Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/528216
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 5 4 E lephant poaching is also on the increase in other African countries. From January to June of last year, 1,900-square-mile Garamba National Park, Africa's oldest national park established in 1938 and located in the Congo, had lost 68 elephants to poachers. A 2012 census found just 2,000 elephants in the park, down from 20,000 in the 1960s. According to the Johannesburg-based African Parks group, the non- profit group managing Garamba, the elephant toll made up four percent of the park's total population. One particular group is so well-financed that it's shooting elephants from a helicopter and then removing their tusks with chainsaws. African Parks, which operates seven reserves in six countries in cooperation with local authorities, said the poachers also include renegade elements of the Congolese army, gunmen from South Sudan, and members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a militant rebel group whose fugitive leader Joseph Kony is an alleged war criminal. "The situation is extremely serious," Garamba Park manger Jean-Marc Froment said. "The park is under attack on all fronts." In one skirmish with poachers, park guards had to try to protect themselves against hand grenades thrown by Southern Sudanese poachers, some wearing military uniforms. In recent years the UN has warned that armed groups in Africa have been turning to ivory poaching to fund their struggles. Many are also using the more sophisticated weapons that flowed from Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. A UN-backed report released in June acknowledges that the level of elephant poaching across Africa remains alarmingly high, with a marked increase in the number of sizable ivory seizers, which indicates that transnational organized crime is involved in the illicit ivory trade. This is feeding a thriving ivory trade market in Asia and helping fuel the worst poaching epidemic of African elephants in decades. Just three countries— Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda—accounted for 80 percent of those seizures. "Africa's elephants continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high levels of poaching for their ivory and with over 20,000 elephants illegally killed last year, the situation remains dire," said John E. Scanlon, CITES secretary-general. The report by the Convention's secretariat says that although the sharp upward trend in illegal elephant killing observed since the mid-2000s is leveling off, poaching levels continue to far exceed the elephants population's growth rates, resulting in a further decline in populations across Africa. Three key factors cited for the higher poaching levels are poverty, weak governance, and the demand for illegal ivory in consuming nations, according to a news release issued by CITES. I 'm sorry that time must be spent and space devoted to such depressing information, but before change can take place, there must be awareness. If this horrendous trend continues, Africa's elephants and rhinos are literally facing a fight for survival, which they cannot win alone. Anything that can be done to stop this downward spiral must be done before it is too late. Legal, well-regulated sport-hunting, as part of a sound management program, could benefit the conservation of elephants by providing a significant deterrent to poaching and offer substantial incentives for local communities to conserve the species by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation. Africa's resilience to abuse and its ability to heal itself has proven itself many times in the past, but the abuse must be stopped in order for the healing to begin. Note: Joe Coogan lived in Kenya with his family back in the 1960s and 1970s. An avid hunter, shooter, and outdoorsman, he enjoyed a successful career as a professional hunter in Botswana and Tanzania. Coogan still conducts a few safaris each year through his company Africa All-Ways. For more go to www. africaallways.com. RichaRd MolleR/tsavo tRust Photo Satao's 100-pound tusks were an appealing target to poachers in Kenya. The 50-year-old bull was felled by poisoned arrows in March of last year.