Bryan Christy

I confess, my initial reaction to Anson Wong’s release yesterday was that of a lawyer:  the court’s decision to reduce Wong’s sentence was probably reasonable given the facts as presented.

Here is excellent and insightful commentary from Malaysia on the implications of Anson Wong’s release from Dr. Bill Schaedla of TRAFFIC SE Asia who correctly points out that there is more to the story than simply what reached the appellate court… 

The investigation and prosecution of this case also lends further support for Malaysia’s efforts to create a Green Court.

Reaction from www.nkkhoo.com

Customs Seizes Tonnes of Reptiles in Malaysia

Bukit Kayu Hitam, Malaysia, 24th December 2010—As 2010 draws to a close, Malaysian Customs officials report their largest contraband seizure of the year after they confiscated 4.3 tonnes of reptiles from a lorry parked near the Malay/Thai border….

A good result for law enforcement but less so for the reptiles:  “Following this seizure the majority of animals were auctioned off to wildlife dealers while the remainder, those protected in Malaysia, were handed over to the Wildlife and National Parks Department.”   And so it goes…

An interesting piece on increased wildlife trade in today’s New York Times.  It is useful to know that rising incomes in Asia are increasing wildlife trade.  But there is a bit of a bait and switch here:  We get very concrete data on the income rise in China from a Credit Suisse study but we get none on wildlife trade.  It would have been a better story if the author had included concrete data to support the proposition that the animal trade is on the rise.  Instead she writes: “Figures are hard to come by, as only select species can be closely monitored. But here are a couple of examples to illustrate the scale of some the population declines…”

Data on illegal trade is not “hard to come by,” it doesn’t exist.  No one is even close to quantifying the illegal (more…)