August 2011

While the diminishing of wildlife continues unabated across much of East Africa, the Amboseli ecosystem has seen a dramatic, sharp decline in poaching since Big Life's teams were put into place. We are still losing some animals, but almost every time we do, the poachers are subsequently identified, pursued, and caught. The decimation of elephants across the ecosystem in recent years has slowed to a crawl this year, and the killing of all other animals, from the spearing of lions, to the killing of game for bush meat, has also dropped significantly. Even we have been surprised at just how fast, how effective a deterrent having the teams in place across the ecosystem has been. However, in many of the areas we don't yet have the money to establish teams, the picture remains ugly.

Meanwhile, poacher arrests in the Amboseli ecosystem on the Kenyan side, April-July 2011 :

2 arrested with the ivory from an elephant killed by a spear wound. The man who speared the elephant has been identified and we are currently tracking him down.

3 arrested in the process of butchering a giraffe that they had snared. The leader, a prolific snarer, was arrested the following day. The other poachers escaped, but have all been identified.

2 arrested whist butchering a giraffe killed at night. Other members of the gang have been identified, but are still at large.

2 poachers of a young elephant identified, now awaiting arrest upon their return to the area.

1 arrested in a joint operation with Kuku scouts after he had speared a juvenile female elephant.

1 arrested with the meat from 2 giraffes that he had snared. The two snares were also recovered.

1 arrested whilst butchering the carcass of a giraffe that he had snared. 3 other snares also recovered.

2 arrested trying to sell tusks.

8 arrested with 2 guns, members of an armed gang.

3 arrested with the meat from 2 gerenuks that they had killed.

1 arrested with the carcasses of 7 Thompsons Gazelle that he had killed.

1 arrested with the carcass of an impala that he had killed.

1 arrested in the process of laying a snare line. 3 snares recovered.

1 arrested after killing zebra.

3 arrested with 3 dead impala, caught at night, first successful use of recently acquired Night Vision goggles.

Also in Tanzania, 1 arrested after killing an elephant in Kenya. Handed over to Kenya Wildlife Service.

Additionally, the scouts have discovered close to 100 snares in the area in this time period.

Big Life Rangers, Tanzania, April 2011

INTERVIEW AT :

http://safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=6895

A Sky News special investigation has shown how China is driving demand for smuggled ivory from Africa, leading to a surge in the slaughter of endangered elephants.

Wednesday February 09, 2011
Holly Williams, China correspondent

NOTE : PLEASE WATCH VIDEO AT :
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Chinas-Increasing-Demand-For...

An undercover Sky film crew made contact with a man in Beijing who revealed his family runs an international ivory trafficking operation.
At a meeting set up at a five-star hotel, he showed off three pairs of recently arrived tusks with a price tag of £40,000.
Asked if he could supply more, he replied: "Don't worry about that. If we can do a deal today, then next time I have some good ivory I'll call you."
He explained his uncle works in West Africa and uses contacts to smuggle the tusks into China in their luggage.
Despite a worldwide ban on the sale of ivory, environmental groups say there has been a surge in the slaughter of elephants in Africa.

Elegant ivory carvings sell for as much as £200,000
The animals are gunned down by poachers before having their tusks sawn off.
There is evidence the carnage is being driven by demand from the Far East and, in particular, by China's new found wealth.
An investigation carried out by the Environmental Investigation Agency in 2010 found a booming underground trade in Zambia, where African traders have learned the Chinese word for ivory - xiangya.
One dealer - identifying himself only as Stephen - described how he had sold three tonnes of ivory to a Chinese government delegation.
He said: "There was no problem because, at that time, it was a matter of just going to the airport and putting on their plane. They went safely."
As long as there's a legal trade, the illegal ivory will find its way into the market. And that will directly threaten the survival of endangered elephants in the wild.
Lisa Hua from the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Customs officials in Hong Kong last year found 384 tusks packed inside a container shipped from Tanzania and labelled "dried anchovies".
Meanwhile, in Congo's Lubumbashi Airport, three Chinese nationals were discovered carrying six suitcases packed full of tusks.
Experts say the busts reveal only a tiny portion of a growing illicit trade.
But, once the ivory makes its way into China, it is virtually impossible to trace, thanks to a legal loophole.
In China's high-end ivory showrooms, elegant carvings sell for as much as £200,000.

Once the ivory is in China, it is difficult to trace.
Often taking several months to complete, they are highly prized by China's new rich as status symbols.
All the dealers are accredited with the government and the ornaments come with a certificate issued by China's State Forestry Administration.
The certification process is supposed to guarantee that all the ivory on sale comes from a special, one-off deal done by China in 2008, when the country was permitted to buy several thousand tusks confiscated and stockpiled by African governments.
However, Sky News can reveal China's legal ivory trade serves as a front for the trade in trafficked tusks.

The elephants are shot by poachers
Filming secretly at one government accredited workshop, the manager said her business would only carve ivory that came with a certificate.
However, when she left the room, one of her workers explained he also carved illegal tusks, even showing off chunks of smuggled ivory.
Lisa Hua from the International Fund for Animal Welfare said China's legal ivory trade only serves to encourage poachers and smugglers.
"As long as there's a legal trade, the illegal ivory will find its way into the market," she said.
"And that will directly threaten the survival of endangered elephants in the wild."
IFAW and other animal protection groups are calling for the Chinese authorities to implement a total ban on the sale of ivory.

From Nick Brandt :

And hot on the heels of the previous article, more of great concern :
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/1033020/-/item/1/-/t6egd7/-/...

Militant groups fuel poaching in East Africa

Thursday, October 14 2010
NAIROBI

The seizure last week of elephant tusks in the Al Shabaab controlled area of Somalia has raised concerns the rebel group may be targeting Kenya’s treasured wildlife to raise funds for its war activities.

Bonaventure Ebayi, the director of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), a regional anti-poaching initiative operating from Kenya, confirmed the seizure.

"We were able to use the Kenya security forces and with assistance of security forces from the Somali Transitional Federal Government to recovery the ivory," Ebayi told Xinhua in an interview in Nairobi on Wednesday.

The ivory is suspected to have come from the Arawale National Reserve, a 533 sq kilometer wildlife sanctuary managed by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS).

The official said the seizure, the first of its kind in the region, has raised concern of increased poaching in the region, where areas near insurgent activities the most affected by wildlife crime.

"The challenge of poaching and illegal wildlife meat in eastern Africa is made worse by insecure patches especially along the shared borders," said Ebayi.

Several border points, rich in wildlife, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, among others, are controlled by insurgents, Ebayi said.

Kenya is one of the countries that has seen its elephant population decline sharply due to poaching, which peaked in the mid-80s before a concerted government effort that led to the arrest and prosecution of poachers.

"It is in such areas where lack of state presence, means illicit small arms like guns are available to criminals and can easily be used to kill wildlife."

In Great Lakes region, rebel groups often attack protected game parks and reserves to kill wildlife for food or trophies.

He said poachers are now using sophisticated technology to avoid detection by game rangers.

"Ivory and rhino horns poachers and traders have become so sophisticated that the pace of training our wildlife rangers in combat, intelligence gathering and analysis and the use of modern equipment must be improved.

"We require improved capacity building in intelligence collection, investigations and making follow-ups to defeat the trade because the consequences on animals, tourism and the environment are too high," said Ebayi.

The Lusaka Agreement Task Force in housed at the KWS offices in Nairobi.