Stop Wildlife Poisoning

The Team

Poisoning for Ivory

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 17 2008 | By: Martin

Apparently poisonig has become the stylish technique of depressing our wildlife and all for the wrong reasons.

With the poisoned tip of a metal arrow piercing her right leg, a pregnant elephant stumbles miles through the African bush towards her death.

After two days of agony she falls to the red earth, while her killers, following on bicycles and carrying butchering knives, wait for the end to come.

In the darkness of a Kenyan night, the four poachers watch as she first loses her unborn calf in a spontaneous miscarriage provoked by the poison in her body.

An hour later, after the 35-year- old elephant dies, they move in - hacking off her face to steal the two precious ivory tusks which will make them rich for years.

Soon, they hope, the tusks will have been smuggled out of Africa and be on their way to a factory in Beijing, to be carved into jewellery and chopsticks.

Just a few weeks ago, though, these poachers were caught. James Ekiru, the head ranger at Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary (which is in sight of Mount Kilimanjaro and two hours’ drive from the port of Mombassa), says: ‘We followed their tracks, and 24 hours after they killed this mother elephant, we found them with the tusks lying on the ground.

‘They were starting to butcher her meat - cutting it into kilo pieces. We arrested two of them, but two more got away. They were local men.

‘We suspect the elephant was killed “to order”, and that her tusks would have been smuggled to China.

Read it all in Massacre of the giants: Once hunted to near extinction, Africas elephants slowly pulled back from the brink

3 Responses to “Poisoning for Ivory”

Dana, on 17 Aug 2008

I continually shake my head when I read postings like this. “Killed to order” and for what? Chopsticks, cellphone covers. This madness has to stop. Sadly, as long as there is a market it won’t.

By the way, the link “Massacre of the giants” is no longer active.

TheTeach, Seattle, on 17 Aug 2008

Absolutely horrible! But, you got two of the poachers. Now, lock them up and get them to finger the other two that got away. Every poacher apprehended and incarcerated, hopefully, means fewer dead elephants in the field. A high capture rate and severe penalties for the crime are really the only way to curtail this, if ivory demand is going to persist. Somehow, law enforcement needs to nab the supplier who hires the poachers in the first place. Good Hunting (for poachers that is) !

Martin, on 18 Aug 2008

Hi Dana, please try the link again. I have edited it. It should now open.
“The Teach”, you are right. Laws! Laws! Laws! are crucial in wildlife conservation. It is unfortunate that atimes, the loopholes they leave just favours the perpetrators of anti-wildlife conservation deeds. One of our Anti Poison Task Force roles is to review and campaign for their enforcement. It should be a worthwhile strategy.

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