Two arrested for killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe

Authorities in Zimbabwe are trying track down a Spanish hunter who paid park guides $55,000
(£35,000) for the pleasure of killing Cecil, one of Africa’s most famous lions, who was the star
attraction of Hwange National Park. He was found skinned and headless on the outskirts of the
park. The two people who accompanied the hunter have already been arrested.

The 13-year-old lion, wearing a GPS collar, was tricked into leaving the park, by hunters who used an animal carcass to tempt him out, and then shot with a bow and arrow. The hunters then tracked the dying animal for 40 hours before they finished it off with a rifle.

This  technique of enticing lions out of parks is commonly used so that so called hunters can “legally” kill protected lions.

Cecil was currently father to six cubs; they will now be killed by whichever new male moves in
to take over his pride, in order to encourage the lionesses to mate.

He was part of an Oxford University study looking into the impact of sports hunting on lions
living in the safari area surrounding the national park. The research found that 34 of 62 tagged lions died during the study period. 24 were shot by sport hunters. Sport hunters in the safari areas surrounding the park killed 72% of tagged adult males from the study area.

Cecil was the Hwange's biggest tourist attraction. The amount of money he generated from
photography in a couple of weeks far exceeds the one off payment that someone accepted for his
death.

This is unethical hunting at its worst. I hope they find who did it and stick one of his arrows 
where the sun doesn't shine. What an utter waste of a beautiful animal.

A complete review of lion hunting, including "canned hunting'"is called for and the whole messy business should be stopped for good.

African Parks to manage Liwonde National Park and NKhotakota Wildlife Reserve in Malawi

African Parks is pleased to announce that it has concluded an agreement with the Government of Malawi to manage and operate Liwonde

National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve for 20 years. The agreement follows an application and evaluation process administered by the Public Private Partnership Commission in which African Parks emerged as the preferred partner to manage the two protected areas.


This is great news for Malawi's Wildlife. African Parks is THE best Wildlife management company out there - they do it properly and are uncorruptable.

EU bans ivory trophy imports from Tanzania and Mozambique

EU chiefs have ordered the ban on elephant hunting trophies from Tanzania and Mozambique
because of the threat posed to the animals by poachers. There is already a ban on importing the
trophies from Zambia. The decision was taken by an EU scientific committee, which rules on
whether hunting trophy imports are sustainable.

Previously, Tanzania and Mozambique were each permitted to export tusks from 100 elephants
every year into the EU as hunting trophies. However, both countries have seen a significant
decline in elephant numbers due to soaring levels of poaching.  Tanzania has lot 65% of its
elephant population in just five years and currently only has 43000 elephants in total in the
whole country.

Mozambique has similarly lost around 50% in just five years and may only have 13000 elephants
left.

The European Union’s decision is the latest milestone in the campaign to crack down on the
slaughter of thousands of rare beasts every year by poachers who sell ivory and skins for huge
profits.

- See more at: http://africageographic.com/blog/eu-bans-import-of-hunting-trophies-from-
tanzania-and-mozambique/#sthash.1Plto4RK.dpuf

Is demand for ivory in China diminishing?

Demand for ivory in China may have either remained stable or even decreased slightly in 2014 and the first half of 2015, new data suggests. Ivory (illegally) offered for sale online in China fetched similar prices in 2014 as it had the previous year. In contrast, from 2010 to 2013 the price tripled. The number of official ivory carving factories and retail outlets in the country has decreased substantially for the first time since licensing began.

Tanzanian Government admits the country is an elephant slaughterhouse

Today, Tanzania has announced the preliminary results from the aerial surveys in Tanzania that were conducted as part of the Great Elephant Census (GEC).

The figures released today show the east African country’s elephant population, once among Africa’s largest, has fallen to 43,330, a drop of several thousand from the previous survey. In 1976 Tanzania boasted seven times as many elephants.

Announcing the results of a new aerial survey the Tanzanian Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu claimed the figures were a “mixed bag” with increases in some areas overshadowed by a dramatic fall in the Ruaha area from 20,000 in 2013 to 8,272 last year.

The announcement confirmed an ITV News report earlier this year which was “categorically denied” at the time by the National Parks authority.

Mr Nyalandu announced a number of measures to combat poaching including an increase in the number of rangers in the affected areas, new funding for anti-poaching efforts and a national law enforcement strategy to address the lack of successful prosecutions for poaching.


Why has this gone on so long? Will anything realy be done about it? We are running out of time.
This is one post I really wished I'd never be writing.

                                          R.I.P.

Mozambique police seize huge amount of ivory and rhino horns

The Mozambican police on Tuesday seized about 1.3 tonnes of ivory and rhinoceros horns from a house in the southern city of Matola.

This is the largest seizure of illicit wildlife products in Mozambican history. The haul consisted of 340 elephant tusks, weighing 1,160 kilos, and 65 rhino horns, weighing 124 kilos.

The criminal gang involved in this trafficking had thus killed 170 elephants and 65 rhinos. The police arrested a Chinese citizen who seemed to be living alone in the house. The police hope he will lead them to other members of the trafficking ring.

The seizure has a street value of over 6.3 million dollars.

Since both species of African rhinoceros, the black and the white, are believed to be extinct in southern Mozambique, the 65 horns seized in Matola almost certainly come from animals poached in South Africa.

Between January and April the poaching gangs killed 393 South African rhinos, an 18 per cent increase on the same period in 2014.

The ivory could have come from Mozambican or South African animals.

Zimbabwe in danger of losing its vulture population

Increased incidents of poisoning in Zimbabwe's national parks could wipe out the vulture population.
Vultures are listed as specially protected animals in Zimbabwe under the sixth schedule of the Parks and Wildlife Act.

Vultures have been dying in large numbers locally after feeding on animals that have been poisoned. There has been widespread poaching of wildlife across the country's national parks and conservancies, with poachers resorting to the use of cyanide and other veterinary and agricultural chemicals  to kill their prey.

Vultures are also killed as a result of eating dead cattle that were treated with Diclofenac by farmers. It causes kidney failure and makes their eggs infertile.

There was an incident in Gonarezhou National Park where over 191 vulture birds were killed after devouring carcases of animals that had died from poisoning.

Two years ago, Hwange National Park was also a scene of the killing of 300 elephants through
cyanide, which led to the death of several vultures.

Poachers also try to poison vultures so that they will not attract attention to carcasses of slaughtered wildlife.

There are six species of vultures found in Zimbabwe namely the lappet-faced; the hooded, the
white-headed; the palmnut, Ruppell's griffon and the white-backed.

Vultures are late maturing birds that lay only two eggs every four years, and have a very slow
population recovery rate from incidents like this.

Vulture feathers are used in traditional witchcraft in parts of Africa. The brains of vultures, when eaten, are  thought to be good for the prediction of events and social ills, and also to improve eyesight.

Over the past few years vultures have showed an alarmingly fast decline all over Africa and Asia.In places populations are down by over 90%. This has consequences for clearing up up dead animals, an increase in the number of vermin and feral dogs, and the spread of disease.

Sixty rhinos poached in Namibia so far this year

As predicted, rhino poaching has ramped up in Namibia. The number of known rhinos killed now
syands at 60 so far this year, mostly in Etosha NP.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) has increased the reward from N$30000 to $60000 to anyone with information on the latest incidences in the Etosha National Park. According to statistics from MET, the number of rhinos poached in Etosha now stands at 54, while the other carcasses were discovered in the Kunene's Palmwag tourism concession area.

Last year Namibia lost 24 rhinos from poachers compared to 60 discovered this year Additionally, at least 78 elephants were poached in 2014, while 23 have been lost this year.

Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba ShifetaS admitted that some officials from the ministry were indeed involved in poaching, saying many are used to shoot the animals for a trans-national syndicate.

The number of police officers has been increased from 40 to 140 to increase law enforcement presence in the park. In addition Aerial patrols are being carried out.

Sad to say this was entirely expected. Southern Africa will also start to see a lot more elephant poaching now that the Tanzania and Mozambique populations are being cleaned out.

Tanzania to deploy five hundred new rangers by July

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism last week said it will recruit and deploy 500 rangers and 111 wildlife officers by July to combat poaching.

This will be coupled with an increase inter-agency national and international cooperation to fortify wildlife protection as means to restrict poaching.

Lazaro Nyalandu, Tanzania's Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism said that as efforts to curb poaching and reinforce wildlife protection continue, his Ministry has increased the number of patrols in protected areas from 73,619 in 2012 to 125,124 in 2014.

This has resulted in an increased number of poachers being caught, including confiscation of a large number of firearms confiscated. He said the number court cases related to poaching and which are proceeding has risen from 349 in 2012 to 539 in 2014.

He also said that the government has managed to conclude a total of 1190 cases from 2012 to date meaning that the investment on patrol is paying-off.

"We have also commissioned a census to give us the current and up to date count of the elephant
population," he said.

I wonder how that will compare with  the numbers given in the report discussed on this blog on 26th 
April which stated that "Half the elephants in Ruaha National Park in Tanzania have been killed by poachers in the last year"

Two men arrested carrying rhino horn in Vietnam

Two men carrying 31 rhinoceros horns worth an estimated one million dollars were arrested by
police in Vietnam, a police official said on Monday.

Police discovered the horns on Saturday, said a police spokesman at Nghe An provincial police
department in central Vietnam.

Doan Duy Dinh and Le Thanh Trung, both aged 32, were caught with 37kg of horns in three bags at
a railway station.

According to Dinh an unidentified man had hired him to transport the consignment from Ho Chi
Minh City to Nghe An for $1 850, police said.