The
continued poaching of elephants for their tusks is not a problem for the Uganda
Wildlife Authority (UWA) alone as their welfare, improved or otherwise has real
consequences for the rest of us and we should sit up and take notice.
Numbers of
the African elephant have been in free fall despite a ban on all trade in ivory
about 25 years ago.
In the
1930s it was estimated that there were up to 10 million African elephants
roaming the savannah of the continent. This figure has plummeted to less than a
million since despite the conservationists’ best efforts.
Rising
ivory prices are making the market in elephant tusks more and more lucrative,
forcing the poaching networks to be more organized and sophisticated to beat
the system.
Seven
people are currently being held in Kampala for their role in a plot to steal
1,300 kg from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) stores.
On the
black market a kilo of ivory goes for as much as $3,300 (sh9.5m). The illicit
trade feeds Chinese demand for ivory figurines, jewelry and chopsticks.
This demand
threatens to decimate our herds, which are down to about 500 in Murchison Falls
national park, at one time had the highest concentration of elephants in
Africa. Elephants also play a role in the opening up new water sources and opening
new trails in the wilderness.
They
estimate Kenya makes about $50m a year annually from tourists coming to see
Elephants roam their great plains, we probably have just as impressive a herd
that we can show off if we keep them out of harm’s way.
But beyond
the millions of dollars we stand to lose if we cannot halt the slide in
elephant populations, there are more pressing issues.
"It is bad enough that the land’s biggest animal’s numbers are plummeting and the environmental issues that may come with the extinction of this great beast, but of more immediate concern is the web of international networks that are driving demand and facilitating the supply of Elephant tusks...
Knowledgeable
sources estimate that terrorist group Al Shabaab makes as much as $600,000
annually from poaching, monies that support their bloody agenda. The rebel
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have been poaching everything from elephants to
Okapi to sustain themselves in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The only
way such groups, outlawed internationally, can derive value from their poaching
is by working with global organized crime networks. The worry is that these
same networks are used to traffic other contraband and allowing them a foothold
in one’s country will not only fuel crime generally but can threaten national
stability.
Is it any
wonder that Uganda is fast becoming a hub for the trade in drugs, human
trafficking and smuggling?
Conservation
efforts have had patchy results partly because of the huge feeding needs of
these animals. An elephant can consume about 800kgs of vegetation and 190
liters of water daily.
Southern
Africa has made a case for the unbanning of the trade in ivory. They argue that
with their elephant management programs which have been quite successful in
slowing the declining numbers they need to sell their tusks, with the proceeds
going to sustain conservation efforts.
Given the
shenanigans that have been going on in UWA it seems clear that they need to be better
staffed to not only battle poaching but to secure the confiscated materials
they have in their store.
Wildlife
authorities may also want to have wildlife conservation inserted into the
school curriculum to increase the appreciation for these animals – not only
elephants, and how to live with them.
"In the medium to long term dwindling elephant numbers are an environmental issue in the short to long term it’s about letting criminal gangs come in and take over our country.... And that is not hyperbole.
