US Person had to take a deep breath before posting this entry because the story is so pathetically
obscene. An estimated million humans were killed in the genocide of Rwanda, but that many or more elephants have been slaughtered for their ivory tusks throughout Africa in the last forty years. The latest location of incalculable cruelty lies in Chad where poachers have killed 89 elephants, 30 of which were pregnant females. One television news report shows a dead calf still connected to its umbilical cord [
PNG will not dignify the slaughter by linking to video or photos of the
pornographic scenes] The perpetrators were heavily armed and on horseback, probably Chadian or Sudanese insurgents. They appear to be headed toward another unprotected area on the Cameroon border where 800 elephants live. These ruthless killers must and can be stopped if serious efforts are made by the nations whose wild heritage is being wantonly destroyed before their eyes. International help is available for the asking.
Certainly local communities are asking for help, but the Chadian government has not responded. Subsistence farmers face starvation as elephants raid their crops to stay alive. The massacre near Tikem was not reported for days by locals. It is unfortunately another episode in an outbreak of wholesale murder of elephants by an array of bandits, poachers, and rebels who consider the illegal sale of ivory a means of financing their criminal activities.
Prayers by Buddhist religious leaders in Thailand for deceased elephants are welcomed as a way of
educating religious people about the African elephants' crisis of survival, but what has to change soon is the demand for ivory used to make trinkets, figurines, and jewelry. China is the main market for illegal ivory, but Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have all been places on a
CITES watch list. These countries must submit detailed plans in two months and make progress by 2014 in stopping the booming illegal ivory trade which has doubled since 2007. The Secretary General of CITES said the deadlines are real, and that the standing committee is willing to consider trade sanctions if these nations fail to take action. At the recent CITES meeting in Bangkok, delegates also decided to require countries making ivory seizures to take DNA samples for analysis that would allow ivory to be traced to its origins. But China could practically end the illegal trade if it followed Thailand's decision to close down its domestic ivory market and punish citizens engaged in the illegal ivory trade. Meanwhile, organized poachers have more time to slaughter 50,000 more African elephants before decisive international action is taken to protect them from a genocide.
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| credit: US Person |
Omitted from the list of suspect nations are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Cameroon where most of the recent upturn in ivory poaching has occurred. All of these nations are plagued by armed civil conflict. An incredible 60% of forest elephants have been slaughtered for their tusks in the last ten years. In just one national park of Gabon, eleven thousand elephants have been killed since 2004. If the world is to enjoy the continued presence of wild elephants--and
US Person can testify they are a joy to encounter in the wild
[photo]--international action must be swift and decisive, even lethal if necessary. Right now the
banditti committing the genocide face no retribution from the authorities who should be on the ground protecting the elephants from a common enemy that has
zero mercy.
