Ivory seizures reached 40 tonnes in 2016, a new world record, even though illegal elephant hunting in Africa fell for the fifth consecutive year, the Convention on International Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) reported today.
The decline in elephant deaths was particularly “significant” in East Africa, an area hit hard by poaching in the last decade, which saw the population of these animals reduced by 50%, the report revealed. CITES it's a statement.
Within this region, the number of specimens increased in places such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. In the southern part of Africa, Botswana remains the country with the largest population, while the number is growing in Namibia and South Africa.
The central African region is on the negative side, where the number of elephant deaths remains "very high", as it has been for the past decade, according to data released today by the organization.
Based on data collected from various programmes, the Convention estimates that illegal hunting has killed 111.000 African elephants in the past ten years, with a peak in 2011.
More controls at customs and transport
Meanwhile, the 2016 ivory seizures were “three times higher” than those recorded in 2007, but CITES attributes the contrast between this increase and the decrease in poaching to the intensification of controls and surveillance of transport and customs.
They also warned that there may be stockpiled ivory that is now being attempted to be traded and that the expansion of bans and collective commitment is leading to a drop in consumption and prices of ivory.
“The underlying collective global effort is beginning to yield results” but they are “not yet” at the goals desired by the organization, according to CITES Secretary General John E. Scanlon in the note.
The Convention, created in 1973, regulates international trade in more than 35.000 species of plants and animals to ensure their survival.
Wild#animals know no borders #CITES & #CMS bring countries together to protect listed #wildlife My #CMSCOP12 speech https://t.co/bx4FrgDWgN pic.twitter.com/1eAK3SbMcQ
— John E. Scanlon (@JohnEScanlon) 23th October 2017
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