Bushmeat Agony and Ivory: Bushmeat Crisis and Elephant Poaching is only Increasing

Last year alone the conservative estimate for the number of elephants killed in Kenya is 220; while conservationists estimate that 36,000 elephants were poached worldwide last year.  In Kenya, this number is an increase of %400 from two years ago.  These elephants are being killed for their ivory, but this is not the only cause of poaching in Africa; the rampant bushmeat trade of everything from gorillas to antelope is the target of poachers.  Large bushmeat markets in Nairobi and other major cities keep these industrial-like poachers in business, as well as the desire for “exotic flavors” in the US and Western Europe.  This consistent poaching for meat, trophy, and ivory and pushing these fragile populations of African animals to the brink of extinction, and the rest of the world’s desires for these cheap African goods is what keeps the poachers going.

Forest elephant poached for its meat and Ivory in Congo

A poacher putting his catch of bushmeat into a sack for transport.

Smoked monkey for sale in a local market

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Africa’s lion population is falling

The lion is Africa’s best known carnivore. Once widely abundant across the continent, recent surveys show that lion populations have plunged from over 100,000 individuals to around 23,000 over the past century. The reason for recent declines? Lions are poisoned, shot, and speared by locals who see them as a threat to livestock. While lion populations in protected areas remain relatively healthy, conservationists say that without urgent measures, lions may disappear completely from unprotected areas.

Snares are set to catch lions both to “preserve” livestock, and to collect hides.

Big game hunters from around the world travel to Africa for a chance to take down the “King of Beasts” so that they can mount its head on their wall.

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Illegal ivory trade on rise, conservation group warns

TOKYO: The global illicit trade in ivory, which has been increasing since 2004, moved sharply upward in 2009, Britain-based wildlife trade

monitoring network TRAFFIC warns in a report released recently ahead of an international conservation meeting in March.

To get ivory, the animals must be killed.

Even though adult elephants with big tusks are the target of poachers for their ivory, sometimes it is the babies that are caught in snares.

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70 Arrested in Anti Poaching Operation in Tanzania

Seventy people have been arrested during a special anti-poaching operation dubbed ‘Operation Kipepeo’ (Operation Butterfly), launched by the government within and around Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

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