Sunday 5 July 2020

Elephant and rhino populations on the UP in Tanzania

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.