is the world’s largest consumer of trafficked ivory, most of which comes from elephants killed in Africa, and the move sends a signal of the government’s commitment to tackling the problem.
Destruction of the ivory, from more than 600 dead elephants, comes just weeks after eight Chinese citizens were convicted and sentenced to between three and 15 years imprisonment for smuggling some 3.2 tonnes of ivory.
“The destruction of seized ivory makes an important public statement that, in conjunction with other government-led efforts to reduce demand, has the potential to have a significant impact on the illegal market for ivory,” said Tom Milliken, from Wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.
Image comment: China will destroy ivory stockpile on January 6, 2014 Image credits: The Telegraph
“China’s actions, more than those of any other country, have the potential to reverse the rising trends of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trafficking.”
China has a legal ivory market based on stocks that pre-date a global ban on ivory trade imposed in 1989, and on stocks which were part of a legal “one-off” sale from four African countries in 2008, but the seized ivory cannot be be used for commercial purposes under international rules.
Gabon, the Philippines and the United States have all recently destroyed stockpiles of ivory
“This poor girl really has been through the mill! As her story broke, donations from around the world, meant she could have the surgery to repair her face. But before surgery could commence, Kabang was diagnosed with Cancer. Since being in the US, Kabang has been having treatment for the cancer, & has become a much-loved dog by all that come into contact with her. Kabang has the heart of a lion & cheated death before when she was just a puppy!. Originally rescued by the owner & intended for the family’s dinner table he couldn’t kill her because his daughters had become so attached to her. I pray now she will soon become well enough, to return to the Philippines & be back in the small village, with all her family, where this story first started; as a much-loved & heroic pooch!!”.
It’s been a long road for Kabang. After battling cancer and heartworm, the hero dog who saved two girls in the Philippines from an oncoming motorcycle, finally received the first of her dental and facial surgeries to repair the damage she sustained while saving the girls.
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Kabang’s story is well-known by many animal lovers. Back in 2011 she threw herself in the path of a speeding motorcycle to prevent it from running over two girls.
In the process she lost her upper jaw and snout. Her story soon became known worldwide thanks to social media. Touched by her heroics people from all over the world donated to bring Kabang to UC Davis to receive the best care and receive re-constructive surgery.
Upon arrival at UC Davis it was discovered that Kabang was suffering from both cancer and heartworm disease. She needed to be treated for both before she could undergo any re-constructive surgeries. Finally on Tuesday Kabang was ready to begin her surgeries.
Dr. Boaz Arzi and Dr. Frank Verstraete at UC Davis performed Kabang’s first surgery this week. They removed two teeth and reconstructed her left eyelid. The procedure was performed without any complications and Kabang is recovering well. She will rest and recover from this surgery before receiving her final facial surgery later in the month.
“Keeping fingers crossed & saying prayers for poor Mali. I hope she soon gets to live as an elephant should, surrounded by others. Elephants do not thrive in a zoo environment, nothing is better for an elephant or any wild elephant to be & stay wild; just as God intended. Watch a video of Mali at the end of this post”
Mali the elephant is the only one of her kind in the Philippines
She has spent the last 33 years alone in a concrete pen at Manila Zoo
Campaigners want to send the elderly elephant to a sanctuary in Thailand
Campaigners are calling on the Filipino government to free the country’s only elephant and allow her to be sent to Thailand to spend her final years among her own kin after three decades of solitude.
Mali the elephant has spent 35 years in a barren concrete pen at the Manila Zoowithout any inter-species contact and only a small pool to entertain her.
A celebrity backedPETAcampaign is now demanding that the elderly elephant’s years of loneliness come to an end and that she is reunited with other elephants at a sanctuary in Thailand.
On my own: Mali is the only elephant in the Philippines and has been living alone for 33 years
Mali was torn from her mother in Sri Lanka at the age of three and sent to the Philippines as a gift to then–president Ferdinand Marcos in 1977.
She has since spent her days in loneliness and boredom in the small enclosure at the zoo in the capital and is reportedly suffering from a number of ailments as a result of her captivity and age.
Old and lonely: Mali in the barren concrete pen which has been her home since 1977 when she was sent to the Philippines from Sri Lanka aged 3
Efforts to ‘deport’ Mali have increased in recent weeks as more groups have joined the campaign, backed by several celebrities including film diva Brigitte Bardot, artist Morrissey and Nobel laureate J.M Coetzee.
They propose the lonely lady be sent to The Thai Elephant Conservation Centre inLampang province, to be with an estimated 50 elephants in a forest setting.
Open wide: Mali is examined by veterinarians brought in by campaigners to establish if the 38-year-old is well enough to travel to the Thai sanctuary.
Vets found that the elderly elephant suffers from severe depression, as a result of her years of isolation, and also have foot problems which pose a grave risk to her physical health.
Former Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, the convenor of campaign group Pilipinas Ecowarriors, said in a statement to local on Tuesday: ‘Assuming Mali is fit to make the trip to Thailand, she would be better off in a designated sanctuary, rather than kept in a zoo here.’
Representatives from PETA Asia flew in a specialist elephant physician who concluded that her isolation is causing Mali ‘intense mental suffering’ and that her physical health is at risk as a result of her severe foot problems.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino personally entered the debate last week. He issued orders to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau and the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry to see if Mali could even travel.
The groups have begun asking about animal quarantine in Thailand, and whether Mali could even make the trip.
A spokesman for PETA in London said: ‘PETA Asia has been campaigning for an end to Mali’s suffering, but has been met with resistance at every step of the way.
‘After receiving a letter from famed musician Morrissey, Philippines PresidentBenigno Aquino III issued a directive stating that Mali’s health should be evaluated and she should be considered for transfer to a sanctuary.
‘Following this ground-breaking directive, PETA Asia flew in elephant expert Dr Henry MelvynRichardson to examine Mali.
‘Dr Richardson’s report indicates that Mali’s confinement to a concrete enclosure has led to severe foot problems – the leading cause of death among captive elephants.
‘Not only is Mali’s physical health at risk if she continues to stay at an institution that lacks the resources and knowledge to care for her properly but her isolation from other elephants is causing her intense mental suffering.’
Although Asian elephants can live to be up to 60-70 years in freedom, zoo animals rarely pass 20 years of age due to stress, obesity and lack of exercise.
PETA Asia say Mali needs to be retired ‘without delay’ and reports that the The Thai Elephant Conservation Centre have offered a place for Mali as soon as the Filipino government agree on her release.
PETA use this video to emphasise the repetition of Mali’s life
“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages” ~ Thomas A. Edison
WARNING THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC, VIEWER DISCRETION, STRONGLY ADVISED
For Petitions, News, Statistics, Videos & How to help etc. visit PTROA:-
Update on Kabang, this news is not good but vets are hopeful she will pull through. What an amazing dog, to lose half her face then suffer with a tumour & heartworm. I just hope this further set back will not lessen her zest for life. God bless her, my prayers & thoughts are with Kabang & the surgeons who everyone is looking to, to give this sweet girl her face back.
A courageous dog who became an international hero after losing her nose saving two young girls, has had her muzzle-surgery postponed after it was discovered she needs chemo.
Kabang the dog won celebrity status when she jumped in front of a speeding motorcycle to save her owner’s young daughter and niece, but lost her upper jaw in the process.
After local veterinarians failed to help her, the dog was flown to the U.S. where her doctors now say she needs treatment forheart worm and chemotherapy before she can undergo facial reconstruction.
Helping a hero: Kabang’s facial surgery has been postponed after veterinarians at University of California at Davis discovered a vaginal tumour and heartworm
After the accident her owner was told by Filipino veterinarians he should put her down, but he refused.
Kabang’s plight reached Karen Kenngott, a critical care nurse from Buffalo, New York, who set up a charity campaign to help.
Care For Kabang raised over $20,000 from 22 countries to cover the costs of surgeries, visas and airfare.
She was flown to the University of California at Davis for specialist treatment to the wound on her face, where doctors discovered a tumour and the heartworm
The veterinarians are ‘cautiously optimistic’ that Kabang will make a full recovery and return to the Philippines, Dr. Jane Sykes of the University hospital said.
‘She’s a very sweet dog and everyone here became attached to her quite quickly,’ the director of the facility’s small animal clinic said.
‘We’re eager to help her get better.’
The horrific accident occurred in December 2011 when the daughter of Kabang’s owner, nine-year-old Dina Bunggal, and her cousin three-year old Princess Diansing, were playing with the dog in Zamboanga City, Philippines.
The girls were crossing a busy street when a motorcycle came speeding right towards them.
Eyewitnesses said that Kabang appeared out of nowhere and threw herself in front the vehicle just before it hit the two children.
Kabang’s face became tangled in the spokes of the bike’s wheel, and her entire upper jaw was torn off.
Kabang, who became a mother to six little puppies in April this year, had a rough start in life when Dina’s father Rudy found her abandoned in a rice paddy.
He brought the dog home to fatten her up and feed her to the family, but his daughter and niece convinced him to spare Kabang and keep her as a pet – a lucky move for both dog and family.
Once recovered from the chemotherapy and heartworm treatment, Kabang will undergo dental surgery and facial reconstruction.
Her veterinarians at U.C. at Davis have said there are no plans to give her a prosthetic nose to replace the one she lost.
Grateful dog: Kabang was found in a rice paddy as a puppy and was nearly killed for meat, but her owner’s daughter and niece pleaded for her life
UC Davis examined Kabang this morning. Great news! They are confident they can help her. UC Davis VMTH has created a special section of their website devoted to Kabang. It will be continuously updated with the latest news on Kabang. Check it out:
“I have prayed since the day I first saw Kabang in a News paper last year. I’m thrilled she is actually here & I can see the donation I made was & is being used for it’s intended purpose! Will keep up the prayers until kabang is ready to go back home, God bless her!”
Almost a year ago, a dog named Kabang lost her snout and upper jaw when she leapt in front of a motorcycle to save two little girls in the Philippines.
Today veterinary specialists at theUniversity of California, Davis, examined Kabang to determine what can be done to give her a better chance at a long and healthy life.
During the hour long, preliminary exam, veterinary surgeons Boaz Arzi and Frank Verstraeteassessed Kabang’s overall condition and conducted blood and urine tests.“We are pleased with what we discovered today,” Verstraete said. “We are confident we can improve her condition going forward.” Added Arzi: “Kabang has suffered catastrophic injuries to her face.
While we had consulted over photos and video, we were not able to make a proper determination of the care we would be able to offer Kabang until we examined her in person.”
To reduce the chance of infection and minimize stress for Kabang, the dog will not be available to the news media at this point. A written statement from the veterinary team, B-roll and Kabang’s arrival and initial examination at UC Davis will be available later today in an online press kit.
Verstraete and Arzi are members of the dentistry and oral surgery service faculty at UC Davis’ William R. Pritchard Veterinary MedicalTeaching Hospital. The hospital has the most comprehensive dental and oral surgery service of any veterinary teaching hospital in the world, providing surgery for dogs, cats and other animal species.
Arzi and Verstraete are now consulting with Anton Mari H. Lim, Kabang’s veterinarian from the Philippines, to develop a treatment plan for Kabang.
Based on preliminary discussions, Arzi and Verstraete anticipate that Kabang will need at least two surgeries. The first likely would focus on dental work. The second would attempt to close the gaping wound on the dog’s face, protecting her from infection and improving her quality of life.
Kabang is expected to be at UC Davis for at least six weeks.
Contrary to some rumours in the media, there are no plans to fit Kabang with a “prosthetic snout” or to replace her jaw.
An independent, international donation campaignraised the money to bring Kabang and Lim to the United States for a consultation with veterinary reconstructive surgery specialists at UC Davis. Kabang and Lim landed at Los Angeles International Airport late Monday night and arrived in Davis on Tuesday.
The veterinary hospital’s website includes background information on Kabang’s story and will feature continual updates about her care and progress
“OMG…This happened in February but amazing story so I had to share it with you. Firstly what an amazing dog for saving those children. You would think a story like this would show people how wrong it is to eat mans best friend. Secondly, how the hell did that dog survive without getting an infection whilst she was missing?? Incredible, having seen this It makes me wonder if Vucko, the dog whose face was blown off after youths taped firecrackers into his mouth; he was pts.”
In December, Kabang, a German shepherd, saved two children from being run over by a speeding motorcycle.
In the process she literally had her face ripped off. In fact, in looking at her photo, it is hard to believe that she is alive today – hard to be imagine how she was able to survive her horrific injuries.
But she is alive and she is being hailed a hero by those who have heard her amazing story.
According to the Inquirer-News, Kabang jumped in front of a motorcycle back on December 14, just before the speeding bike ran two children, ages 11 and 9, over.
According to a witness to the dramatic event, the courageous dog threw herself in front of the motorcycle in an effort to save the children from being struck. One of the children was from Kabang’s own family – the other was the child’s cousin.
Tragically, Kabang’s heroic leap planted her snout directly into the wheel of the motorcycle. When the bike flipped, her snout and jaw was ripped from her face.
After the horrific accident, the grievously injured dog fled the scene – nobody saw her for two weeks.
But, she did eventually return home. Her family is grateful for her heroic act and they are not put off by her drastic change in appearance.
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ABOUT THESE POSTS
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