Ivory Poachers Decimate Congo Elephant Population

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

Ivory Poachers Decimate Congo Elephant Population
Story by Joe Bavier

KINSHASA - Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year as China buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday.

Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in the past 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode told Reuters.

"We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population this year and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them, and we're trying to reinforce them. But (the rangers) are outnumbered 20 to one."

The 790,000-hectare (2 million-acre) reserve was home to one of central Africa's largest Savannah elephant herds in the 1970s numbering around 5,000. But a brutal 1998-2003 war, heavy poaching, corruption and mismanagement of the park have taken a heavy toll. Today conservationists believe no more than 300 elephants remain.

China, among the world's main destinations for illegal ivory, was granted permission last month to buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Read more: http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49920/story.htm

[tblue]

1. Yep. China is at the root of a lot of devastation in Africa.

The African people need more choices in making a living, without rape and pillaging and decimating precious species.

I saw Mia Farrow talking about China re: Darfur. It pains me because, though a lot of us know about what's going on, we don't know what to do.

[leftchick]

2. here is a website to follow the rangers daily....

and omg is it depressing....

:(


The Elephant Massacre Continues

Published by gorilla at 12:56 pm under Threats and tagged: elephants virunga congo

This is Pierre. It has been another bad month for elephants in Virunga National Park. In the past few weeks at least seven elephants were killed in the Rwindi area, including the two that I blogged about earlier this month.

We don’t have a photos yet, but hopefully the rangers on the ground in Rwindi will send us some in the next couple days. There have been several press reports about the more recent killings, including on Bloomberg.

It is clear that we must find a solution that will remove the armed groups from the interior of the park. Unless we do something soon, there will be no elephants left.


http://gorilla.wildlifedirect.org/2008/08/25/the-elephant-massacre-continues/

[The Stranger]

3. God damn that is unfuckingbelievable. I'm simply fucking speechless at this.

[WriteDown]

4. I get flamed every time I say it...

but, China will not be satisfied until the oceans are devoid of fish and many rare land species are decimated beyond recovery. What is the fascination with ivory, rhino horns, etc?

[Barrett808]

5. Plenty of other nations are strip-mining the oceans of biomass

It's equal-opportunity biosphere destruction out there...

[WriteDown]

6. Talking about scale...

China needs to feed a billion people and they have no qualms about doing it this way. Still wondering why they need black rhino horn as an aphrodisiac.

[Barrett808]

7. Hopefully, Viagra is reducing the demand for rhino horn and tiger penis...

I've read claims that this is happening, but will it be fast enough?

[WriteDown]

8. Obviously, we'll need some studies....

to determine which is more effective. Hahahahaha.

[Kool Kitty]

16. It's greed and stupidity.

No flame from me.

[OneBlueSky]

17. I don't disagree, though I'd make one minor change in you assertion . . .

"Humans will not be satisfied until the oceans are devoid of fish and many rare land species are decimated beyond recovery."

[MasonJar]

9. Oh no, I thought there had been a stop on ivory. That is hideous news.

Man is so evil!!!!!!!!!

[undeterred]

10. I was in Central Africa in 1978 and the elephants

were being hunted by Arabs who were interested in the ivory. They would slaughter the elephants and the Africans would eat them. The number was low even then, and they do not reproduce quickly. I don't know specifically who the "Arabs" were.

[WriteDown]

11. Why did the Arabs want the ivory? n.t

[The Stranger]

12. Of the trillion wasted on murdering and torturing Iraqis, how little would have saved a species?

[WriteDown]

13. No amount....

Unless the country is willing to allow you to put a 20 ft wall around this area with men at posts every 100 feet or so. You'd probably also need regular jeep and chopper patrols as well considering how bad the problem is and the wide area it encompasses. That is the problem.

[The Stranger]

14. I would bet you could do that for one-thousandth of a trillion --

-- a billion.

[WriteDown]

15. I guess sealing up our own southern border should be a cinch

them. Also, you'd need the permission of a foreign country to actually erect such a structure which is very unlikely.

[leftyladyfrommo]

18. I don't have any hope for the African animals.

The poachers and habitat decimation are going to get them.

I know a lot of people don't like zoos but they are probably our best hope of keeping at least some of these animals here on earth. Or reserves in places where poaching is not a problem.

It is an awful trend. The human race is worse than wwhatever wiped on the dinosaurs. Eventually we will just wipe ourselves out because the planet will no longer be able to support human life forms. Then the earth will have a chance to heal herself.