Authorities say the new, highly-sophisticated gangs are equipped with weapons of war and increasingly brazen as they hunt for ivory and rhino horns — now worth more than gold in the Asian black market.
"If nothing is done in the coming CITES meeting to deal with the issues to enforcement and deal with the issues of demand, many countries in Africa will lose their entire elephants population,” says Patrick Omondi, head of Kenya’s wildlife management and conservation.
Kenya has proposed that CITES place a moratorium on any more legal ivory trade until at least 2017.
Legal sale
Ivory seized by year, worldwide, from 2008 to 2012.
Tanzania, however, has asked CITES to allow it to sell 100 tons of legal ivory, arguing the government needs the money to fight well-financed and heavily-armed poachers.
“We are experiencing some of the most defining moments in our conservation efforts because of the increased poaching,” says Lazaro Nyalandu, Tanzania’s deputy minister of natural resources and tourism.
Nyalandu says whether or not previous legal sales caused the spike in poaching, his country needs the proceeds to better equip its game rangers.
CITES Secretary-General Scanlon says the legal ivory sales were part of an “experiment” to see if a fresh supply would help drive down the cost and demand. He said statistics on the sales have been inconclusive.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25