PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
US: New UN-backed report raises alarm on elephant poaching across Africa
New York, US (PANA) - A UN-backed report released on Friday says the level of elephant poaching across Africa remains alarmingly high.
It also states that there is an increase in the number of large seizures of ivory.
A UN statement on the report, quoted Mr. John Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as saying: "Africa’s elephants continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high-levels of poaching for their ivory and with over 20,000 elephants illegally killed last year, the situation remains dire."
It said the report by the Convention’s Secretariat noted that although the sharp upward trend in illegal elephant killing observed since the mid-2000s was levelling off, poaching levels continued to far exceed the natural elephant population growth rates, resulting in a further decline in elephant populations across Africa.
Three key factors cited for the higher poaching levels are poverty, weak governance and the demand for illegal ivory in consuming nations.
The statement said the report identified monitored sites where poaching was increasing (33 per cent of monitored sites), including Dzanga Sangha (Central African Republic), as well as those sites where a decline in poaching had been observed (46 per cent), such as Zakouma National Park (Chad).
It said that some populations of elephants continued to face an immediate threat of local extinction.
The report showed a clear increase in the number of large seizures of ivory (shipments over 500 kilogrammes) made in 2013, before the ivory left the African continent.
It said: "For the first time, the number of such seizures made in Africa exceeded those made in Asia. Just three African countries, namely Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, accounted for 80 per cent of those seizures."
The statement said that large-scale ivory seizures were indicative of transnational organised crime being involved in the illicit ivory trade.
It said that the report, which contained the latest figures from the CITES Monitoring Illegal Killing in Elephants (MIKE) programme and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), would be discussed at the 65th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee next month in Geneva.
-0- PANA AA/MA 13June2014
It also states that there is an increase in the number of large seizures of ivory.
A UN statement on the report, quoted Mr. John Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as saying: "Africa’s elephants continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high-levels of poaching for their ivory and with over 20,000 elephants illegally killed last year, the situation remains dire."
It said the report by the Convention’s Secretariat noted that although the sharp upward trend in illegal elephant killing observed since the mid-2000s was levelling off, poaching levels continued to far exceed the natural elephant population growth rates, resulting in a further decline in elephant populations across Africa.
Three key factors cited for the higher poaching levels are poverty, weak governance and the demand for illegal ivory in consuming nations.
The statement said the report identified monitored sites where poaching was increasing (33 per cent of monitored sites), including Dzanga Sangha (Central African Republic), as well as those sites where a decline in poaching had been observed (46 per cent), such as Zakouma National Park (Chad).
It said that some populations of elephants continued to face an immediate threat of local extinction.
The report showed a clear increase in the number of large seizures of ivory (shipments over 500 kilogrammes) made in 2013, before the ivory left the African continent.
It said: "For the first time, the number of such seizures made in Africa exceeded those made in Asia. Just three African countries, namely Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, accounted for 80 per cent of those seizures."
The statement said that large-scale ivory seizures were indicative of transnational organised crime being involved in the illicit ivory trade.
It said that the report, which contained the latest figures from the CITES Monitoring Illegal Killing in Elephants (MIKE) programme and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), would be discussed at the 65th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee next month in Geneva.
-0- PANA AA/MA 13June2014
