Elephant under severe threat
From 2009 to June this year, criminal networks have trafficked as much as 170 tons of ivory, which could amount to as many as 229 729 elephants
SKUKUZA – Syndicates in Mozambique are so organised that they receive rhino horns from poachers within minutes of them returning from the Kruger National Park (KNP), rapidly moving it within a day to a ship-off point.
This is according to a report titled “Out of Africa – Mapping the global trade in illicit elephant ivory”, which was released by Born Free USA recently. It was written by Varun Vira who undertook research in Southern Asia and the Middle East; Thomas Ewing who is currently investigating illicit networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America; and Jackson Miller, who focuses on transnational wildlife crime and West Asian security issues. The report focuses mainly on the illegal ivory trade, but also highlights some aspects of rhino poaching.
Environmental crime: it’s a gold mine
Global environmental crime is estimated by the United Nations to be worth as much as 213 billion American dollars annually. Over 23 billion US dollars is attributed to the illegal wildlife trade alone, of which ivory is an important component. The price of ivory has skyrocketed from five US dollars per kilogramme in 1989 to a wholesale price of 2 100 US dollars per kilogramme in China this year.
If one takes into account the vast rate at which our rhino is currently being slaughtered, it makes your hair rise as you release that our elephants will almost certainly suffer the same fate.
Southern Africa now hosts two-thirds of Africa’s elephants and has already begun registering alarming incidents. We are likely to see a rapid increase in elephant poaching in the near future as elephant populations decline elsewhere on the continent.
Three elephants have already been poached in Kruger this year.
According to the report, highly professional Asian rhino-horn syndicates are known to operate out of South Africa, including the Chinese Triads, and may have already diversified into elephant ivory.
From 2009 to June this year, criminal networks have trafficked as much as 170 tons of ivory, which could amount to as many as 229 729 elephants.
Mozambique: a force to be reckoned with
The report further states that Mozambican poaching syndicates appear closely tied to local security forces deployed in the region. Several incidents have linked rifle serial numbers and equipment from poaching incidents back to army, border guard and police units deployed near the border.
To a lesser degree, Mozambique’s ports of Pemba and Beira are also active in the ivory trade.
Mozambique has lost nearly all its elephants as of 2014, but could re-emerge as trafficking hub if poaching in other countries in Southern Africa picks up. It already serves as a transit route for rhino poached in Kruger.
Smuggling of ivory through our harbours and airports
lllegal ivory flows primarily in containers through the international shipping system. At least 100 containers may be moving annually, the majority through a small number of choke points.
Ivory out of Zimbabwe is known to enter SA for onward processing, while there have been significant seizures in port cities like Durban and Cape Town. The latest saw over 3 000 worked and recently cut pieces seized at a storage facility in Cape Town in May this year.
More worrying than known incidents, are the incentives: Southern Africa now has an estimated two thirds of the continent’s elephant population and sheer numbers suggest that poaching will soon displace into Southern Africa.
Durban by contrast has significantly better metrics than other regions, but still ranks high in corruption and low in screening quality when measured against global standards. No Chinese carrier operates a direct flight yet, while Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways, South African Airways, Air Algerie, Air Mauritius, EgyptAir and Angola’s TAAG are the only African carriers with non-stop flights to China.
The top three airports in the chain have been listed as OR Tambo International in Johannesburg, as well as the airports in Nairobi and Addis Ababa.
• According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, six suspects believed to be responsible for the poaching of 39 elephants since January this year, were arrested during a night-time raid in the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique on Saturday.
