Recent report by the United Nations on organized crime had implicated
Tanzania and Kenya as being the leading elephant slaughter houses in
the world, holding 70 percent of global ivory trade.
Released last week, the report that has been coordinated and compiled
by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime warned the two East African
nations over the killing of the elephants, saying the trend would
jeorpadize regional tourism.
The report revealed that almost 70 per cent of the bloody ivory
consignments intercepted at different ports in the world during the
past four years originated from East Africa, mostly Tanzania and Kenya
which are the only elephant keeping nations.
According to this report, Tanzania stood the leading elephant
slaughter house with 37 percent of confiscated bloody ivory, while
Kenya holding 27 percent of the seized ivory.
From this report, Tanzania and Kenya are the biggest elephant
slaughter houses in East Africa, leading to decimation of the African
jumbo population.
Other East African countries have been reported to have marginal
percentage of bloody ivory by three percent and zero percent. Uganda
counted just three percent while Rwanda and Burundi had zero percent
of the ivory seizures.
The report had documented ivory confiscations originating from East
Africa, saying bloody ivory seizures rose from 11 in between 2000 and
2008 to 17 between 2009 to 201, an indication that poaching of
tuskers was at an alarming pace.
Other African elephant keeping countries of West and Central Africa
had a significant drop from 11 seized ivory consignments between 2000
and 2008 to three between 2009 and 2011, the UN report said.
“The African elephant is not currently deemed ‘endangered’ as a
species, but its decimation in Eastern Africa could be devastating.
Its loss could seriously undermine local tourist revenue, a key source
of foreign exchange for many of the countries of the region,” part of
the UN report said.
Tourism already contributes the largest share of Kenya’s foreign
earnings and comes second in Tanzania after gold.
New statistics in Tanzania indicate that there is a likely possibility
of tourism overtaking gold as the country’s major foreign currency
earner.
East Africa is home to the largest elephant population in Africa where
more than 140,000 tuskers in Eastern Africa are living today. This
number constitutes about one-third of the African elephant population.
“An estimated 73 per cent of the elephants are located in Tanzania,
and adding populations in Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda would cover
99 per cent. These four countries are the source of most of the
illicit ivory harvested in the continent,” the report added.
Conservationists estimate that between four and 11 per cent of the
elephant population in Eastern Africa was killed in 2011; this would
amount to between 5,600 and 15,400 elephants which produced between 56
and 154 metric tons of ivory originating in Eastern Africa.
Tanzania’s biggest wildlife park, Selous Game Reserve, harbors the
biggest population of elephants in East Africa with more than 50,000
animals (elephants).
Ruaha, Katavi and Mkomazi National Parks in Tanzania had big
percentages of elephant poaching. Ruaha had recorded 94 percent and
Mkomazi 100 per cent of the elephants killed by poachers during the
years mentioned in the UN report.
The bloody ivory from poached elephants is smuggled to China, Vietnam
and other Asian countries through Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in
Tanzania and the port of Mombasa in Kenya, all accounting for two
thirds of the global market ivory shipments.
In November 2012, Hong Kong authorities seized US dollars 1.4 million
worth of smuggled ivory in a container from Tanzania. The 569 tusks
were found buried under hundreds of bags of sunflower seeds.
Corruption within security operatives and political spheres in both
Kenya Tanzania is said to have been fuelling elephant poaching and
trade in bloody ivory.
In Tanzania, top politicians and leaders from the ruling Chama Cha
Mapinduzi (CCM) Party have been implicated with trade in bloody ivory.
Tanzania’s ruling Communist manifestoed CCM party has its grassroots
leaders located in every corner of Tanzania, but conservationists
blamed them for collaboration with elephant poachers.
Tanzanian minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr. Khamis
Kagasheki, once said in Parliament that some politicians were involved
in the bloody ivory trade.
“It is very unfortunate that this illicit business involves some rich
people and politicians who have formed a very sophisticated network,”
Mr. Kagasheki once said.
