National Geographic Exposé Provides Background to Ongoing Probes

Royal Thai Customs officers display raw African ivory seized at Bangkok’s Seaport in January 2011.

KUALA LUMPUR (February 1, 2012) – Next week, a team of ASEAN, Thai and private investigators are in Kuala Lumpur to join forces with national and regional counterparts in clamping down on wildlife trafficking syndicates operating between Malaysia, Thailand and other countries. The team is focused on the recurring illegal trade in elephant ivory and tigers, two endangered species that are increasing in black market value as their numbers plummet.  Malaysia and Thailand have shared information on cross border trafficking under the ASEAN umbrella before, but recent seizures of massive shipments of ivory in both countries, as well as new evidence on cross border tiger trafficking, has warranted fresh talks among a number of agencies.

On February 10th, following the talks, the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, Thai Police, and the international “ARREST” Program will join a special screening of a National Geographic documentary that portrays their undercover investigations targeting the masterminds behind the region's lucrative trade in ivory and tigers. Last year Malaysian courts handed down a landmark decision on a famous wildlife trafficker, imprisoning him for 5 years. Participants at the documentary screening will discuss how civil society and government can collaborate to follow this positive action to put other traffickers in the region out of business before it's too late for many species.

The Task force featured in the film was trained by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) and ARREST Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  ARREST is coordinated by the international counter trafficking group, FREELAND.

Click for a teaser of Crimes Against Nature: Ivory Trade.

Southeast Asia is a major source of illegally traded wildlife, supplying a global black market estimated at US$10 billion - US$30 billion annually. USAID, FREELAND and an alliance of partners across Asia including National Geographic TV are continuing to build capacity and political will to combat wildlife crime as part of the ARREST program.

The event will be held at:

Equatorial Hotel
Cempaka Raya Room, Mezzanine Floor
Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
+60 3 2161 7777

For more information, contact FREELAND on +66 2 204 2719.