ACRES sting operation: seizure of alleged tiger skins

ACRES press release 30 Sep 10;

SINGAPORE, 30 September 2010 – Three sting operations by ACRES within about a week resulted in the seizure of a complete alleged tiger skin, three pieces of alleged tiger skin and one hedgehog. All products were being advertised for sale online by three different sellers.

Posing as buyers, ACRES undercover officers conducted the sting operations in Hougang for the sale of a hedgehog (15 September), in Choa Chu Kang for the sale of a whole alleged tiger skin complete with the head and claimed to be from Sri Lanka (21 September) and in Serangoon for the sale of pieces of alleged tiger skins claimed to be from Thailand (22 September).

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) responded immediately and seized the items. AVA is currently investigating the cases.

The hedgehog was offered for sale by a Chinese man for $150, the whole alleged tiger skin by an Indian man for $400 and the pieces of alleged tiger skins by a Chinese woman for $128 each.

“These seizures together with the major seizures of alleged tiger parts in Singapore in March this year have put a huge dent in the illegal wildlife trade. There is an urgent need to curb the illegal wildlife trade. Less than a century ago, more than 100,000 tigers roamed the world’s jungles and forests. Today, less than 3,200 remain in the wild” said Ms. Anbarasi Boopal, Director of ACRES Wildlife Crime Unit.

All commercial tiger trade has been banned since 1987 by CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which Singapore is a party to. AVA is the CITES authority in Singapore and administers the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act (ESA), which lists all CITES species in its Schedules. Under the ESA, it is an offence to import, export and re-export any CITES species without a permit from AVA. The possession, sale, offering or exposing or advertising for sale or displaying to the public of any illegally imported CITES specimen is also an offence. The penalties, on conviction, are a fine of $50,000 (per species), not exceeding an aggregate of $500,000 and/or 2 years imprisonment.

Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) (Prohibition of Sale) Notification, the domestic sale of tiger specimens is prohibited. Any person who sells, offers or exposes for sale or displays to the public any tiger parts and products, commits an offence. The offender shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 for each species (but not to exceed in the aggregate $100,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to both.

Anyone who advertises for sale any tiger products contravenes the above Act, even if the products turn out to be not authentic. By making a claim that the product is from tigers, the seller is potentially driving up the demand for tiger products, which directly contravenes the spirit of CITES and the local legislation meant to enforce CITES.

Under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, hedgehogs are one of the several exotic animals who are prohibited by the AVA to be kept or sold as pets in Singapore. Penalties on conviction are a fine of $1,000 per animal.

“The illegal wildlife trade appears to be going online and ACRES will continue to monitor and take action to wipe out this trade. The public plays a crucial role and we urge them to keep a look out for the sale of endangered species and call us on our 24-hour Wildlife Crime Hotline (9783 7782). ACRES is confident that with the community playing an active role, we can wipe out this illicit trade before it wipes out our wildlife” said Mr. Louis Ng, Executive Director of ACRES.

'Tiger pelt' and hedgehog for (illegal) sale
Sting operations catch 3 individuals hawking such wares online
Grace Chua Straits Times 30 Sep 10;

STING operations by wildlife activists here have caught three individuals trying separately to sell pieces of tiger skin, a whole tiger pelt, and a hedgehog.

It is not known yet whether the skins found by undercover officers of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) are real, but the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has seized the items and launched investigations.

No one has been arrested yet.

The haul was the result of Acres' first operation to nab people who advertise such illegal wares online. They follow an exercise completed early this year, which homed in on people selling tiger parts in shops. The authorities then clamped down on jewellery shops selling ornaments allegedly made of tiger parts.

The sale of tiger parts is banned worldwide. All six tiger species are highly endangered; by some statistics, just 3,200 are left in the wild.

They are protected under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which 175 countries have ratified, including Singapore.

Singapore law provides another layer of protection in the form of the Endangered Species (Import & Export) Act, which states that importing, exporting, re-exporting or possessing any Cites species without a permit can land one a fine of up to $50,000 per species, with a cap of $500,000, and/or two years in jail.

Traders may not know that the penalties apply even if the parts are fake.

Acres investigators, posing as buyers, met individuals whom they had contacted via e-mail or phone after seeing online ads selling 'tiger skin'.

One investigator inquiring about the whole pelt met his contact in a Choa Chu Kang void deck; the one seeking to buy pieces of skin went to a Serangoon flat.

The pelt was going for $400, and the pieces at $128 each.

Acres' shaky, hidden-camera video footage showed both sellers were aware they were breaking the law.

One, remarking that his trade was 'quite sensitive', avoided putting the skin out in the open, and led the investigator up a flight of stairs to view it.

'One buyer in Geylang asked me to bring it down, but I didn't want to take risks,' the seller said.

The other seller said she smuggles tiger-skin amulets from Thailand through customs and immigration by wearing them like they are her own.

'Most of the time, I make it through,' she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

During Acres' operations, its investigators give the signal for AVA officers to swoop the moment the items are presented and their asking prices are declared.

AVA wildlife regulatory head Lye Fong Keng said the whole 'tiger skin' has been sent to the lab, but appeared to be domestic-animal hide with stripes painted on it.

The hedgehog was seized in Acres' operation in Hougang on Sept 15. A man was trying to sell it for $150. The AVA also seized from him two Indian star tortoises, an alligator snapping turtle, and an elongated tortoise - all Cites-listed species.

Acres head Louis Ng, noting that technology has given a fillip to the trade, said: 'We've been doing undercover ops on traditional Chinese medicine shops, but technology has caught up with us. It's alarming how easy it is to buy these protected species online.'

He urged members of the public to report such postings to Acres.

Guidelines for online classified listings such as singapore.locanto.sg and sg.88db.com state that posts promoting illegal products may be removed.

A search of such online listings turned up the tiger-pelt post, along with advertisements for exotic pets such as capuchin monkeys and sugar gliders. Some date back to 2007.

Under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, these creatures cannot be sold or kept as pets without a licence, for fear they may spread exotic diseases or that these alien species might escape or be released into the wild, upsetting the local ecology.

Those convicted of keeping such animals may be fined up to $1,000 per animal, and the creatures seized.


Tiger skins and hedgehog seized in ACRES sting operation
Channel NewsAsia 30 Sep 10;

SINGAPORE: Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) undercover officers seized tigers skins and one hedgehog in three sting operations.

The products were being advertised for sale online by three different sellers.

Posing as buyers, ACRES' officers conducted the sting operations in Hougang, Choa Chu Kang and Serangoon respectively.

A Chinese man offered to sell the hedgehog, which cannot be kept or sold as pets in Singapore, for $150.

An Indian man offered to sell a whole tiger skin for $400 while a Chinese woman tried to sell pieces of alleged tigers skins for $128 each.

The items were seized by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.

Director of ACRES Wildlife Crime Unit, Anbarasi Boopal, said these seizures together with the major seizures of alleged tiger parts in Singapore in March this year have put a huge dent in the illegal wildlife trade.

All commercial tiger trade has been banned since 1987 by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Singapore is a party to the convention.

Anyone who advertises any tiger parts for sale contravenes Singapore's Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act (ESA), even if the products turn out to be unauthentic.

Louis Ng, ACRES Executive Director, said the illegal wildlife trade appears to be going online and the organisation will continue to monitor and take action to wipe out this trade.

If convicted, they can be fined up to $10,000 per species and jailed for up to a year.

Penalties on conviction are a fine of $1,000 per animal. - CNA/fa

Sting Operations Result In Seizure Of Tiger Skins, Hedgehog In Singapore
Bernama 30 Sep 10;

SINGAPORE, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- The Singapore authority seized several animal skins believed to be tiger skins and one live hedgehog following sting operations by a local animal protection society around the island this month.

Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said Thursday that posing as buyers, its undercover officers found a hedgehog on sale in Hougang, a whole tiger skin complete with the head, claimed to be from Sri Lanka in Choa Chu Kang, and three tiger skins claimed to be from Thailand in Serangoon.

ACRES tipped the city-state's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) which responded immediately and seized the items.

In a statement, ACRES said all the tiger skins and the hedgehog were being advertised for sale online by three different sellers, including a woman.

The hedgehog was offered for sale at $150, the whole tiger skin at $400 and the other three pieces of tiger skins at $128 each.

ACRES Wildlife Crime Unit director Anbarasi Boopal said these seizures together with earlier major seizures of alleged tiger parts in Singapore in March this year had put a huge dent on the illegal wildlife trade.

Under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, hedgehogs are one of several exotic animals which are prohibited by AVA to be kept or sold as pets in Singapore.

ACRES executive director Louis Ng said the illegal wildlife trade appeared to be going online and the society would continue to monitor and take action to wipe out the illicit trade.

He said ACRES was confident that with the community playing an active role, they could wipe out the illicit trade before it wiped out wildlife.

-- BERNAMA