Why militarised approach to Cameroon’s wildlife conservation fuels local resentment
The mixed patrols take place both inside the national parks and the surrounding Zones d’Intérêt Cynégétique (ZICs). In the former, the patrols are organised and paid for by Cameroon’s government-run conservation agency, MINFOF, and its international conservation partners – World Conservation Society (WCS) for Benoué and Bouba Ndjida, and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), in Faro.
Ivory traffickers arrested in northern Kenya as searchlight shows poachers are back with unseen ferocity after a lull
The KWS rangers in Turkana said they suspect the tusks were obtained by poachers who killed at least three elephants. The suspects will be charged with being in possession of wildlife trophies of endangered species contrary to section 92(4) of the Wildlife Conservation Management Act 2013.
Necessary evil: Although Contentious, study finds dehorning can save the African rhino
South Africa has the largest numbers of black and white rhinos. Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya also have significant populations. There are around 17,500 white rhinos and 6,500 black rhinos left in the world, with black rhino numbers reduced from 70,000 in 1970 to less than 2,500 by the time poaching reached a crisis point in the mid-1990s, according to the Save the Rhino organization.
Reformed poacher offers hope for Zimbabwe’s tourism industry and endangered wildlife species
Tembanechako Mastick and a group of men scanned bushes near their village in southeast Zimbabwe, on the hunt for the den of hyenas that had recently attacked livestock. Scattered fragments of goat bones showed the way, and Mastick peeped cautiously into a deep hole in the earth. “They are probably...
How ivory trading to finance civil wars led to evolution of tuskless herds of elephants in Africa
African elephants have evolved towards tusklessness in an area where they were intensively hunted for ivory, finds a study of elephants’ traits and genetics in Mozambique. The results, published on October 21, in Science, could have implications for the recovery of elephant populations in the country. Ivory trading was used...
