Over 300 elephants, other animals, poisoned/killed in Zimbabwe

CountryLiving · Oct 21, 2013

I have absolutely no idea why people could do something like this. Yes, they are poor and hungry, but putting cyanide in a watering hole - not just animals, but people could have been poisoned as well. And to kill so many elephants! What a horrible waste. Reminds me of the horrific buffalo massacres that used to happen in our country. Are people this stupid?

And as for those who purchase ivory on the illegal exchanges - shame on them!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/21/zimbabwe-elephant-poisoning-death-toll_n_4135766.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

More than 300 elephants and other animals have died of cyanide poisoning by poachers in Zimbabwe's largest game park, a wildlife conservation group said Monday.

"In July, around 300 elephants had died from cyanide poisoning in Hwange and were discovered by a group of hunters who flew over the area," Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force told AFP.

He said other animals that have also been killed include lions, vultures, painted dogs and hyenas.

"The authorities only stepped in in September and by then the numbers had escalated. As at last week, about 325 had died altogether."

Government officials were not immediately available to confirm the figure.

The parks and wildlife authority said last week that the death toll from poisoning was 100. Four poachers have been jailed for at least 15 years each for the crime.
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waltky · Aug 19, 2014

No wonder they're an endangered species...

100,000 elephants killed in Africa, study finds
Aug 18,`14 -- Poachers killed an estimated 100,000 elephants across Africa between 2010 and 2012, a huge spike in the continent's death rate of the world's largest mammals because of an increased demand for ivory in China and other Asian nations, a new study published Monday found.

Warnings about massive elephant slaughters have been ringing for years, but Monday's study is the first to scientifically quantify the number of deaths across the continent by measuring deaths in one closely monitored park in Kenya and using other published data to extrapolate fatality tolls across the continent. The study - which was carried out by the world's leading elephant experts - found that the proportion of illegally killed elephants has climbed from 25 percent of all elephant deaths a decade ago to roughly 65 percent of all elephant deaths today, a percentage that, if continued, will lead to the extinction of the species.

China's rising middle class and the demand for ivory in that country of 1.3 billion people is driving the black market price of ivory up, leading to more impoverished people in Africa "willing to take the criminal risk on and kill elephants. The causation in my mind is clear," said the study's lead author, George Wittemyer of Colorado State University. The peer-review study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was co-authored by experts from Save the Elephants, the Kenya Wildlife Service, an international group called MIKE responsible for monitoring the illegal killings of elephants, and two international universities. "The current demand for ivory is unsustainable. That is our overarching conclusion. It must come down. Otherwise the elephants will continue to decrease," said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants.

A herd of adult and baby elephants walks in the dawn light across Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, with the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, seen behind. A new study released Monday Aug. 18, 2014, by lead author George Wittemye of Colorado State University, found that the proportion of illegally killed elephants has climbed to about 65 percent of all African elephant deaths, accounting for around 100,000 elephants killed by poachers between 2010 and 2012

Elephant deaths are not happening at the same rate across Africa. The highest death rate is in central Africa, with East Africa - Tanzania and Kenya - not far behind. Botswana is a bright spot, with a population that is holding steady or growing. South Africa's rhinos are being killed, but poachers have not yet begun attacking elephants. Some individual elephant death numbers are shocking. The elephant population in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve dropped from 40,000 to 13,000 over the last three years.

China is aware of its image problem concerning the ivory trade. The embassy in Kenya this month donated anti-poaching equipment to four wildlife conservancies. Chinese Ambassador Liu Xianfa said at the handover ceremony that China is increasing publicity and education of its people to increase understanding of the illegal ivory trade. "Wildlife crimes are a cross-border menace," Liu said, according to a transcript of the ceremony published by Kenya's Capital FM. "I assure you that more action will follow as will support to fulfil our promise. We firmly believe that, through joint efforts, the drive of combating wildlife crimes will achieve success."

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OldManOnFire · Aug 22, 2014

CountryLiving said: ↑

I have absolutely no idea why people could do something like this. Yes, they are poor and hungry, but putting cyanide in a watering hole - not just animals, but people could have been poisoned as well. And to kill so many elephants! What a horrible waste. Reminds me of the horrific buffalo massacres that used to happen in our country. Are people this stupid?

And as for those who purchase ivory on the illegal exchanges - shame on them!
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We tend to believe we are an advanced and intelligent species...yet collectively, we only have one foot out of the primordial muck. We prove around the world every day that we remain barbaric and stupid. Sure, a majority of humans are decent people but it's obvious we still have millions around the world who don't seem to be able to rationalize common good from evil. IMO there is nothing which can change this except for a lot of time, like 10's or 100's of years of societal evolution. It's interesting to me that the collective we are incapable of creating world laws, laws for example that might ban these heinous actions towards animals. Even in the USA, if we removed all the laws, give us about a week and we'll become as barbaric as others. Problem is giving enough time for societal evolution, the harm will be done at the expense of elephants and others. Lastly, the fact that most of us cannot fathom how others can do such heinous crimes against helpless beings validates just how barbaric we remain...
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waltky · Nov 9, 2015

Congo's park rangers vs. Kony's elephant poachers...

Armed groups target elephants in Congo park
Nov 8,`15 -- The eight suspected poachers stood under a tree, apparently unaware they were being tracked by 10 rangers from Congo's Garamba National Park. But as the rangers approached, gunfire rang out from the tall grass nearby, where other heavily armed men were hidden. The dragnet swiftly turned into a desperate fight for survival.

The shootout last month, in which three rangers and a Congolese army colonel were killed, highlights the challenge of protecting parks in a part of Africa plagued for decades by insurgencies, civil war, refugee flows and weak governments. It shows how some conservation efforts resemble a kind of guerrilla warfare in which rangers and soldiers stalk - and are stalked by - poachers who are slaughtering Africa's elephants and other wildlife. Such violence is not confined to Garamba in northeastern Congo, on the border with South Sudan. Farther south, in Congo's Virunga National Park, assailants killed a ranger last month and another died in a militia attack there in August.

More than 200 elephants have been poached in Garamba since a census in April 2014 counted 1,780 elephants - down from more than 11,000 two decades ago. The park is one of only a handful of sites in Congo with "a viable population of elephants," despite the loss of many large mammals over the past five decades, said Bas Huijbregts, an expert with the World Wildlife Fund conservation group. Garamba was also once known as home to the last northern white rhinos in the wild, though none have been seen there for years.

An earlier generation of poachers in Garamba killed with spears. Today's intruders carry grenades and rocket launchers, and in some cases, have even targeted elephants from helicopters. These gunmen have turned a world heritage site the United Nations defines as "in danger" into a spot where deadly skirmishes are likely to forestall significant tourism for quite some time. "The threat is now completely militarized," said Leon Lamprecht, operations director for African Parks, a non-profit group based in Johannesburg that took over management of the 1,890-square-mile (4,900-square-kilometer) park a decade ago.

Garamba's 120 rangers, backed by up to 60 Congolese soldiers, are trying to ward off rebels from nearby South Sudan, as well as ivory hunters and militias from Sudan and the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group led by warlord Joseph Kony, who is accused of war crimes. Kony's fighters are killing Garamba's elephants and trading the ivory tusks for ammunition, food and uniforms in Sudanese-controlled territory, according to a report released last month by Enough Project, a watchdog group, whose findings were based on interviews with rebel defectors. The U.S. military is assisting African forces pursuing the Lord's Resistance Army, and a U.N. peacekeeping mission of about 20,000 troops is deployed in eastern Congo, where many armed groups operate.

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waltky · Apr 28, 2016

Killing elephants for China...

The war on elephants
Wed, 27 Apr 2016 - How the very existence of Africa's elephants is threatened by poachers, traffickers and Asia's appetite for ivory. The BBC's Africa correspondent Alastair Leithead travelled to DR Congo, Kenya and Namibia

Bloated and eerily upright the large adult elephant was still standing where it had been killed - just next to the stream - its face hacked off. It had been fleeing the carnage in the mud 100m or so away, where the remains of four other adults and one young elephant lay fallen and disfigured, their tusks and trunks all taken for ivory and meat. Like a macabre statue, this faceless animal stood as a landmark to the horrors of poaching, of the ivory trade, and of the mass slaughter of the last remaining elephants in central Africa.

Elephant carcass, Garamba National Park, DR Congo

The pilot of the light aircraft was out on a regular reconnaissance mission when circling vultures drew him to the scene. The armed rangers on patrol nearby hadn't heard the shots, so it was the scavengers feasting on the carcasses that had raised the alarm. Garamba, in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the oldest national parks in Africa, designated in 1938.

Elephant numbers in the Garamba National Park and hunting reserves

It covers 14,000 sq km (5,500 sq miles) dominated by savannah grasses, which when green and lush can reach 3m in height, enveloping the elephants and concealing them even from the air. It's tough going on foot with the criss-crossing streams that feed the great Congo River, punctuated by papyrus marsh, forest and scrub. The park was made a World Heritage Site in 1980 for its rare Northern White Rhinos, and with 22,000 elephants back then, they never seemed in danger.

But the last rhino was seen some years ago. Poaching has wiped them out, and now with 95% of the elephants gone, and the killing continuing week after week, these giants are going the same way. It's not a good neighbourhood for conservation. This park has, to a very, very large extent been poached out by various armed groups, says Erik Mararv, the 30-year-old African-born Swede who manages Garamba for the non-profit organisation, African Parks.

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Baff · Apr 28, 2016

I wouldn't underestimate the threat to human life that a herd of 300 elephants presents.
A famine in every village they pass. They could kill thousands and thousands of people.

You can't expect people not to prioritise their own lives over the lives of others.
I believe that the only way to save elephants is to adopt them. Domesticate them.
In the wild they are too big a threat to humanity to ignore.

OldManOnFire · Apr 30, 2016

Baff said: ↑

I wouldn't underestimate the threat to human life that a herd of 300 elephants presents.
A famine in every village they pass. They could kill thousands and thousands of people.

You can't expect people not to prioritise their own lives over the lives of others.
I believe that the only way to save elephants is to adopt them. Domesticate them.
In the wild they are too big a threat to humanity to ignore.
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In the grand scheme of things on Earth, for those who believe Earth is 13.9 billion years old and in the process of evolution, all that exists in humans, animals, fish, insects, etc. are IMO kind of a finely honed machine that works because of the complete system. When we start meddling in that system, like killing coyotes, or mountain lions, or elephants, etc. there can be an effect on the entire system. The more we mess with the system the more risk we are creating. If all we do is 'take' from the system, 'abuse' the system (pollution), eventually bad stuff will happen...

tidbit · Apr 30, 2016

Baff said: ↑

I wouldn't underestimate the threat to human life that a herd of 300 elephants presents.
A famine in every village they pass. They could kill thousands and thousands of people.

You can't expect people not to prioritise their own lives over the lives of others.
I believe that the only way to save elephants is to adopt them. Domesticate them.
In the wild they are too big a threat to humanity to ignore.
Click to expand...

I am in an exceptionally bad mood today. That being said: A herd of 300 elephants should have the 'right of way' when it comes to humans vs animals. Humans are devils, and there are 7+ billion of us on this planet.

waltky · May 26, 2016

El Nino strikes Zimbabwe crops...

Millions Going Hungry in Drought-Stricken Zimbabwe
May 25, 2016 The United Nations says nearly three million people in drought-stricken Zimbabwe are going hungry. The world body expects that number to exceed four million as the full impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon kicks in.

U.N. Resident Coordinator for Zimbabwe Bishow Parajuli says the impact of little rain and low crop yields following two years of drought is painfully visible in Matabeleland and other dry lands. I recently visited that area with a number of donors and ambassadors," said Parajuli. " We could really see the desperation and severity of the situation. A few weeks ago, the United Nations appealed for $360 million to provide life-saving assistance for more than three million people. The priority needs are for food, water, health, nutrition, sanitation and protection.

Last Zimaniwa feels the broken ground at a spot which is usually a reliable water source that has dried up due to lack of rains in the village of Chivi , Zimbabwe

Parajuli says $70 million has been received, leaving a gap of $290 million. He says it is critical for donors to respond generously and immediately to this appeal. Given Zimbabwe is a landlocked country and also the whole southern Africa region is affected by El Nino, and lack of surplus of maize, it is very critical to plan in advance in terms of importation and supply chain delivery ," said Parajuli. " So, earlier response will really help save lives and suffering among the population.

Parajuli says he is particularly worried about the so-called lean season between September and March. This is the period between harvests when farmers food stocks are at their lowest. He says people will be severely affected by the lack of food, and many will not be able to count on their cattle as a lifeline as tens of thousands have died from lack of water and grazing land.

http://www.voanews.com/content/millions-going-hungry-in-drought-stricken-zimbabwe/3345354.html
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OldManOnFire · May 31, 2016

waltky said: ↑

El Nino strikes Zimbabwe crops...

Millions Going Hungry in Drought-Stricken Zimbabwe
May 25, 2016 — The United Nations says nearly three million people in drought-stricken Zimbabwe are going hungry. The world body expects that number to exceed four million as the full impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon kicks in.
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I don't understand in these remote and arid places around the world, including the USA, why we're not desalinating ocean water and piping it 100's or 1000's of miles to where it's needed? Yes maybe the technology is young but this can be overcome. Yes it costs lots of money but so does unhealthy and dying humans...

waltky · Nov 11, 2016

Charges dropped against Walter Palmer for shooting Cecil the lion...

Zimbabwe court drops charges against hunter who helped kill Cecil the lion
11 Nov 2016: A Zimbabwean court has thrown out charges against a local hunter accused of failing to stop the killing of the country's most prized lion by an American dentist, his lawyer said on Friday.

Walter Palmer, a lifelong big-game hunter from Minnesota, touched off a global controversy when he killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, with a bow and arrow outside Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe in July last year. While Zimbabwean authorities said Palmer had legal authority to hunt, they were stung by the international outcry and charged local hunter Theo Bronkhorst, who assisted Palmer, with failing to prevent an unlawful hunt.

Bronkhorst's lawyers then applied to the High Court in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo to set aside the charge, arguing it could not have been an offence under the country's wildlife laws if Palmer had a permit to hunt. "The court granted us that prayer yesterday - that the charges be quashed. So I cannot imagine the state coming back again charging him with the same charge," said Lovemore Muvhiringi, a lawyer for Bronkhorst.

Cecil had been fitted with a collar to track his movements but strayed outside the confines of Hwange National Park and was then shot. Bronkhorst was accused of laying bait to lure Cecil out of the park. Palmer said at the time that no one in his hunting party realized the targeted lion was Cecil. Wildlife hunting is an important revenue source for the southern African country, which is grappling with its worst shortage of cash since it dumped its inflation-ravaged currency in favour of the U.S. dollar in 2009.

Conservationists worldwide were outraged when Zimbabwe's government announced in October last year that Palmer would not be charged over Cecil's killing because he had obtained legal authority to conduct the hunt. But the government said Palmer would be free to visit Zimbabwe only as a tourist, not a hunter, in future, implying he would not be issued the required permits.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...inst-hunter-who-helped-kill-ceci/3281278.html
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Over 300 elephants, other animals, poisoned/killed in Zimbabwe

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