Namibia set to kill a third of remaining desert bull elephants
There are growing fears that Namibia is about to sell off hunting rights to a third of the remaining adult bull desert elephants in the country. With an estimated population of just over 100 elephants and just 18 of those being adult males the loss of a third of the breeding males would be devastating for the long-term viability of the famous desert elephants of Namibia.
Living in harsh conditions such as the desert has forced this population of elephants to learn new techniques to survive and this has been passed down through the generations. As the population grows smaller and the mature adults are killed the ability for the herd to maintain it’s knowledge in living in these highly stressful conditions diminishes.
While the Namibian government claims that the population is strong at over 500 elephants local conservationists believe the actual numbers are around 100 elephants. Of far more concern is the ratio between males and females. Previous hunting and poaching has reduced the breeding bull elephants to such an extent that there is now 13 females for every male elephant. This ration will grow even larger if 6 more mature bull elephants are killed in the prosed hunt later this year.
Desert living elephants are a rare group of elephants. While they are not genetically distinct from other African plains elephants they have a special herd knowledge that allows them to survive I the harsh conditions of the desert. Apart from the Namibian population the only other group of elephants with this specialist knowledge and skills can be found in Mali.
With so few elephants now with the skills and knowledge to survive in these conditions the loss of any adult elephants takes away essential skills and the ability to pass that knowledge down through the generations. The unnatural ratio of males and females also breaks down the social connections within the herd that allows the herd to survive the hard conditions.
The life of the desert elephant is harsh and the herd knowledge allows the herd to continually migrate from one watering hole to another using memory to deal with differing climate conditions.
Maintaining a viable population of mature adult bull elephants is important as juvenile male elephants leave the family group at about 12 years of age and many will attach themselves to a mature male in order to learn both practical and social skills that they will need as they come into breeding adulthood.
Namibia’s desert elephants live in the arid region of Kunene in north west Namibia. In the earlier 1900′s there were as many as 3,000 elephants in the desert herds.
Prior to the 1980′s one population of Namibian desert elephants would regularly undertake a long-distance migration between Kunene River on the Angolan border, to the Hoarusib River. It was a migration of 100′s kilometres mainly undertaken at night when temperatures were cool. Sadly this population became extinct following the Angolan war and heavy poaching.
The hunt is expected to take place in the Namibian election campaigns in November and the meat from the elephants is expected to be distributed to local rural communities in an attempt by the current government to win their votes.
Read More7 Rangers Killed in Ghana Last Year
Dr Samuel Afari Dartey, Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission of Ghana announced yesterday that since 2011 his service had lost 69 wildlife rangers and forest guards. This is an increase of 7 since the announcement last year at the launch of the new re-vamped forest service. While the number of rangers killed has fallen on previous years the killings means the rangers in Ghana are still facing high risks every time they go out on patrol.
Last years speech by Dartey gave a commitment to boost the equipment and training given to rangers to help them operate more effectively. He also promised that the rangers would also work more closely with the military to help provide more security and better protection.
At yesterday’s event, the Third Forestry Week and Greening Ghana Day celebration, he promised to boost the rapid reaction force still further to help protect and conserve the remaining forests.
He also announced plans that will see Ghana start to replant lost forests with the use of specially bred fast-growing saplings. He pointed out that 100 years ago the forests of Ghana covered over 8 million hectares, today the forest cover is just 1.8 million hectares.
Dartey also highlighted that the government viewed that forests as being an integral part of the sustainable development of the country and that protection of the forests is essential if the benefits of good forest cover are to be seen by the people.
There will also be a movement towards making the forests an integral part of the tourism industry and some of the established forests will be managed for predominantly recreational use rather than resource exploitation. New plantations will be used as a timber supply source to reduce pressure on wild forests.
Referring to the attacks on forest staff and wildlife rangers, Darley said that the number of people assigned to the Forest Commission Rapid Response Force would be increased to hep support investigations in to ranger murders and attacks. He also said the rangers will be supplied with better equipment to help them combat the criminal gangs who are plundering the forests. The commission has also trained specialist wildlife and environmental law staff to work with prosecutors to increase the conviction rates of those caught.
Photo credit: Ghana Forestry Commission remember their murdered colleagues in 2013. Ghana News Service.
Read More
Tributes Paid to Dr. Hall-Martin, Conservation Giant
African Parks sadly announces that Dr Anthony Hall-Martin, African Parks’ co-founder and conservation director, passed away on Wednesday, 21 May in Cape Town after a prolonged struggle with cancer. He was 68 years old. As tributes pour in from around the world, those who knew Dr Hall Martin have described him as a conservation giant whose impact was felt throughout the African continent and whose legacy will resonate for generations to come. Dr Hall-Martin leaves behind his wife, Catherina, and grown-up daughters Vega and Cate.
Dr Hall-Martin leaves behind a list of formidable achievements in a conservation career that spanned nearly 50 years. During this time he tirelessly championed the cause of wildlife conservation, raised millions of dollars for its benefit, and was responsible for the establishment, expansion and management of dozens of protected areas. He was particularly renowned as a world authority on the African elephant and black rhinoceros and was the author of more than ten books and 80 published scientific papers.
Born on 12 June 1945, Anthony’s lifelong interest in wildlife started as a schoolboy in Pretoria. He attended the University of Natal, then the University of Pretoria where he graduated cum laude with an M.Sc. in Plant Ecology in 1972 and a D. Sc. in Zoology in 1975. By the time he had obtained his doctorate on giraffe biology, he had worked as a wildlife biologist at Timbavati Game Reserve and at Malawi’s Department of Forestry and Game, and as a researcher at the Mammal Research Institute, during which time he took part in the 15th SA Antarctic Expedition.
Dr Hall-Martin accomplished many of his achievements during his 25-years at South African National Parks. Over this period he was directly responsible for establishing six new national parks, including Table Mountain, Agulhas, Namaqua and Mapungubwe, raising R60-million from philanthropic donations in the process. He was responsible for the expansion of at least five other national parks, adding 400,000 hectares in total to Addo, Augrabies, Mountain Zebra,
Karoo and Marakele national parks, and had the foresight to de-proclaim the compromised Vaalbos National Park whilst laying the groundwork for its replacement – the bio-diverse Mokala National Park, soon afterwards. He was a pioneer in establishing transfrontier conservation areas and was responsible for the agreement that gave rise to the Kgalagadi ransfrontier Park straddling Botswana and South Africa, one of the world’s largest protected areas. Believing that wildlife should pay its way, he sanctioned the sale of high-value species such as white rhino and disease-free buffalo to raise much-needed funds for conservation.
As co-founder of African Parks in 2000, Dr Hall-Martin had the foresight to realize that a pragmatic new model was required to address the looming conservation crisis in many parts of Africa. As its conservation and development director, he championed African Parks’ entry into Malawi, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zambia, and negotiated with dozens of African governments to advance the conservation of protected areas. One of his notable successes was the transformation of Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi from a totally depleted park to a thriving conservation success, which involved the initial restocking of over 2,500 animals. At the time of his death, Anthony was a board member of Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi, Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia and Akagera National Park in Rwanda. He continued to work tirelessly to secure more protected areas under African Parks’ management until days before his death.
Dr Hall-Martin is widely renowned for his introduction of elephant and rhino to protected areas, contributing greatly to the conservation of these species. Today Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania have populations of black rhinos as a direct result of his interventions, and he was responsible for reintroducing desert black rhinos from Namibia to national parks in South Africa where they had long been extinct. He was a co-founder of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group and of the Rhino and Elephant Foundation and was a trusted advisor to many other organisations, including the IUCN, WWF, Endangered Wildlife Trust and Peace Parks Foundation.
During his career, he received many awards, including
- the British Council for Zoology Award,
- the Bruno H Schubert Prize in Germany,
- the Senior Captain Scott Medal from the South African Academy of Science, and
- the National Geographic Society Award.
His ten published books include renowned works such as
- Elephants of Africa; Kaokoveld – the last Wilderness;
- A Day in the Life of an African Elephant and
- Cats of Africa
and he published notable field guides to animals and national parks.
African Parks CEO Peter Fearnhead today described Dr Hall-Martin as “a true gentleman, always dignified, tactful and charming, rarely forceful about his views and self-effacing about his achievements“.
“Anthony’s life was too short-lived but his achievements were worthy of many lifetimes. He has left behind a giant legacy for the benefit of the world.”
Read MoreUrgent Deal Reached for African Elephants
Key states along the illegal ivory value chain have committed to urgent measures to halt the illegal trade and secure elephant populations across Africa. The agreement was reached at the African Elephant Summit convened by the government of Botswana and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
The Summit is the first-ever meeting focusing on the dynamics of the entire ivory value chain. The measures were agreed on by key African Elephant range states including Gabon, Kenya, Uganda, Niger and Zambia, ivory transit states Viet Nam, Philippines and Malaysia and ivory destination states, including China and Thailand.
“Our window of opportunity to tackle the growing illegal ivory trade is closing and if we do not stem the tide, future generations will condemn our unwillingness to act,” says H.E. Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, President of the Republic of Botswana.
“Now is the time for Africa and Asia to join forces to protect this universally valued and much needed species.”
One of the 14 measures the delegates committed to involves classifying wildlife trafficking as a “serious crime”. This will unlock international law enforcement cooperation provided under the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, including mutual legal assistance, asset seizure and forfeiture, extradition and other tools to hold criminals accountable for wildlife crime.
Other measures agreed include engaging communities living with elephants in their conservation, strengthening national laws to secure maximum wildlife crime sentences, mobilizing financial and technical resources to combat wildlife crime and reducing demand for illegal ivory.
“We are very pleased with the result of the Summit, especially as it involves some of the most important countries along the illegal ivory value chain,” says IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre. “We hope that these outcomes will go beyond the Summit’s focus on African Elephants and boost broader efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade in other species which have been threatened by it, such as rhinos and pangolins.”
2011 saw the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trade in at least 16 years and 2012 shows no signs of abating. According to preliminary data, even higher levels of illicit trade may be reached in 2013. Eighteen large scale seizures involving over 40 tonnes have been recorded so far this year, which represents the greatest quantity of ivory seized over the last 25 years. Poverty and corruption, as well as increasing demand from Asia are the principle drivers of poaching and the illegal ivory trade.
The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana), the world’s largest terrestrial mammal, is currently listed as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, with a population estimate of around 500,000 animals.
The African Elephant Summit was organized with the financial support of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the German Government, the US Agency for International Development, the African Development Bank and the World Bank.
Read MoreKenyan rangers in Pursuit of Poaching Gang
The Kenya Wildlife Service has announced that its ranger service is in pursuit of an armed gang of possible 10 poachers who killed an entire family of elephants at Bisadi area of Tsavo East National Park. More details will be released when the situation of the current operation becomes clearer.
The family of 11 elephants were killed by poachers on Saturday and tusks were removed.
The number of the poaching gang was not immediately established but initial reports indicate that a gang of ten are believed to be behind the latest poaching incident in the vast protected area. At 22,000km2 Tsavo is the country largest single contiguous ecosystem and home to an estimated 13,000 elephant according to 2011 census.
The current chase involves a large unit of rangers on foot backed up by both canine units and aircraft.
KWS will be releasing further details later as they get reports back from the field.
Read More4 Poachers Killed in 5 days in Kenya
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been involved in 2 operations against poachers in the last 5 days which has seen 4 killed, dozens arrested and a range of ivory and weapons seized.
When William Kiprono took over as director of the Kenya Wildlife Service a couple of weeks ago there was an element of surprise and concern that such a high-profile position should be awarded to a relatively unknown career administrator. Any concerns raised though have firmly been put to rest as Kiprono leads the KWS in to a more pro-active fight against the poachers.
In the first operation on Monday 2 poachers were killed and 24kg of ivory recovered together with firearms and ammunition. KWS rangers discovered 4 poachers stripping an elephant of its tusks in the Meru National Park. During the ensuing gunfight 2 of the poachers were killed and the other escaped despite being injured.
The second incident occurred early this morning when a ranger patrol encountered 3 poachers in the Solio Ranch near Mweiga Township, Nyeri County. The range is home to both white and rare black rhino. The poachers had shot and injured a rhino before being disturbed by the ranger patrol. In the encounter 2 of the poachers were killed and the third one escaped. The rhino is currently being treated by vets.
The last week has also seen a large number of arrests including a Chinese and a Congolese trying to take ivory out of Kenya through airports. With the KWS canine unit now working around the clock there is more chance of customs intercepting smugglers as they head out the country.
In total over the last week 40 people have been arrested in Kenya for smuggling or poaching activities. There has also been seizures of 82kg of raw ivory, rifles and ammunition.
It has been a good start for the new Director and if poachers thought they’d get an easy ride with a new face in command then they have just discovered that Director William Kiprono is not someone to dismiss.
Read More
Animal Welfare Resource Web portal Launched
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has inaugurated a new internet portal expected to serve as a one-stop-shop for individuals and organizations searching for the latest information about the welfare of livestock.
The Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare is designed to provide a reliable information conduit on legislation and research findings in the sector, as well as on animal welfare standards, practices and policies.
The web is expected to benefit farmers and government officials, lawmakers, researchers, the livestock and food industry and non-governmental organizations.
It will provide an important forum for animal welfare issues related to activities such as transport, slaughter and pre-slaughter management, animal husbandry handling and the culling of animals for disease control.
Livestock production accounts for 40 percent of the value of world agricultural output and products of animal origin provide one-third of humanity’s protein intake.
Animals also contribute income, social status and security to roughly one billion people, including many of the world’s poor.
Since the 1990s, the centre of gravity for livestock production has moved from north to south and a few developing countries have emerged as powerful new players on the global scene.
The development is set to improve animal health, increase livestock production and response to natural disasters where animals are involved as the portal meets a real information need in this extremely important area.
By giving less economically developed country governments, professionals and producers online access to the latest information and the opportunity to contribute information relevant to their own situation, the portal will help to improve livestock welfare, health and productivity worldwide.
Compliance with animal welfare standards can open access to international markets for products from less economically developed countries.
The portal that will also offer on-line conferences and seminars, has been developed in collaboration with key international partners in animal welfare.
Overgrazing Threatening Elephant Populations
In Kenya for the last few years, pastoral communities have had to endure losses worth thousands of dollars as long famine spells persisted. With scarce water and little pasture having been consumed by the scorching sun in the semi arid areas, pastoral communities witness their livestock starve until they drop dead.
As a result of this painful experience, the pastoralists had to think of viable survival means, which led them to the expansive wildlife ranches and reserves with plenty of grass. The danger from wild animals to the herders and their livestock was far outweighed by the much needed pasture.
The well fed livestock have reproduced and their population in this ranches and reserves increased leading to overgrazing. Though livestock has survived, the overgrazing has occasioned a new threat to the survival of other wild animals.
According to a new study published in an online journal, overgrazing by livestock poses a greater danger to elephants more than poaching. The six year study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that climate change and human encroachment on wildlife space are threatening the already endangered elephant.
Thure Cerling, leader of the study carried out by the University of Utah says, “Fifteen years ago, there was a lot of poaching in the area, and elephants were getting killed, but since then, security has improved considerably, so people are moving in with cattle. Now there’s a suggestion the elephants are finding it harder to compete with the cattle than with the poachers.”
Following a family of three elephants in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs national reserves the team found that for the animals to reproduce, they need to alternate between eating a diet of grass and shrubs.
Two weeks after the rains begin, an elephant, the study says, usually switches to a grass diet to bulk up for pregnancy and birth. But the team observed that when seasons changed and there was prolonged drought or livestock had fed on the early grass, the elephants did not conceive.
The study also showed an intricate interplay in the timing of the rainy season, the growth of grass and when the elephants breed and give birth.
Five weeks after the rains start, when the proportion of grass in the elephants’ diet reaches maximum levels, females in the 800-member Samburu-Buffalo Springs elephant population are most likely to conceive.
The elephants give birth 22 months after conception, with the peak of births just in time for another rainy season to provide water and grass for offspring.
According to Cerling, the study leader “It is clear that the grass provides nutrients that the elephants presumably need for successful reproduction,”
The jumbo: Prized Ivory Still its Curse
A latest conservation study notes 681 of 701 elephant tusks sold in the US in 2007, came from Africa. The Study titled Ivory Markets in the US by conservationists Esmond Martin and Daniel Stiles say the quantity could be higher as it is difficult to track down the movement of ivory from Africa. Zimbabwe took the lead followed by Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana.
“Tusks from Africa are first sent to a third country; tracking the movement is very difficult,” says the report. This is the latest published data since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) conference in The Hague, The Netherlands, allowed the Southern African elephant range states a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles in 2007.
The partial downgrading of the elephant from the category of species threatened with extinction is perceived to have triggered an upsurge in poaching. However, going by recent developments in Kenya, the threat against the Jumbo’s does not stop there.
According to Kenya Government records, regions where Chinese contractors are building roads are prone to poaching. The Chinese embassy in Kenya complained of perceived ethnic profiling of their nationals following information by wildlife authorities in Kenya estimating that foreign contractors killed 80 elephants last year. Apart from China, other Ivory leading markets in the world include Japan and the US.
The upsurge in poaching is also blamed on lax surveillance and porous borders with Tanzania. “We have difficulties in protecting our wildlife species, especially the elephant and the rhino. Tanzania lacks the equipment and technical know-how to track their stocks. They are also indifferent to appeals for joint operations in game parks to keep poachers off. They believe their elephant stocks are stable, but their rhino numbers have declined to less than 40, which speaks volumes about the level surveillance,” a Kenya wildlife security officer, who declined to be identified, said.
Read More