‘Big Five’ massacred, driven to extinction

Source: ‘Big Five’ massacred, driven to extinction – DailyNews Live

Andrew Kunambura  18 September 2017

HARARE – Zimbabwe is home to some of the world’s most iconic wild animals,
but rampant poaching might wipe them out forever.

Authorities have often been caught napping as poachers take advantage of
the dry period from September to December when watering holes dry up,
forcing animals to congregate in small pockets that still hold the
precious liquid, thus rendering them extremely vulnerable.

From elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards and buffalo, the species that make
the famed “Big Five”, endangered animals are being massacred chiefly so
that a single body part like tasks, pelts or bones can be sold illegally
for huge sums of money.

Leading destinations for such products, notably China and America, have
banned their formal trade, but illegal and parallel traffic has ballooned.
This development has alarmed conservationists and scared authorities.

What thus has long been a steady and remote march to extinction is now a
rapidly approaching nightmare.

Elephants and rhinos stand out as the most extremely endangered animals
across the rest of Africa as surging demand for their precious horns,
mainly in Asia, has put them well on the path to extinction.

Bearing testimony to this is the deaths by cyanide poisoning of hundreds
of elephant and other species which speaks to prolongation of an
exceptional assault on the country’s wildlife resources.

This climaxed with the killing in 2013 of at least 300 elephants and
thousands of other animals inside the vast Hwange National Park,
Zimbabwe’s largest natural animal sanctuary in which poachers introduced
the lethal poison to their already chic operations.

In the wake of the latest killings, Environment, Water and Climate
minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri rang alarm bells.

Government, she says, was overwhelmed, attributing, this to shortage of
manpower and equipment.

Government has spoken of introducing satellite tracking, drones and other
sophisticated methods to combat poaching, but implementation had not
matched the rhetoric.

The catastrophe calls on the international community and the private
sector join the fight to prevent poachers from completely emptying the
thickets, Muchinguri-Kashiri recently remarked.

This scale of wildlife poaching needs be put into proper perspective for
one to be able to appreciate its gravity.

The United Nations (UN) classifies poaching among elaborate transnational
organised crimes.

Representing an estimated $20 billion of the illegal international trade
estimated at $1,3 trillion per annum, wildlife poaching is the fourth
largest income earning transnational organised crime, coming after drugs,
arms and human trafficking.

Conservationists believe that response to poaching should be more
militarised, even evidenced by deadly combats between Zimbabwe National
Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) game rangers.

More threateningly, despite the traditional appetite of the Asian market
for ivory and rhino horns, there is an emerging trend whereby terrorist
organisations such as Boko Haram, Islamic State, al-Shabaab, Taliban and
al-Quaeda have turned to trading in ivory as a way of sourcing funds for
their operations.

As such, the Elephant League has nicknamed ivory “the white gold of
jihad.”

The Elephant League is a web-based international platform for wildlife
crime whistleblowers.

A Global Financial Integrity report of 2013 found terrorist groups like
al-Shabaab responsible for usage of huge profits from the ivory trade to
pay for their violence.

The recent increase in wildlife poaching in Africa has largely been blamed
on the increase of such terror groups.

Alarming UN figures show that at the beginning of the 20th century there
were millions of African elephants and approximately 100 000 Asian
elephants.

Today, there are only about 400 000 African elephants and just 35 Asian
elephants left.

In another sobering statistic, in 2014 alone, 946 rhinos were poached in
South Africa.

This translates to a rate of two a day.

According to latest figures released by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 100 000 elephants were killed between 2011
and 2015 across Africa, which is more than the entire Zimbabwean elephant
population currently estimated at 70 000.

In Tanzania, one area closer to al-Shabaab, elephant population plummeted
to just over 43 000 between 2009 and 2014.

Mozambique lost half its elephants to remain with only just above 10 000
for the same period.

This is according to a great elephant census conducted by a coalition if
wildlife groups last year.

Analysts say the poignant statistics call attention to the deadly
combination of gritty criminal gangs, corrupt officials and a strong
market for these species combining with willing local communities that do
not get any benefit from the existence of these animals save for them
being a constant menace.

Clearly, the continent is in the midst of an epic elephant slaughter, more
than at any time in the previous two decades.

With the underground ivory trade becoming increasingly militarised, South
Africa, Kenya and Tanzania recently announced schemes to combat the
scourge, introducing a real military reaction to poachers.

Yet, Zimbabwe is still shockingly stuck to the poorly-equipped and
outnumbered ZimParks, some of whose rangers have even been complicit in
poaching.

Some experts argue that the battle must now be joined on a wider front
that targets demand in Asia and logistical and judicial dysfunction in the
country.

The temptation to wax lyrical about the ineptitude of ZimParks to fight
poaching is big – and to an extent justified – but it is the government’s
sluggish pace at comprehending issues that should really be the focus of
criticism.

How can , for example, such a blatant assault on national heritage be left
to mere game rangers to manage?

In light of this, one would concur with director-general of the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Happyton Bonyongwe, who in 2015 declared
wildlife poaching and trafficking a national security threat, and not just
an environment and conservation concern.

“….there is evidence of fledging linkages between poaching and wildlife
trafficking on one hand and transnational organised criminal activities,
including terrorism and weapons proliferation on the other hand. There are
indications that some of the proceeds from poaching are being used to fund
the activities of armed groups and negative forces as well as other
destabilising activities,” Bonyongwe told a meeting of African security
chiefs in Harare which sought to address the continent’s security issues.

The security chiefs noted that like the Kimberly or Sierra Leone blood
diamonds or the plundered minerals from Congo and the conflicted oil
reserves of the Sahara and the Niger Delta, ivory has become a conflict
resource in Africa as it can easily be converted into cash.

Muchinguri-Kashiri said more was needed to be done it the country was to
successfully fight organised crime syndicates moving ivory.

They exploit turbulent states, porous borders and corrupt officials from
sub-Saharan Africa to Asia.

“The vast majority of the illegal ivory is flowing to China, and though
the Chinese have coveted ivory for centuries, never before have so many of
them been able to afford it. China’s economic boom has created a vast
middle class, pushing the price of ivory to a about $1 000 per kilogramme
on the streets, their tasks carved into figurines, chopsticks, bracelets
and other luxury items whose demand has skyrocketed in Asian markets, as
more of the population accumulates wealth. Unfortunately, there is
widespread misinformation, leading many consumers to believe that the item
they’re buying came from elephants that died of natural causes,” she said.

Although the toll would no doubt be worse without the anti-poaching
efforts, experts say that other aspects of the battle to save wildlife –
including improving justice systems and launching efforts to reduce
consumer demand for wildlife products – have been given little attention.

Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Conservation Taskforce (ZCTF) Johnny Rodrigues
believes that poaching is being fuelled by poverty and conflict, and
demand for ivory is increasingly being met by organised crime networks.

“To ensure that we make the greatest impact, we must focus on connecting,
strengthening and supporting the great work of many partners because by
working together we can all achieve more. We work closely with communities
where elephants range. The fate of elephants ultimately rests in the hands
of the people who live among them. That’s why we should focus on
community-based conservation and work to find ways to ensure that nature
conservation improves people’s lives,” he said.

Zimbabwe is also failing to make full use of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
to stop the wildlife carnage.

WWF is an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1961,
working in the field of the biodiversity conservation, and the reduction
of humanity’s footprint on the environment. It is committed to researching
on wildlife conservation technology and has made significant progress in
Tanzania and Kenya, yet it is still to be invited to Zimbabwe.

One thing which has been glaringly missing is that of legislation against
environmental crimes.

The concept of poaching as an environmental crime first came to the fore
in 1998 when environmental scientists from the University of Massachusetts
Amherst defined such crimes as any activity that contravenes the laws and
regulations established to protect renewable natural resources including,
the illegal harvest of wildlife with the intention of possessing, moving,
consuming or trading in it or its body parts.

They considered poaching as one of the most serious threats to the
survival of plant and animal populations.

Since then, wildlife biologists and conservationists considered poaching
to have a detrimental effect on biodiversity. As populations decline,
species are depleted locally, and the functionality of ecosystems is
disrupted.

Experts say because the current generations are witnesses to the
slaughtering rampage, and still those that seek to protect these animals
are left signing endless petitions and begging for the end of trade in
their parts – without much heed – there should be a national emergency law
now to fight it.

The law, they say, should allow for full use of the state machinery,
including the army and all security mechanisms, to fight the scourge.

At an estimated 70 000 strong elephant population, Zimbabawe still has a
healthy stock, which, however, makes it a target for crime syndicates;
especially given the fast depletion in other countries which are also
tightening security.

Back to Home page