Conservationists Want To Declare Poaching Threat National Disaster

NAIROBI (Xinhua) — Conservationists

have called on the government to declare the current rampant

poach-ing a ‘national disaster’ to help curb declining

wildlife population.

According

to Dr. Richard Leakey, a pal-eontologist and the chairman of the

WildlifeDirect, a worldlife conservation charity organization,

the elephants will be wiped out in the next 10 years unless

measures are undertaken to stem out this crisis.

“Slaughtering

of elephant is reoccurring, and if nothing is done about it

then the country will lose the remaining 300,000 elephants in

Kenya by 2023,” Leakey, former Director of Kenya Wildlife

Service (KWS), said in Nairobi ahead of the stakeholders’

meeting in Nairobi to chart the way forward.

The

poaching menace has brought renewed attention to a crisis that

has persisted for decades—the steady decline of Africa’s

wildlife due to growing human populations and poverty that has

put agricultural communities at odds with wildlife for

resources.

Conflict

between land for wildlife and land for farmers and pastoralists

in Kenya has also reached crisis level with rampant killing of

lions and elephants among other types of important wildlife.

The

East African nation has also lost 21 rhinos and 117 elephants to

poachers since the beginning of 2013.

Out

of these elephants, he said, 37 were killed in protected areas

while 80 were outside protected areas.

Kenya

lost 289 elephants to poaching in 2011 and another 384 elephants

in 2012.

Lion

is also one of the most endangered animals not only in Kenya but

across Africa.

Leakey

said in 1979, 1.2 million elephants roamed the African continent

but that number currently is 300,000 elephants.

“We

have lost 75 per cent of the elephant herds mainly due to

poaching, loss of habitat and human conflict.

“Today

the situation is worse.

“Until

the elephants are physically counted by an independent group

we need to be very wary,” he said. 
In order to combat this menace, Leakey said his

WildlifeDirect will on Wednesday announce their partnership

with key stakeholders in government, NGOs, private sector,

local celebrities, community leaders, corporate organizations

in a bid to end elephant poaching that is rampantly becoming a

catastrophe in the country.

Kenya

is among countries in Africa where poaching is rampant despite

the vice having been outlawed in the country in 1977.

Poachers

target especially rhinos and elephants for their tusks and

skins, which fetch a lot of money in the black market.

.

Singapore

to send 1.8 tons

of raw ivory back to Africa

SINGAPORE

(Xinhua) – Singapore’s

Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority is sending back 1.8 tons of

raw ivory to Africa for further investigations and enforcement

actions there, it said on Tuesday.

The

ivory was “inspected and quantity verified” by the authority

and the African enforcement authorities in preparation for the

return to Africa, it said.

The

Singapore authority seized the shipment, estimated to be worth

2.5 million Singapore dollars (1.97 million U.S. dollars), on

January 23 when it was in transit in Singapore.

The

tusks were en route to another country from Kenya.

They

were packed in 65 gunny sacks and falsely declared as waste

paper.

The

authority said it has concluded its investigations and confirmed

that no local importer was involved in the case.

It

is working with the Kenyan Wildlife Service, Kenyan Police and

the Lusaka Agreement Taskforce in returning the tusks to Africa.

The

shipment is the second largest ivory seizure in Singapore since

2002.

Singapore

is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and all

African and Asian elephants are endangered species.

International

trade in ivory has been banned under the convention since 1989.

In

Singapore, the maximum penalty for illegal trade of ivory is a

fine of 50,000 Singapore dollars (39,370 U.S. dollars) per

scheduled specimen and/or imprisonment of up to two years.

The

same penalties apply to any transhipment of ivory through

Singapore without proper CITES permits from the exporting and

importing country.

.

Kenya

launches partnership

to tackle elephant poaching

By

Christine Lagat and Peter Mutai NAIROBI (Xinhua) — The

Kenyan government on Wednesday announced a new partnership with

Kenya Airways and conservation groups to revitalize the campaign

against illegal poaching of elephants.

The

“Hands off Elephants Campaign,” which is spearheaded by

Kenya’s First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta, has been put together

by WildlifeDirect, a wildlife conservation charity, to create

awareness, engagement and mobilization on the issue within

Kenya, across Africa and around the world.

“Today

is an important day for us all as it marks the beginning of

public awareness campaigns to help eradicate poaching and

trade in ivory products to save our elephants,” said Cabinet

Secretary for Environment, Water and Natural Resources Judi

Wakhungu.

The

East African nation has the fourth largest elephant population

in the world but poaching, environmental pressures and human

activities have threatened the survival of this mammal.

Wakhungu

reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protect elephants in

line with global treaties. Besides endorsing the provisions of

the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species

(CITES), Kenya recently passed a bill that propose harsh

punishment on wildlife crimes.

“Once

the new Wildlife Bill is enacted, these penalties and

sentences will be enhanced to make them punitive and

discourage poaching and ivory traffickers,” Wakhungu added.

She

said that the government is stepping up anti-poaching efforts by

deploying modern technology and modernization of the KWS in

addition to establishing a Canine Unit to detect movements of

illegal ivory at all airports and other entry points.

“On

its part, the government is committed to ensuring that our

wildlife is safe. We will provide the necessary support to KWS

and other law enforcement agencies to curb poaching of

elephants and illegal trade in ivory,” Wakhungu said.

She

said the government has also directed that all poaching cases be

prosecuted as economic crimes, and revised penalties to higher

fines of over 11,500 dollars and sentences of over 5 years.

Kenya

has invested in state of the art technology to strengthen the

fight against wildlife poaching. The cabinet secretary revealed

that introduction of scanners and sniffer dogs at border points,

airports and seaports has minimized smuggling of ivory and

rhinoceros horns.

Wakhungu

stressed that healthy collaboration among law enforcement

agencies, conservation lobbies, the private sector and

communities is critical to strengthen the war against elephant

poaching.

Protecting

Kenya’s 38,000 elephant herd is both an ecological and

economic imperative. Kenya has been identified as one of the

leading transit routes for smuggling ivory out of Africa, with

several incidents of ivory seizures and recovery of wildlife

carcasses in recent days.

KWS

estimates that more than eight tonnes of raw and worked ivory

have been seized since 2009. 
The demand for ivory in the Far East has attracted

criminal cartels to Kenya, who are feeding the insatiable

demand.

Conservationists

warn that unless the demand is extinguished, poachers will wipe

out Africa’s elephants.

Director-General

of the Vision 2030 Delivery Board, Mugo Kibati, said that

elephants are a major factor in the success of the tourism

industry, which is one of the major sectors in the economic

pillar of Kenya’s Vision 2030.

“In

our Medium Term Plan, we have set out to grow tourist numbers

from the current 2 million to 3 million by the year 2017.

However, this will not happen if our elephants disappear,”

Kibati said.

In

recent days, there has been a surge in cases of poaching, posing

a threat to elephants. According to statistics from the KWS,

elephant poaching has grown consistently over the last three

years during which 829 elephants were killed. Last year, Kenya

lost 384 elephants to poachers compared to 278 in 2011 and 177

in 2010.

Kenya

Airways CEO Dr. Titus Naikuni noted that wildlife poaching has

harmed Kenya’s image and is a threat to the country’s

economic growth and environmental health.

The

national airline is behind the “Hands off Elephants”

campaign that has been endorsed by state agencies and

conservation groups to re-energize the war against poaching of

elephants and other big mammals.

“To

protect elephants goes beyond illegal trade in ivory. There is

an environmental imperative to it due to their critical role

in maintaining a healthy ecological balance. Mother Nature is

very unforgiving if you destabilize it,” said Naikuni.

Naikuni

said that conservation of elephants and other wildlife is the

responsibility of all Kenyan individuals, companies and

government agencies.

“Elephants

are part of our environment; therefore poaching them harms our

country and national heritage. Mother Nature is very

unforgiving when we change the balance in the environment,”

he said.

“This

is the reason we decided to get involved. As Kenya Airways, we

do not condone poaching or delivery of poached ivory on our

flights, and this message has been passed to our staff and

passengers. Any of our staff found involved or abetting

poaching will face the consequences.”

He

urged greater involvement of grassroots communities to boost the

fight against elephant poaching in the wild. Kenya, Uganda and

Tanzania are both poaching epicenters alongside major transit

route for smuggled ivory heading to overseas destinations.

In

February, Kenya Airways signed a deal with Born Free Foundation,

an international charity, to contribute towards anti- poaching

campaigns and conservation of wildlife conservation in Africa,

and partner to raise funds for such initiatives.

WidlifeDirect

Director Paula Kahumbu, warned that Kenya risks losing most of

the elephant species if poaching is not halted.

“An

estimated one third of elephant herd in Samburu have no adults

due to poaching. It is the responsibility of all state

agencies, corporate and ordinary citizens to protect elephants

from slaughter by criminals,” Kahumbu told journalists.

She

added that creative incentives are needed to encourage

communities and ranchers scale up protection of elephants.

“Kenya

traditionally has been at the frontline in combating elephant

poaching but we have lost that ground in recent years. It is

essential that we work together and restore our leadership

position in the world to ensuring that we protect our

endangered species, and a global heritage,” she said.

Kahumbu,

lauded the government for welcoming the initiative which brings

Kenyans together to save the country’s heritage.

“While

we crack down on wildlife crime in Kenya, we also need the

help of governments of Africa, Thailand, China and U.S. whom

we are asking to ban the domestic markets of ivory as legal

markets are a cover for laundering illegal ivory.”

“We

will also appeal to the hearts of anyone buying ivory in these

countries as they are contributing to the slaughter of African

elephants,” Kahumbu added.

     
   
   

 

Conservationists Want To Declare Poaching Threat National Disaster