The number of african elephants killed illegally for their ivory is rising steeply. A poaching surge in the past 5 years is raising fears of a re-run of the catastrophic slaughter of elephants in the 1970s and 1980s. During that period Africa's elephant population plunged from an estimated 1.3 million animals to 500,000. One team of scientists argues that, today, about 38,000 elephants across Sub-Saharan Africa are dying annually at the hands of poachers to feed the growing demand for ivory carvings and trinkets in eastern Asia. If that poaching rate is correct and is sustained the elephant would become extinct across most of Sub-Saharan Africa in 15 years. Other scientists question this calculation and believe the overall slaughter rate is lower.

Nonetheless, 20 years after the international trade in ivory was made illegal, there is widespread concern over the escalating problem. In the last 5 years the price of ivory has rocketed with reports of Asian dealers paying in excess of US$1,000 per kilo. A combination of the soaring value and the fact that wildlife crime is a low priority for most law enforcement agencies means that ivory poaching and trafficking has attracted the interest of international crime syndicates. According to Sam Wasser of the Centre for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington, Seattle "this has created a situation where organised crime has gotten very heavily involved in the illegal trade. In fact, if you look at all wildlife crime - not just ivory - there are tens of billions of dollars being made annually."

The slaughter of elephants is at its most rampant in Central Africa but poaching rates are also rising in southern and East African countries. Patrick Omodi, head of species conservation at the Kenya Wildlife Service, said that the number of elephants killed for their tusks in his country more than doubled between 2007 and 2008. Latest figures for 2009 suggest it may double again by the close of the year.

(Extract of story from Andrew Luck-Baker, BBC NEWS, 6th August 2009)

Comment -  UCF supports the Uganda Wildlife Authority in its work to prevent illegal activities such as this and seeks to reduce conflict between humans and wildlife. UCF is  involved with Sam Wasser in the project to build a worldwide database of elephant DNA to enable confiscated ivory to be traced back to its origins and focus anti-poaching measures. UCF is currently sending samples of elephant dung from across Uganda to Sam Wasser to add to the DNA database. Your donations will help this work.

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