Baraza

Category: Africa, Ivory, elephants | Date: Jul 31 2009 | By: paula

“Africa and Asian elephants are in for tough times ahead” says Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants. After the ivory sales last year, elephant poaching has increased. Many conservationists believe it is being fueled by the demand in Eastern countries – yet nobody dares to say this. The money raised from the sales of ivory was supposed to go into elephant conservation. Some people who dare to call themselves conservationists argued that the ban on ivory was wrong, the burn was wasteful, and that the sale of ivory was the best way to generate funds and support for elephant conservation.  Well, how come elephants are worse off today than they were before the sales?

And, how come ivory is now selling at US$ 1,888/kg in Vietnam? Isn’t it obvious that the one off sale has stimulated demand and prices are rising? Now even the IUCN is saying that elephantas are in trouble …but they are confining their concerns to Asian elephants …why??

It’s now apparent that the four southern African countries that sold their ivory to China and Japan were duped – their stock piles fetched prices in the range of 100 – 120$/kg! The real value of ivory in eastern markets is at least ten times this. Southern African countries were cheated by the East - but I’m not feeling sorry for them!

Even more worrying however that the CITES conference that approved the one off sale did so on condition of a 9 year moratorium. Kenya led that campaign and the conference adopted it. But they made a MASSIVE BLUNDER. The wording of the agreement only binds the countries that sold their stocks. It does not include countries like Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia that have massive (and some illegally acquired) stockpiles . With renewed demand in Asia, these countries are likely to demand for sales of their stockpiles too at the next CITES conference.

Iain Douglas–Hamilton and I discussed this problem with his researchers at his house last night. He showed me the maps of elephant killings in Kenya in 2008 – the image is frightening. the country is covered in dots- each one representing a dead elephant. He says it isn’t as bad as it was in the 1960,s but I reminded him that back then we had ten times as many elephants. Based on genetic evidence from tusks, Sam Wasser believes that the proportion of elephants we are losing today is far greater than any time in history.

I met Iain about 30 year ago when as a young volunteer recruited to measure Kenya’s ivory stockpile. It as a morbid job but we had to know what was happening. We weighed and measured every single tusk and estimated the age of the elephant that had died. We processed 30 tons of ivory in 2 days. The information showed us that poachers were going for younger and younger animals. At that point, I had never seen an elephant in the wild, but I was so disgusted with the killings and disillusioned about the future of elephants that I turned down a project on ele’s and went on to study primates. Later I did study elephants for my PhD, when the ivory ban was working and guns had fallen silent.

These are the 30 tons of ivory that I measured in 1989. Kenya’s president burned the lot and the world praised him for it.

Sadly, those guns are back in action and Africa’s elephants are once again at risk because we were persuaded by greedy people to run a risky experiment.

It feels like the precautionary principle has gone extinct.  If we aren’t careful, we will soon be seeing the nightmarish scenes of hacked off faces of elephants that dominated the conservation news in the 1980’s.

Iain asked me ‘what are we going to do about it?” and I looked at him blankly, I didn’t have an answer.

What would you have replied - what can we do?

Tags: China, elephant poaching, elephants, Ivory, Kenya, Samburu, stockpiles, Tsavo

5 responses so far

Category: Africa, Appeals, Lions, Pride of Kenya, big cats, furadan, wildlifedirect | Date: Jul 28 2009 | By: Maina

We are bringing the Pride of Kenya to life!

The making of the Pride: lion statues at Kuona Trust, Nairobi

We have partnered with the Born Free Foundation in Kenya to raise funds for lion conservation. Our campaign will focus on ending lion poisoning using Furadan. The centrepiece for this campaign will be a life-sized lion statue made of fibre glass. But it is much more exciting than that!

There shall be fifty such lions in different locations in Kenya forming the campaign which has been named the Pride of Kenya. Each a plain canvas for artists to create their masterpieces on. Our lion will be at our office in Nairobi, Kenya, where it will be in display before and after it gets its beautiful artwork.

Then, in November, all the lions will come out of their dens and prowl the streets of Nairobi followed by an auction in which each lion will be sold to the highest bidder. Proceeds from the sale of each statue will go directly to lion conservation work. The Pride of Kenya will be all in the same place at the same time. I can’t wait for that! But, first things first: we need to make our lion the best looking lion of them all. We need artwork.

This is where you come in. We need ideas for the art we shall create on this ‘canvas’.  I know you have lots of ideas. Send them to us. We are thinking that it would be great if we could send a global message about lion conservation with our lion. You can be as creative as you want. You can even suggest modification of the lion – as long as it still looks like a lion. But we cannot put advertising. No logos.

You can start sending your suggestions now. We have to ‘pimp’ our lion by the end of August.

A few lines about lions

The lion is the fabled kings of the jungle. But lions are losing their kingdom. Lions are virtually extinct outside of Africa except for the 80 or so ‘Gir’ lions that remain in India. Kenya has lost 90% of its lion population most of which has been lost in the last 20 years. There are now only 2100 lions left in Kenya.

Recently, Kenya lost an estimated 75 lions to poisoning – mostly by Furadan. The Kenya wildlife Service estimates that more than 200 lions have been killed in this recent period due to intolerance followed by killings through poisoning and spearing. Lion habitat is also shrinking. Human-lion conflict is also quite high due to human invasion into lion territory.

The Maasai community are best known for their warrior skills. They are also famous for co-existing with wildlife for millennia. They however have never tolerated lions mostly because - I believe - the lions prey on their cattle. To become a moran (warrior) the young Maasai man has been required to kill a lion. A group of progressive morans have refused to kill lions and have become Lion Guardians. This is one of the groups we support and they are now preaching the message of tolerance and value of lions. We also have the Stop Wildlife Poisoning Campaign against Furadan and other poisons.

Some lions of the Tara Pride monitored by Lion Guardians

Lions are the most valuable species for Kenya’s tourism – the number one foreign income generator for the country. Kenya cannot afford to lose the lion.

Who’s involved?

Kenya was home to Elsa - the star of the Born Free movie series written by Joy Adamson and acted by Virginia McKenna. Virginia’s son Will runs the Born Free Foundation. It’s their 25th year anniversary in November hence the timing of this event. Virginia will come to Kenya for the auction.

The Kenyan business community is quite excited about the idea and some have taken up their own fibre glass lions. With your help, ours will still be the best.

Get involved

You want to get involved? You can send us a design suggestion for the artwork that will be interpreted by a Nairobi-based artist on the lion ‘canvas’. But we also need to raise funds. So you can donate here (look out for the Pride of Kenya donation item). We need to raise at least US$25,000 for this particular lion. If you suggest a design, you can support it with your donation of any amount. The higher the donation the better the lion will like you.

Here is more excitement: We need to name our lion. Do you have a name for him? Suggest a name and support your name suggestion with a donation. Who says you can’t have fun while saving lions?

Tags: Africa, Born Free, furadan, Kenya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Lion, wildlifedirect

5 responses so far

Category: Africa, China, Ivory, Kenya, Rhinoceros, elephants, poaching, wildlife trade | Date: Jul 20 2009 | By: Maina

On Tuesday last week, Kenyan authorities seized a 300kg haul of elephant tusks and rhino horn hidden in coffins at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This large haul, valued at approximately $ 1-million, is thought to have either come from Tanzania or South Africa and was headed for Laos. Officials of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) however speculate that the load’s final destination was indeed China, but through Laos, the de-facto ‘gateway to China’.

A previous haul of illegal ivory as reported on Baraza in April 2009

The KWS has been complaining about increasing ivory poaching since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) allowed a one-off sale of ivory from southern Africa to China and Japan.  The entry of China into the world trade in ivory was in itself a cause for alarm amongst many conservationists on account of what is viewed as China’s laissez-faire attitude towards wildlife - except the giant panda.  There have been reports from the KWS and other organizations in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa indicating that there is definitely a rise in poaching for ivory and rhino horn.

According to the KWS, the rise in ivory poaching is partly caused by the CITES declaration to allow minimal trade from southern Africa. They say that this declaration created the illusion that it was OK to trade in ivory. If the number of seizures of ivory being witnessed today is anything to go by, then the KWS are right: the CITES declaration is indeed responsible for this mess.

It’s not just elephant poaching that is a problem. Just the previous week, a report was made public that indicates that rhino poaching has reached a 15 year high. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, and the global conservation organization WWF, and their affiliated wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, told a CITES committee in a recent meeting that poachers in Africa and Asia are killing as many as two to three animals a week in some areas to meet a growing demand for the horns. What is more worrying is that this poaching is no longer a subsistence activity but it has now evolved into organized crime similar to cocaine and small arms rackets.

Elephants and rhinos are in a very dire situation as this new wave of wanton decimation of the majestic creatures picks up pace. We are witnessing the inevitable extinction of - in the case of the rhino - an evolutionary relic that generations upon generations of humans have marveled at; and the total loss of - in the case of the elephant - the gentle intelligent giant that has been the centre of almost all mythology.

Sentimental values aside, these are ‘keystone’ species that shape the environment that they occur in. Keeping a balance in the ecology of their habitat, and therefore determining the biological diversity of these habitats. The looming departure of these two could permanently alter ecosystems - in the most part - for the worst.

Poaching can do that, and this is going to happen in our lifetime.

A solution has to be found. We first have to stop lying to ourselves that there can be any sustainable trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. We have seen this with our own eyes. It’s never going to happen. Having realized that, governments should tighten the noose on illegal traffic routes, cut down the poachers on sight, and increase punishment for poaching offenders. China and it’s Asian friends will need to be re-educated.

Dr Richard Leakey, while he was the head of KWS, led an elephant anti-poaching campaign back in the mid-1980s which brought down a large number of poaching rings. It has been 20 years since the symbolic burning of  12 tonnes of ivory - then worth about $3 million and from approximately 2000 dead elephants - at the height of the campaign. Today, elephant population that had dropped from 167, 000 in 1973 to a paltry 16,000 in 1989, now stand at 32,ooo. These numbers could easily start falling if nothing is done about the recent upsurge in poaching. Current wildlife officials could learn from this and step up the fight against poachers on the local level, while all conservationists push for the total ban on trade in ivory and rhino horn.

The symbolic ivory burning in 1989

Again, China and the Asian world that still believes that rhino horn has medicinal value, and carvings from elephant ivory  are ‘cute’, needs re-education.

Tags: Africa, Asia, burning ivory, China, CITES, elephant, Ivory, KWS, poaching, rhino, rhino horn, richard leakey, wildlife trade

8 responses so far

Category: Africa, Americas, conservation | Date: Jul 15 2009 | By: Maina

On Tuesday, 14 July 2009, I received a phone call from a Colombian radio asking if I would agree to be interviewed. “About what?” I asked. “Drug lord, Pablo Escobar’s hippos”, they answered.

I was a bit startled knowing that Pablo Escobar had been assassinated back in 1993. I was afraid that maybe they had mistaken me for an accomplice or something of the sort and they were going to gun me down like they did the deceased Escobar. What I didn’t know is that the Colombian drug lord, one of the richest men on earth then, had a hacienda (ranch) where he had kept many exotic wild animals shipped in from different parts of this earth.

Of these were four hippos which Escobar had bought from New Orleans in the 1080s. When Escobar was gunned down in 1993, the Colombian authorities who took over the ranch did not know what to do with the hippos and so left them to roam the 20 km² Hacienda Napoles (Naples Estate).

In June 2009, three of the now more than 20 hippos escaped the Hacienda and were said to be roaming in the neighbourhood, destroying crops and threatening humans and their livestock. The Colombian Authorities after several complaints by residents and recommendation by security people, gave a go ahead for the hunting and killing these three ‘dangerous’ hippos.

Pygmy Hippo at the Nairobi Safari Walk

One of them was killed in June this year leading to uproar from conservation organizations in the country and elsewhere. And that’s why they were calling me to ask me if it was okey to kill the hippo. Whether we do that in Africa where hippos come from and specifically, what the situation would be in Kenya.

Well, my answers were simple: killing hippos is illegal in Kenya not only because they are classified as vulnerable species by the IUCN but also protected by Kenyan law. I however explained that in the event that a hippo kills a human being, the Kenya Wildlife Service is allowed by law to terminate the offending hippos life.

When asked what the authorities should do about the hippos, I said that the hippos should be captured by the wildlife authorities and brought back to the Hacienda. They should then ensure that they are contained within the ranch.

It is wrong that the hippos had been transported all the way from Africa, and then to New Orleans, and then to Escobar’s Hacienda, but since the mistake had been committed, then the only option is for proper and scientific management of the population. Not hunting them down like…er…criminals.

I was also asked whether the hippos should be brought back to Africa, of which I said that that would carry a huge cost that would be unnecessary. I would opt that such funds be spent in conservation of the hacienda hippos, or protecting hippos that are in Africa.

The situation with Escobar’s hippos could have been avoided if they were not shipped all the way from Africa to the hacienda. It all boils down to the question of trade in live animals, either legal or otherwise, especially species that are in danger of extinction. Large mammals like hippos, having found a place that they can thrive, and without their natural enemies, are likely to increase in number quite rapidly. These particular hippos had increased from 4 to more than 20 in less than 30 years.

Again, it is natural for hippos, and indeed all animals, once they become numerous and start to feel the strain of increased competion for available resources, to seek new territory with more resources. The lack of management of this hacienda population was in my opinion the cause of the need for the three hippos to move out. Chances are that this will happen again as the population continues to increase.

It is being reported that the Colombian authorities have called off the hunt for the other two hippos after the protest from conservation organizations for now. Some zoos have even offered to take at least one hippo each. We do hope that they find a solution to the problem. A solution that does not involve hunting down the hippos, and brutally murdering them.

Tags: Africa, Colombia, conservation, Hacienda Napoles, hippo, hunt, Pablo Escobar, zoo

4 responses so far

Category: China | Date: Jul 14 2009 | By: paula

Well we’re in day 4 of this five day Society for Conservation Biology 23^rd Annual Meeting and I want to report on the BIG ISSUES that have been identified in some of the keynote addresses so far.

On Sunday a world renown botanist and environmental hero, Dr. Peter H. Raven started the conference by telling us how many species will survive the 21^st Century.

Dr Raven was born in China so he started by telling us that there are 1.3 million species in this country of which only 10% are named and a good half are endemic species. They are disappearing fast. Why? Because of rapid human population growth. 10,500 years ago there were only 3 to 4 million people in the world. That was only 400 generations ago. We will number 9 or 10 billion by the year 2050!

More alarming is that we are using resources faster than ever because of the growing middle class. This is especially true in India and China. For China it is estimated that the area needed to support the current population at the current rate, or China’s ecological footprint is twice the size of the country! He says that this is related to growing wealth, the enormous consumption of meat, and polluting cities (16 of the worlds most polluted cities are in China).

Check out this map from Worldmapper and look for your country – is your nation exceeding capacity? If it looks like it’s ballooning then it is!

According to Raven, we have already exceeded the worlds capacity to support ourselves by 30%. That’s like saying we are using a third more than the planet Earth can support us in a sustainable way. But what’s most disturbing is that the doubling of the worlds population will lead to a footprint 2.4 times greater than the earths capacity to support us. And, if we move to levels of consumption similar to developed nations (Japan and USA) we will need 6 planets to support us!!

Another interesting fact is that China is exerting environmental damage valued at  8 -13 %  of GDP. This cost is never accounted for.  It includes the loss of important plants and animals that provide vital services such as traditional medicine (two thirds of Chinese people depend on traditional medicine).

Dr. Raven predicts that the consequences of this rate of population growth, emergence of a large middle class and continued non sustainable exploitation in China will lead to the loss of 77,000 square kilometers of marginal land this year alone. Within a few years the Tibetan ice cap will be lost with disastrous effects on the Tibetan plateau and downstream. 20 – 40% of all species will be in danger of extinction. It is estimated that current global rates of extinction are in the range of thousands of species every year. Very soon we will be losing tens of thousands of species each year, and two thirds of all species will be lost by the year 2100 as a result of humans.

So, should we really be so proud of our human inventions and constructions like the Great Wall below when the truth is that we are simply weapons of mass destruction!

I would love to know how the construction of one of China’s great sources of pride, the Great Wall affected wildlife migrations here.

In all the presentations here I am not alone in eagerly expecting to hear about how we can save wild places, wild species, our ecosystems, ecosystem services and landscapes. Dr Ravens noted that the planet needs to change levels of consumption, promote equal opportunities, and apply new technologies and implement major changes of thinking and technology. He said we need to expand our protected areas and gather more information…I felt like he was fumbling around looking for an answer.  After such a shocking lecture I found his recommendations far too fluffy – and I feel let down because I didn’t go away feeling like we have a solution.

I’m especially disturbed because of three interacting factors.

1. Conservation needs in Africa and other parts of the developing world are already underfunded and are not on the radar of our politicians or policy makers even though these issues are central to food security and therefore political stability
2. Climate change which is not our fault is making it doubly or trebly hard to save species or produce food – thereby aggravating an already bad situation
3. The global economic crisis has dried up funding for conservation in Africa.  Again, this crisis has nothing to do with Africa yet it’s punishing us in a deadly way. Funds for conservation are drying up and many highly qualified colleagues are leaving this field because they can’t feed their families. It makes me want to cry! Funnily enough there seems to be funds available for science especially developed country scientists, but tragically this is not translating into conservation actions or support for African scientists. There are only 35 African participants at this meeting of 1,000 participants – it was just too expensive for many to come to.

My feeling is that we urgently need to wake the world up to what’s happening in Africa so that we don’t face a crisis. Please help us by telling your friends and colleagues about the amazing work being done by our partners in al the projects on WildlifeDirect.org.

Don’t let the climate change and economic crisis drive good conservationists to extinction. Here are three simple things that you can do to help wildlife. Share our stories with your families and friends, connect with and help our bloggers, and make a donation to our projects.

In the next few days I’ll post more about the interesting papers being presented here in Beijing.  Before I go though I want to support what many of the presenters have argued - that we need to do more individually – after all, a huge proportion of the worlds carbon emissions and green house gases are the result of by our individual consumption habits.

Before I go though, do you know how big your carbon footprint is? You can calculate it with this neat online tool called my carbon footprint and then make decisions on what to do to reduce it. Mine was 15.1 which means that if everyone was as good as me we would only need .41 earths. I guess that’s fairly good though I know I could recycle more and be more careful in how we eat.

What are your results? Let us know what you get and tell us what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Good luck!

Tags: carbon footprint, Kenya, Peter Raven, SCB, Society for Conservation Biology, Species extinctions, wildlife

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 12 2009 | By: paula

Ni Hau everyone, that’s hello from Beijing

I’m at the
Society for Conservation Biology’s annual meeting which is being held in a conference center just north of Beijing, China. I have been in China for over 3 weeks now and still feel ‘lost’. Communication across the language barrier is really tough, though sometimes funny.

But the good news is that China did not meet my worst expectations, Beijing is not crowded,  but twitter and facebook are both blocked from here, and the air pollution makes the sun look like an orangy blob in the sky. The willdife sold as street food is material for an entire blog post! On the whole, the people here have been absolutely lovely.

I been attending business and scientific meetings since yesterday and I get the feeling that scientists are either 1. Oblivious to the fact that we are losing so much wildlife, or 2. Don’t care anymore, but will keep gathering data anyway.

It’s frightening how serious the conservation situation is world wide. I’ll be bringing you reports from the various prestenations. We desperately need a global groundwell, a movement of ordinary individuals to turn the situation around. It’s going to take a new kind of leadership. I wish I had a crystal ball.

Tags: China, endangered species, SCB, Society for Conservation Biology, wildlife

2 responses so far