Rising demand for ivory in Asia is fueling a new wave of poaching in Eastern Africa region which could wipe out the elephant population if not immediately stopped.The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report titled: Transitional Organised Crime in Eastern Africa that Tanzania has the highest rate of poaching whereby illegal killings account for 100 per cent elephant mortality in the country’s Mkomazi game reserve that borders Kenya, 20 per cent in Tarangire National Park and 94% in Rungwa Game Reserve.According to the same report, poachers claim 86% of the lives of the jumbos in Ruaha National Park, 86% in Katavi and 64% Selous Game - making Tanzania the leading source of illicit ivory for the growing market in Asia and the Middle East.In Uganda, illegal killings mainly take place in Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth national parks where 92 per cent and 80 per cent of the animals that die are a result of poaching for ivory.Despite being the main transit route for ivory through the Port of Mombasa, the UN says Kenya’s game parks reported a relatively low rate of poaching with 61 per cent of the death toll in Masai Mara and Tsavo national parks being the handwork of poachers.The highest number of illegal deaths of elephants in Kenya takes place in Nairobi National Park at 78 per cent. The report says that if left to continue at the current rate, poaching could undermine tourism revenues in the region. “The African elephant is not currently deemed ‘endangered’ as a species, but its decimation in Eastern Africa could be devastating. In addition to the reduction in genetic diversity, its loss could seriously undermine local tourist revenues, a key source of foreign exchange for many of the countries of the region.”But the UN has warned that growing number of wealthy people in Asia who desire to own products made from ivory, has apparently spurred a new wave of poaching that threatens to wipe out elephants and could compromise East Africa’s revenue from tourism.According to the report, authorities in Malaysia recently seized six tons of ivory in a single shipment—the largest seizure in recent history. In order to collect six tons of ivory, at least 600 elephants must die—which is equivalent to one-quarter of the known elephant population of Uganda.“Available evidence suggests that current poaching rates in Eastern Africa have exceeded natural population growth rates. Most countries in Eastern Africa can claim fewer than 1000 elephants, so this demand could quickly destroy some national populations,” the UN warned.In order to demonstrate how big the threat is, the UN reports that recent studies show that 60 per cent of the ivory traded in the world’s largest open markets for ivory, Guangzhou in China, is sold without the required certification of their licit origin.
