The official 2012 estimate of 15,000 from the African Elephant summit being held in Botswana was released at its opening this week. But conservationist think 7,000 deaths were not reported to the CITES program monitoring elephant deaths. Grim and unsustainable numbers, indeed, despite a slight decrease from last years 25,000 deaths. Elephants increase at no more than 5% per year. Poaching is at 7.4% for 2012. At the current rate a fifth of all African elephants will die for their ivory. Poaching is out of control, especially in very poor countries like the Central African Republic. If these were human populations being discussed the bloodbath would be quickly labeled a genocide. Data for 2013 is not yet released. Preliminary estimates based on TRAFFIC ivory volume indicate 2013 illegal deaths may be ahead of 2011 and 2012. Of the two separate elephant species still on the continent,
Loxodonta cyclotis or the forest elephant has been the most severely decimated by poaching. A study in
Plos One says that the diminutive forest elephant could be extinct in the next decade given the incredible slaughter that is occurring. More than 62% of Africa's forest elephant population has been killed for ivory. Referred to as the "architects of the forest" because of their browsing, migration and seed dispersal functions, extinction of the forest elephant would be an ecological disaster.
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| credit: Nuria Ortega |
Developed nations have a definite role to play in stopping the extermination of the African elephant. Developed nations are the market being supplied by the illegal trade, and their security is threatened by armed insurrections funded by ivory sales. Luis Arranz, director of Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo was interviewed by
Monogabay.com. Arranz says the numbers and size of poaching gangs has increased with the price of ivory. Gangs number over 30 people and they carry machine guns. Terror organizations like the Lord's Resistance Army are now involved. Children who have escaped the "army" say the leader Joseph Kony, issued orders to kill elephants and send the ivory to him. To combat such armed force Arranz has only 140 wildlife rangers
[photo] some of whom are too old to patrol. The park is about 5,000 square kilometers. Arranz and his men are plagued with equipment problems and lack of funds; he suspects that one poaching massacre of 22 elephants in several groups was perpetrated from a helicopter since no tracks were found near the bodies and the skulls of dead elephants revealed the bullets entered from above. The DRC has no money to fund the park, so it is primarily financed by the European Union. Arranz says the ivory trade must be completely banned and the Asian people consumers that owning ivory is neither therapeutic or chic.
