Official: 5 elephants killed in Kenya
Official: 5 elephants killed in Kenya
TOM ODULA, Associated Press
February 23, 2009
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Poachers seeking ivory have killed five elephants
in southeastern Kenya in the past six weeks, a government wildlife
official said Monday.
The elephants were killed in the Tsavo East National Park and its
surrounding areas in southeastern Kenya, said Jonathan Kirui, an
assistant director of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
"This is the highest number elephants killed at this park in recent
times for their tusks in such a short period," Kirui told The Associated
Press.
Kirui, whose area of responsibility includes the park, said informers
have told the wildlife agency that the price of a kilogram of ivory in
Kenya rose to between 3,000 and 4,000 shillings ($37 and $50) in 2008. A
year earlier a kilogram of ivory sold for 1,000-2,000 shillings.
James Isiche of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said his
organization is concerned the latest reports could portend a return to
the elephant poaching era of the 1970s and 1980s, when poachers
devastated Kenya's elephant population.
The U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or
CITES, imposed a global ban on the ivory trade in 1989 and Kenya
reformed its wildlife conservation department to form the current Kenya
Wildlife Service, helping to reduce poaching. But the current estimated
population of 30,000 is still less than a fifth of the 1973 estimate of
167,000.
"The situation is dire, and needs to be arrested before it escalates
further. We believe that there is a strong correlation between this
upsurge and the ivory stockpiles sales allowed by CITES that were done
in late 2008," said Isiche.
He was referring to an auction in November when South Africa, Namibia,
Botswana and Zimbabwe were granted a one-time exemption from the global
ivory ban because of their thriving elephant herds.
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