Jane
Goodall, one of the world's greatest
conservationists, has made an impassioned plea for a worldwide ban on the sale
of ivory to prevent the extinction of the African elephant.
Her call follows the seizure in Malaysia last week of 24 tonnes
of illegal ivory and a report by conservationists warning that the illegal
ivory trade now threatens governments as rebel groups use the sale of tusks to
fund their wars.
"According to the world’s foremost primatologist, Jane
Goodall, Tanzania has lost half its elephants in the last three years. Peter
Msigwa, a Tanzanian MP, said last week that poaching was "out of
control" with an average of 30 elephants being slaughtered for their ivory
every day.
Last year Tanzanian police seized more than 1,000 elephant tusks
hidden in sacks of dried fish at Zanzibar port. Conservationists blamed the
Tanzanian authorities for not controlling ivory poaching and trafficking.
According to World Conservation Society Director Paul Elkan, Poaching
in some countries is said to be out of control. In southern Sudan the elephant
population, estimated at 130,000 in 1986, has crashed to 5,000
A recent report submitted to the UN by WWF International warned
that the illegal ivory trade threatened political stability in Africa as rebel
groups used the sale of ivory to fund their wars. Ugandan military planes have
been seen over the Democratic Republic of the Congo shooting elephants from the
air. Armed militias are now shooting the elephants.
China's growing presence in Africa has been blamed for an
unprecedented surge in poaching. The discovery last week by Malaysian customs
of 1,500 tusks hidden in secret chambers in 10 containers supposedly carrying
wooden floor tiles was the largest illegal ivory haul ever. The containers were
reportedly on their way to China via Spain from Togo, a popular destination for
armed gangs to smuggle ivory.
See original story http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/dec/16/jane-goodall-ivory-poaching-elephant
See original story http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/dec/16/jane-goodall-ivory-poaching-elephant
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