Ivory: Power and Poaching in AfricaHalf of Tanzania's elephants have been killed for their ivory since 2007. A similar alarming story can be told of the herds in northern Mozambique and across swathes of central Africa, with forest elephants losing almost two-thirds of their numbers to the tusk trade. The huge rise in poaching and ivory smuggling in the new millennium has destroyed the hope that the 1989 ivory trade ban had capped poaching and would lead to a long-term fall in demand. But why the new upsurge? The answer is not simple. Since ancient times, large-scale killing of elephants for their tusks has been driven by demand outside Africa's elephant ranges - from the Egyptian pharaohs through Imperial Rome and industrialising Europe and North America to the new wealthy business class of China. And, who poaches and why do they do it? In recent years lurid press reports have blamed mass poaching on rebel movements and armed militias, especially Somalia's Al Shabaab, tying two together two evils - poaching and terrorism. But does this account stand up to scrutiny? This new and ground-breaking examination of the history and politics of ivory in Africa forensically examines why poaching happens in Africa and why it is corruption, crime and politics, rather than insurgency, that we should worry about. |
Contents
An Ancient but Bloody and Brutal Trade | |
One Hundred Years of Exploitation | |
The Ivory Trade and Criminalisation of African Hunters Under | |
Conservation Corruption Crime and Conflict in East Africa | |
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Common terms and phrases
African Elephant Al Shabab Angola antipoaching army became border Botswana British Burundi Cameroon cent Central Africa Chad China Chinese CITES colonial communities conflict Congo conservation conservationists corruption crop culling David Western decline demand DouglasHamilton East Africa Elephant Database elephant numbers elephant poaching elephant population elephants were killed estimated European exported forest elephants funding Game Department groups herds hunters hunting Ian Parker Ibid illegal ivory illicit ivory illicit trade income increase insurgency International involved ivory trade Janjaweed Kenya Leakey licences London Luangwa Mombasa Mozambique Namibia National Park networks NGOs northern numbers of elephants officials operations organised Oryx Pachyderm poachers poaching poaching and smuggling political programme rangers region Renamo reserves rhino role Selous Shabab slaves Somali South Africa southern Africa Sudan Sudanese Tanganyika Tanzania tons of ivory trade in ivory Tsavo tusks Uganda Wakamba Waliangulu wardens wildlife department Zambia Zanzibar Zimbabwe