Elephants in Africa are being killed at an alarming rate as the international demand for ivory is on the rise. Corruption through Africa is one of the main causes for this increase. Asian countries, particularly, China and Thailand, have an increased interest in ivory products which is also causing a spike in the killings. Click below to read more.
Elephants are being killed in Africa at an alarming rate by increasingly efficient and well-armed poachers as international demand soars for the ivory from their tusks, wildlife conservation groups say.
The slaughter, described by some activists as unprecedented, is enabled by ineffective law enforcement, official corruption, porous borders and a rapidly expanding population seeking sustenance, the groups say. And it is being driven by a growing appetite for ivory products in increasingly affluent Asian countries, particularly China and Thailand.
“China has taken over Japan as the world’s largest ivory consumer. And from 2006 to last year, the ivory price in China has tripled. So that’s why some Chinese buy ivory products in Africa with dollars and smuggle them back to China to sell for a better price,” said Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said his government has taken a firm stance on ivory trafficking.
“We have enacted corresponding laws and regulations, and made significant efforts in enforcing them,” he said. “We have made positive contributions to tackling ivory trafficking activities worldwide. We will keep this momentum going in our future work.”
Gabriel said the Chinese government has done a “great job” in banning online trade of ivory products, ordering online shopping sites to remove such items and closing ivory trade websites. But she said that while 136 Chinese retailers are authorized to sell ivory products, many more illegal stores have set up shop, according to International Fund for Animal Welfare investigations.
The numbers available are stark: The poaching of elephants is the most intense it has been in a decade, and the number of documented ivory seizures has reached its highest level since 1989, a group of agencies that monitor elephant populations and the ivory trade said in June.
The elephant population in central Africa, where the worst of the killing is believed to be taking place, has dropped significantly over the past 10 years, according to estimates cited by Bas Huijbregts, head of field programs for the conservation organization WWF in the Congo Basin region.
Some African countries are starting to share information about poaching between them, Huijbregts said. And Interpol has joined efforts to investigate those involved in the trade of ivory and other illicit wildlife products.
