Eyes and Ears successes

WWF’s Eyes and Ears initiative asks the public to report anything they have seen or heard that may be linked to illegal wildlife trade.

Your Eyes and Ears reports have led to many successful investigations:

• 2010 - we received information from a violin maker in the UK about a Chinese company purporting to sell violin frog bows made from hawksbill turtle shell. The company admitted to using hawksbill turtle shell in some of its violin bows and claimed to be unaware of its protected status. The company was reported to the Agricultural Administration and given a formal warning. If caught selling illegal goods again, they will be prosecuted.
• 2009 - an Italian national alerted us to a tree sloth on offer for sale in an Italian pet shop. Further investigation revealed that it was a species of sloth protected under CITES*. With the assistance of TRAFFIC staff in Italy, this information was passed to law enforcement and the sloth was removed from sale.
• 2009 - we received information about a shop in Antwerp selling dried seahorses. The information included precise details of the shop’s name and location, which was passed to the Belgian authorities for follow up. They seized 54 dried seahorses on their first visit, and returned to seize a further 900 a short while later.
• 2009 - acting on information provided, Dutch Police seized 249 veneer sheets of Brazilian Rosewood from two companies based in Rotterdam and ‘s- Gravendeel, The Netherlands. Brazilian Rosewood is used for making musical instruments and furniture, but is threatened by habitat loss. The timber was listed in Appendix I of CITES in 1992, which prohibits its international trade. Neither company was able to provide documentation to prove the wood had been legally imported or that it had been legally obtained.
• 2008 - based on reported information, the Belgian police made a number of seizures of CITES listed specimens from an antiques shop in Antwerp. A total of 25 CITES listed items were seized, as the shop owner did not have any permits or certificates to allow him to keep them for sale or to sell them. The items included ivory bracelets, marine turtle shells, crocodile skull, porpoise skeleton, lion head and skin, leopard skull, walrus skeleton and the shells of a Hermann’s and Spur thighed tortoise. The total value of this seizure was estimated to be EUR36,000 and was the largest wildlife seizure to have taken place in the city of Antwerp.
• 2008 - information was received about illegal trade in freshwater fish species from the Amazon to the USA. Of particular concern is the trade in two species, the zebra pleco and the polka dot ray. These species are being collected from the wild despite their collection being illegal in Brazil, and shipped to the USA. We are currently pulling together information to be provided to the USA to encourage them to take action against the importers in the USA. Prices for an individual specimen of either species are in the region of $500.
• 2007 – a trading standards officer in Lancashire reported that an individual was offering for sale CITES-listed tortoises without the necessary permits. This information was sent to the National Wildlife Crime Unit. A police investigation followed which resulted in the criminal being required to forfeit his specimens and receiving a caution.
• 2006 – after receiving information about a live, 18-month old tiger on display in a shopping centre in Sofia, Bulgaria, TRAFFIC Europe encouraged the local inspection service to visit. The authorities soon confiscated the tiger.
• 2006 – George F Trumper, a company specialising in the sale of gentleman’s grooming accessories, was found guilty of keeping for sale products from endangered species and fined £10,000 in 2006. Information had been provided by the Eyes and Ears initiative to the Metropolitan Police. The police discovered 24 ivory items kept for sale at the company’s London premises. Most of the seized items were shaving brushes stamped with ‘real ivory’, which were on sale for up to £1,100 each. Other items seized included hairbrushes, glove stretchers and an elephant tusk.
• 2005  – Swiss authorities conducted an investigation into the sale of shahtoosh shawls in a boutique in St Moritz, Switzerland, after hearing about it via an Eyes and Ears report. The endangered Tibetan antelope (or Chiru) are killed for their wool to make shahtoosh shawls. The investigation discovered that 537 shahtoosh shawls – worth 3.4m Swiss Francs – had been smuggled into Switzerland in the past five years. A Swiss company was charged for illegally importing the shawls and fined 700,000 Swiss Francs in 2005.
• 2005 – a report was received that a man in Guinea had sent an e-mail to a Hungarian bird group offering large numbers of South American and African bird species for sale. This man was known to TRAFFIC and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), and his actions were reported to the CITES Secretariat and the Guinea CITES management authority. It is believed that he is a fraudster, advertising birds for sale as a means to obtain money by deception.
• 2004 – an Eyes and Ears report prompted Moscow Environmental Department officials, customs and police to visit a shop in Moscow, accompanied by TRAFFIC Russia staff. A number of taxidermy specimens were seized, including tiger, leopard, sea eagle and eagle owls. The shop owner had no certificates, permits or other documentation to confirm the legal origin of these specimens.

Since Eyes and Ears began, many reports have been received about users of eBay (in the UK and abroad) advertising for sale CITES-listed items. These have included a tiger head, tiger teeth, stuffed birds of prey, elephant ivory, monkey skulls, protected birds eggs and caviar. The identity of these users is requested from eBay and the information sent to the relevant authorities.

Remember: if you are at all suspicious, be our eyes and ears and report it! Your information could help to save a species. Find out how to report your concerns.

* CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora