Lion poaching on the increase…

With dwindling numbers,  rapid habitat loss including poisoning by farming communities, increasingly high numbers of  lions are being both targeted and have become victims of  reckless snaring. Below are some heart breaking images:

Video of poachers caught in the Mara Triangle with a young freshly skinned lion. As you can see his main has not fully developed yet.

Snared lioness

Bushmeat in Eastern Africa

The actions of many people across eastern Africa are having an enormous impact on wildlife populations. Recent studies have officially determined that across Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya there is a widespread, growing, illegal trade in wildlife for meat and money. This over-hunting is causing a reduction in numbers and diversity of wildlife.

In Kenya bushmeat hunting snare hunting is widespread with thousands of snares being recovered each year from protected areas and game ranches. Wildlife policy is under review and going by the current debate, there is no sign that bushmeat management will be given the attention it deserves.

In Southern Sudan bushmeat hunting with rifles is widespread in and around protected areas where many citizens rely on bushmeat as a source of protein and income. Lack of capacity to manage over-hunting has resulted in decline of many wildlife species including elephant, buffalo, zebra and giraffe.

In Tanzania trophy and subsistence hunting is legally allowed in wildlife areas outside the National Parks and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This type of consumptive wildlife utilization is controlled through quota and permit system, however, with limited capacity to manage illegal hunting.

In Uganda studies have shown declines in wildlife populations including hippopotamus, buffalo and elephant in protected areas due to hunting.

Illegal Bushmeat Trade Video

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Here is a video with some graphic footage by Jane Goodall Institute about the Bushmeat trade.

More photos and videos to come.

Casualities of the Bushmeat Trade …………

No words needed:

What is the Bushmeat Trade?

The bushmeat trade is the illegal, over-hunting of wildlife for meat and income.

Already in West and Central Africa this trade has resulted in declines and local extinctions of many wildlife species and the economic, cultural and ecosystem services they provide. In addition, a number of human health threats have emerged from the trade in bushmeat including linkages to  HIV/AIDS, ebola and the threat of anthrax.

Bushmeat trade is not regulated or managed by any authority. Economic benefits from the trade go mainly to hunters and traders. If current trends continue, future generations of citizens in Africa will not have the opportunity to access benefits from wildlife. Using wildlife to meet protein and income demands cannot be supported in the long term.

The immediate threat of loss of economic opportunity, cultural and ecological services, and other values to a wider community must be addressed today.

(Taken From: www. bushmeatnetwork.org)

Here are some images from the Bushmeat Trade for you to get an idea of what we are talking about:

Smoked Gorilla Meat

Poachers kill 65 elephants, 30 rhinos in Zimbabwe

Due to recent shift on the African political landscape,  International crime syndicates take advantage of the situation and are threatening the survival of rare African wildlife species. A recent press release by AFP confirms this report.

Some images from gruesome aftermath:

The Issue

There is a war taking place on our planet for which there are no headlines, no demonstrations, no voice. It is a war against some of the most endangered species on earth, and it takes place in some of the most beautiful and majestic biospheres of Africa that are yet to be fully explored . Unseen and untouched by the Western world, it is the perfect place to hide the atrocious acts that are being committed.