Tanzania leads EAC in illegal ivory trade

Elephant man Jim Nyamu walking in Samburu county in northern Kenya. Tanzania was the leading source of illegal ivory in the East African region last year, a new report by Interpol has shown. PHOTO/FILE 

In Summary

• An estimated 22,000 elephants were killed illegally continent wide in 2012 representing a slight reduction from the estimated 25,000 jumbos poached in 2011.

By SAMUEL KARANJA
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Tanzania was the leading source of illegal ivory in the East African region last year, a new report by Interpol has shown.


 

According to the report which was released Wednesday, approximately 30 elephants are killed in Tanzania daily amounting to more than 10,000 jumbos annually.

By comparison, Kenya faced much lower rates of poaching in 2013 due in part to extensive law enforcement and operations by the government.

At the same time, the port of Mombasa accounted for the largest volume of seizures  in Africa with a total of over 10 tonnes of illegal ivory intercepted between January and October 2013.

“A significant portion of ivory illicitly trafficked to international markets especially in Asia is derived from elephant populations in Tanzania,” said the report.

An estimated 22,000 elephants were killed illegally continent wide in 2012 representing a slight reduction from the estimated 25,000 jumbos poached in 2011.

Tanzania’s elephant population has continued to plummet in recent years and in Selous Game reserve which had 70,000 elephants in 2006, now has 13,084 elephants only.

“Moreover, the elephant population in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park has declined by 44 per cent since 2006 and now numbers approximately 20,090,” the reports further adds.

The report which was launched at the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi by Mr David Higgins of Environmental Crime programme also revealed that that in 2013, global large-scale ivory seizures reached record levels and many of these seizures occurred in East Africa or in transit to Asia with an East African origin.

“Eighteen large-scale seizures  (of over 500 kilograms) accounted for 41.6 tonnes of illicit ivory in 2013, these seizures represents increases over previous years and mirror heightened rates of elephant poaching throughout Africa,” the Interpol reports adds.