Article on the 2004 Bavin Wildlife Law
Enforcement Awards
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file here - 329kb)
Pol. Maj. Gen. Sawaeke Pinsinchai
Commander of Forestry Police Division, Royal Thai Police, Thailand
The Major General is responsible for leading the series of raids across
Thailand targeting illegal wildlife dealers and those illegally engaged
in captive breeding of endangered species such as tigers and
orangutans. The high profile raids in late 2003 illustrated the value
of sustained and well-orchestrated operations led by committed
individuals. In one raid, a team of forestry police officers under Maj.
Gen. Sawaeke Pinsinchai's leadership, entered a house on the outskirts
of Bangkok and discovered tiger carcasses quartered and on ice, 21 bear
paws, severed at the joints, six starving tigers, five live bears, and
four baby orangutans, one of which died because of the horrendous
conditions. Sawaeke's team also raided an open market, and seized more
than 1,000 protected birds in one day, and a couple of private zoos,
where they found 70 unregistered orangutans. The illegal trade in
wildlife in Thailand has suffered a serious blow as a result of this
seasoned police officer's actions. He has taken on powerful businessmen
and not faltered, his courage and determination deserve recognition.
 The Anti-Smuggling Bureau, Chinese Customs
Administration
In October 2003, the largest ever haul of
tiger and leopard skins took place in the Tibet Autonomous Region. A
total of 31 tiger skins, 581 leopard skins and 778 otter skins were
recovered from a single truck and three people were arrested. A
temporary inspection point west of Lhasa made the seizure, but officers
from Lhasa Customs Anti-smuggling Bureau, treating the matter as a
priority, undertook an extensive investigation to find out more about
the trade. Their efforts were critical in determining that the skins
came from India and a greater understanding of how the trade works has
resulted from their investigation. The China Customs Administration is
pursuing this case through the courts.
Mr. Chey Yuthearith
Director of Bokor National Park in Cambodia
Mr. Yuthearith has been working effectively to implement the Bokor
Conservation Project (BCP) in Cambodia. More recently he has assumed
extra duties as the Coordinator at the National Protected Areas
Training Center, also located at Bokor National Park. The Park has now
become a model protection project for Cambodia and is now being
emulated in three further Cambodian protected areas. In the line of
duty he has received numerous threats against his life and has been the
target of gunfire. Several of his staff have had hand-grenades thrown
at them and have suffered injuries as a result. Working in conservation
in Cambodia can be dangerous to say the least and as a representative
of the staff of the Ministry of Environment and a judicial law
enforcement officer he is a shining example of what a dedicated and
honest official can achieve.
Ms. Sheila
Einsweiler
Division of Law
Enforcement, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
During her 16 years of service with the U. S.
Fish & Wildlife
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Ms. Einsweiler has supported U.S.
and global efforts to combat the unlawful commercial exploitation of
wildlife. Ms. Einsweiler was a key player in preparing the Office of
Law Enforcement to implement new restrictions on caviar trade and
ensuring that the Service met the challenge of monitoring this
previously unregulated but high-volume, high-value industry. As
co-chair of the trade subgroup of the Presidentially-created U.S. Coral
Reef Task Force, she directed an inter-agency effort to analyze U.S.
trade data for corals, giant clams, and other reef species that
promises enhanced safeguards for these increasingly
imperiled resources. Her testimony as an expert witness on wildlife
trade helped Federal prosecutors win convictions in a number of high
profile cases, including the Nation's first successful felony
prosecution for coral trafficking. She has analyzed and identified
numerous improvements for the wildlife inspection program and has
helped make the Service the instructor of choice for other countries
that want to improve wildlife trade monitoring. Her contributions in
the training arena have benefited enforcement officers and wildlife
conservation efforts in the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
Mr. Thanit
Palasuwan
Forestry
Official 5, Thailand Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Since 1997, Mr. Palasuwan has been involved in
268 illegal wildlife
trade cases involving over 9,000 birds, 12,000 reptiles, and 125
mammals. He has been involved in making arrests for the illegal wild
orchid trade and identifying wild orchid products as part of
prosecutions. He is a Wildlife Law Instructor who has organized
exhibits on wildlife. As liaison between conservation organizations and
government agencies, he attended workshops on trade in terrestrial and
freshwater turtles and tortoises in Cambodia, Wildlife Law Enforcement
Training for tiger range States in India in 2002, and Wildlife Crime
Investigations in Bangkok in 2002.
Corporal Huka
Umuro Kuri, Kenya Wildlife Service
Corporal Kuri was recruited into the Kenya
Wildlife Service in 1990 and
since then has played a key role in security operations in Meru
National Park, Tsavo East and Tsavo West as well as non-protected areas
nationwide.Corporal Kuri
is a fearless section commander who has led men under his
command to various successful operations. In April 2002, for instance,
he was asked to pursue a gang of four heavily armed poachers who had
massacred ten elephants at Mfupa Ndovu in Tsavo National Park. Although
the gang of armed Somali militia men employed superior firepower , his
unit engaged them in a fierce fight and managed to overpower them. He
recovered a G3 rifle, an ammunition magazine, 117 rounds of ammunition,
one rifle propelled grenade, and eighteen elephant tusks. According to
the Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, it was due to "his bravery
and effective command that the poachers were neutralized.
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