Fighting Wildlife Smuggling

　　No buying， no killing. This slogan raises awareness of an international poaching crisis， but the truth is that endangered wildlife speciesface a variety of grave threats.

　　Apart from publicizing the importance of protecting the wildlife， tougherpenalties are needed to prohibit poaching and smuggling. From December30， 2013 to January 26， 2014， China led a campaign against transnationalwildlife crimes， in cooperation with other 27 countries and internationalorganizations. The operation， code-named Cobra II， has inflicted a stunningblow on poachers and smugglers. It cracked over 350 cases involving morethan 400 suspects， and captured more than 3 tons of ivory and ivory products，including over 1，000 hides and a number of other wildlife products.

　　Wildlife poaching and smuggling have become a serious global issue. Asearly as September 2012， the Chinese Government called for a multinationalcrackdown on the crimes， initiating the first Operation Cobra， involving 22countries， in early 2013.

　　The two Cobra operations show that international community is highlyunited and strongly determined to crack down on crimes of wildlife poachingand smuggling. Furthermore， Cobra operations have provided a strong exampleof joint law enforcement and offer international cooperation experiencein each participating country.

　　Wildlife smuggling cannot be resolved by one country or several internationaloperations. All countries should prepare to make enduring efforts tocontrol wildlife crimes. During the Cobra II Operation， joint law enforcementactivities encountered difficulties. For example， local authorities of somecountries did not investigate thoroughly where wildlife products came fromand where they were sold. Instead， authorities merely imposed fines for wildlifetrading. Additionally， some countries failed to reach anticipated objectivesduring the operation.

　　Nature is an integrated whole. Once a biological chain is destroyed， therest of nature will fall into irretrievable chaos. Thus， protecting wildlife andendangered species is a measure of protecting the human race. Followingthe Cobra II Operation， people shall call for more international campaigns tofight against wildlife poaching and smuggling.

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