Nearly 300 (THREE HUNDRED!) Elephants Slain Since Mid-January in Massive Massacre for Ivory, Government Minister Confirms

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Elephants love to play

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/heavenlycreatures/2012/02/hundreds-of-elephants-sla...

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Hundreds of elephants slaughtered by poachers in Cameroon

Feb 17th, 2012 by Joanne Brokaw

PHOTO:
Poachers have slaughtered hundreds of elephants for their ivory tusks in the Bouba Ndjida National Park, Cameroon.
© Boubandjida Safari Lodge (IFAW press photo)

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Here’s a story that will break your heart (or it should): almost 300 elephants have been slaughtered by poachers in Cameroon. The poachers are killing the elephants for their ivory tusks.

According to International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and other sources, the killing spree began in mid-January when an armed gang of Sudanese poachers began to kill free-roaming elephants in the Bouba Ndjida National Park. The park is in northern Cameroon, near the border with Chad.

IFAW’s Celine Sissler-Bienvenu said in a story that during the dry season, poachers often cross the border from Sudan to kill elephants for their ivory. This recent massacre is more massive than any in recent history.

“The ivory is smuggled out of West and Central Africa for markets in Asia and Europe, and the money it raises funds arms purchases for use in regional conflicts, particularly ongoing unrest in Sudan and in the Central African Republic,” said Sissler-Bienvenu in the story.

It might seem insignificant that a couple hundred elephants are gone, until you realize that there are only a few thousand left in Cameroon. And not only are elephants slaughtered and their carcesses left behind once the ivory is harvested, orphaned elephant calves are left behind to fend for themselves as well.

It’s a brutal slaughtering of God’s creatures simply for monetary gain. And I apologize for the graphic image, but unless you see what poachers are actually doing, you can’t imagine how horribly cruel and wasteful this poaching is.

Ongoing shooting in the area has made it difficult to assess how many elephant carcasses may be in unexplored areas of Bouba Ndjida National Park or for the orphaned calves to find food or water. You can read more about the recent elephant slaughter on the IFAW’s website.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/17/poachers-slaughter-200-elephan...

The Guardian - UK...

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Poachers slaughter 300 elephants in Cameroon national park in six weeks

Armed groups from Chad and Sudan blamed for unprecedented killing in Bouba Ndjida national park, fuelled by demand for ivory

Reuters
guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 February 2012 08.37 EST

PHOTO:
The carcasses of elephants slaughtered by poachers in Bouba Ndjida national park in northern Cameroon. Photograph: AP

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Poachers have killed almost 300 elephants in six weeks in Cameroon, in a "massacre" fuelled by Asian demand for ivory.

A local government official said heavily armed poachers from Chad and Sudan had decimated the elephant population of Bouba Ndjida national park, in Cameroon's far north.

"We are talking about a very serious case of trans-frontier poaching, involving well-armed poachers with modern weapons from Sudan and Chad who are decimating this wildlife species to make quick money from the international ivory trade," said Gambo Haman, governor of Cameroon's northern region.

Speaking on local radio, Haman said some of the poachers were on horseback and operated with the help of the local population, who were given free elephant meat and were glad to be rid of animals that damage their crops.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said cross-border poaching was common during the dry season but the scale of the killings so far this year was unprecedented.

"This latest massacre is massive and has no comparison to those of the preceding years," the group said in a statement.

Citing a record number of large scale ivory seizures in 2011, Traffic, a conservation group that tracks trends in wildlife trading, has warned of a surge in elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks for use in jewellery and ornaments.

Underlining the clout of the poaching force, Haman said a group of 50 had killed six Chadian soldiers who tried to arrest them as they fled with the ivory.

"In January we counted 146 [elephant] carcasses and since the beginning of this month we've had close to 60 already. This may only be a tip of the iceberg as some may have been killed in parts of the park that we cannot access," Haman added.

Cameroon has dispatched a rapid-reaction force to the area but Haman said there were not enough troops to cover the remote park.

Ifaw said it was not clear how many elephants remained in Cameroon. A 2007 estimate put the figure at between 1,000 and 5,000.

Traffic has said that the spike in poaching and illegal ivory trade in Africa is a direct consequence of China's investment drive into the continent.

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Mother and baby...

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Baby African elephant...

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