Sometimes, as we sit watching the latest beautifully filmed wildlife programme, it’s easy to believe that the animals that live in the National Parks and Reserves of Africa are safe. That the days of poaching and trapping are behind us, that we’ve moved into a more enlightened world. Sadly, despite the efforts of dedicated rangers, this isn’t the case. Poaching continues and at a rate that means many species will struggle with extinction sooner rather than later.
Take the Rhino. 333 rhinos were killed in South Africa in 2010. 333! Nearly one a day. That’s out of a total population of only 21,000 which is itself the largest remaining population of rhino in any country. One and a half percent of the population was killed, the equivalent of 1,000,000 murders in the UK in one year. Given that South Africa is one of the most aggressive protectors of its animals, what chance the populations in remote and unfenced areas of other less developed countries?
There were 164 arrests made, but the problem is not really with the men caught, but the people they supply. If you are a poor herds man or farmer, offered several months salary for a few days hunting work, you do what is best for your family. The increase in poaching is fuelled by the involvement of professional criminal gangs entering this lucrative market, driven by the escalating prices for, yes, you’ve guessed it, Asian medicine. As the populations of the Far East get richer, a tiny minority still believe in the restorative and sexual properties of a bit of rhino horn in the cocoa at bed time. They also have the money to spend on it.
So what can be done? Recently two men, caught at Johannesburg Airport with 18 rhino horns in their baggage, were sentenced to 12 and 8 years in prison. This is the same sentence as if they had been caught killing the animals. It’s a deterrent, but when the potential rewards are so high, there will always be people willing to take a risk.
The Democratic Alliance, the opposition party in South Africa, have called for a moratorium on authorized Rhino hunting while the issue of permits is tightened. This came about after it was revealed that permits sold to cull several white rhino had been bought by Thai hunters but used by local marksmen, the horns being exported legally as “trophies”. This system of selling permits to cull surplus animals raises much needed revenue to help protect the main population and fund breeding programmes. It must however be properly controlled however so that only infertile/past breeding animals are included and no trophies allowed.
And of course, it’s not just Rhino. In July 2011 the Kenyan Government, led by President Kibaki, burnt over 5 tonnes of ivory that had been recovered and returned from Singapore. Imagine the size of the elephant herd if these tusks had all still been on living creatures. The Lusaka Agreement Task Force is trans-Africa organization trying to protect and help the elephant. It hoped that the burning would highlight the issue and promote the African Elephant Action Plan, a conservation initiative supported by all 37 African countries with elephant populations.
Poaching is still rife in countries with the resources to protect their populations – poachers were caught in early August 2011 in North Kenya with 41 tusks, another herd slaughtered. In other areas the effects are devastating. The elephant population in Chad has dropped from 4,000 to 600 in six years. To the end of July, over 11,000 kilos of illegal ivory has been intercepted so far this year.
African countries now recognise their wildlife as an important resource to protect, not only for their own national heritage, but also an a vital economic revenue stream. Local communities are encouraged to run projects that enables them benefit from the wildlife as well as government and large companies, an example being the Northern Mara conservation area in Kenya. By helping the local communities see direct economic benefits from the wildlife, it will ensure they help preserve it rather than be tempted to poach.
Better trained and equipped rangers, new technologies to monitor and track ivory and horn and raising awareness in both Africa and the Far East – to stop the demand – will all help ensure that the wildlife of Africa is there for more than our generation to enjoy. But there’s a long way to go yet.
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