Africa elephants 'face survival threat' from poaching.
Elephant conservationists say demand for ivory remains high.
The
survival of Africa's elephants is under threat, with estimates
suggesting more than 20,000 were killed in 2013, a report says.
The office of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (Cites) said poaching levels were far above the
elephant birth rate.
However, the report said poaching numbers had dropped slightly compared to the previous two years.
Transnational organised crime appeared to be involved in the trade, it added.
Cites, which is based in Geneva, is responsible for
regulating the international trade in more than 35,000 species of plants
and animals.
Analysis: Matt McGrath, BBC Environment Correspondent
China has started to destroy seized ivory in public
There are a number of interesting signals in these latest
figures, perhaps indicating that the tougher line being taken by Cites
is bearing fruit.
For the first time, more large-scale consignments of ivory have been seized in Africa rather than in Asia.
This is down to better policing in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
and perhaps a slight downturn in demand from the key markets such as
China, which carried out the first public destruction of ivory earlier
this year.
There is also the rise in demand in China for legal mammoth
ivory that is mainly exported from Russia, which may also indicate a
growing awareness of the connection to elephants and a willingness to
look at alternatives.
While these may be positive indicators, the report highlights continuing bad news.
The slaughter of elephants is rising in countries like the
Central African Republic, where local populations remain on the verge of
extinction.
'Large seizures'
"Africa's elephants continue to face an immediate threat to
their survival from high levels of poaching for their ivory," said Cites
Secretary-General John E Scanlon.
The report also documented an increase in the number of large
seizures of ivory - of shipments over 500kg (1,100 pounds), in 2013.
The report says elephants could face extinction if the current rate of poaching continues
For the first time, there were more such seizures in Africa
than Asia, with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda accounting for 80% of the
seizures, the report said.
"Large-scale ivory seizures are indicative of transnational organised crime being involved in the illicit ivory trade," a Cites press release said.
While elephant conservationists do believe that increased
ivory confiscation is a sign that law enforcement is improving, they
also point out that demand for ivory remains very high, says the BBC's
Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
Conservationists say that even in some of the monitored
elephant populations, poaching is actually increasing, our correspondent
adds.
The Cites poaching estimates were based on data from 51 sites
across Africa, which accounted for 30-40% of the continent's elephant
population.
Figures from those site were extended to estimate the total numbers killed in Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment