A Chinese citizen, the admitted ringleader of an international smuggling operation that trafficked in $4.5 million worth of rhinoceros horns, ivory cups and trinkets, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in New Jersey, prosecutors said.
Zhifei Li, 29, said he had sold 30 raw rhino horns for as much as $17,500 each to Chinese factories that carve them into cups that are thought to improve health, according to federal prosecutors.
“The brutality of animal poaching, wherever it occurs, feeds the demand of a multibillion-dollar illegal international market,” said Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, at a press conference. “Zhifei Li’s conviction is a warning to those who would be lured by the profits of dealing in cruelty.”
Among the horns sold, 13 were from black rhinos, which are critically endangered and have a population of less than 5,000, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s…
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Each species is blighted with the same major threats to its survival; loss of homes due to illegal logging, haphazard cattle ranching and human settlement. Shockingly, the lion tamarins have now been left with only eight per cent of their original habitat. Put another way, a staggering ninety-two per cent of their native Atlantic Brazilian forest has been burned or felled. This has jeopardised their freedom to roam for food, shelter and genetically diverse mates, rendering them one of the most endangered species on the planet.
juvenile tamarins do not live past one year, even in normal circumstances, and this can only add to the difficulties of re-populating the troops. The average lifespan of any golden lion tamarin surviving the age of one, in the wild, is fifteen years.
Golden lion tamarins are callitrichids, which have the defining characteristic of claw-like fingernails on all digits except the hallux (big toe). These adaptations aid climbing, clinging to tree trunks in vertical fashion, quadrupedal movement through the branches and feeding. 
These tamarins, like the others, are omnivorous and travel through the branches (at up to 24 miles per hour, no less) to forage during the day. They live in troops of anything up to nine individuals and often these delightful primates share food with each other. Normally these troops would be made up of a male, a female and some younger members of the family.
alarming rate, and with it most of their wild prey species. Many of the ungulates eaten by the jaguar are also hunted by humans. Over-hunted, in fact. Farmers, who will shoot jaguars on sight, view them as pests, and as a threat to both themselves and their livestock. This, of course, is not without foundation; but when you deprive an animal of its own natural prey, there is a great possibility it will look elsewhere in order sate its appetite. The human population is growing as fast as the forests are disappearing, making it difficult for the jaguar to avoid contact with man, therefore increasing the potential for slaughter. As a result the jaguar has become extremely vulnerable; and he is not the one carrying a gun.
The jaguar is the largest cat of the Americas, and the only living member of the genus Panthera found in the New World. After the tiger and the lion, the jaguar is also the third largest cat on the planet. Noted for its power and agility, this iconic animal can weigh anything between one and three hundred pounds, stand three feet at the shoulder and reach as much as six feet in length.
The base coat of the jaguar varies from yellow to reddish-brown with a white underside. The spots on the head, neck and legs are usually solid, whereas on the back they appear as rosettes with spots in the middle. The pattern of each coat is different and allows for identification of individuals. It also provides perfect camouflage in the undergrowth. When comparing leopard and jaguar, the leopard does not have spots in the centre of the rosettes. This is an easy way to tell the difference at a glance.
Melanistic variants commonly occur in jaguars due to a dominant gene mutation. They were once often referred to as “black panthers”. This is, of course, now politically incorrect and they are instead known colloquially as “black jaguars”. They are not, however, strictly black. All the distinct markings of the jaguar are there underneath, but are hidden by the excess black pigment melanin. It is quite possible to see these markings with the naked eye. Melanistic cubs can be born to non-melanistic parents and vice versa.
This enigmatic and elusive cat spends its time either resting in the trees or hunting down its prey. It hunts on both land and in water, and is a skilled swimmer. It is capable of moving through the water with astonishing speed and stealth, often pouncing on its prey unannounced. The prey is stalked in silence on huge padded paws, and after one agile leap, rapidly disposed of with a single powerful bite to the neck, suffocating the creature almost instantly. In fact, the name Jaguar is said to come from the Native American word “yaguar” which interprets as “he who kills with one leap”. A solitary creatures, the jaguar will defend its territory fiercely if other males attempt to encroach. This is when those huge canines come into action.
Jaguars only come together to mate. Normally, they are solitary. There is no specific breeding season for the species. It is the mother that takes care of the cubs – the father moves on. As with tigers, there is always the risk of the father killing and eating the cubs. With perhaps this in mind, the mother soon sees him off after the birth if he lingers. Following a gestation period of up to one hundred and ten days, typically, one to three cubs will be born, each weighing one and a half to two pounds. The cubs will be born blind and remain so for the first two weeks of their lives. They will be weaned at three months but will stay in the den, relying upon their mother for food, until they are about six months old. At this age, they will be ready to accompany their mother on small hunts. They will stay with her until they reach maturity and can establish a territory of their own. During this time the cubs will have perfected the art of finding food and shelter, and defending themselves. Females are mature at about three years of age and males four years of age.
Mungai and the Goa Constrictor 