The Mozambican Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, has announced in Maputo that during 2015 the Mozambican authorities detained over 300 people in connection with poaching, APA learns here on Thursday. He was speaking at commemorations of World Wildlife Day, at a time when the country’s wild life is under serious threat.
The latest elephant census showed that between 2009 and 2014, the Mozambican elephant population had fallen by 48 per cent.
This means from just over 20,000 in 2009 to 10,300 in 2014. As for rhinos, both African species, the black and the white, are feared extinct in Mozambique.
Correia added that the government is currently working on a proposal to increase the penalties for poachers who, according to Mr. Correia, are, in reality, environmental aggressors.
Correia said that last year 300 newborn elephants were counted in Mozambique, but 380 elephants were killed in the same period. Thus, thanks to the poachers, more elephants are dying than are being born in Mozambique.
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