A report recently published by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has found that over half of Tanzania’s elephants have been poached in the past five years. The report also investigated the causes of the “elephant poaching crisis” affecting the relatively stable, peaceful country of Tanzania, and identified the countries that were funding the trade.
“The current situation for Tanzania’s elephant population is dire in the extreme,” EIA found. “The country has lost half of its elephants in the past five years and two-thirds since 2006.”
The cause for the crisis affected Tanzania and other African nations is criminal organizations which service Chinese ivory appetites through corrupt Tanzanian channels, EIA found.
“The poaching crisis in Tanzania is due to a toxic mix of criminal syndicates, often led by Chinese nationals, and corruption among some Tanzanian Government officials.
“Both the escalation of elephant poaching and the increase of large-scale ivory shipments indicate the involvement of organised criminal syndicates in the burgeoning illicit ivory trade, abetted by corruption at key stages in the smuggling chain.
The ivory is mainly leaving Africa from three countries–Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda–and is bound mainly for one Asian nation.
“Seizure data also confirms China’s position as by far the largest single destination for illicit ivory, with Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia as the main transit countries for shipments from Africa,” EIA reported.
The EIA report implicated high-level Chinese government officials and even the Chinese presidency in the trade.
The EIA cited a 2013 visit by a Chinese naval task force to the capital of Tanzania, which resulted in a boon for ivory traders in the country. One dealer boasted of making $50,000 from sales to Chinese navy personnel, and another Chinese national was detained by police after trying to enter the port with 81 elephant tusks–weighing 303 kilograms and worth half a million dollars–hidden in his truck.
In another case cited by the report, a Chinese delegation accompanying Chinese President Xi Jinping was used to ship tonnes of ivory to China.
“The large Chinese Government and business delegation on the visit used the opportunity to procure such a large amount of ivory that local prices increased,” IEA reported. “Two traders claimed that a fortnight before the state visit, Chinese buyers began purchasing thousands of kilograms of ivory, later sent to China in diplomatic bags on the presidential plane.”
The EIA also noted that while much high level poaching takes place in conflict zones, Tanzania is relatively stable and free of conflict. Armed groups and terrorist organizations are mostly absent in Tanzania. Instead, Tanzania’s ivory gangs are business people, and are aided by corrupt national politicians
“This business involves rich people and politicians who have formed a very sophisticated network,” EIA found.
The level of poaching currently taking place in the region has not been seen since the 1980s, according to EIA. The wave of poaching across Africa in the 80s led in 1989 to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangers Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The poaching trade recovered, however, beginning in 1997 when elephants were downlisted in the CITES Appendix, and has remained strong. Tanzania currently loses around 10,000 elephants per year–around 30 per day–although at this point the market itself is in danger. For example, in Tanzania’s Selous Reserve, elephant populations have plummeted from 50,000 to 13,000 in four years.
EIA concluded that a solution lied with national authorities both within Tanzania and in China.
“Overall, East Africa is losing the highest number of elephants as criminal gangs ruthlessly target the remaining herds to feed the seemingly insatiable markets of Asia and, especially, China. If this is allowed to continue at the current rate, only a few significant elephant populations will remain in Africa in the next decade.”
The report, “Vanishing Point–Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania’s Elephants,” was published this month on the EIA website.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is an independent campaigning organisation committed to bringing about change that protects the natural world from environmental crime and abuse.
By Daniel Jackson
Photos: Peter Steward, Philip Morton, and EIA