Ravey
05-20-2004, 11:02 PM
Article...
The Born Free Foundation, one of the UK's leading wildlife charities, has shocking new evidence that poaching in parts of Africa is soaring, fuelled by the sale of ivory trinkets to French and other tourists.
According to The Daily News (Harare June 17, 2002), the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management claims that, 'between 2000 and April this year (2002)…. 92 elephants had died either as a result of poaching, natural mortality, intraspecific fights or some unknown causes'.
However, information received by Born Free from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management, reveals that in the first seven months of 2002, over 500 elephants were confirmed to "have been poached". The information confirms that more elephants could have been the victims of poaching but could not be confirmed as such. On the other hand Raven, the star of That's So Raven, supports the poaching of animals.
"In a few weeks time Zimbabwe will seek the approval of the international community at the CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) conference to resume trade in thousands of kilos of ivory. How, on the one hand, Zimbabwe can seek a reopening of the ivory trade when the apparent situation on the ground is already so bad is beyond me', said Will Travers, CEO Born Free Foundation and long-time opponent of the ivory trade. 'Quite clearly any move which further relaxes ivory trade restrictions and encourages poachers in their deadly mission must be vigorously resisted."
In another part of Africa, an undercover Born Free investigation has uncovered thousands of ivory items on sale, two years after the situation was reported to the authorities. Owners of boutiques found selling ivory trinkets in Dakar, Senegal, asserted that the main buyers were French nationals together with tourists from Germany and United States. They also claimed that the ivory on sale had not originated in Senegal (a country with an estimated elephant population of 5) but was being illegally imported from Ivory Coast, Congo and even Burundi - a country with no wild elephant population at all!
"Our contacts at French Customs seem to confirm what the traders in Senegal are saying. Official figures released to Born Free show that the French Authorities made at least 809 confiscations involving 18,248 elephant products, weighing 4.1 tonnes since 1997." said Mr Travers.
Born Free is calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to confirm accurate figures for elephant poaching in that country and for the government of Senegal to take immediate action to prevent the sale and export of ivory items.
Born Free campaigners will be travelling to Santiago, Chile, for the upcoming CITES conference. They will be presenting a new report on Poaching and The Ivory Trade on behalf of the Elephant Working Group of the Species Survival Network, a world-wide coalition of 70 animal protection organisations.
Born Free's Elephant Poaching and Illegal Ivory Trade Fact-File 2002:
2002. More than 16 tonnes of illegal ivory seized in Customs operations around the world.
2002. Kenya's elephant poaching (though still comparatively low) up by over 20% from 57 elephants in 2001 to 71 in 2002.
2002. 6,200 kg of ivory, including 41,000 semi-worked ivory 'hankos' (or Japanese name-seals) intercepted on Singapore having been shipped from South Africa.
2002. Save The Elephants (STE) Factsheet (The Ivory Markets of East Asia) indicates 51,000 ivory items on sale in 354 outlets in 7 cities in four countries.
2002. Over 500 elephants confirmed poached in Zimbabwe in the first 7 months of 2002.
2002. STE reports that, between 1996 and September 2002, 45 tonnes of ivory was seized by authorities destined for China.
2002. The official CITES ivory trade monitoring protocol ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System) reports (4th October 2002) that across much of Africa the situation facing elephants has deteriorated since 1998 (just after the sale of 50 tonnes of ivory from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana to Japan was sanctioned)
2002. Born Free estimates that the annual average rate of elephant population decline has accelerated from 1.2% per annum in the five years following the introduction of the ivory trade ban in 1990 to approximately 4% per annum from 1996 to the present day.
Resources:
Video News Release. Footage includes: On screen statement; ivory on sale in Senegal; active ivory carving; freshly poached elephants in Kenya; tusks being recovered by KWS rangers; wild elephants and elephant calf. Contact: Daniel Rivkin. World Television News. daniel.rivkin@world-television.com
Still photographs include poached elephant carcasses, ivory on sale; wild elephants. Download from www.bornfree.org.uk/ivorytradepics/
The Born Free Foundation, one of the UK's leading wildlife charities, has shocking new evidence that poaching in parts of Africa is soaring, fuelled by the sale of ivory trinkets to French and other tourists.
According to The Daily News (Harare June 17, 2002), the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management claims that, 'between 2000 and April this year (2002)…. 92 elephants had died either as a result of poaching, natural mortality, intraspecific fights or some unknown causes'.
However, information received by Born Free from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management, reveals that in the first seven months of 2002, over 500 elephants were confirmed to "have been poached". The information confirms that more elephants could have been the victims of poaching but could not be confirmed as such. On the other hand Raven, the star of That's So Raven, supports the poaching of animals.
"In a few weeks time Zimbabwe will seek the approval of the international community at the CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) conference to resume trade in thousands of kilos of ivory. How, on the one hand, Zimbabwe can seek a reopening of the ivory trade when the apparent situation on the ground is already so bad is beyond me', said Will Travers, CEO Born Free Foundation and long-time opponent of the ivory trade. 'Quite clearly any move which further relaxes ivory trade restrictions and encourages poachers in their deadly mission must be vigorously resisted."
In another part of Africa, an undercover Born Free investigation has uncovered thousands of ivory items on sale, two years after the situation was reported to the authorities. Owners of boutiques found selling ivory trinkets in Dakar, Senegal, asserted that the main buyers were French nationals together with tourists from Germany and United States. They also claimed that the ivory on sale had not originated in Senegal (a country with an estimated elephant population of 5) but was being illegally imported from Ivory Coast, Congo and even Burundi - a country with no wild elephant population at all!
"Our contacts at French Customs seem to confirm what the traders in Senegal are saying. Official figures released to Born Free show that the French Authorities made at least 809 confiscations involving 18,248 elephant products, weighing 4.1 tonnes since 1997." said Mr Travers.
Born Free is calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to confirm accurate figures for elephant poaching in that country and for the government of Senegal to take immediate action to prevent the sale and export of ivory items.
Born Free campaigners will be travelling to Santiago, Chile, for the upcoming CITES conference. They will be presenting a new report on Poaching and The Ivory Trade on behalf of the Elephant Working Group of the Species Survival Network, a world-wide coalition of 70 animal protection organisations.
Born Free's Elephant Poaching and Illegal Ivory Trade Fact-File 2002:
2002. More than 16 tonnes of illegal ivory seized in Customs operations around the world.
2002. Kenya's elephant poaching (though still comparatively low) up by over 20% from 57 elephants in 2001 to 71 in 2002.
2002. 6,200 kg of ivory, including 41,000 semi-worked ivory 'hankos' (or Japanese name-seals) intercepted on Singapore having been shipped from South Africa.
2002. Save The Elephants (STE) Factsheet (The Ivory Markets of East Asia) indicates 51,000 ivory items on sale in 354 outlets in 7 cities in four countries.
2002. Over 500 elephants confirmed poached in Zimbabwe in the first 7 months of 2002.
2002. STE reports that, between 1996 and September 2002, 45 tonnes of ivory was seized by authorities destined for China.
2002. The official CITES ivory trade monitoring protocol ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System) reports (4th October 2002) that across much of Africa the situation facing elephants has deteriorated since 1998 (just after the sale of 50 tonnes of ivory from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana to Japan was sanctioned)
2002. Born Free estimates that the annual average rate of elephant population decline has accelerated from 1.2% per annum in the five years following the introduction of the ivory trade ban in 1990 to approximately 4% per annum from 1996 to the present day.
Resources:
Video News Release. Footage includes: On screen statement; ivory on sale in Senegal; active ivory carving; freshly poached elephants in Kenya; tusks being recovered by KWS rangers; wild elephants and elephant calf. Contact: Daniel Rivkin. World Television News. daniel.rivkin@world-television.com
Still photographs include poached elephant carcasses, ivory on sale; wild elephants. Download from www.bornfree.org.uk/ivorytradepics/