During the past few
decades elephants and rhinos populations have been enlisted as the most
vulnerable and endangered animal species.
However, in
Tanzania, both animals' populations have recently begun to tremendously
bounce back, thanks to robust anti-poaching measures by the government.
Moving a speech to
dissolve the Parliament in Dodoma last Tuesday, President John Magufuli
said the number of Jumbos roaming national parks and other conservancies
had risen from 43,000 in 2015 to 51,000 last year.
The rhino
population, which in the recent past, decimated from over 10,000
individuals to just about 100 rhinos, rebounded from 162 in 2015 to 190
in 2019, he revealed.
The President, who
was giving an overview of the tourism sector performance, attributed the
resurfacing of the otherwise endangered species to the government's
crackdown on criminal networks involved in industrial-scale poaching.
He said the
establishment of the paramilitary force was the government's strong
commitment of controlling poaching and depletion of natural resources in
the country.
The departure from
civilian to paramilitary system by the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa),
Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Tanzania Wildlife
Management (Tawa) and Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS) not only
seeks to protect natural resources, but also instill discipline in the
institutions which fall under the Tourism and Natural Resources
Ministry.
Interestingly, in Botswana, the new government did away with the paramilitary force, and poaching of rhinos, has skyrocketed.
