Green Options

Tanzania is reportedly preparing to ask CITES to lift the trade ban on elephant ivory, much to the dismay of its EAC neighbors, conservationists, and members of the tourism industry.

In a move that would surely undermine East African conservation efforts, Tanzania has taken up the position that a sanctioned sale of elephant ivory would provide much-needed financial support to the country’s anti-poaching measures.

This comes as a shock to the East African Community (EAC), considering that last year’s sanctioning of a one-off ivory auction is to blame for igniting a scourge of rampant elephant killings throughout Africa - particularly Kenya.

Officials from elephant range states are meeting in Delhi this week in hopes of finding a solution to the growing number of elephant killings in India.

Loss of habitat leading to an increase of conflicts between elephants and humans, combined with the invasion of poachers into government-protected zones, are resulting in an unacceptable increase in elephant deaths in India.

To address this issue, officials from India’s elephant range states are gathering in Delhi this week.

Thanks to the controversial approval of a one-off ivory sale, illegal trade in ivory has been reinvigorated - and 100 elephants a day are being slaughtered.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) approved a one-off elephant ivory auction in 2008 of 119 tons (108 tonnes) - representing over 10,000 dead elephants - and this decision is believed to have stimulated the growing illegal ivory market.

After a gun battle in Charara National park near Sanyati Gorge, park rangers shot and killed an elephant poacher, arrested three accomplices - and recovered an AK-47 rifle.

While out on patrol, two rangers stationed at Charara Safari Area and Tashinga National Parks came across the carcass of an elephant, who appeared to have been recently killed. As their regular rounds did not turn up any suspects, they decided to wait in ambush near the elephant’s carcass.

From the proposed bill to protect the North American black bear to the resurgence of elephant poaching in Kenya - and the skinning of a tiger inside an Indonesian zoo - the issues are not over yet.

Lions and tigers and bears … and elephants, whales, and rhino: Here are a few updates - as of today - on nine of my wildlife conservation posts. Four zoo posts are included, as zoos are (ideally) intended to be facilities for protecting precious wildlife.

A gun battle broke out between forest officials and poachers in Kaziranga National Park after the killing of a tiger, rhino, and elephant.

In the span of just a few days, poachers managed to kill a tiger, rhino, and elephant in India’s Kaziranga National Park. Despite an exchange of bullets between forest officials and poachers, the poachers escaped.

Despite the growing list of suspicious coincidences, a Chinese official has denied links between increased elephant killings in Kenya and a nearby influx of Chinese workers.

Recently, an increasing series of unfortunate events have suggested that Chinese workers in Kenya could be linked to a rise in elephant killings near these work sites. But according to an article in China Daily, there is no connection.

A pair of bloodhounds from Britain join Kenya’s war against wildlife poachers.

Two bloodhounds, named Pension and Drastic, have arrived safely in Kenya to begin their new lives. The dogs’ legendary scenting abilities will be used to track poachers across the Amboseli reserve, Tsavo National Park and the Chyulu Hills.

Current laws in Thailand make it easy for live elephants - including infant elephants stolen from their mothers in the wild - to be traded unscrupulously for “entertainment” purposes.

For many people, thoughts of Thailand conjure up romantic notions of being transported to various tourist attractions on the back of an elephant. But tragically, many of the captive elephants used for the Thai tourist trade, and as zoo and circus exports, are the victims of an insidious, illegal market that threatens the survival of endangered Asian elephants, and is responsible for widespread exploitation and abuse of these intelligent and sensitive mammals.

Thankfully, a recent report published by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia exposes the loopholes and reporting inaccuracies that have been providing a smokescreen for Thailand’s illegal trade in endangered, wild-caught Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

Comparing DNA from seized ivory to an elephant DNA database is revealing new information on how poaching syndicates and illegal dealers are operating.

The development of a DNA forensics technique may prove to be a valuable weapon in the bloody war against elephant poaching.

According to BBC News, Professor Sam Wasser of the Center or Conservation Biology at the University of Washington is fighting back against these criminals using DNA collected from elephant dung and ivory to expose poaching hotspots.

A shocking undercover journey reveals that a poaching cartel known as ‘The Crocodile Gang’, led by Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, is slaughtering rhinos and elephants to fulfill ‘requests’ for horn and ivory.

Dubbed the Crocodile Gang, this cartel - whose existence can be revealed by the Mail today - is behind the ‘industrial-scale slaughter’ of black rhinos, prompting warnings that the species will be hunted to extinction in the region within two years.

And the “godfather” of the poaching cartel is said to be Emmerson Mnangagwa - known by locals now as “The Crocodile.” Also referred to as “The Butcher of Matabeleland”, he is the architect of Zimbabwe’s terrifying state security apparatus, creator of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Office (CIO) - and rumored to be next in line for president after Mugabe.

Probably risking his life, Andrew Malone, a writer for The UK’s Daily Mail, reports that he went undercover, posing as an overseas buyer of illegal rhino horn to dig deeper into the widespread rhino massacre that stands to wipe out an entire species. What he reveals is an appalling world of cruelty, corruption, death threats - and the consequences suffered by those who have tried to speak out.