[ad_1]
- AFP June 18, 2019 13:35:23 GMT +0300
One of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in Africa marks a year without elephants killed by poachers, what experts call an extraordinary development in a region larger than Switzerland, where thousands of animals have been slaughtered in recent years .
The apparent overthrow of the Nibada Reserve, in a remote area of northern Mozambique, comes after the establishment of a rapid-response police force as well as more badertive patrols and patrols, according to the report. Wildlife Conservation Society of New York, which manages the reserve with the Government of Mozambique. and several other partners.
Surveillance of the vast reserve through aerial surveys and foot patrols remains incomplete, but is based on sampling. And despite signs of progress, it may take many years for the Nibada elephant population to return to its former level, even if poaching is under control.
Aggressive poaching over the years had reduced the number of Nibada elephants from about 12,000 to just over 3,600 in 2016, according to an aerial survey. Anti-poaching strategies from 2015 to 2017 reduced the number of people killed, but the conservation group felt the rate was still far too high.
SEE ALSO:KCB Safari Rally ready to raise funds for a social awareness program
The new interventions, along with Mozambican President Felipe Nyusi personally authorizing the rapid response force, have led the partners to hope that Nibada's elephants "will have a real chance of recovery," the defense group said. conservation.
"It's a remarkable feat," James Bampton, National Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, told The Associated Press. He said he discovered the year without poaching deaths by consulting data.
The last time an elephant in the Nibada Reserve was recorded killed by a poacher, it was May 17, 2018, he said.
Political will is one of the main reasons for this success, said Mozambique's President Bampton, who wants to see poaching reduced.
Bampton acknowledged that the low numbers of remaining elephants is also a factor in decreasing poaching. A year ago, he had estimated that there were less than 2,000 elephants left in Nibada, although he said that a preliminary badysis of data from a survey conducted in October and not yet published indicated that there were approximately 4,000 elephants in the reserve.
Nevertheless, a year that seems free of elephant poaching in the sprawling reserve has sparked exclamations from some wildlife experts.
"Ceasing poaching is a major and very important development, which represents a major success," said AP George Wittemyer, chairman of the scientific council of the Kenyan organization Save the Elephants.
The new Rapid Intervention Police Force is an elite unit that is better armed than rangers on the reserve and that has "a little reputation for being quite difficult," said Bampton, adding that no "bad incident" had been reported in Nibada.
Members of the force are empowered to arrest suspected poachers, prepare a case within 72 hours and submit it to the local prosecutor, said Bampton. "The mere fact of being caught with a firearm is considered an illegal hunting intent", with a maximum term of imprisonment of 16 years.
Wildlife experts have seen gains elsewhere in Africa against elephant poaching. The Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, widely known as "Ground Zero" for its poaching and linked to the Nibada Reserve through a wildlife corridor, has also experienced a recent decline in killings.
Poaching of African elephants has returned to its pre-2008 level after peaking in 2011, in line with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
But experts say that the annual rate of elephant losses still exceeds the birth rate and that the encroachment of human settlements reduces the range of animals. According to surveys conducted in recent years, the African elephant population has dropped from several million around 1900 to at least 415,000 people.
The collaboration and "tremendous efforts" of the Nibada reserve partners have been crucial, but the data shows that there are still problems with other iconic species such as lions, said Rob Harris, responsible Fauna & Flora International, which supports one of the operators of the reserve. "Therefore, the combination of support at the national level and a field effort must be maintained to improve the situation of all wildlife species."
Sign up to advertise your products and services on our Digger.co.ke clbadifieds site and enjoy a free month subscription and 3 free ads in the Standard newspaper.
Related Topics
ElephantsNobada reservePoachingThe President of Mozambique, Felipe Nyusi
[ad_2]
Source link
