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Elephant hunting or elephant
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
and exploitation of the
ivory trade are illegal in
Chad and pose a major threat to elephant populations. The profitable
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
industry is also a threat to the lives of rangers, even in the national parks, such as
Zakouma National Park
Zakouma National Park is a national park in southeastern Chad, straddling the border of Guéra Region and Salamat Region. Zakouma is the nation's oldest national park, declared a national park in 1963 by presidential decree, giving it the highes ...
, the worst-affected area.
History
Elephants are often massacred in herds in and around the parks by organized poachers. The problem is worsened by the fact that the parks are understaffed and that a number of wardens have been murdered by poachers.
Consequently, since the mid-1980s the elephant population has declined from 150,000 to a reported figure of just 2,000 in the Chad-
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
region by one source
and 500 in Chad alone in 2013 according to another source
[Vera, Varun and Ewing, Thomas (April 2014]
Ivory's Curse
Born Free USA and C4ADS, Retrieved 16 May 2014 because of intense poaching. American journalist
Lisa Ling
Lisa J. Ling (born August 30, 1973) is an American journalist, television personality, and author. She is currently the host of '' This Is Life with Lisa Ling '' on CNN. Previously, she was a reporter on Channel One News, a co-host on the ABC da ...
has visited Chad to explore the country's elephant poaching problem.
In a July 2012 attack by mounted poachers near the SOS Elephants camp in the
Chari-Baguirmi Region
Chari-Baguirmi ( ar, شاري باقرمي) is one of the 23 regions of Chad. Its capital is Massenya. It is composed of part of the former Chari-Baguirmi Prefecture ( sub-prefectures of Massenya and Bousso) and parts of the sub-prefecture of N' ...
, 28 elephants were slaughtered and most of their tusks were removed. In another attack in September 2012, about from the boundaries of the Zakouma National Park, five rangers were killed; one is still missing and presumed dead. The
Sudanese military have been blamed for the attacks and the slaughtering of elephants not only in Zakouma and elsewhere in Chad, but also in other African nations, including Cameroon.
As of 2012, a small team was responsible for battling to protect the remaining 450 elephants in Zakouma. One of the worst massacres took place in 14–15 March 2013 when 89 elephants, including 33 pregnant females and 15 calves, were slaughtered by poachers near the town of
Gamba
Gamba or Gambas may refer to:
Geography
*Gamba, Gabon, a port
**Gamba Airport in Gamba, Gabon
*Gamba, Chad, a town
*Gamba County, Tibet
People
*Gamba (surname)
*Gamba (footballer) (Carlos Alberto Gambarotta; 1893–1944), Brazilian footballer
Ot ...
.
Conservation efforts
Stephanie Vergniault, a French lawyer, screenwriter, and conservationist who has been working in Chad since 2009, founded the SOS Elephants organization to protect the elephant population. In an interview in 2010, Vergniault stated that the population of elephants in Chad had declined by 85 percent in the previous three decades, and that if the same rate of poaching continues, "not a single elephant" would be alive in Chad within three years.
See also
*
Elephant hunting in Kenya
Elephant hunting, which used to be an accepted activity in Kenya, was banned in 1973, as was the ivory trade. Illegal hunting continues, as there is still international demand for elephant tusks. Kenya pioneered the destruction of ivory as a way ...
*
Hunting license
References
{{Africa topic, Elephant hunting in
Environmental issues in Chad
Economy of Chad
Elephant hunting
Environmental conservation
Hunting by country