Well CITES is over and the ivory trade has not reopened, but according to one new documentary Africa’s elephants are no safer. Last year we helped Aidan Hartley of UK’s Channel 4 in an investigative story on the ivory trade. It was not an easy task for him and his team to do the undercover work to reveal what is really happening on the ground and in African government offices. We are happy to announce that this multi part documentary called End of the Elephant. Part 1 aired on the 26th of March and Part 2 will air on Friday the 2nd of April on Unreported World on Channel 4 in UK. You can also watch this series online here UNREPORTED WORLD
Or check out Aidans video blog.
In a special article in the Spectator Aidan Hartley reveals that it was easy to find ivory on the Tanzanian streets – any amount he wanted. but it was the bullet riddled carcasses in the Selous National Park that led Aiden to call the situation there a free fall. Over 31,000 elephants have been killed in this premier Tanzanian ‘protected area’. Aiden says
“I became sickened by seeing so many fresh elephant carcasses: bullet-riddled, heaving with maggots, skulls hacked up with axes where poachers extracted the tusks. And what astonished me was that this was going on under the noses of foreign tourists, each of them paying a fortune to visit Tanzania’s game parks.”
The Tanzanian government clearly has done little to stem the illegal killings of elephants, to the disgust of tour operators and conservationists. Indeed this was the main reason that Tanzania failed in her bid to sell off her ivory stockpiles at the just concluded CITES conference in Doha.
The slaughter of Tanzania’s elephants has been an open secret for some time. Corruption in official offices and threats to tour operators who ‘speak’ have kept it out of the official news.
Who buys Tanzania’s ivory? Aiden discovered that Chinese in the country are the main buyers
‘All the time the Chinese come. Many, yes! Yes!’ exclaimed Daudi.”
According to the seller Salim, ivory is purchased by the Chinese and exported through the main airport after paying bribes. This ivory is fresh and still bloody and the sales and exports are happening openly everyday. Clearly the ivory is arriving in China without any problems on that end. Amazing considering that all the Chinese authorities would need to do is search the luggage of every person travelling from Tanzania t catch them. If they could track every tourist into China during the Swine flu epidemic, why can’t they do this? I believe it’s due to a total lack of political will on the part of the Chinese government.
But Aidan says it’s worse than mere negligence. His source, Daudi revealed that Chinese government officials travelling through Tanzania including Hu Jintao’s entourage use their diplomatic status and immunity to move ivory. To me this stinks much more than the sickly smell of 31,000 rotting maggot ridden elephant carcasses.
I hope that Aidans film End of the Elephant will wake up the Tanzanians, the world – especially the Chinese to do something about this state condoned corruption which is destroying Africa’s greatest mammal.
Note to Aidan - CONGRATULATIONS and we are really glad that we could help. From all of us at WildlifeDirect
2 Comments
Thank you so much for this information!A special heartfelt thanks to Aidan Hartley for covering the story and bringing the plight of elephants to wider audience. There has to be a way to put pressure on China. I have done the best I can to boycott Chinese products for some years already, because I’m totally disgusted on how Chinese exploit animals. I’m also boycotting Tanzania and will not travel there until this poaching problem is solved.
This Story has to be told and thank you Adian for going to such length to help in highlighting this evil of corruption, human greed and not to mention the unimaginable suffering of these elephants, not just as individuals but as families and will be felt like it was in the 70′s and 80′s for generations to come. This sickens me to the core and so it should for everyone but there are enough of us waking up to what is at stake and this will not be tolerated…
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