Ivory poachers slaughtered more than 60% of Tanzania’s elephant population between 2009 and 2015. The vast biodiversity of the world-famous wildebeest migration’s home was under jeopardy. Since then, Tanzania has been able to stop the worst of the poaching within its borders thanks to years of dedicated conservation work by the government and NGOs. In […]
Tag: ivory poachers
‘Paradise and hell’: the battle to save the forest elephant
Deep in the steamy rainforest of Gabon, a poaching gang’s night-time fire is smouldering and two long elephant tusks lie among the tangled roots. The axe that hacked them off lies nearby. Just after dawn, the insect buzz and bird chatter is suddenly pierced by a whistle blast and camouflaged park guards burst out from […]
Elephant refugees flee to last stronghold in Africa
Chobe National Park, Botswana – The elephants swim across the river in a straight line, trunks jutting out of the water like snorkels. With low, guttural bellows, they push their bodies together, forming a living raft to bolster a calf too tiny to stay afloat on its own. This pachyderm flotilla has a dangerous destination […]
Microsoft founder funds Africa-wide elephant survey to measure ivory poachers’ toll
Beginning next year, light planes and helicopters will undertake the first ever continent-wide aerial survey of Africa’s vanishing elephant populations. The hugely ambitious initiative, which will count elephant herds in 13 countries, is being funded by Microsoft founder, Paul Allen, through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The new survey, which is estimated to cost […]
Zimbabwe poachers kill 80 elephants, poisoning water holes with cyanide
Zimbabwean ivory poachers have killed more than 80 elephants by poisoning water holes with cyanide, endangering one of the world’s biggest herds, a minister said on Wednesday. Saviour Kasukuwere, the country’s environment minister, said the elephants had died in the last few weeks in Hwange national park, the nation’s largest, while security forces were preoccupied […]
62% of all Africa’s forest elephants killed in 10 years (warning: graphic images)
More than 60 percent of Africa’s forest elephants have been killed in the past decade due to the ivory trade, reports a new study published in the online journal PLOS ONE. The study warns that the diminutive elephant species — genetically distinct from the better-known savanna elephant — is rapidly heading toward extinction. “Saving the […]