Nairobi — A Kenyan wildlife conservationist on Friday hailed China’s leadership in ending the poaching of Africa’s elephants for their ivory.
Dr Paula Kahumba, the CEO of Kenyan Conservation NGO WildlifeDirect, told Xinhua on the sidelines of a wildlife economic forum in Nairobi that Beijing’s role in the poaching of elephants ivory will help eradicate the illegal poaching of African elephants for their ivory.
“China is also making reforms in the right direction to help Africa crush criminal cartels involved in the illegal ivory trade,” she said.
Already, Chinese and African governments are working jointly in the investigations and prosecutions of suspected ivory criminals.
Kahumbu said the announcement by the Chinese government that a ban will be imposed on ivory trade is a huge step towards wildlife conservation efforts.
According to the wildlife conservationist, Chinese NGOs are leading the way in educating their citizens on the dangers of ivory. Last year China destroyed 662 kilograms of ivory.
Kahumbu said Africa’s elephant population is at risk of extinction. “The elephant population in East and West Africa has reduced drastically,” she said, stressing that killing an elephant is not like cutting down a tree.
“The death of an adult elephant destroys an entire family, because they are very social animals and it takes generations for the mammals to recover,” she said.
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